“I’m not seeing a lot of cases where there’s not coercion,” she added. “The average age where a girl is forced into prostitution is 12 to 14. And most of these 16- or 17 year-olds are being run by pretty vicious pimps.”

National Human Trafficking Prevention Month is winding down, but the actual work of preventing human trafficking continues. Two terrific posts yesterday – one national, one local – demonstrate the need for action and offer ways to meet that need.

Abolitionist and New York Times columnist, Nick Kristof, calls out Backpage.com for helping pimps trafficking girls. That’s not a euphemism, I mean girls. As the quote above from Lauren Hersh, “the ace prosecutor in Brooklyn who leads the sex-trafficking unit there,” demonstrates.

Kristof tells the story of a 13 year-old, whom he calls Babyface, who managed to escape from her pimp (read: trafficker). But not before “she was bleeding vaginally…her pimp had recently kicked her down a stairwell for trying to flee.”

Why does Backpage need to shut down its adult services section?

Babyface had run away from home in September. Kendale Judge [the man who became her pimp] allegedly found her on the street, bought food for her and told her that she was beautiful. Within a few days, he had posted her photo on Backpage and was selling her five to nine times a day, prosecutors say. When she didn’t earn enough money, he beat her with a belt, they add. (emphasis added)

Further Kristof writes, Backpage “is a godsend to pimps, allowing customers to order a girl online as if she were a pizza.”

It was that line that caught Kristin Claes’ attention over at the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE):

That’s not the first time we’ve heard that comparison, and [Kristof's] sadly very right: When Rachel Durchslag, CAASE’s executive director, interviewed 113 johns in Chicago, one purchaser said: “I usually call for a girl, you know, like a pizza.” There are so many disturbing things happening there–a girl being a commodity, available to order–it’s important to know that johns are a driving force as much as pimps are.

I know it’s easier to avert our eyes from this sort of atrocity. But we must not. Girls like Babyface aren’t just in New York or Mumbai. They are here too. Fortunately, the news isn’t all bad:

we [in the Chicago area] are fortunate locally that Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez and Sheriff Tom Dart are embracing the End Demand approach. We’ve seen signs of progress in Illinois, with local stings that led to the arrests of more than 10 traffickers and 27 johns.

Please read Kristof’s and Claes’ full posts. Then pick an action they suggest and take it.

Want a different option? Come to Woodridge United Methodist Church on Wednesday, February 15 at 7:00pm as we screen and discuss the anti-trafficking documentary Call + Response. The event is free, we have plenty of parking, we’ll provide some snacks, and child care is available.

Whatever else you do, be a modern-day abolitionist.

Or maybe it’s because of 16+ years (and counting) spent as a pastor working with, talking with, listening to, dreaming with, consoling, encouraging, praying with, praying for, playing with, and learning with children, teens and young adults (along with, you know, regular adult adults).

Or maybe I’m just a heartless bastard.

Whatever the reasons, I find that I’m with DCFS child abuse investigator, Quad City Pat and sports radio host, Dan Bernstein: Joe Paterno’s death won’t elicit tears from me.

For reasons I cannot begin to fathom, many others are crying as they go on and on about what a stand up guy Paterno was. I guess we expect that by now from former PSU football players. And there’s no doubt his family loved him and will miss him. We must allow them to grieve. But why are so many others jumping up to defend Paterno?

Twice this week in the Chicago Tribune – David Haugh on Monday, Teddy Greenstein today -  sports writers seem to understand why Pat, Dan and I react as we do. And yet, they equivocate about Paterno’s legacy. (Interestingly, the headline in the print edition of Greenstein’s piece was definitive: Update (I shouldn’t have tried to quote from memory): “Body of work overcomes one mistake” “Don’t judge Paterno’s life on one colossal mistake: Unfair to define coach solely by Sandusky scandal”; while the online version hesitates: “Can all good he did ever overcome one colossal mistake?”)

