2 Timothy 2:1-13 and the salvific imagery of Cleveland, Ohio

As you can see from the title of this post, I'm still thinking through everything that happened with all parties involved with the three ladies and the little girl who were literally saved. Here are some thoughts I shared with some students and a pastor here in Korea. The foundation text of this "bible study" is 2 Timothy 2:1-13. Introduction: This is my second semester at Myongji University and my sixth year in Korea. Before I taught here I taught for 4 1/2 years at Korea Nazarene University (나사렛대학교). Before that I was living in St. Louis, Missouri in the US, west of Chicago, where my dream was to help the poor. I was volunteering at a church reaching out to the inner city where I was living in the city, hoping to change my neighborhood through relationships. Before that, I was living in Kansas City which is west of St. Louis. I lived in Kansas City for about four years. I want to say thank you for letting me be a part of your meeting tonight. I look forward to having conversation with you about things that matter. I am married to a Korean which creates for a variety of experiences. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes interesting and sometimes...well...you know what I mean. One of the things that is on the border of fun/funny/interesting is when it comes to following the law. For example, driving through red lights. What ends up happening is we both focus on different aspects of the law. For example, when a camera is coming up and it says something like “80 kilometers per hour” then my wife is often the first to say, “팔십”. When I was in high school, the principal (교장) made an announcement once a week. As the semester came near the end, I remember him telling us, “don’t drop the ball” (실수로 망치다). And I think of all of you and the pressures you’re facing. I wonder how many temptations you have coming your way. The reality is that you are not alone. That is the reality of the world we live in. And there are things that have come out in the news recently that have reminded the world of the importance of following rules. Not strict things we have to do just because but guidelines that keep us healthy and holy. The worst of these is the story of Ariel Castro. This is the story you’ve probably heard on the news coming from America. One man kidnapped three women and held them captive from 9-11 years. He prevented them from being able to carry a baby, except for one person, who had a baby he is the father of. The last news report I read on this story was that even with all the evidence in his house, even chains and ropes, that he was claiming he was innocent. The second story is about 윤창정, the spokesman for President Park Geun-hye who “was accused of mistreating a young Korean-American intern at the South Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. who was serving as his guide” (New York Times). Initially, his defense was cultural differences with President Park and others apologizing on his behalf. c. The third story, perhaps the most trivial of all, is about Chinese tourists remembering that they represent China when they go to other countries. Tania Branigan, a writer of “The Guardian” said Chinese tourists are accused of these things. “They speak loudly in public, carve characters on tourist attractions, cross the road when the traffic lights are still red, spit anywhere and [carry out] some other uncivilised behavior. It damages the image of the Chinese people and has a very bad impact.” Tania Branigan The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk) All of these stories show us the importance of following principles. I think that is what the writer of 2 Timothy was instructing the person(s) receiving this letter to do. Especially young people tend to think we won’t get caught or that nothing bad will happen to us. But these stories remind us of the contrary. Share in suffering. The writer alludes to soldiers, who have a mission to carry out. Even they aren’t allowed to be distracted by issues related to citizens who are not directly related to their mission. An athlete: Only the one who finishes well gets an award. Hard-working farmer: Hard work is required in order for the farmer to get a good crop. To tell you the truth, one of the issues that my wife and I can’t easily talk about is the story of Ariel Castro. I would suspect that it is easy for us to look at a country we are not a citizen of as being “crazy”. But for me, there is a story of salvation here, which the writer of our passage speaks of very clearly. So I’d like to close tonight by sharing with you my interpretation of that event as it relates to salvation. First, we have the three women who were enslaved to their captor, Ariel Castro. The biggest question everybody is asking is, “Why did the three women wait so long?” There are reports that Ariel liked to play a “game” with them where he pretended like he was leaving and then if they tried to escape and he caught them he would beat them. Eventually, Amanda Berry escaped from the house, with the help of Charles Ramsey. He was eating some food from McDonalds on his porch (건물 입구에 지붕이 얹혀 있고 흔히 벽이 둘러진) 현관) when he heard someone screaming. Apparently, Amanda had gotten to the front door and needed help from somebody else. Charles Ramsey put it best when he said, “I knew something was wrong when a pretty white girl ran into a black man’s arms.” Because of Charles Ramsey, the three women and Amanda’s little girl were set free. They experienced salvation that day in a very present-day reality. Perhaps Michelle Knight, one of the other victims said it best. She ran towards him and said, “You saved us. You saved us.” Another victim said, “Please don’t let me go.” Here is the point where my wife get into trouble. The remaining figure in this story is Ariel Castro. His lawyer, Craig Weintraub, said the media has made him out to be worse than he really is. And the world is waiting to see what will happen with the suspect. In American culture, you are innocent until proven guilty. His lawyer seems to be arguing for the world to maintain a composure of innocency. One website suggests that Michelle Knight, one of the victims was beaten so badly that she will need facial reconstructive surgery. 10. So now Ariel Castro sits in his cell, apparently being monitored for suicide. We could easily condemn him and say that we don’t understand why he did what he did. Perhaps that is because we haven’t followed through with what we have the potential to do. But we can surely identify with Ariel Castro enough to say there have been times when we too wanted to break the rules. And Ariel Castro, and the others in our discussion who have broken the law, remind us, along with the writer of 2 Timothy that bad things happen when we break the rules. The Christian story is really one of paradox. Why do people break the rules? They want to get ahead. Sometimes it can feel like we aren’t getting ahead by doing the right thing. But scripture and experience remind us that if we keep doing those things that are right to the very end, we will have the victory. That’s the lesson of the resurrection of Jesus.

A Black Man Saves A White Woman: That's history in the making.

Charles Ramsey, the man who saved the lives of not one but three, possibly four women plus children made a comical statement in one of his interviews when he said, "I knew something was wrong when a pretty white girl ran into a black man's arms." This statement made me crack up because of the bittersweet reality of racial tensions in America. The bitter part is that there are still ideas that black people are inferior to white people. The sweet part is that it was a black man who saved those women. I hope this story makes into the history books and that there is a day when racial discrimination is so far behind us that we don't even get a joke like this. But for now, thank you Charles for teaching us that not only do we need to be heroes where we are but also that we need to be able to laugh about reality to keep ourselves from going insane.