It has been an interesting week, and one that has been both life giving and life taking from me. I listened to the National Prayer Service after the election and heard the Rt. Rev. Budde giving her sermon. I thought she did a wonderful job and approached a sensitive topic in our culture with such passion and faith. She helped to give me hope for the Church in the world today. Unfortunately, if you read the comments under videos of her sermon, or read articles about what she has been receiving since, you see that Bishop Budde’s call for Mercy on vulnerable people has been met with hate and death threats. I breaks my heart that this faith-filled women is being called un-christian by those who claim the title for themselves simply for using the words we find in the Gospel of Jesus.
Unfortunately, this is not a new occurrence in our society. For years now, many of my colleagues in the evangelical and independent churches in the US have struggled to preach Gospel because they will be accused of being ‘woke’ or ‘socialist’ or ‘leftist’ (see this interview with former Southern Baptist Leader Russell Moore). This is even perhaps a struggle in the mainline churches as well when we gather on Sunday Mornings in congregations that are politically purple (full spectrum of political views). This struggle has been life taking for me this week as I have been preparing my sermon and making plans going forward.
My biggest struggle is to decide if I mention Bishop Budde on Sunday, I think that it would be appropriate and fit the text, but then would it alienate someone from hearing the message? But then again, do I not speak truth in order to ‘keep someone happy’? I have been holding these thoughts in my prayers this week as I continue to do this work that I love to serve the God and Savior that I love, but I am reminded even more in this week that faith is not easy, nor were we ever told it would be. I have been listening to the book Pastrix by Nadia Boltz-Weber (audiobook included with Spotify subscription) and one of the chapters is focused on what is perhaps our biggest tenant of Christianity, Forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a difficult topic and one that will probably be different for each of us based on our lives and what we have experienced, but I think there is something beautiful about a faith that calls for forgiveness. One of the biggest issues I find in the concept is that often we think that forgiveness means that people ‘get away’ with the wrongdoing they have done but if we look in 2 Samuel in the story of King David, we see a man who has done a horrendus thing (He has Uriah killed by having him sent to the front lines of battle and sleeps with his wife Bathsheba, he is then called out by the prophet and asks forgiveness of God, is granted forgiveness but still has to deal with he consequences of his actions (Chap 11 &12). So, as followers of Christ, as People of God we are called to provide forgiveness (see also the Lords Prayer), yet this forgiveness does not absolve people of the wrongs they have committed. This is why I tell people that if you forgive someone who has harmed you, or has abused you, or done something horrendus to you, your forgiveness does not mean they get away from their misdeeds, but it means that you are not going to hold on to darkness anymore, it means that you care more about love in the world than hate. But how difficult is this to actually practice?
I do not know about you, but I find it F#@$ hard to forgive sometimes. I have gotten better about it but it is a struggle and something I pray about each week. Honestly, while forgiving others that have wronged us is hard, it is even that much harder to forgive the harm we have done to ourselves, the times we hold space in our thoughts for things in our past that cause us harm is probably more that we hold for others. But you see, I believe in a Loving Creator God who wants to be in relationship with us, creation. Since time immemorial, we as creation have defiled the creation around us (weather that be each other as humans or the way we have treated our planet) and we will have to deal with the conseqeses of our actions, but God forgives us, God Loves us. Feel the warmth of that Love and share it with others. In world as decisive as ours is, I invite you to take Bishop Budde’s words to heart and to have compassion and mercy on those around you. Let us live lives of Forgiveness and Love and may we worship our creator in those times and moments.
If you are curious if I am going to mention the sermon from Bishop Budde on Sunday, well I guess you will just have to join in worship to find out ;) but know that whatever I preach, I aim to preach with love and guidance towards God and towards the Love and Justice of Jesus the Christ.
Have a blessed week.
Love
Mat
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