So, the newly inaugurated President went to church on Tuesday. Depending on your point of view, it didn’t go so well. Or it did.
I’ve been fascinated by the varied public reaction to the sermon that the President and Vice President were positioned on the front row of the National Cathedral to hear. The Episcopal Bishop who brought the message, on her home turf, offered a kind of homiletical prayer for unity, and concluded with a plea for mercy. I understand why the two principals in the audience weren’t receptive to the plea. The President, himself, has since demanded an apology. Having mercy on the controversial and the unpopular, on those whose very presence in this country is perceived as an affront isn’t what the electoral winners campaigned on. Quite the contrary. Different, they insist, is deviant. Refugees, unwelcome. I get their indignation at being preached to. And while it is fair enough to argue political ideologies, that was neither the preacher’s setting, nor her assignment.
Nor mine. It’s not the politics that has me scratching my head.
What has surprised me is the mixed reaction to the sermon within the Christian community. Yes, some have expressed appreciation for the message that was proclaimed. But more volubly, others have spoken condemnation; indignation; disapproval. Many views I have heard and seen accused the Bishop of being “inappropriate.” “Out of line.” “Taking a cheap shop.” “Abusing the privileged moment.” “Imposing her radical views.”
That’s what surprises me. What she did is really nothing new. People of faith have been speaking bluntly to the powerful at least since Moses challenged the Pharaoh. The Hebrew prophets certainly won no powerful friends with their confrontational and condemnatory words addressed to kings and those in leadership. Unwelcome words spoken forcefully, and directly. Face to face. Jesus certainly didn’t hesitate to speak such words. Neither Peter nor Paul nor any of the subsequent martyrs. From Martin Luther to Martin Luther King, jr, the faithful have spoken the truth as they have understood it to power. And they were hardly thanked for their integrity. The “blood of the martyrs” wasn’t shed for being polite.
And what, in her moment, did the Bishop actually say to the President? She spoke of unity—that, after all, was the advertised focus of the gathering. She spoke of living out what we, as Christians, profess, even if it is unpopular—respecting differences, living sacrificially. She cited Jesus’ admonition to love not only our neighbors—our beloveds—but also our enemies, and even those who persecute us. She noted Jesus’ insistence that we be merciful, forgiving others as God forgives us. Central to our faith, she recalled, is the recognition of the inherent dignity of every person; that it is antithetical to the faith to demonize or belittle those with whom we disagree. She spoke of honesty and humility, and then closed with that now famous plea for mercy.
I simply don’t understand what a Christian would find objectionable in those reminders; those enjoinders. Standing in a long line of prophetic voices, she offered the straight-forward gospel, unadorned. Not, to be sure, all the theological contortions that the domesticated church has twisted itself into that focus exclusively on personal salvation as the guest pass for some eventual eternity, but rather the basic adherence to Jesus’ invitation to follow him.
Not to worship him, but to follow him.
I have no doubt that Jesus would have recognized his words in every one of the Bishop’s sentences. It was, after all, pretty basic stuff. Christianity 101. Hard to make it liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. But somehow, dishearteningly, the sermon was controversial…among Christians. Amazing.
In response to those who chastise the Bishop for speaking out of turn, I hear Paul nudging Timothy to,
“…proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths” (2 Timothy 4:1-4).
Whether it is popular or not. In season and out of season. Preach the gospel. Say what Jesus said. Do what Jesus did. And all those prophets before him and since. Proclaim the good news in ways that inevitably hold us accountable. That demand that our words become deeds. You know, all that “looking out for the least of these” business.
It may or may not be patriotic, but it is certainly and transparently Christian. Following Jesus. Like we were called to do.
If we don’t like what the Bishop had to say—if our ears tickled when we heard her words— perhaps our problem is less with the Bishop…
…than with ourselves.
Heaven help us.
