A while ago, I started getting frustrated with some of the things that I was hearing people saying about people with disabilities. I didn’t like hearing people in my community referred to as “residents” or “the disabled”. These are my friends. These are my brothers and sisters. I just wanted everyone to be equal, for each one of us to be given a fair chance, to be treated as worthy human beings. I don’t like there being “us” versus “them. …I vented to those around me and to the Lord. He answered my questions with one word. The word that God kept bringing to mind was “honour”…both as a verb and as a noun. So I started to think about what this word meant. What does it mean to honour someone? What does it mean to give someone honour? And what does it mean to take away somebody’s honour?
When I think of the word honour, I think of putting a crown on someone’s head, throwing a banquet, giving a toast or an award, giving away the best seat in the house. I think of how Gord and Kornell gave Jordan a new guitar this week. I think of how Rachel is leaving our church to go to Thailand to love children who have nothing and nobody.
When I was discussing this with Andy MacPherson, he asked me what it means to honour our parents, which is one of the Ten Commandments. There isn’t one simple answer to this question. In my own life, I right away think of a few years ago when I was getting some prayer counseling, working through some men issues and personal issues…I started writing a letter to my dad, outlining all of the things that he had done that had hurt me and caused bad fruit in my heart and life. I wanted him to know what how his actions or lack of action had made my life difficult. I went to bed one night and God kept me up, speaking to me about two letters I should write instead. One to my dad and another to my mom, only pointing out the good things that they had done for me and the good things they had taught me. It was hard to write these letters but I knew it was what God wanted me to do, and my parents were really touched by them. (This isn’t what God asks everyone to do. This was just something he had me do).
Biblically, I am reminded of the father who threw a banquet for the prodigal son when he returned. He gave him a ring, a robe, and killed a fatted cow--he gave him the best, regardless of what he had done. He honoured him for returning. This gave back the son some of dignity, because he was at a pretty low point…asking his dad to accept him as a slave. I am also reminded of the woman in Luke 7:36-50 who found out that Jesus was having dinner at the house of a Pharisee and joined him there, even though she was unwanted…being a prostitute and all. There she wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. She also anointed him with expensive perfume. Through her actions, she honoured Jesus. She gave Jesus the best. And he also honoured her by seeing past her reputation and her sins, and allowing her to obedient. He treated her like a human being.
Honour, when used as a verb, means to acknowledge, commend, thank, acclaim, applaud, cheer, celebrate. These are the things we can do for people. Honour can also be used as a noun. In this way it refers to respect, humanity, integrity, character, and decency. These are the things that we can give or restore or fight for when we honour one another.
Over and over again in the Gospels, God speaks of the last being the first and the least being the greatest. “The least of these” are those who have been marginalized, segregated because they are different and put down because we haven’t seen them as being as worthy as we are. They have had their honour taken away from them. There are many people who have had this done to them (if you have trouble thinking of any, start with all of the people we make jokes about and then laugh at). When Freshwind Christian fellowship was started, God spoke to the leadership about four groups of people that he wanted them to honour. We call these our pillars: the children, the poor, the prodigals, and people with disabilities. These pillars are not meant to segregate these people more. They’re not meant to point out that that is “them” and this is “us.” They are not meant to be the lucky charms we place around us to guarantee God’s favour. We have the pillars in order to lift them up and seat them in a place of honour in our community. By doing this, we begin to give back their honour and restore their dignity.
In Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus says, "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”. The good news is that we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven. We can have God’s will done here on earth as it is in heaven. We just need to find out what is His will and to ask for it. The last shall be first and the first shall be last is something that Jesus spoke of on numerous occasions while he was on earth…this means that those who weren’t honoured on earth will have the highest places of honor in heaven.
We can join him in his ministry. We need to ask for His heart and His eyes when we are viewing those around us. And it’s not something that happens instantly…I wish it would! It’s a process, like many other things in the Christian walk. It’s about choosing each time that you see someone…choosing to see the good, choosing to see past the labels and the judgments place on them…choosing to trust God with them and letting people struggle, letting people be themselves…choosing to love people as you would want to be loved…choosing to let people be free and not to bind them up with your views and opinions
Recently I watched the movie “Capote.” One of the things he said that really stuck out to me was, “Ever since I was a child, folks have thought they had me pegged, because of the way I am, the way I talk. And they're always wrong.” This year, Ryan and I enjoyed watching the reality show “Much Music VJ Search”. My favorite person auditioning was a guy name Sean. He was continually being labeled and stereotyped for his sexual preferences. At one point, he got exasperated and said, “I am not Sean the gay man, I am Sean the human being”
To quote Kevin Prosch in his song, “Harp in my heart”: There’s a cry I have had, that I could love my brother. Not to look at their race, their religion or their colour. You love the Presbyterians and the gays and the lesbians, the Buddhist and the prostitute. You’re not like us, we always change. Your see through our sins and you love anyway. Yes I wish you would put the words in my mouth, God. To tell the world what you’re really like. Not a dead god who lives in some building, but at Father of kindness, a Son of forgiveness, a Spirit who helps us…that’s who you are”
That’s exactly it. I want us all to get there…where we can see past the outward appearances and our assumptions. We don’t ignore people’s characteristics…race, gender, views, age, preferences, etc. are what make up who we are. But are identity is not found in these things--our identity is found in Christ and in being a child of God.
I asked God for a picture to exemplify this message. This is what he showed me: We’re packing right now, so there a lot of boxes in our bedroom. And we have a full-length mirror in there so we can see what we’re wearing. I’ve had to move this mirror a few times lately because the boxes have been covering up part or all of the mirror. Plus, the mirror has been really dusty, as is everything else in our house right now. I saw a dirty dust cloth on the floor by the mirror a few days ago so I used it to wipe off some of the dust. I couldn’t believe the difference. I looked so different. I looked so much better. I couldn’t believe how long I go with my mirror being so dirty. It’s like this when we’re viewing people. When we judge and label people, we put “dust” on them and we can’t see them clearly. And we our baggage and memories that we’ve been storing up instead of giving to God or getting healed also get in the way. We need to be continually asking God for help.
Jordan’s West’s video: Jordan recently visited the Winnipeg Center Vineyard. This church serves a people group who live in the north end of Winnipeg, the poorest community in the city. They need to be honored and to have their honor restored. Jordan is going to share a little bit about why he made this video and what he has been learning. (While we were waiting for the video to load, the screen said “Perfecting image. Please wait.” I don’t believe in coincidences.)
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