Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd…
The beginning is always the most difficult. Whether it be a sermon, a blog, a pastoral note or a journal entry it is the beginning that most often leaves me struggling. Maybe not so curiously, I typically have an idea where the literary project at hand will end but the start is the challenge. It is not uncommon for this first paragraph to be rewritten a dozen times. Okay, here is the ending, “The truth will set you free.” Now… how to get there…
“Truth” … the issue is truth that will set you free. Speaking to those who had believed in him enough to follow, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Then those who said they believed in him said something curiously relevant for today, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” (John 8:31-33).
First off, that was a lie, the Israelites had been slaves many times. Second, most of us are not Jewish and would never consider an elevated status before God by virtue of lineage to Abraham. As children of the light, we believe righteousness is to be found by holding fast to the teachings of Jesus, not a family tree. Yet, it seems to me there exists a contemporary parallel experience that is equally without merit.
So, what is our contemporary parallel experience to this false righteousness?
Nationalism mixed with fundamental Christianity makes for a toxic brew. We all saw the January 6 scenes at our Capital Building. “Children of Abraham” sounds precariously close to the authority claimed by many of those who desecrated the halls of our democracy, who called themselves patriots while invoking the name of Jesus. The justification for their behavior, that left five dead and a very dark stain on our national story, was they were the true believers of our Republic. Many claimed an enlightened status as the faithful, the true patriots. Seeing those that gathered on the Senate dais offering a prayer of thanksgiving for Jesus’ blessing on their destructive behavior was truly saddening. Jesus was present with the beaten, the threatened, the fearful, the dying, not with the threatening mob.
To be as clear as I can, this was not following Jesus. This was not holding to his teachings. There were no Beatitudes, there was no love your enemies, there was no seeking the light of Christ in their behavior. There was only a rabid nationalism to which many sought justification by invoking the name of Jesus. Each of us will have to decide if our current national affairs somehow justified the desecration of our halls of democracy, but no one can claim God’s righteousness for January 6. No one.
One of my favorite authors is Anne Lamott. If you have yet to be blessed by her writing, I would make it your next assigned reading. I have fond memories of her visit to my former parish. Her words are relevant, heartfelt and often prescient. She writes and speaks powerfully how the only way to defeat the haters is to not let them drive you to hate. That’s their power, to get you to hate. As best as I can paraphrase, when we hate we can’t operate from our real selves, from that core of faith we are created to live out of. That place of our real strength. We get our revenge by refusing to hate, it deprives the haters of what they want the most.
For me the answer to such moments as January 6 is to love Jesus more than any symbol, more than any national platitude, more than any movement. Remember, it is the truth that will set you free. Our anchor is in finding our truth in the words and example of Jesus. I pray for God’s healing for our nation and for the destructive voices that are seeking our division. Hate, deception, threats and intimidation lead us into further bondage. Jesus is our truth that sets us free. Love wins. That is the truth.
Pastor Tom Kidd
