Monthly Archives: November 2010

Al and Carla had parked at the end of the parking lot. It was mostly empty as they walked to their cars.

“It’s going to take me awhile to process all of that,” said Al. “I hoped we would get a positive response but I never expected it to go as well as it did.”

Carla looked up to the sky and said, “Well, God, since you are not physically present to receive my thanks, I will have to express it to your messenger.”

Al started to ask her what she was talking about when she suddenly whirled about, threw her arms around him, and kissed him. When they parted, Carla glanced up to the sky again as if continuing her conversation with God. “I want you to know, God, that that was purely a spiritual expression of my thanks. Although,” she hesitated a moment, “I could be convinced to do it again as an expression of love of neighbor.”

“Love of neighbor is good,” said Al. Then he looked up and saw a few of his colleagues looking their way. “However, perhaps we could revisit this opportunity somewhere away from the church parking lot.”

“I’m headed for the airport to catch a plane,” said Carla. “It’s now or never, Lancelot. Act now, in front of your colleagues, or all may be lost.”

Al grinned, shook his head, and then kissed her. “You can catch your plane,” he said, “but this is definitely not over.”

The moderator of the meeting spoke up. “Could you summarize what you want from us at this time?”

“Sure,” said Carla, “I’m not here to make you feel guilty. I simply want to offer myself as a vehicle by which your churches can reach out to some suffering people. I don’t have an answer to the larger immigration problem, but in the meantime, I want to minister to some of those who have been left by the side of the road. I would be honored if you could support me in that work.”

Al spoke again. “What both Carla and I learned last night is that when we struggle with how to respond to the cries of our brothers and sisters, we grow closer to the God who has called us.

“The struggle that each of us face is genuine. God through Jesus Christ is always headed towards Jerusalem and the cross. Very good people, like Peter, the head of the church, want to caution us not to place ourselves at risk. But,” continued Al, “when we, like Peter, despite our denials, still strive to be faithful to the Christ who has called us, we discover again and again that God has our back.”

An older man stood to be recognized. He was bent over and had to be helped to his feet. “I’ve been to these meetings going on forty years and this was one of the best. We actually wrestled with the gospel. I’d like to move that this body provide $1,000 support to Ms. Espinoza and also that each of us individually augment that amount with our own personal pledge. I will start with my pledge of $500 and my hope that Ms. Espinoza will return to speak with us about her ministry frequently.”

The motion passed unanimously and $4,000 was gathered in pledges.

When the meeting was over, many people wanted to speak to Carla and assure her of their prayers. Some even asked for more information that they might take back to their congregations.

After about 30 minutes of debate, the moderator recognized Carla to speak again. “I want you to know how much I respect the work that you are doing in your churches. It is not easy being a pastor or an elder in these chaotic times. Last night Al asked me why I continued to fight these battles. The issue of law versus mercy is an old one and not to be resolved in today’s meeting….”

“But that is the crux of the issue, is it not?” interrupted one pastor.

“It is key,” said Carla, “and I don’t mean to make light of it. Still, in the eyes of our faith, we’ve all broken God’s law and live under the umbrella of grace and forgiveness.”

“But you can’t just ignore the law every time someone gets themselves in trouble,” said a pastor.

“Let me tell you a story that touches on the very foundation of my faith. Several years ago there was a very cruel border guard who took delight in causing pain for those who he caught crossing the border. He went far beyond what even the harshest interpretation of the law permits. In both my eyes and the eyes of the law, he was a lawbreaker.”

Carla described some of the actions the border guard had taken and how he had ridiculed her when she protested. “Once, when no one was looking, he even groped me and made lewd suggestions as to what he would do if he ever caught me alone in the desert,” she said.

“One day when I was searching for lost victims of the desert harshness, I came upon him. He, also, had been out in the waste lands searching for lost humans. Only he had a little too much to drink, and he flipped his jeep and was pinned under it. I found him by accident after he had been there for several hours.

“What was I to do? He had caused so many to suffer without remorse and now he was in my power. All I had to do was drive on. Except that, a foundational principle of my faith was that ‘while I was yet a sinner, God loved me.’ With no small measure of fear, I called for help and provided him water, stopped his bleeding, and offered care until someone arrived.

“It doesn’t always work out this way,” said Carla, “but like Paul, that violent enemy of the church, God touched that man and he has become one of my biggest supporters. You just can’t anticipate what God will do with even small acts of faithfulness.”

There was a silence that filled the room as each person seemed to be examining their own lives and questioning how they would respond in similar circumstances.

The next morning they joined with the other clergy as they registered, sipped coffee, and waited for the beginning of the meeting. When they convened and Carla’s place on the agenda arrived, Al rose to introduce her.

“Carla Espinoza was in seminary with me. We lost touch over the years and I had the delight of becoming reacquainted with her yesterday. The highlight of our conversation was in recalling our experiences of God’s call to ministry and how our different calls were unique but also similar. Carla has come to ask you for support in her ministry among immigrants, but I’ve asked her to first share her experience of being called by God to her ministry.

As Carla related her story of being drawn to her ministry, she spoke of the compelling power of the gospel that had infused her meek chaplain with a powerful voice so many years ago on the campus of her college.

Then she told the story of arriving too late to save the mother and one of her children. People listened with growing intensity.

A minister from one of the larger churches rose to be recognized. “Your story of the dying mother is very touching, Ms Espinoza, but, the fact of the matter is, she shouldn’t have been there. She was breaking the law. We have laws for good reason.”

“I will be glad to respond to that,” said Carla, “but Al has taught me that I need to listen more, so I would like to hear what others of you have to say first.”
Many of the elders and clergy at the meeting rose to debate the issue before them. It was clear that there was a myriad of opinions and many truly wrestled with the tension between the compassion of their faith and the reality of their lives.

“Most of the clergy at our meeting would be able to tell you of some moment in time when they felt God’s call in their lives,” said Al. “Our experience back in the coffee house reminded me how easy it is to lose touch with the power of that sense of call.”

Carla stooped to smell some flowers near the path. “I can think better in metaphors,” she said. “When you look at these Daffodils, what happens for you?”

Al bent beside her and touched the petals gently. “I know it’s selfish, but my first impulse is to pick some of them and take them home with me to stay in the presence of their beauty.”

“And what happens if you do that,” asked Carla?

“Yeah, I know. If I pick them, I get to use them for my benefit but they also die quicker.”

“I’ve always believed that God didn’t create plants just to be used by humans for food. Rather, God created some plants to expand our souls and fill us with a sense of awe and glory.”

“So how does that relate to . . .Oh, I get it.” said Al. “Like the flowers, many people like to use immigrants and their work to better our lives, but then we toss them aside like wilted flowers.”

“Even cut flowers are placed in a vase with water and nutrients,” said Carla.

“That’s beautiful, Carla, but how do we convey that image to pastors whose congregations are more aware of the laws that are broken by immigrants than by any beauty they bring to the world?”

“This park is protected by laws,” said Carla, “and it is important to acknowledge the way that our boarders and the laws that define them are necessary, but we also need to remember that real humans, children of the same God who touched us, are involved.”

“To be called by God to love a person we fear is quite a balancing act.”

“And I need to remember,” said Carla,” that some of those neighbors I’m called to love are the clergy that will resist my message.”
Over supper with much laughter and storytelling, they developed a strategy for the next day’s presbytery meeting.