Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because your future depends on its welfare. Jeremiah 29:7
Jesus said: Give
to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. Mark 12:17
Politics. It’s
complicated. It’s controversial. It’s empowering. It’s frustrating. It’s also
very human. At the most basic level, politics [Greek root “polis” means “city”]
is about how we organize our lives together in communities of any size. Even
when we are isolated families or small tribes migrating from place to place,
the way we live with each other is political. Even when we make decisions and
interact in our churches, we are acting politically.
Politics
for the people of God has been all of the things I listed above, and it’s been
that way since the very beginning. The stories of the Tower of Babel and the
destruction of the world through water are rooted in politics – how people
treat each other – as much as they are faith. The Ten Commandments are rules
for living that are “political” in nature because seven of them are about how
we live with each other.
And when we
feel that talking about anything political in our country right now has become
scary or dangerous, we aren’t really experiencing anything new. The prophets of
Israel and Judah were not popular; on the contrary, they were taking huge risks
and more than one was killed for speaking God’s truth to the powerful in those
two countries. Jesus himself was killed by the government in support of
religious leaders who wielded political power in the community, not just
religious.
This is a
history that we have mostly forgotten, of course. When we read the words of the
prophets in worship services or preach about them in sermons today, we usually focus
on the prophets as forerunners of Jesus, as teaching people nearly exclusively
about the messiah. And so when things get political, even in a reading from
scripture during worship, many Lutherans become anxious or angry. We either
don’t want to be reminded that our political ideology doesn’t line up with what
the Bible teaches, or we don’t want the ugliness of our dysfunctional political
system to show up in church.
Why is this true? Why are we so determined to
block political discussion from our fellowship halls, pews, and pulpits? Well,
one reason is that, starting in the 1950s, mainline protestant churches in
North America, including Lutherans, entered into an informal arrangement with
the governing authorities. Churches would be responsible for promoting individual
morality, private spirituality, and religious practices inside their buildings.
The government and political parties would be responsible for what happened
outside the walls of our churches, like the cold war against communism. With the
support of many churches combined with the silence of others, the governing
authorities were able to build up the system of segregation we call “Jim Crow”
laws and policies, keep women from full participation in the workforce, and treat
homosexuality as a crime.
Because we
in the white church put up a wall between things we considered “political” and things
we considered spiritual or religious contributed to the emergence of black
churches and denominations. Our silent or vocal support of “law and order” in
the struggle for civil rights made the political practices of a racist America
a higher good than working together with other believers to build up the body
of Christ.
Given that
complicated history and the legacy it has left in our communities, what will be
the political response of the congregations in the NW Synod of Wisconsin? What kind
of impact are we Lutherans having on what happens to all of the people living in
our communities, in our state, and in our country? For those who insist we in
the church remain silent, what will be the impact of that silence when so many
of our elected leaders are either bullies or allies of bullies, people who only
care about themselves and their own power? When we don’t take what the Bible
and the church teaches us about loving and serving both God AND our neighbors,
what is the result? When the only religious voices that many elected leaders hear
are voices speaking about power, judgement, and domination, what will be the
consequences? As those conservative, white, Christian voices advocate for imposing
their idea of political “Christianity” on the United States, can anything good
come from this?
The people
of God in this country have the role of Caesar right now. We came close on
January 6th, but we have so far escaped the fate of many stuck
living in countries with authoritarian governments. As both citizens and
Christians we DO have a role to play in what happens in our communities.
Remember that our silence is just as political as our speaking. Silence in the
face of lies by bullies and hatred of our neighbors communicates our consent,
it tells everyone in the community that we believe those lies, that we are okay
with what’s happening to our neighbors.
So . . .
are we?
Breathe
deep. Seek peace and justice. Pray every day.
Deacon
David Rask Behling | he/him/his [Why
are pronouns important?]
Hunger
and Justice Advocate,
NW
Synod of Wisconsin [ELCA]
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