Then there’s the curious case of Shaun King. I like Shaun. I don’t know him, but from what I’ve read, I like him. He has a compelling story and has accomplished much good in the world. But he’s only half right about Paterno.

I’ll say this: King, Haugh and Greenstein are all correct about Paterno’s complexity. That’s simply the human condition. As Robert B. Parker was fond of writing, “No person is just one thing. Even Hitler liked dogs.”

King rightly points out that abuse, including child sexual abuse, happens all the time in almost all places and most of us are not doing anything about it. I agree, we are all complicit for evil in the world. Each of us must take responsibility for ourselves and our organizations, ensuring that abuse does not happen on our watch, under our roof. That’s why so many others and I are striving to abolish modern-day slavery, poverty, hunger, bullying, lack of clean, safe water… That is why so many of us are seeking justice for the oppressed.

But then, it seems to me, King missteps. He writes that only Paterno’s football victories separate him from you or me. Greenstein tries to provide cover for Paterno by saying the school administrators bear more of the blame.

That’s just not true. Joe Paterno was not Everyman.

He was a multi-millionaire, the head of a football empire, worshiped like a king by PSU people, and, almost certainly, the most powerful man in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Paterno may have reported to the administrators in some hypothetical university hierarchy, but he held all the power. In 2004, the PSU president asked him to retire. Paterno responded with, essentially, a paraphrase of Kurt Russell’s Wyatt Earp in Tombstone: “I don’t think I’ll let you fire me today.”

Paterno held all the power. As Stan Lee has so helpfully taught us, “with great power, comes great responsibility.” That’s really just a paraphrase of Jesus, whose similar words from Luke 12:48 are the title of this post.

At the very least, Paterno knew about Sandusky’s pederasty since 2002. He could have barred Sandusky from PSU facilities. He did no such thing. He passed the buck and looked away.

If Paterno had been, say, a literature professor rather than a football demagogue, would we even be having this debate? Or would he have been dismissed right away and his subsequent death gone unremarked upon? We are not all Joe Paterno. Yes, we all must protect children, but we don’t all have the power and influence that he had.

As for Haugh, he claims, “There is no wrong reaction to an icon’s death.” That’s ridiculous. Of course there is. Like, say, this. Lionizing a flawed human being helps no one.

Refusing to admit the ugly truth that child rape and molestation happened with Paterno’s tacit acceptance not only helps no one, but spits in the faces of the already horrifically victimized.

Obviously I feel strongly about this. Perhaps you do too and vehemently disagree with me. Fine. I welcome your comments. But before you do, please read the grand jury presentment regarding Sandusky. You really cannot speak intelligently about this until you have read it.

Finally, please consider this. Like Bernstein, I cried when I first heard this and again when I read it on his post:

Penn State trustee Stephanie Nolan Deviney described to the New York Times her thoughts as she left home for the meeting at State College to determine Paterno’s future.

She went to the bedroom of her seven-year old son to kiss him goodbye.

“I thought of all the mothers of all those boys in the presentment,” she said. “And I thought about what they must feel when they kiss their sons good night.”

I’m angry and I’m sad. I suspect I’ll cry again tonight when I kiss our children good night.

Then, tomorrow, I’ll get up and do all I can to fight for justice. I hope you will too.

Meanwhile, I usually don’t have a manuscript. But that’s ok because I think sermons are auditory (and visual) events to be experienced more than they are papers to be read. I’d love to post a video of my sermons. But we don’t video record our worship gatherings, so that’s out. We do, however, record all our Sunday worship services on audio cd, so I should at least be able to do that, right? Well, for the longest time the whole service (usually about an hour-long) was all on one track. Now though, thanks to our faithful and talented sound engineer, Chris, we at least have a few tracks on the cd’s.

Then there’s the whole question of which of our two services to post. No two sermons are exactly alike. This week for instance, listening to both sermons I thought the first time was a bit tighter. But I forgot to mention that Jonah, son of Amittai means “Dove,” son of “Faithfulness.” I remembered that the second time, but the audio quality wasn’t as good. What to do, what to do… (a first world problem, to be sure).

