One of the tasks of ‘pastor’ is to help shepherd the flock
through times of confusion and transition. It is not necessary to be the only
mouthpiece for the congregation or to quickly heal all wounds, but I think it
IS important for the pastor to offer some words of encouragement, hope, and
direction moving forward after events of huge magnitude. So here’s my best
attempt at faithfully responding to what happened last night…
__________________
This is a strange morning. Perplexing. Confusing. Disorienting.
President Trump wasn’t my first choice…and yet he’s the choice. And I honor the democratic process that has gotten us
to this point this morning. I don’t love the outcome, but I respect it.
President Trump will have my support – as a person. I will pray for him. I will
try my best to keep my words about him from ever being dishonoring. And yet, I
find myself torn this morning as I wonder about the future of our country…and
most importantly, it’s people.
This morning I find myself thinking about the Beatitudes –
the beautifully challenging opening words of Jesus’ infamous Sermon on the Mount.
I find myself thinking about the poor, the mourning, the meek, and the hungry;
the merciful, the pure, the peacemakers, and the persecuted.
What does this morning
feel like for those on the underside of our nation?
See, I’m going to be just fine. I’m a straight, white male who
has a good job and is doing just fine financially…and we just elected a
straight, white male who has a good job and is doing just fine financially. But
what does it feel like for those who aren’t in my demographic? What does it
feel like to wake up this morning as a Muslim man or a gay woman or an
undocumented Mexican whose kids are American? What does it feel like to wake up
this morning as someone passionate about the Black Lives Matter movement or the
Dakota Access Pipeline or the ongoing destruction of God’s creation? Because up
until this point, our President-elect has not proven to care too much about these
folks and these issues.
And I pray that he actually does…truly I do and I will. I
pray that President Trump will be a unifying force for a nation divided. I pray
that President Trump will faithfully lead us into a new future as a nation – a united
nation; a peaceful nation; a nation that loves and cares for all of its people.
But more than anything, on this strange and disorienting
morning, I woke up committed to being the sort
of pastor who leads the sort of
church into loving the sort of people
that Jesus loved. I woke up committed to helping my church actually be the church. I woke up committed to actually knowing and loving our neighbors. I woke up committed to actually being a supportive presence for
all those who so often feel neglected.
I woke up convinced that, perhaps more than any time in my
life, God could really use the church to be a leading and guiding force for
peace, justice, hospitality, reconciliation, and goodness in our society. I
woke up convinced that the church has a unique opportunity, at this moment in
American history, to reclaim its original, grassroots mission of being ordinary
radicals – a rag-tag group of normal people who have had their lives upended by
the abnormal love and grace of Jesus and are committed to being the incarnation
of this love and grace in a world that could desperately use a little love and
grace.
So now is our time to rise up – not in fear and opposition;
not in mindless allegiance to the status quo – but in subversive love that
breaks down barriers, crosses bridges, and unites the country under the platform
of Jesus – the poor, humble, Middle-Eastern vagrant who changed the whole world
through a death-defeating, salvation-bringing, enemy-loving, peaceful means of
self-sacrifice.
America’s been great for a long time and I don’t see that
changing anytime soon. But it’s time to make America love again…and it can start with us.
