Monday, September 4, 2017

Call to prayer for the Dreamers

Elimination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) federal policy is being considered, and a decision to end it may be announced by the Trump Administration on Tuesday, September 5.  I ask that we as the people called United Methodist, and others, pray for our country and for the fate of nearly one million anxious young people who, as immigrants, are part of our American family.  

Please pray that the ten state attorneys general who have threatened to sue the administration over DACA will end their threats and instead support the U.S. Congress’ Dream Act of 2017. The bill, which is still pending in Congress, would provide a path to citizenship for the undocumented young people who were brought here by their parents as children. 

Our United Methodist Social Principles affirm the rights of immigrant people: “We urge the church and society to recognize the gifts, contributions and struggles of those who are immigrants and to advocate for justice for all.  We oppose immigration policies that separate family members from each other or that include detention of families with children; and we call on local churches to be in ministry with immigrant families.”

These are tense and difficult times for young people who have never known anything but a life in this country. Please pray, speak and work for people who need your voice.

As difficult and divisive immigration issues loom large in the halls of power, many lives hang in the balance, especially the lives of young people who had no say in coming here to live but who now contribute to our culture and society as vital threads in the rich, diverse fabric of our nation. Let their dreams be our dreams.

I invite you to pray this benediction from Bishop Woodie White and to know that no matter the outcome, our burning thirst, our quest for justice, mercy and righteousness, in the name of Jesus Christ, must not end:

And now, may the Lord torment you. May the Lord keep before you the faces of the hungry, the lonely, the rejected and the despised. May the Lord afflict you with pain for the hurt, the wounded, the oppressed, the abused, the victims of violence. May God grace you with agony, a burning thirst for justice and righteousness.

May the Lord give you courage and strength and compassion to make ours a better world, to make your community a better community, to make your church a better church. May you do your best to make it so; and after you have done your best, may the Lord grant you peace.


2 comments:

  1. This post is wrong on so many fronts, I don't know where to begin.

    First, where does it state that our job is to force other people to be compassionate? We are called to be compassionate, not called to force others to do the same.

    Where does it state that we are to force other people in their country to do what God commands? This is not our country. We are ambassadors. We represent another country called the Kingdom of God. Our homes are embassies. Outside the walls of our homes and churches, live the indigenous people of the USA.

    We have no right to force them to act as we do, believe as we do, demand that they tax themselves to carry out our wishes. We are visitors to this place for Christ's sake. I express that both in the literal and the extreme emotional versions.

    Bishop I strongly urge you and all others who focus on these important issues to focus on our primary mission. Make deciples of Christ. Then will all these other important matters relating to suffering, inequality, poverty, etc to the nth degree have a prayer of being solved by our Lord through us with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with His will.

    The methodist church used to focus on the Great Commission. Now it does everything except that, focusing on issues as if to assure itself that it is following God because of evidence of effort.

    That is why we decline and face full failure. We continue to focus on the sin and not the deceived. We continue to feed the deception by thinking we can save the world instead of heed the call to save the person.

    Respectfully,

    Jack Althouse AIA NCARB

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  2. Jack, your way off! Disciple-making means developing into Christ-like witnesses in the world. What good is a Christian who is too cowardly or ignorant to understand that Jesus and the prophets before him all took a stand for peace, righteousness, and justice?
    No Christian worthy of the name thinks that we are only called to personal holiness. We are also equally called to social holiness as well. Read the Bible books of Amos, and Micah. Study the gospels that portray Jesus running the money-changers from the temple, and study church history. Dr. King, Bishop Oscar Romero, and countless others have taught us of the duty to work for justice.

    Rev. Joseph W.A. Archie III
    Wilmington District Superintendent

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