So I’m trying a hybrid today. Here’s the audio of my sermon (beginning with our Deacon Beth storytelling the gospel reading). Below that are the notes I used along with the two slides I showed. Rev. Russell Rathburn’s The Hardest Question posts and John C. Holbert’s reflections on Jonah helped shape my thoughts. (Along with memories from my favorite seminary class: Jonah & Ruth with Dr. Julie Duncan.)

Texts are Jonah 3 (though really the whole book) and Mark 1:14-20.

Hope you find it engaging. I’d love to hear your comments.

This is the only time in the whole three-year Lectionary cycle that we read Jonah, which is one of my favorite books, so there’s no way I’m passing up this chance to spend some time in this delightful, confounding, silly, challenging book. Plus, I think it will help illuminate the gospel reading.

Close your eyes. You go into work tomorrow and are given the worst assignment possible.
…What is it? Anyone willing to share?
I’d guess we’d eventually hear funny stories, poignant stories, dangerous stories, even maddening stories.

Well that’s what happened to Jonah: he showed up to work one day and God gave him the Worst. Assignment. Ever.

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah, ‘Go at once to Nineveh and cry out against it, for they are wicked.”

In other words, God said, “Go to the capital city of your greatest enemy, the Assyrians – people who don’t know the Lord, people who are known throughout the ancient world as ruthless killers – Go to them and deliver the message I give you.”

We’ll get into Jonah’s reaction to that word from God, but first we need to rescue Jonah. Rescue him from the whale that is the Sunday School pabulum we’ve been fed all these years. What’s the one thing most everyone knows about Jonah? The whale.

I think we confuse him with other whale riders like Pinocchio or maybe even Rudolph in that ‘70s classic, Rudolph Saves Baby New Year. The whale is probably the least important part of the whole story! Here’s how we’ll rescue him: by paying attention to genre.

Genre matters. We know this. It’s probably just harder for us to apply that knowledge to the bible. Think about it like this: what’s the difference between a 10:00 NBC 5 news cast and a Saturday Night Live skit? Do we approach a Tom Brokaw Greatest Generation program the same as we do an episode of the Simpsons or South Park?

We need to similarly approach scripture. Jonah is the Colbert Report of the bible – whip smart, wickedly funny, and overwhelmingly satirical.

It seems to me, knowing that can help us make some sense of Jonah’s actions and words…and help us see just how darn funny this book really is.

Jonah is here, in Jerusalem. God tells him to go to Nineveh, here. So Jonah, whose name means, “Dove” son of “Faithfulness”, does exactly as one so named would do. He flees in the exact opposite direction! Tarshish is most likely in southern Spain. The exact opposite direction and the edge of the known world.

Do you know where Nineveh is today? What modern-day country? Iraq.
Maybe Jonah isn’t so crazy after all.

Jonah, the prophet, the mouthpiece of God, speaks not a word but flees instead, getting himself into many strange, and even funny, entanglements – worthy of a TV sitcom!
Maybe we need to do a study on Jonah, there’s so much here:
-He meets some pagan sailors
-Ends up inside a great fish
-Offers a prayer so sanctimonious it causes the fish the vomit
-Finally goes to Nineveh where he gives one reluctant, half-hearted sermon – a mere 8 words! – and suddenly everybody repents! I mean EVERYBODY: the people, the King…even the animals.
-even the animals are wearing sackcloth. Again, sounds like something right out of a Simpsons episode.

First the pagan sailors, now the awful, violent, enemies in Nineveh do what the prophet of God never does in this story: offer sincere prayers of repentance and change their ways to follow God.
Which, of course, makes Jonah furious.

I understand Jonah, I really do. I don’t have to think long to come up with a few people whom I think need to get what’s coming to them.

