That We All May Be One

As I read Psalm 72 this morning, I thought about how it is a really pretty good summary of what might be called “biblical leadership.” At least, these are the qualities the psalmist sought in the “ideal king.” In this political season, when so many are wearing their faith on their sleeves, perhaps this psalm might be a good reflection piece for us all:

(Verse) 1 Give the King your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the King’s Son — so what does justice and righteousness mean here? Read on:

2. That he may rule your people righteously and the poor with justice — so, “rulers” are to treat poor folks “rightly” and with justice.

3. That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, and the little hills bring righteousness — assuring economic security and justice for all is part of the role.

4. He shall defend the needy among the people; he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor — sounds like “a preferential option for the poor” to me. Beware, oppressors!

7b. there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more — rulers are to be peacemakers.

9. His foes shall bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust — yes, there is a “commander in chief” role here, in our broken world.

12. For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper. 13 He shall have pity on the lowly and poor; he shall preserve the lives of the needy. 14. He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence, and dear shall their blood be in his sight — sounds like the ideal leader has compassion for those in the realm who are victims of violence and mourns every loss of life (maybe even with tears).

15. Long may he live! And may there be given to him gold from Arabia; may prayer be made for him always, and may they bless him all the day long — best wishes and adequate support must be given the ideal ruler. And it wouldn’t hurt to offer our prayers and blessing as well!

Interesting how much more attention is give to the leader’s concern and actions for the poor than to “national security.” Both are there. It’s just that justice is at the heart of the people’s security. Or, so it seems to me.

Worked an event for Hillary and Bill Clinton last night here in Davenport. I was responsible for seating people in the ADA section so that physically-challenged folks could hear, and at least partially, see this famous couple. And, I’ll be on the phones all weekend and on Monday right up until caucus time to try and get out the vote.

Bill was his usual charming, winsome self describing falling in love with Hillary, the amazing accomplishments she had as a young lawyer, working for the Children’s Defense Fund and to combat segregationist academies throughout the south, long before she ever became First Lady, a Senator from New York, or Secretary of State. He said, “She makes everything she touches better.”

Of course, if you dislike and distrust Hillary Clinton, you will continue to believe that her e-mails reveal that she was, perhaps, a spy releasing classified information to damage the United States. And, that she was personally responsible for the tragic death of  Ambassador Chris Stevens (and the others) in Benghazi. Some protesters across the street from our venue obviously believe that as they lowered a banner reading, “Hillary Lied, Americans Died.” And, you will continue to believe that she is hopelessly compromised by her Wall Street donations.

If you like and trust Hillary Clinton (as I do) you will continue to believe that, however, mistaken she was to use a private e-mail server while Secretary of State, virtually all of the microscopic percentage now marked “classified” were done so long after she sent them (hindsight being 20/20) and that in any case no real harm was done. You can bet she learned from that experience.  It will not happen again!

And, I believe that her personal culpability in Benghazi consisted primarily in being Secretary of State while the kind of tragic event occurred which has happened before, and will happen again, in the dangerous world of international diplomacy. Finally, I believe her when she says she will go after Wall Street excesses using existing laws (and working for new ones, if necessary)  but be realistic to know that not all “Wall Street bankers” are either billionaires or thieves and that the stock market, for better or worse, is an integral part of the U.S. (and world) economy and that it is likely best for a candidate for President not alienate the entire system before even taking office. If you want to get things done and not just posture.

As he introduced her last night, Bill Clinton said that Hillary’s values were formed in that “little Methodist church” she attended and that she was motivated in part by the famous quote often ascribed to Methodist founder, John Wesley, about “doing as much good as you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you can.” I believe that to be her motivation and her life story makes that clear, if people only knew it in its entirety. That’s why I support her.

“As you prepare to march, ” Dr. Martin Luther King once wrote, “meditate on the life and teaching of Jesus.” This was the title of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon as he kicked off the national conference on race at this year’s Trinity Institute in New York last night.

This annual meeting was once known as a kind of national “clergy conference” for The Episcopal Church, held at the historic Trinity Church, Wall Street. For years now, it has morphed into a nation-wide gathering with streaming down-links in Episcopal churches all across the country.

The 2016 theme is “Listen…For a Change” and is bringing together as speakers… writers, professors, activists and clergy to challenge the church to go even deeper in addressing the sin of racism, this nation’s “original sin.” Topics will include:

What is Race, Anyway?

