Note: this was posted to my Facebook (FB) wall today.
"But this fight. This is a fight to the death. A fight for the soul of the nation. If you are able, and you're willing to enlist, the fight begins today." - The conclusion of my sermon on August 13, 2017
I have heard via FB posts (on other's walls) of three church members who were upset by my sermon on Sunday. There may be others. They felt politics has no place in a worship service. That I was intentionally trying to make people feel bad. That worship is time to be closer... to God and escape the turmoil of the world (my words).
I have had others speak to me on Sunday and in the days since about how they were moved by these words. Moved to engage in the hard work of justice and love in a world where both justice and love are under continual threat.
Whether or not you agree with my assessment on Sunday that the task of the church is to face the sin of racism as it exists in the church at large and in my particular parish, I hope you will continue in dialogue with me. I take no perverse joy in making anyone unhappy or to be seen as placing barriers between anyone and their God. At the same time however, I do not believe my task as a preacher is to protect anyone from the realities of sin in the world. Or to say it another way, I now see my task in part "To afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted."
As I said on Sunday, "the time for playing nice is over." I am not trying to pick a fight or to cram my agenda down anyone's throat. But I must be ready to give an account of myself before God and if I have spent my ministry trying to be neutral in the face of injustice, oppression, and sin, then my time before the judgement seat will not go well.
I suspect that there are other people who, like me, don't like conflict or confrontation. And that may be a big part of the problem.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The sermon can be seen @ Stevensville UMC YouTube channel.
Whether or not you agree with my assessment on Sunday that the task of the church is to face the sin of racism as it exists in the church at large and in my particular parish, I hope you will continue in dialogue with me. I take no perverse joy in making anyone unhappy or to be seen as placing barriers between anyone and their God. At the same time however, I do not believe my task as a preacher is to protect anyone from the realities of sin in the world. Or to say it another way, I now see my task in part "To afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted."
As I said on Sunday, "the time for playing nice is over." I am not trying to pick a fight or to cram my agenda down anyone's throat. But I must be ready to give an account of myself before God and if I have spent my ministry trying to be neutral in the face of injustice, oppression, and sin, then my time before the judgement seat will not go well.
I suspect that there are other people who, like me, don't like conflict or confrontation. And that may be a big part of the problem.
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The sermon can be seen @ Stevensville UMC YouTube channel.
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