Monday Meditation
when the gospel disturbs
Bishop Marianne Budde caused quite a stir when she delivered the gospel at the National Cathedral service of prayer. The stir was because she spoke pastorally to President Trump, pleading with him to “have mercy” upon a vulnerable people whom she specifically named. That plea for mercy was rejected, as the President attacked her for “bringing her church into worldly politics” and particularly for “being boring.” No surprise. We’ve all seen this behavior. What puzzled me is the person on Facebook who wrote to me citing a Federalist society article describing Bishop Budde’s “Marxist ideology” as an affront to God. When I asked what was Marxist about a pastor directly pleading for mercy upon immigrants and other in vulnerable conditions, I have yet to receive a reply. Again, no surprise. “Marxism” is code speech for those who have no other arguments. Not that I’m an expert in Marxism, yet nothing in the homily sounded remotely like a godless, anti-Christian, Marxist speech. My friend responded with the quote from King Henry II directed to Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury: “Who will deliver me from this meddlesome priest?” We know what happened to Beckett, and that is troubling.
I am grateful for the plea for mercy spoken by Bishop Budde in a direct, clear-eyed, pastoral manner. Lord knows, those struggling for their lives need mercy now. Her plea may go unheard. Yet, all pastors, priests, preachers know the call is to stand and deliver the message. The rest is the work of the Holy Spirit upon the lives of everyone. We should pray for her safety and that of all others who offer the disturbing gospel. “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.”
As a follow up to Bishop Budde, I offer these words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who also preached at the National Cathedral and Riverside Church, appealing for righteousness. Our congregation is studying his sermons over the next several weeks. King’s word was also met with admiration and condemnation. It is disturbing, to say the least, to hear a preacher speak words we would rather not hear. That moment of disturbance, also be the moment of repentance and conversion to a new way of life, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
”A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on Life’s highway.”
–Martin Luther King Jr.,
Riverside Church, April 4, 1967