A People’s History of Race

Soul Searching in a Culture of Control

Listen for a Change

What we can do together

In Michael Curry’s opening sermon he sought, as he always does, to make sure we remember that we are in this fight, not just as social workers and activists, but as followers of what he likes to call “the Jesus Movement.” And so, the citation of Dr. King’s number one “rule of life” imparted to his followers — “As you prepare to march, meditate on the life and teaching of Jesus.”

My guess is, that was an important point to make when addressed by King to his band of civil rights campaigners. If they were to carry out his non-violent approach, they would need to remind themselves of, and be deeply grounded in, “the life and teaching of Jesus.” It was from that life and those teachings that they would draw their extraordinary courage and strength.

Another guess is, Episcopalians at this conference are pretty good at “meditating on the life and teaching of Jesus.”

My question is, are we prepared…to march?

We are, ironically perhaps, in the middle of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Every year from January 18 (the feast of the Confession of Peter) to January 25 (the feast of the Conversion of Paul) Christians around the world are asked to pray for the unity of the church. Historically this observance has had as its intention the reunion of the various separated branches of the church — Catholics with the Orthodox, Anglican with Lutherans, Presbyterians with other Reformed churches, etc.

However, today it must be said that divisions within the churches are more troubling (and seemingly more intractable) than divisions between the churches. Witness the recent meeting of Anglican Primates which called for The Episcopal Church to suffer the “consequences” of our recent move toward marriage equality within the church as well as within the state. Or, the more subtle (but perhaps more worrying) moves by conservative Roman Catholics to sabotage Pope Francis’ progressive agenda, or evangelicals split over everything from immigration to women’s equality.

I have worked for the unity of the church for most of my adult life — as a parish priest, as a diocesan bishop, as our presiding bishop’s deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations. I have sought to do this under the banner of Jesus’ prayer in the Gospel according to John (from which the title of this web log is taken):

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20)

A recent commentary on the Fourth Gospel suggests that Jesus’ prayer was not intended for some kind of institutional unity (since it is unlikely that he came to establish a church anyway, but to renew the Judaism of his day) but rather for a kind of mystical oneness with God. With all the language of “mutual indwelling” in this chapter (“I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one…” 17:23), the author may have a point.

Certainly, the main point of Christianity (and all religions, in one way  or another) is that we may be “at one” with God. At its best, that’s what the word “atonement” means — at-one-ment. And Pope Francis has reminded us this week that the closer we draw to God, the closer we will draw to one another.

So, as I grow older I must admit that I am no longer as concerned about, or even interested in, what Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold once called “ecclesiastical joinery.” I am interested in exploring what it means to be “one with God” and, as I live into that reality, to find that I am increasingly “one” with every other human being, every other creature, every other precious part of the created order.

For, as Paul is reported to have preached in Athens, “In (God) we live and move and have our being, as some of your own poets have said.” (Acts 17:28)

As we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. today, I want to focus especially on his commitment to non-violent resistance. I have often wished that the Palestinians had found a champion like Gandhi in India, King in the States, and Tutu in South Africa to lead them in a non-violent campaign against the Occupation and unjust policies of the government of Israel against them.

Naim Ateek and his organization, Sabeel, have tried to apply the principles of liberation theology and non-violence to the situation but, for some reason, it has never caught on with the vast majority of the Palestinian people. Is it because the situation is so much more difficult in Israel/Palestine than it was in India, the U.S., or South Africa? I cannot believe that it is.

Is it because Christian Palestinians are in the minority and non-violence does not find as much support in Islam as in Hinduism or Christianity? Possibly, yet the so-called “Golden Rule” has its place in the Qur’an as well and surely principles which have been imported from one religious tradition to another before (i.e. King studying Gandhi) could make a such a journey once again.

I believe the world (even people here in our country who are so largely “pro Israel” could see even more clearly the justice of the Palestinians’ cause if their witness could be carried out in a non-violent (but persistent and courageous) way.  Some of the most successful “revolutions” of our time have been accomplished, not at the barrel of a gun, but by brave and committed people being willing to risk injury, prison, or even death rather than to “repay evil for evil.”

May Dr. King’s spirit be revived today in all who seek an end to oppression and equal rights for all!