On being a
Presbyterian
Highlands
Presbyterian church
September 11,
2016
Once when I was the Director of the Department of
Family Services, I gave a speech. Governor Freudenthal who had been my roommate
during our first year in Law School, introduced me. “Some of our old
classmates,” he said, are surprised that I became Governor all of them are
surprised that Rodger became a minister. I had the same reaction recently when I
attended my 50th high school class reunion. There were many
of my old classmates who were more than a little surprised that I had become,
what one called, a man of the cloth. That’s not how they remembered me from our
old high school days. They asked me about how that happened but the other
question I was asked most often was “What does it mean to be a Presbyterian.”
I imagine some of you get that question from time to
time. I used to give a very utilitarian, bureaucratic answer, launching into an
explanation of how we govern ourselves but I found that didn’t mean much and it
made it sound as though if there were differences between us and others, those
differences didn’t amount to what my mother called “a hill of beans.”
It’s something I get asked often enough that I was
determined to find a better answer, one that said something meaningful about
who we are, why we worship, and our relationship with Jesus.
So let me tell you what my answer is now. There are
three points that define who we are. One…we take the Bible seriously but not
literally. Two, we believe the Gospel is fundamentally about social justice.
Third, we believe God has no voice but ours and so we will not be silenced.
There’s a story Jesus told in the 15th
chapter of Luke that makes my point. It all began when the fundamentalists of
his day started grumbling abut Jesus spending too much time with sinners,
having dinner with the worst of them. Jesus said, let me ask you a question.
“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of
them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one
that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his
shoulders and rejoices.
Now there are two types of people in the world. There are those
who hear those stories and wonder why any good shepherd would spend his time
looking that hard for one sheep. And then there are those who would join in the
search. Those are the Presbyterians.
Advocacy
and social justice are cornerstones of the work of the Presbyterian Church USA
and of Highlands. We speak often of our mission work in this community and I
want you to know also of what our national church does.
The
PCUSA advocates for social justice through the Office of Public Witness, the public policy
information and advocacy office of the Church. It participates in direct
advocacy with members congress and the administration through in person
meetings, letters and phone calls. And, they encourage Presbyterians everywhere
to call for action on matters of conscience and faith, and to be
advocates.
The
PCUSA works for environmental justice, healthcare, and feeding the hungry and housing the homeless. We work for fair
trade and against the scourge of human trafficking. There is even a Presbyterian Ministry at
the United Nations representing the PCUSA at the United Nations providing witness
for justice and peace.
Let
me tell you what all that means in concrete actions. In the last several weeks
the people of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in North Dakota have
been protesting, trying to stop a large energy company from constructing an oil
pipeline beneath the waters of the Missouri River. They have a
well-substantiated fear that, as with many such pipelines, there will be a
leak, one that could destroy the tribe’s main source of water.
Hundreds
of local protestors have been joined by thousands of representatives from
Native American tribes across North America in “prayer camps” as a part of
their protest. Two weeks ago state officials removed the camps’ water supply. There
are Presbyterian congregations sending water and other resources to help the
Tribe continue its protest despite the best efforts of the energy company and
its governmental advocates to shut it down.
The
Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson III, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
and Rev. Irvin Porter, of the Presbyterian Office of Native American
Intercultural Congregational Support, issued a statement supporting the Standing
Rock Sioux.
The
official PCUSA statement said, “The 2016 General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), meeting passed these two overtures to Native Americans
One,
an apology to Native American’s for the church’s administration of boarding
schools during the late 19th and early 20th centuries whose purpose was the
“civilization” of Native American children. Two, a repudiation of the Doctrine
of Discovery, which derives its authority from 16th and 17th
century decrees of Pope’s and kings authorizing “explorers” to seize lands and
convert “non-Christians.” The PCUSA denouncement of this old doctrine is
important because the doctrine remains today the basis for Supreme Court
decisions against Tribes.
Rev.
Nelson said, “The PCUSA is becoming more aware of the struggles that Native
American Presbyterians and all Native Americans have faced in the past and are
dealing with today. It is my hope that in discussing these issues across the
church an impact can be made that not only raises awareness within the church
of these issues, but also generates action by Presbyterians.”
Then
the PCUSA involved itself in criminal justice reform.
The church has
a long history of speaking out for reforms leading to restoration and
restitution rather than punishment alone. In 2003, the General Assembly called
for the “abolition” of for-profit private prisons based on evidence of abuses.
While agreeing that offenders should be “dealt with firmly and justly for their
own good and the protection of society,” the PCUSA also believes convicts should
not be rendered outcasts from society.
The
resolution invoked statements from the 1910 and 1915 General Assemblies that
the “ultimate goal of the criminal justice system should be restorative
justice,” addressing the hurts and needs of the victim, offender and the
community.
In
significant part, it was the advocacy of the PCUSA and like-minded faith
leaders that resulted in the recent decision of the Obama administration to end
its relationship with private for-profit corporations in the housing and
handling of prisoners will bring to an end a practice that our General
Assemblies have condemned as inappropriate and demeaning.”
And
earlier this month the PCUSA joined 100 other faith organizations acknowledged
there are 21 million men, women and children21
million being forced to flee their home country. The PCUSA asked the President
to admit 200,000 refugees this year and to fund the resettlement costs
accordingly so that refugees are ensured access to the service and support they
need to integrate quickly and successfully into American communities.
It
all makes me proud to be among Presbyterians. It inspires us to join the fight,
to say what needs to be said to those who need to hear it. Highlands should say what needs to be said to Governor
Matt Mead and ask him to end the embarrassment of having Wyoming be the only
state in the Union refusing to enter into a refugee settlement agreement with
federal government.
Becoming Christian advocates for social justice is why Highlands
is leading the effort to establish a RESULTS chapter in Cheyenne. Many of you
have come to the table to get that done and on October 22nd HPC will
host a day-long training to move that initiative to the next level.
My
fellow Jesus followers, if indeed we
take the Bible seriously even though not literally, if we see the Gospel as
fundamentally about social justice, we cannot help but walk the walk. It’s what
Robin Meyer called the underground church. But this view of Christian
discipleship is not new. While some of my clergy colleagues think it unseemly
for faith leaders to involve themselves in political matters and debates, that
didn’t start with us. It started with Jesus of Nazareth and has continued over
the centuries wherever the Gospel finds faithful followers.
In the early 1900s Walter Rauschbusch wrote In a book titled Christianity
and the Social Crisis that "Whoever uncouples the religious and the
social life has not understood Jesus.
Let
us give witness to our understanding of Jesus and be known in this community as
his advocates for justice. AMEN
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