DEFEND US AGAINST ENEMIES OF THE GOSPEL

 

 Recently the prayer of the day in our church included the words, "Pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful people. . . protect and comfort them in times of trial, defend them against all enemies of the gospel, and bestow on the church your saving peace . . . ."  The phrase "defend them against all enemies of the gospel" particularly caught my attention.  

In our congregation we have mentioned whether the Church should be political.  Some fear that politics sows division.  Others suggest we not criticize each other for our political beliefs--and we don't.  That may be because we are fairly homogeneous, but perhaps not.  Perhaps we simply love our neighbors as ourselves and do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  It is the core of our faith.

But if refraining from politics means that we stay silent and passive in the face of oppression, then no.  Both Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic church, the Lutheran church bishops and others do not shy from speaking out.  No Christian should.  No American should.  No human being should. 

Many recognize that this administration and its supporters in Congress act as "enemies of the gospel."  How so is that true?  After all, do not all of us sin, repent and ask for forgiveness?  Of course we do. 

But we do not steal from the poor to give (tax cuts) to the rich.  We do not terrorize immigrants of color, cut food benefits to children or fire government employees; we do not deny science, make American businesses pay tariffs to the government, or build grand ballrooms where the beautiful East Wing of the White House once was--where Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosalynn Carter, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama once had their offices.  Where Jackie Kennedy planned the Rose Garden (now also demolished).   

Here in America, our white (like me) president has fired the black Chair of the Joint Chiefs, the first Black person to serve as Librarian of Congress, the first Black woman to serve on the National Labor Relations Board,  the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve, the first Black chair of the Federal Energy Commission, the only Black member of the National Transportation Board, the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors and so on.  None with cause.   

As Christians, as humans, what do we do with this information?  Ignore it?  Pray it will disappear?  Keep silent?  Our service the same week ended with "Send us to do good and to share our possessions with all in need."   Our Prayers of Intercession included, "Move us to understanding and reconciliation between people of other faiths...." 

This is a lot.  But we can't eat the bread and wine that are Christ's body and blood if we let others go hungry.  Hunger is a weapon, whether used against Palestinians in Gaza or poor people here.  ICE raids, troops on our streets, racial terror are evils to overcome. That's why 7,000 of us, many from our congregation, were at the NO KINGS day in our town on October 18.  That's why the speaker was the Rev William Barber--look him up if you need to--, a Dr. King successor. 

Most of us aren't politicians and have no pulpit or bullhorn. All we Christians have is the Holy Spirit feeding us and the words of our faith guiding us.  But we, along with those of other faiths and no faith, have the duty to bear public witness, hold leaders accountable, speak out and resist systems that oppress.  

Some things--the most important--are moral, personal, religious and political.  Think justice, mercy, fair-dealing, respect, goodness, the virtues that stand opposed to sin, including the seven deadliest ones.   We can't ignore politics and keep sin at bay.  We can't fear to mention the names of our two American political parties in a Christian setting and speak truth to power.  Of how we treat the poor, Pope Leo XIV said recently, "Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity or we fall into a cesspool."

My thoughts of the present are animated by God.  We woke to ICE in Charlotte this morning and to protests against them.  As of this writing 81 Charlotte residents have been arrested for the color of their skin and their first language. God is in the midst of them.  He is in our midst.  No where else do we find hope but in His promise to defend us against all enemies of the Gospel.  The calls to prayer are legion, but so are the calls to peaceful action.  Not my words, but to give up is unforgivable.        In peace, Nina Naomi

 

SO MUCH TO PRAY FOR IN AMERICA

Under the Shelter of a Cedar Tree

 Diary of a Mindful Nature Lover :  What I want to do most is love God, spend my days in nature, care for my family and friends and care for myself.  Be mindful of all.  The basics, right?  We have such a beautiful country, parks and mountains and rivers.  Late afternoon I see circling hawks; at dusk deer tussling; evening, geese noisily passing overhead. We want to be there for those we love; to be tender with ourselves and others.    

What I have been doing instead is thinking about sin-- how can this be helpful in these times of crisis, I'm not sure. But that is where my mind is leading.  Sin is so much present.  The times are suffused with it. 

Pride is the original and worst of the Seven Deadly Sins.  C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity that pride is the "anti-God" state, the position in which the ego and the self are directly opposed to God.  He says it was through pride that Lucifer became wicked.  Pride blinds.  Through pride, or hubris, leaders with power become more and more irrationally self-confident.  They too become wicked. We've seen this in history and from afar. Now we see it up close.  

We began praying for the Ukrainians being shelled and dying on 24 February 2022 when Putin invaded.   We also, I do, pray for the young Russian soldiers sent to their slaughter, 1,108 per day since the beginning of the invasion, or about 103 deaths for each square kilometer of Ukrainian homeland taken. Then we began praying for the Israeli hostages taken on Oct 7, 2023, about 250 men, women and children.  Those prayers continue, but were soon joined by prayers for Palestinians in Gaza whose homeland continues to be destroyed by Israeli forces.  Over 46,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).  

There's so much to pray about, we could do nothing else.  I am praying now for the 100,000 United States Federal workers to date who have been fired or forced to resign.  One of them is our daughter-in-law, who had trained long for a job she loves.  She does not know what comes next.  What else?  We can pray for those with Alzheimers or cancer and the doctors who look for cures, and for the Courts who are charged with determining whether cancelling medical research grants is legal.   

We can pray for children like the transdaughter of a friend, that they not be denied medical care; we can pray for our schools that free school breakfasts and lunches continue for the hungry; we can pray for our churches that we can continue to be sanctuaries for refugees; we can pray for everyone poor or disabled or female or gender non-conforming or a person of color, that they be treated as well as those who are rich or male or white non-Hispanic.  Oh my.  

When our son was little he had Tourette's Syndrome and we prayed about that.  In our family, like yours, people have gotten sick and died.  But never have I prayed so much for our country and our democracy.  As a lawyer, I took the oath to support our constitution. I pray also for its survival.  Has there always been this much to pray about?  I don't know.  But it seems like facing sin head on leads one to prayer,  and that cannot be bad.  Prayer is always a good start.  It leads to hope and that leads to action.  Prayer, hope and action are what American needs right now.

Help us, Lord, to pray for, support, and do what's right.  Help us to take action in accordance with Your will.  Help us to work for and support freedom and justice for all. Help us to love our neighbor, on our street or on our border, as ourselves, and support those who do the same.  In so praying, we remember that might does not make right and that evil is as real as good.  AMEN