Loly and Paul Tellez
By Paul Tellez
(Cinco de Mayo is celebrated with great gusto by Mexican-Americans and others in the U.S. Southwest. Here is Assistant Pastor Paul Tellez addressing the Glendora church on its 14th commemoration.)
Good morning, brethren.
It is good to speak to you on this day because, as we’ve already heard, Jesus Christ came to tear down the barriers and divisions that language and culture or ethnicity can present. Christ’s purpose is for us all to be reconciled and united as one through the Holy Spirit. This is taught in Ephesians 2:14-18,
“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility …His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility…For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”
As we all know Paul is addressing the animosity between Jews and Gentiles that existed in the First Century, even in the church. The Temple in Jerusalem had a great barrier that kept the two people walled off. Today in America we have many divisions dealing with race and ethnicity. Morris Dees is a social activist who has spent his life fighting groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and has made much progress in that regard. Not long ago he said: “America is changing. By 2040 America will be 50% non-white. These demographic shifts are feeding fear, hatred and paranoia especially in a time of a crippled economy.”
Dees reports that there are now 926 documented hate groups in the United States.
And yet, as our pastor keeps telling us, it is the job of the church to set the example, to help bridge the gaps that have opened up in the culture. So having a day like this is good. It allows us in a church of many different ethnicities to think outside ourselves and learn more about another ethnic group and get beyond the stereotypes that exists.
For one thing, there is the stereotype that all Hispanics are Catholics. That’s not true. I was born Protestant and grew up in the Foursquare Church of Aimee Semple McPherson. For another thing there are vast differences even within the major ethnic groups. My dad is Mexican and Apache Indian from Arizona with a little German thrown in as well. We’re not all immigrants either. I’m third generation American on my mother’s side but by my father much older.
You know, we should remember the Book of Ruth which is all about a young immigrant girl, a widow named Ruth, coming into the land of Israel after marrying an Israelite in her home country of Moab who had died. She meets and is treated very tenderly by Boaz, who is the head man in Bethlehem. Ruth marries Boaz and becomes the ancestor of both King David and Jesus Christ (Ruth 4:17-22; Matthew 1:5). This story seems to be out there to remind us to be careful of how we look at people of another race or ethnicity.
God opened doors for Ruth and America has been a great land of opportunity for many different cultures.
Again, it’s one of the church’s tasks to point people to the example of Ruth and Boaz and how boundaries and borders shouldn’t be the be all and end all when we meet people different from us. Acts 2 shows a very diverse multicultural church taking shape on the day of Pentecost. They are Jews but they are from all over the Roman world (Acts 2:7-11). That should tell us something about how Christ wants his church to be.
Even if people around us don’t live up to that, the church should be different. We have to learn to appreciate and value people of other nationalities and their contribution to the national life. In 1966 when I was on my way to Fort Campbell, KY for advanced jungle training for Vietnam with the 101st Airborne we stopped in Texas. Another Hispanic soldier and I wandered through town trying to find a restaurant. We saw two signs saying “No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed.” Later on, when I took my family on a trip to Corpus Christi I saw the marker at the Alamo. Yes, there was Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie mentioned but also a whole host of Spanish names. That story never seems to get out.
So we all face this challenge to be reconciled through the Holy Spirit of God as the church was challenged to do in Acts 2. One way to begin is to appreciate and value what other people who are not like us have done and still stand for. I think Hispanic Americans make a strong contribution to this country in the area of “familia,” hard work and traditional values and of course in knowing how to fiesta. And that is what we are going to do here today. This is Cinco de Mayo and we are going to enjoy a meal together.
Before we do that let me show you an article that was praised by the Los Angeles Times in 1997. The writer argues that Cinco de Mayo [May 5, 1862] is not an American holiday but it should be. As he goes on to say:
“The French had landed in Mexico on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts. They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire. The French had the finest modern equipment and a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. They left the port of Veracruz to attack Mexico City. Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa the Mexicans waited. When the battle was over (5 May 1862) many French were killed or wounded. The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III form supplying the Confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen. This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Puebla [on Cinco de Mayo, 1862] essentially ending the U.S. Civil War.”
The writer concludes: “It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States to those brave 4000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But who knows? That is why Cinco de Mayo is such a party – a party that celebrates freedom and liberty.”
In our church, Cinco de Mayo reminds us that all people should be respected and valued. So, let’s celebrate one part of that heritage today.
(Paul and Loly Tellez have lived many years in West Covina, CA where they raised an active and accomplished family. He was born in East LA and attended Garfileld High School. At age 19 he was drafted for Vietnam where he served in the 101st Airborne. He was picked as part of an “America’s Finest” honor guard to welcome President Johnson to Vietnam in 1966. Meanwhile, his sweetheart, Loly, was helping him plan their wedding by mail while he served. Loly had joined the Worldwide Church of God (today’s Grace Communion International) in 1970 along with most of her family. Paul and Loly served in many functions in the Pasadena Spanish congregation and transferred to Glendora in 2003 where they immediately began helping out in Children’s Church.)