We All Belong

 

Every day that I travel to and from church, I pass a flag flown by one of the neighbors of the church. The flag says: Trump 2020 Make Liberals Cry Again. The other day, my husband pointed out that particular flag and expressed his dismay over how anyone could have pride in that. My husband’s words have been lingering in the back on my mind. And today they emerge as a blog.

Trump 2020: Make Liberals Cry Again. Are liberals not Americans, too? This promotion of Americans are on two different teams at war with each other is tearing our country apart and allowing sin to rule our nation.

It is one thing to call out bad behavior or bad policy, but to personally attack people in the hopes they cry is un-American. If you don’t like the specifics in the Green New Deal, by all means criticize it, but do not attack Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being dumb, uneducated and a little girl. If you do not agree with how Gretchen Whitmer is handling the pandemic in her state, then criticize the safety protocols. But do not engage in chants to “lock her up.” These personal attacks are not how people of integrity conduct themselves.

Now, we cannot expect all people everywhere to behave in certain ways on either side of aisle. But we can expect the people we elect to serve the people, to be people of integrity, people who serve all Americans, not just the ones who aren’t liberal.

I understand the desire to elect someone who is not a politician and to crave a new way of running the government. I agree that there should be a lot of changes to how our elected people serve their constituents. In my opinion, there should be term limits, there shouldn’t be a two party system, there shouldn’t be a monetary requirement to get a name on the ballot, elected officials should not need to spend the majority of their time soliciting donations to stay in office, and there should be no room for companies to use money to get their agenda pushed forward. But Make America Great Again or Keep America Great, isn’t changing anything, it isn’t moving forward. It is actually looking backward. It is saying that the corrupt ways of the running the government in the past is how it should be. And what has been revealed by Make America Great Again is that corruption is dominating.

If you boarded the trump Train because you wanted to feel like you belong to something great or to feel connected with others to fight against a common enemy, may I remind you of Romans 15:5-7. “May God, the source of all strength and encouragement, enable you to live in perfect harmony with one another according to the Spirit of Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and one voice, you may praise the God of our Savior Jesus Christ. Accept one another as Christ accepted us, for the glory of God.” (Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. Kindle Edition.)

You belong in Christ Jesus. You belong to God who gives you breath. You belong. We all belong. All of us.  And we should all be fighting against the evil in this world. Not one another.

Elephant, Donkey or Jesus?

This past month there have been many different ways that people have been reaching out to me, to support me as a pastor leading a congregation in uncertain times. I’ve gotten video messages, a book on prayer and meditation, cards, invitation for Zoom conversations and more.  I will be honest and say I am stretched, I am tired, I’m sad and lonely. But I’m also renewed, hopeful and engaged in the new work that opens up my imagination and creativity. Beyond the tremendous sadness and grief of lives lost and the constant back and forth of how to handle the pandemic, I believe for the church, we now have more possibilities than we ever had before. And I see the blessing in this time. For me, however, the difficulty of this exile is preaching the gospel in a country that is viciously politically divided. 

 

Whether we like to admit it or not, the Bible and the church are political. The Bible is a collection of stories, many of which teach people how to live in a society as one people. The gospels tell us stories of Jesus who came to help the people being oppressed by the Roman Empire; stories of Jesus teach us to be disciples in a world of injustice. The church is a collection of people who follow a church constitution and bylaws, who are run by a church council, where every member gets a vote and majority rules. Though we would like to not be thought of as political, we very much are. The one thing the church should not be is partisan, because we follow the law of God.

The difficulty of following the Gospel and God’s commands is there is a power over the American people called patriotism; this idea that we must pledge our allegiance to a flag and our country. We vote people into office based on a two party system. Though I realize there are alternatives to the two systems, those options are rarely voted in. We have become a two party system in which people declare themselves as part of one or the other, and stick with those party lines across the board. It makes the voting system simpler, one does not have to necessarily research particular candidates and what their morals are, how they would take care of the people, and what priorities they have as elected servants. You can pick red or blue and make assumptions on where they stand on particular issues in a cut and dry approach. You do not need to understand their “grey” areas, their morals or beliefs. When elected servants cast their votes, they don’t need to grapple with their convictions or morals or what they feel they can live with, they vote the party line to keep this two party system a sacred process. 

 

And what patriotism and party affiliation has done is squeezed out Jesus. Following the first commandment to love God has been replaced with the first amendment. The work of Jesus is now seen through a democratic or republican lens. Issues that should be loving your neighbor issues, are no longer, they are either a democratic or republican issue. We are no longer looked upon as Christian disciples; we are either democrats or republicans. The word Christian and patriot are so closely linked, that being a follower of Jesus no longer exists. What easily glides off peoples lips are partisan talking points, or counter arguments instead of Scripture and the words of Jesus. These labeled words of "Conservative Christians" or the "Christian Left" have taken on this whole partisan terminology and embraces this idea that everything, even Jesus has a side. 