“This is what humanness is: sometimes we want education and enlightenment and understanding, and sometimes we want confirmation of our biases and soothing for our prejudices.” – Between Two Worlds commenting on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog on The Atlantic

Jonah tries to flee from God’s presence and finds that’s not possible. God doesn’t just reside in Israel. Jonah wants to limit God’s mercy – after all, the Ninevites were vicious, awful, sinful people. They were the enemy. But Jonah suspects and then finds out that’s not possible either. There is no limit to God’s grace.

And that brings us to Jesus. As author Gary Wills puts it, “Jesus continually tells people – shows people – to their astonishment, that no company is beneath his presence.” People in jobs that are despised? Not beneath Jesus’s presence, he spends time with them.
People that are outcast, excluded, reviled because they are the wrong race or the wrong gender? Jesus spends time with them. Speaks with them. Eats with them. They are not beneath his presence.

Notice what Jesus says in Mark. What is the good news? “The Kingdom of God has come near.” “Repent and believe that God is here with you, among you. God is near.”

How do we change the things we see in the world that are wrong? There are a multitude of ways, I’m sure. In one way or another, don’t most methods for change involve using our voice?

How do we make change?
-Vote. That’s a form of speech, isn’t it?
-With our money, we fund efforts with goals similar to ours “put your money where? Where your mouth is.” Is that a form of speech?
-We speak. Online, through letters, in person (such as at a city council meeting or    a Congress member’s office. Or to a family member or loved one in need of help.)
-And sometimes, we tell stories. The Emperor is a pompous jerk? Tell the story of his “New Clothes”

People trying to limit God’s grace? Trying to keep God for themselves? Insisting that God’s favor is ONLY for them? – Tell the story of Jonah. But remember, sometimes we’re those people. At least I know I am. So then we tell the story of Jesus. God draws near.

If we are to learn from Jonah, if we are to follow Jesus, then today we need to say to any whom the church has made unwelcome, to any the church has made to feel unwelcome, unworthy, or unloved… to them Jesus through words and actions says, God draws near to you.

Can there be any doubt that those who currently hear that message of being unwelcome and unworthy more than any others right now are our gay sisters and brothers? If we are to learn from Jonah, if we are to follow Jesus today, then to our gay sisters and brothers we must say we repent of our lack of love. To them we must say, God draws near to you.

But Jonah teaches me something else too: sometimes we’re the ones limiting God’s grace. At least I know I am. So again we tell the story of Jesus: God draws near.

Who are the Ninevites in your life? Really consider that: who do you despise? Who do you want to see “get what’s coming to them”?

The word I hear from God through Jonah and Jesus is: whoever your Ninevites are, this week, go and tell them ‘God draws near to you.’ Find out how speaking those words changes them. Find out how speaking those words changes you; changes me; changes us. Amen.

While exact figures are exceedingly difficult to determine, our best guess is that there are between 27-30 million slaves in the world today. Human trafficking exists because there is money to be made at it. Lots and lots of money. Human trafficking makes more money than Nike, Google and Starbucks combined. By all accounts, it is the second most lucrative criminal enterprise (equal to or ahead of gun trafficking and behind only drug trafficking).

Given all that we’re up against in the pursuit of justice for today’s slaves, it is easy to get discouraged. And that’s where Call + Response comes in. I found it an absolutely inspiring film. Watching it re-energized my desire to be an abolitionist. That’s why I want to show it to as many people as possible on Feb. 15.

Go check out all the trailers, see if you aren’t intrigued. Also, take a listen to this haunting song which appears in the film. (In the movie, the band was under the working name The Scrolls. They’ve since changed it to Works Progress Administration.)

Does any of this move you? What will your response be? Will you become an abolitionist?

We read those inspiring, challenging words from the prophet Amos this past Sunday.
It certainly is a beautiful image – justice, as strong as the tide rolling in yet as refreshing as a cool stream, coming for those in need.

