I'm speaking, of course, of Bishop Mariann Budde, who preached the Gospel into the very face of the most powerful man in any government in the so-called "Free World" - or, what's left of it because it is tilting again to the Right.
Some want to make her a hero. She is not. She's a Christian.
We've so tamed the Gospel, so domesticated Jesus and turned him into a lovely, purring lap cat that we've forgotten that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is dangerous. We've lost sight of what a huge risk it is to live out the important lessons that Jesus taught.
Leadership 101: The leader sets the standard. Old King Donald is dangerous because he has set the standard of cruelty and violence, revenge, and retribution.
Bishop Mariann Budde is dangerous because she has set the Gospel standard of self-sacrificial love, of speaking Truth to power, and of giving a voice to the voiceless.
The Flying Maga Monkeys will do exactly as their leader asks them to do. Of this, there is no question.
Will Christians at least strive to meet the standard set for us by Jesus and demonstrated for us by a bishop in the church? Now, that's the question.
We don't need a hero. We need Christians.
Not White Supremacy Christians. Not the kind of Christians who use the bible to defend slavery and promote a return to it. Not the kind of Christians who use the bible to oppress women, and LGBTQ+ people, and those who are strangers seeking hospitality in a foreign land until they can make it their home.
No, we need Christians who have actually read the Bible and studied it and understand its context as well as its application for the world today. We need Christians who try to live out the standards set by the teachings of The Incarnation of God, the Messiah known as Jesus the Christ.
You want a hero? See that Blue Heron there, in the picture, bundled up against the wind by staying in the tall seagrass? That right there is a hero.
This morning, I was on a Zoom call with my sibling clergy. We were studying the lessons from this Sunday's lectionary. Someone had just started to read Paul's Epistle (1 Corinthians 12:12-31a) about how we are all part of the amazing interconnected web of relationships that make us part of the Body of Christ.
Just then, I happened to look out my sunroom window. A duck had flown in earlier and landed on the ice. Now, he was sitting down on the ice and flapping his wings wildly as he called out in clear distress.
Suddenly, several Merganser ducks - maybe five or six - flew in and surrounded the duck. They started flapping their wings wildly and stomping their webbed feet. I assume they were trying to free their friend from the frozen ice, but to no avail.
Then, the Blue Heron stepped out a bit from the seagrass and began to peck at the ice with his enormous bill. It didn't take long before the thin ice cracked and the duck was free. Several of the ducks fell into the water with him but they soon were able to get back up on the ice and fly the short distance into where the current and sun had melted the ice.
And, there it was. Right before my very eyes. Mother Nature was providing a parable to exemplify the words of Paul about how to live in community.
Everyone did what they could, everyone took part, including the Blue Heron. "To whom much is given, much is expected."
The Mergansers and the Blue Heron were heroes.
Bishop Mariann is a Christian. Just like you. Just like me.
She saw a chance to use what power and authority she had to speak truth directly into the face of power. That's exactly what Jesus asks her to do.
Is it dangerous? You bet it is. That's in the very DNA of the Gospel. We've just gotten so comfortable with it, not had to pay the price of it for so long, we've either forgotten or we never really understood.
Bishop Mariann helped us to remember that. Or, learn it for the very first time.
It's not to late to say that I hope something good happens to you today.
Bom dia.
No comments:
Post a Comment