POTUS walked through a park and across a street to hold up a Bible in front of a church for a photo op. To cross the street, our country’s Attorney General ordered the launch of flash-bang grenades and tear gas at the peacefully gathered people in the park.
I’m not gonna rail about this. I’m not gonna lose my mind about how he cynically used the symbols of my faith and a world religion to create a commercial and to associate himself with a faith with which he is clearly unfamiliar. I’m not gonna go on and on about it, because everybody else already has. Bishops, politicians, demonstrators…and their railing has fallen on deaf ears, the ears of the guy who manufactured this thing.
So, I’m not gonna waste my precious breath or your time. I’m not gonna pretend to not know that this faith I practice and hold dear in which I am a leader hasn’t been or isn’t occasionally used for racist purposes. I’m not gonna pretend that I don’t know the things my white parishioners say to me about brown and black people. I’m not gonna pretend that I don’t know why most of the faces in my church are white. I’m not gonna treat you like you’re stupid and I’m innocent.
So, I’m not gonna rail about the brash ugly act of the president, when you and I know that the real sin lies with me. It lies in my sins of commission: what I have done and left undone. It lies in my sins of omission: in my skin, my nationality, my birth into a middle class family. It lies in my heart: my creaturely comforts, apathy, fear. It lies. It lies to me about what I am, and the Truth calls me to be more.
The Truth beckons me to tell you this truth about me, this confession. The Truth is asking you to forgive me and show me a better way, and I will show you what I know. The Truth is asking us to love one another and to help others to love, too. The Truth wants us to hold hands against tyranny, division, and social classifications.
So, I’m not gonna rail. I’m gonna follow The Truth and I hope you will join me.
For Christ Jesus is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. Ephesians 2:14
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-30
A Prayer: Holy All in all, you once hovered over the waters of chaos and evoked light. Call into the chaos of our hearts and societies and evoke the light of love, forgiveness and empathy. Teach us how to perform works that lead to justice and equality among your whole creation. As we embrace action to promote the realization of a common humanity and freedom from oppression, weave an unbreakable bond between us so when the foe, the evil one works to undermine our work, we are successful in our resolve and unity. We give you the honor, the One who gives us breath and life with the Creator and Redeemer, One God, now and forever. Amen
Pericaffe 