But for we who would worship and serve God, those words also culminate some stark proclamations. To paraphrase Amos, God says that no matter how eloquent are our prayers, no matter how big are our offering checks, no matter how pitch-perfect and heartfelt are our songs, God will not listen, will not accept, will not hear  them…unless and until we are also actively engaged in bringing justice for the hungry, the poor, and the oppressed.

Like I said, challenging words.

This week, a group of our youth (with some leaders, of course) did their best to live up to that challenge. In lieu of our regular Wednesday night activities, we spent two hours serving at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora. In those two hours the 20 of us, along with about 50 other volunteers, packed enough meals to fill 82 boxes.

That means we packed 17,712 meals, enough to fed 49 kids for a year.

The boxes we packed are scheduled to go to Haiti next week. It’s been two years since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, but tremendous need still exists.

We are humbled and thrilled to provide a small piece of relief, to help bring to life God’s dreams of justice for hungry children.

In what works of justice are you participating?

This post during my week as guest blogger at The Hardest Question was my most viewed post of the year. But I think this post was my favorite. I am so beyond sick to death of running into this “debate” in Christian circles. Enough already. Women are fully human beings and need to be treated as such.

Finally, the image that sums up the year. Taken during the Arab Spring, I wrote a little about it here and here. I find this picture a tremendous example of non-violent protest, of faithfulness, of the way forward. I hope as the Occupy movement here in the U.S. continues and gains traction, it will find a way to emulate this anonymous women:

I must admit that far too often when I say those words to people experiencing pain, loss, grief, despair, they sound trite. Even though I mean it. Even though I’m actually praying for the person and the situation, I don’t know how to say those words without sounding rote and insincere. Even though I mean it.

And but so anyway (with apologies to Fred Clark), today is the two-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. The United Methodist Committee on Relief has a long history of good work in Haiti, work that continues today. By most accounts, there is a ton of work still to do there. I’m proud to be affiliated with a denomination that is still there, working side by side with the Haitian people. I’m proud to be affiliated with a denomination doing its best to live in the way of Jesus: loving God by loving neighbors.

This video seems like a good way to remember victims, honor all the people still rebuilding, and inspire support:

That title comes from “They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love”, which was my favorite Sunday School song growing up. It remains a favorite today because it so succinctly names the purpose of my faith.

Even though it may sound trite… Haiti, I’m still praying for you.

There are as many as 27-30 million slaves in the world today. Yes, today.

Image via Wikipedia

Today, January 11, 2012, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. But just one day is truly not enough. And, honestly, “merely” raising awareness is just not enough. Fortunately, this year President Obama declared all of January as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

It seems to me that the vast problem of modern-day slavery/human trafficking has become much more visible in mainstream media. It’s certainly all over Twitter. (Just search #NHTAD.)

Heck, there’s even an anti-human trafficking opera now!

There are no so many organizations fighting trafficking, so many people engaged in this struggle to end oppression. My blog roll is in desperate need of updating to reflect all the excellent people and groups I’ve become aware of (mostly through Twitter) who are also abolitionists.

Just yesterday I watched Call + Response for the first time. It is an excellent film, mainly for raising awareness – but also for inspiration to, well, respond. Modern-day slavery is (it should almost go without saying) a blatant, disgusting, soul-numbing, mind-blowing, body-paralyzing evil. This film reminds us of that. But it manages not to get stuck in the funk. In fact, it uses the funk to inspire hope! (Trust me on this. Or, better yet, see the film yourself! We’re hosting a screening at Woodridge United Methodist Church on Feb. 15.)

My hope and prayer is that, wherever you are on the abolitionist journey, you will keep learning, sharing and acting to end slavery in our time.

A few ways to respond today, this month, always:

Learn some basics.

Watch videos from Not for Sale’s Global Forum on Human Trafficking.

Read teen author, Zach Hunter’s ideas to end slavery.

Check out retreat resources from United Methodist Women.

Read about The United Methodist Committee on Relief’s efforts in Armenia.

