“Time to Stand Up and Out in Our Faith” by Graham Campbell

TIME TO STAND UP AND OUT

IN OUR FAITH

By Graham Campbell

“When tyranny becomes law resistance becomes duty.” -Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Supreme Court Justice

“The church must become a holy disrupter, not the chaplain of the Status Quo.”  -Otis Moss III

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. “ -John 13:34-35

This is the first overtly political blog I have posted here. I understand many will not agree with me but:

1. In this post, I do not speak for the church.
2. I speak as a member of the church, to the church, empowered by the church’s Coordinating Council Statement, and from the foundation of the message of Jesus.
3. As a Christian, I can no longer remain silent in the face of the events in our country.
4. I invite readers to comment on this post in whatever way is true for you; that is why the blog is named ‘Dialogues in Progressive Christianity.’

The Darkness which has been exploding around us came deep into our community on Eurika Street May 8^th of this year. I was not there so I was not an eyewitness, and it is clear that both sides created problems. But it is also clear that too many people have been arrested/kidnapped and imprisoned without due legal process by masked ICE agents in black clothing, without ID or insignia. People in the neighborhood were worried about what was happening to their friends. Who among us will be the next targets? There was a high student from Milford who had been in school there since the early grades who was arrested by ICE this week. Protestors of the actions of Israel in Gaza are threatened for exercising their constitutional right to free speech. Who will be next? Have we turned into a third world dictatorship where people are ‘disappeared’ on a regular schedule? This is occurring as President Trump has approved of the immigration of approximately 17 members of the Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico to the United States. I guess he is creating the mythical caravan he howled about in his fist campaign.

I write this today not primarily as a politically progressive person but as one who take the message of Jesus with ultimate seriousness when he calls us to love one another and when he insists that we meet him in ‘the least of these’ and when he quotes Hebrew Scripture as he says his mission is to bring freedom to the captives. He does not say love your neighbors if they have the right papers or skin color or speak English. He simply says love them.

Much of media attention goes to that portion of Evangelical Christianity that supports these and many other actions. It is time for those of us who follow the loving Jesus Christ to stand up. MAGA does not represent the Christian path no matter how many Bibles their leader sells.

On the night Jesus was arrested as many are being arrested today, he spoke to his disciples insisting their task was to love one another as deeply as he loved them. He admonished Peter for drawing his sword and insisted on love. The disciple’s world was about to explode. Like us, they often did not know what to do. Later Paul spoke of faith, hope and love with the greatest of these being love. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the church has become the clanging cymbal he also mentioned. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

But we are not powerless even though the situation often feels so hopeless:

1. The church can speak as a community of faith as our coordinating council has done, and we can be clear as individuals that we agree.
2. When it comes to love and caring for the stranger, Jesus was never neutral. He always took sides with the ‘least of these’ as a holy disrupter.
3. If it is part of our nature, we can show up to public events boldly proclaiming our faith and our commitment to loving unconditionally. (See below.)
4. Not all people are prepared to take this step for reasons of their own health, safety and age. But the quieter among us can support and encourage the activists. As the folk song says, “All God’s children got a place in the choir, some sing low some sing higher.”
5. I encourage all our members to comment on this blog either in agreement (I hope) or disagreement (I accept), and I fully acknowledge one of our more conservative members is often very helpful in slowing me down, so I don’t charge after every half-baked concern.

And there are two specific things we can do:

First, when we next see ICE in Worcester, we can call the LUCE hotline – 617-370-5023. They will help verify that it is in fact ICE, explain your rights and broadcast the news.

Second, is joining an upcoming event.

NO KINGS DAY

June 14^th 1-3pm

Behind City Hall, Worcester

This event will protest the president’s military parade which will cost $45 million while he cuts veterans benefits and Medicare.

I will be organizing a group from our church to attend as witnesses to our faith on this day. Feel free to check in with me in church this week or get my email from the church office. (I am reluctant to put my email forward in this public space since I’ve been hacked twice this year.) I’ll share details of gathering places and times. It won’t be far from the car park to the city hall. We can lean on each other and push wheelchairs. It may also help to know that if I can carry it, I’ll be the guy with the flag that says, “I’m with the penguins.”

I do this as a witness to our faith. I want my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren (hopefully someday) to know I stood up for all of them; to know that I and we did not back down when their safety mattered. I want our church to bring its sanctuary to the event so that all people know they are welcome by our word and deed. I want to demonstrate in our action that FBC stands by all the ‘least of these’ of every shape, type, shade, gender, and pronoun.