I have been preparing a sermon on Matthew 10:24-33 for this coming Sunday. St. Luke JOY has been on a journey through the Gospel of Matthew since mid-December 2013. At 10:32-33 Jesus says, "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."
It has deeply grieved me at the silence of the church, and my home country, regarding the plight of Christians living in and around Mosul, Iraq. I was raised, catechized, and then ordained--first as a deacon and then as a minister--within the orthodox and evangelical family in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For most of my adult life all I have heard from the liberal, and politically dominant, side of my denomination were cries for justice! Economic justice, land justice, workers justice, sexuality justice, male dominance justice, women's right to choose justice, etc...Everything that is important to the theological left is a justice issue, even if it is really a theological issue...
The last few weeks the PCUSA has been embroiled in a controversial decision regarding divesting from businesses that do business with the government and military of Israel. Very strong rhetoric has been flowing from the divestment camp: http://www.pcusa.org/news/2014/6/20/slim-margin-assembly-approves-divestment-three-com/. Perhaps you saw Reverend Heath Rada, Moderator of the General Assembly's, interview on CNN recently where he tried to defend the General Assembly's actions: http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/21/us/presbyterian-church-palestinians/.
The rhetoric gets deeper as Reverend Gradye Parsons, writing on July 16, 2014 denounced Israel's intrusion into Gaza with this one sided letter: http://www.pcusa.org/news/2014/7/16/stated-clerk-issues-statement-gaza-crisis/. This was followed up by the Office of the General Assembly with this prayer: http://www.pcusa.org/news/2014/7/18/pcusa-leaders-offer-prayer-use-sunday/.
Remarkably, the Office of the General Assembly, that great bastion of justice seeking has remained quiet regarding the mass persecution of Christians living in Mosul Iraq. Here is an article from Christianity Today online: http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/july/mosuls-last-christians-flee-former-christian-stronghold.html.
To be fair, after several days, and a lot of scrutiny, this letter was released: http://www.pcusa.org/news/2014/7/21/statement-issued-pcusa-denouncing-attacks-mosul/.
It is not only the PCUSA that has been remarkably quiet regarding the treatment of Christians in Iraq. Most of the once powerful and significant mainline traditions have been quiet. One wonders sometimes if this is a political move on their part to protect the president, who is actually responsible for these actions by removing US troops before a peace was firmly established.
Full disclosure: I left the PCUSA for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church this past winter. My conscience simply could not go where the church of my youth was headed. There is a severe reticence to name Jesus as THE Lord and Savior of the world. There is also a real hesitance to speak of Scripture as the infallible Word of God; the way in which God reveals himself to us in Jesus the Christ.
I don't know exactly what to do regarding the persecution of our brothers and sisters in Iraq (and in other countries in the world), but there are two things that do come to mind. First off, the leadership of the all of the Christian traditions in the world should be sending out a plea for prayer for Christians in Iraq, particularly in the Mosul area. Second, the government of the United States MUST stand up to this type of aggression. All I hear coming from the federal city is the deafening sound of silence. We removed our soldiers that were protecting these people; we placed them in harms way; we encouraged them to stand up to militant Islamic rebels...and yet we left them to die and suffer in the wake of our actions.
Jesus says, "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." The church is the bride of the Lord Jesus. To stand up and defend Christians around the world is to stand and identify with Jesus. To stand silent and make no pronouncement is to make one. May God have mercy on our souls.
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