See how educators like Holly Boardman are inspiring – and being inspired by – their students to end slavery.

In the words of Justin Dillon, writer, director and producer of Call + Response:

This is an open source movement. The platform is written, everybody simply needs to write their code on top. What are you good at? What do you care about? Has this issue touched you? What is your response going to be?

The church is my biggest platform. I will continue to challenge the people of Woodridge UMC to fight slavery locally and globally. God dreams of a slave-free world. We long to bring that dream to life. (Plus I’ll update that blogroll.)

What is your response going to be?

I know I saw Moneyball, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, New Year’s Eve (Hey, it was date night, what can I say? Plus, it was reasonably funny.), The Road (yes, I know it’s a few years old but I saw it for the first time this year), X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern, Cars 2, The Adjustment Bureau, The Eagle (on demand. No idea why I thought it might possibly be entertaining. It wasn’t. But you knew that didn’t you?), and let’s see…oh yeah, Thor and Captain America.

There may have been others earlier in the year, but I don’t remember them. What’s missing from my list? Oh, I don’t know, pretty much every movie on anyone’s ‘best of the year’ list.

Based on my very limited list, I’m sure Moneyball is the “right” answer. And it was very good. We laughed a lot more than I expected. Turns out Brad Pitt is more than just a pretty face.

But this is my favorites list and I’m a comic book geek…a comic book geek whose two favorite super heroes happen to be…Thor and Captain America. Yep, those are my 2011 favorite movies. Don’t make me pick one, because I can’t. I first started collecting Thor and Cap comic when I was in junior high. Picking between them would be like picking a favorite child. It just cannot be done.

While neither movie, er, rises to the level of The Dark Knight, they were both plenty of fun as both offered humor, subtle hints and homages for fan boys like me, and a good mix of fealty to the source materials with a fresh, contemporary take on the stories.

Thor was at its best during the scenes with Thor figuring out Midgard. That’s when his humanity emerged and he became likeable. Which, after all, was pretty much the point. Of course, the big fight scene with the frost giants was pretty darn cool too. And I loved the Hawkeye cameo.

Captain America was at its best creating a new reason for Cap to wear his classic costume. I thought that was brilliant. I also loved how the futuristic fair where Steve and Bucky and their dates go is right out of Marvels – including a glimpse of The Original Human Torch. And making Bucky, the future Winter Soldier, a sniper? Terrific.

Finally, there’s the Marvel signature: post-credits preview of what’s next. With these two movies, that means… The Avengers! (Have I mentioned I’m excited for May 4?)

How about you? What were your favorite movies in 2011?

With about 8 minutes left in the game, the Blackhawks were down 4-2. Then Patrick Sharp took a 4 minute high-sticking penalty. With the penalty nearly killed, Brent Seabrook wristed in a short-handed goal to the ‘Hawks hope. (Using ‘Hawks’ as their nickname always throws me for a moment. I grew up in Davenport, Iowa. ‘Hawks’ is short for Hawkeyes for me, and always will be.)

26 seconds later, Jonathon Toews created a turn over, Sharp corralled the puck and got it to Kane, who was alone in the slot. Kane waited a moment then rifled the puck over the right shoulder of Flyer’s goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, to tie the game. My son and I were pumped! It was Kane’s first goal in seven games and just his third in the last 20. He was due, to say the least.

Then a few moments later, Kane took a high-sticking penalty and of course the Flyers scored with 30 seconds left and won the game. [Le sigh.]

All of that to say, I need a little Blackhawks detox. I need a reminder of better days. And that’s were the best goal of 2011 comes in. Also courtesy of Mr. Kane.

December 14 the Blackhawks went to a shoot-out against the Minnesota Wild. Chicago was up 1-0 in the shoot-out and the Wild had already missed twice. Meaning, if Kane scored it would be the game winner. Take a look at the magic he conjured:

Ladies and Gentlemen, there you have it – my favorite goal of 2011!

Hey, whaddya know, I feel a little bit better already.