 

Jesus is on the side of justice, Jesus is on the side of the oppressed, and Jesus should be in front of you, if you are claiming to be a Christian. If you can’t find words from Jesus that support your stance, you aren’t following Jesus. And I’m not saying you have to, I’m saying if you want to follow Jesus, you cannot be consumed with patriotism and party affiliation. If you want to follow Jesus, the commandment to love God must always come first. It must come first in your heart, in your family, in your career, in your finances and giving, in your community, in the voting booth. 

 

Until this country moves away from the two party system that people buy into before anything else, preaching the Gospel will forever be the most difficult part of being a pastor. If there is no place, not even church, where we are able to recognize that we are bringing our partisan loyalties to the communion table, and set them down at the feet of Jesus, I don’t know where that would ever happen. 

Jesus was a humble servant. He believed everyone who came to him asking for help. He especially recognized the women and children because they were being treated as property in Roman Society. He reached out to the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned, the sick, the stranger. He taught us to love our neighbors with compassion and understanding. If you are standing for those things, because they all translate to things happening in our world today, then you are following Jesus. If you make exceptions, if you judge others and therefore deny them support, if you base your compassion for people on laws, if you see someone hurting and you fail to be Jesus in the flesh to them, you are not following Jesus.

 

Jesus was executed by the Roman government by request for not following religious laws. According to the Gospel of Luke, he was crucified with two robbers beside him, in which he asks God for forgiveness for them before death because they “do not know that they are doing.” He did all of this while hanging from a cross as people jeered at him and celebrated his Crucifixion. If you claim to follow Jesus, I hope you’d choose to be one of the people who celebrated Jesus’ resurrection, not one of those who celebrated his death.

 

I hope you want to resurrect too, and leave behind your label of Republican or Democrat.       

Where's the Heart?

Are you outraged about the looting in Minnesota but not the murder of a black man? 

I am an ordained pastor in the United Church of Christ for three years. I am a person who comes from a diverse area in Illinois and now lives in a predominately white suburb in Wisconsin. I am a child of a stay-at-home mom and dad who retired from Chrysler. I grew up with none of the extras, but never went without the necessities.  As a young married couple, my spouse and I had some moments where we could not afford health insurance and struggled financially. And I now sit behind this computer as a forty-year-old privileged white woman with two teenage sons.

In my early twenties, not too long after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English from Aurora University, I sat on my first jury for a case that involved a dispute between two young black men where one was shot. The prosecutors on the case miserably failed in proving guilt. The jury all agreed that we really had no idea what happened the day of the shooting. However, the jury I was on wanted to convict the young black man because he had run from the cops. They said running from the cops must have meant that he was guilty.

I remember recalling my criminal justice class that I had taken as a required course. In that class I remember learning that African American families do not teach their children to trust the cops. I was one of the youngest people in the room and I shared that for a black man, running from the cops is not a proof of any guilt. One other person brought up that the proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt, and he did not think that there was enough proof. I was so thankful for this other person that spoke up because I honestly cannot say that I would have held my ground if I was the only one. I want to believe I could have taken on the group by myself if I had to, but I honestly fear I may have kept silent.  It took us into the late evening, but finally the two of us got everyone to say not guilty.

I think of that moment every time I know that I am required to speak up against racism in America and that speaking up will have consequences. It is not enough for me to talk about privilege, racism and the disparities in the criminal justice system with my sons reminding them they have to use their privilege if they find themselves in a police situation with their friends of color. I must do more because my ordination vows require it.       

Today I caught the end of a town hall hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson and Madison365 CEO Henry Sanders discuss the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis with local police officials and community leaders. They invited a black mother, Jacquelyn Hunt to speak. As I listened to her, I began to cry, and I knew my tears meant that I cannot listen without then acting of some kind.

Jacquelyn Hunt asked, “In the moment, at that moment, where is the heart that heard that man say, ‘I can’t breathe.’” Where are our hearts, White America? We have a deep deficit with compassion for others. I see you not once showing your outrage over George Floyd, but speaking up about your anger over the protests, rioting and looting. I see you using quotes about peaceful protests from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and condemning the acts that happened after peaceful, unarmed protesters were met with smoke bombs, tear gas and flash grenades. I see you jumping to speak about right and wrong done to property, but not the wrong done to a black man’s life.

As a white mother and pastor, it is my job to call out your lack of compassion and racism. And as a white mother it is also not my job to take the spotlight. I lift up the words of other black mother’s because I do not know their pain. I lift up the words of Jacquelyn Hunt and ask you where your heart is? I lift up the words of the Reverend Traci Blackmon, “In times like these. My mind always returns to this African proverb: The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down just to feel its warmth.”

I am deeply disturbed and heart broken by our lack of compassion for human life. As people we intensely struggle with grace and compassion for ourselves and more so for others. But we are called by scripture to give the grace that we receive from God. Ephesians 4 verses 29-32: “Be on your guard against foul talk. Say only what will build others up at that moment. Say only what will give grace to your listeners. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, all rage and anger, all harsh words, slander and malice of every kind. In place of these, be kind to one another, compassionate and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.”

White America it is now your job to check your racism and have hearts of compassion for all the pain that this injustice has caused to black America. Pain that you know absolutely nothing about.