Reclaiming Jesus (Midweek Message)

Fr. Tony’s Midweek Message

May 23, 2018

Reclaiming Jesus

The Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry, is having a busy week “telling the love of Jesus.”  His homily at the royal wedding on Saturday reached a viewership of 29 million people in the U.S. alone, according to Forbes magazine.  Saturday evening, he was satirized in good spirits by Saturday Night Live, to which he replied, in equally good spirits, how happy it made him.  Then on Tuesday, he was interviewed on NBC’s Today show, with a viewership also in the millions.   The message?  There is power in love, and God is love.  

Tomorrow evening, the Presiding Bishop will be assisting in leading an ecumenical church service at National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle in Washington D.C., and then participating in a candlelight vigil in front of the White House.  Here, the message is what love means and how it must find expression in our shared life.  The events will help promote the “Reclaiming Jesus” declaration that Curry and 22 other progressive and gospel-oriented religious leaders signed in early Lent. 

“We are living through perilous and polarizing times as a nation, with a dangerous crisis of moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches.  We believe the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith is now at stake” they said.  

The statement makes six affirmations of faith and six concomitant renunciations of error and sin in our common life:

“I. We believe each human being in made in the God’s image and likeness. Racial bigotry is a brutal denial of the image of God in some of the children of God.  Therefore, we reject the resurgence of white nationalism and racism in our nation on many fronts, including the highest levels of political leadership.  We reject white supremacy and commit ourselves to dismantle the systems and structures that perpetuate white privilege and advantage.  Any doctrines or political strategies that use racist sentiments, fears, or language must be names as public sin. 

“II. We believe we are one body.  In Christ, there is to be no oppression based on race, gender, identity, or class.  Therefore, we reject misogyny, the mistreatment, violent abuse, sexual harassment, and assault of women being further revealed in our culture and politics, including in our churches, and the oppression of any other child of God. 

“III. We believe how we treat the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner is how we treat Christ himself.  Therefore, we reject the language and policies of political leaders who would debase and abandon the most vulnerable children of God.  We strongly deplore the growing attacks on immigrants and refugees; we won’t accept the neglect of the well-being of low-income families and children. 

“IV. We believe that truth is morally central to our personal and public lives.  Jesus promises, ‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ (John 8:32).  Therefore, we reject the practice and pattern of lying that is invading our political and civil life.  The normalization of lying presents a profound moral danger to the fabric of society.

“V. We believe that Christ’s way of leadership is servanthood, not domination.  We support democracy, not because we believe in human perfection, but because we do not.  Therefore, we reject any moves toward autocratic political leadership and authoritarian rule.  We believe authoritarian political leadership is a theological danger threatening democracy and the common good—and we will resist it.

 

“VI. We believe Jesus when he tells us to go into all nations making disciples.  Our churches and our nations are part of an international community whose interests always surpass national boundaries.  We in turn should love and serve the world and all its inhabitants rather than to seek first nationalistic prerogatives.  Therefore, we reject “America first” as a theological heresy for followers of Christ.  While we share a patriotic love of our country, we reject xenophobic or ethnic nationalism that places one nation over others as a political goal.”  http://www.reclaimingjesus.org/

This is political, to be sure, for it deals with our life in common and what policies, values, and behaviors are best.  But it is not partisan.  This is about how we can best show forth the love of Jesus today, here and now.  It is all about the Gospel and what Jesus calls us to.  As the statement declares, “If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar was not, nor any political leaders since…  Our faith is personal, but never private, meant only for heaven and not for earth. Applying what ‘Jesus is Lord’ means today … [helps us] find the depth of faith to match the danger of our political crisis.”   

During June and July at the 9:00 a.m. hour on Sunday, I hope to have a series of Bible studies and conversations about the principles outlined in the declaration so that we all may see more clearly the way before us.  

Grace and Peace,

Fr. Tony+