HOW IS IT THAT YOU?
- Posted by Tony Huy
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(Theodor Seuss Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”) cartoon editorial about Japanese residents in the United States during WWII)
It’s been 65+ years since WWII. In retrospect, I wonder if we take great pride in how Japanese residents of the United States were portrayed and treated.
The order was given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A little over a month after Pearl Harbor was hit, Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066 allowing certain military regions to be excluded from “any or all persons” as deemed necessary for safety. The result was not that “any or all persons” was excluded from areas, but “any and all” Japanese people were excluded. Why? Well it was obvious. Because we were at war with Japan. Because the Japanese were “savages” and “barbaric” in their tactics. Because, as one writer put it:
“A viper is nonetheless a viper wherever the egg is hatched…. So, a Japanese American born of Japanese parents, nurtured upon Japanese traditions, living in a transplanted Japanese atmosphere… notwithstanding his nominal brand of accidental citizenship almost inevitably and with the rarest exceptions grows up to be a Japanese, and not an American…. Thus, while it might cause injustice to a few to treat them all as potential enemies, I cannot escape the conclusion… that such treatment… should be accorded to each and all of them while we are at war with their race.” (Niiya, Brian. Japanese American History. 1993, page 54. Referenced from Wikipedia)
Over a hundred thousand Japanese residents in the United States were forced to relocate or to be incarcerated because they as a whole people were not trustworthy. Personal integrity and individual stories did not matter. What mattered was that public opinion had already determined those with slanted eyes, wire framed glasses, and slight grins were not to be trusted. They were enemies through and through. All of them. No exception. If we were at war with some then we were at war with all.
Looking back in history, I wonder how we feel about this? What pride do we take as Americans in this? More importantly, do we as Christians view this as “Christ-like” and “gospel-centered” and working towards “the glory of God?”
To the credit of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), he saw how wrong it was to have participated in promoting such public opinion with his cartoon editorials. A few years after the war, Geisel wrote a book. A children’s book. “Horton Hears a Who!” When he was done with this parable about hating-a-whole-people-group, Geisel’s dedication of the book demonstrated his change of heart:
“To My Great Friend, Mitsugi Nakamura of Kyoto, Japan”
A JEWISH MESSIAH FOR NON-JEWISH SINNERS
When Jesus approached a woman for a drink of water in John 4, the woman’s response was “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9 – emphasis added).
Let that question sink in a bit.
Too often when this incident is talked about, we quickly jump to the woman’s personal story of many husbands and then follow it with Jesus’ personal invitation to experience living water. Find fulfillment. Be saved. We do this because we’ve been trained to think about being “personally saved”- and that’s a good thing. But rethink this passage for a second. Rethink it and note:
Note that the narrative in this passage is that Jesus “had to pass through Samaria” (John 1:4) and not just that He “had to meet a woman.” Note that the land Samaria is emphasized as necessary to Jesus.
Note that this woman’s shock revolves around her gender (me… a woman) and around her race (of Samaria).
Note that the apostle John adds a helpful commentary to this woman’s reaction
John 4:9 (ESV) — 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
That’s just how it was. Jews did not deal with Samaritans because Jews believed Samaritans were dirty half-breeds not to be trusted.
Note that when this woman appeals to segregated worship (you Jews there, us Samaritans here) Jesus does not revert back to “let’s just talk about your personal life and need for salvation.” Instead, Jesus appeals to the grander redemptive work of God, one which erases racial and ethnic lenses:
John 4:21 — Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
Note that Jesus’ Jewish disciples are shocked by the fact that Jesus is talking to this woman (John 4:27). The word John uses to describe this shock is the word translated “marveled”. It’s the same word that is used to describe the reaction of the disciples to Jesus calming the wind and the waves with simply a word; the same word to describe the reaction of the crowd when Jesus casts out a demon; the same word to describe the reaction by all when Jesus heals a paralyzed man (Matt 8:27; Matt 9:33; John 5:21, 7;21). The point John wants to get across is that the disciples’ reaction to Jesus talking with this Samaritan woman is as strong as the reactions people had to the miracles of Jesus. In essence, it was a miracle that a Jewish man was talking to a Samaritan woman.
So let the question sink in again: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9)
What was Jesus doing in John 4?
CONFRONTING PUBLIC OPINION
As you read about the life and ministry of Jesus, Jesus had a knack of using women, Samaritans, and Romans as pictures of faith and favor from God. Women were the first to see the resurrected Jesus. It’s a “good” Samaritan that truly loves his neighbor. And Jesus once said that the faith of a Roman Centurion could not be found in all of Israel.
Why did Jesus do these things? Why was his life and ministry littered with these three categories of people?
Most scholars will tell you that the common attribute among these three – women, Samaritans, and Romans – was that the Jews looked down upon each of them, distrusted them, and plainly, in the case of Samaritans and Romans, disliked them.
So what does Jesus do? Jesus comes on the scene as a Jew and confronts the Jewish mindset. He confronts the isolationism. He confronts the blindness that nationalistic pride brings. He confronts the sexism & racism that plagued the heart of God’s people. Jesus brings salvation to the non-jew, non-trustworthy, non-safe population. In doing so, Jesus was making a statement about God’s love and redemptive plan for His creation:
that all people are simply sinners who need to be saved by grace
Even more than that. Jesus was working, through His life and His death, to free His people from the depravity of their own hearts. In many cases, that depravity had to do with writing people off simply because of their nationality, ethnicity, or even religious affiliation. We see this in the early church and it’s struggles with the gospel extending beyond Israel’s borders. We see this in the many letters of Paul dealing with the Judiazing of Christians. Apparently, the early Christians found it difficult to believe that salvation could be had outside of a Jewish context. Somewhere along the line, God’s redemptive plan was mistaken for a racial plan. The product was animosity and bigotry that still needed to be sanctified even in the lives of the redeemed.
A PLEA FOR GOSPEL EYES AND GOSPEL THINKING
Life is rarely simple. Issues are rarely black and white. As we process Paris, ISIS, immigration crisis, I plead with you to simply let the bible shape your thinking. Don’t let politics nor fear nor reactionary compassion drive you. Remember that you are citizens of the Kingdom of God first and foremost. The bill of rights and the pursuit of happiness that govern our lives as disciples of Jesus is shaped more by the cross and the empty tomb than by any historical document, as good as they may be. Ours is a call to sacrifice, to risk, to work towards salvation of those that are lost. In that we pray, discern, seek wisdom. In that we fight our own emotions and natural inclinations and we allow the Spirit of our Savior to shape how we view people. In that we communicate and narrate life in a way that reflects an image of God as is consistent with the way of Jesus.
I plead with you, not for a specific political persuasion, but I plead with you, to let the gospel shape what you see, how you think, and what you say.