Political acts

Things are a mess right now. 

I can make a list. I imagine you could too. 

It’s a mess. 

This is where some of you are afraid I will be talking about politics. 

There are people who say politics does not belong in church, but that is wrong – partisanship does not belong in church. Politics is inherent in church. It’s essential. It’s baked in, as it were.

Jesus was not hit by a bus. Jesus did not die in his sleep, an old man. Jesus did not trip and hit his head. Jesus died at the hands of the political systems of his day. Jesus died at the hands of Empire. Jesus died because of politics. 

When Jesus looked at the Kingdom of Rome, and how it treated people, and proposed instead a Kingdom of God – that was political. When the Roman Empire said that Caesar was Lord, and Jesus followers said that Jesus was Lord, that was a political statement. When the Roman Government marched into Jerusalem with might and power, and then Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, that was a political act. When the Rabbis decided that Jesus should die instead of them incurring the wrath of Rome, that was a political act. When Phillip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, that was political. When Jesus whipped the moneylenders in the temple, that was political. And when Pilate released Barabbas because he was afraid of the crowd, that was political.

The Jesus movement was born in, and out of, politics. 

When Christians stood up 160 years ago and said that enslaving people was wrong – that was political. When Christians marched on Washington and said that all God’s children, regardless of color, deserve the same rights – that was political. 

The church cannot avoid politics and still be the church. If we act as though the actions of the American Empire have no bearing on what it means for us to be Jesus followers in this day and age, then we cease to be the church of Jesus and have become instead a book club that likes to sing together.

For the entirety of Open Door’s 52 year history, there have been people who disagree with our decision to make our congregation a sanctuary for those others have written off, have disregarded, or wished would go away. Born in the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement as a place where people from different races could worship together when surrounding churches refused (also a political act), let me assure you that we are not new to this – we are true to this. 

It’s scary out there. I will not lie to you or give you platitudes- this season we are entering will be ugly for lots of folks. But what marginalized communities have always known, and the rest of us are learning, is that the way we will survive this is by building stable communities based on trust and shared values. 

The politicians will not save us. The government will not save us. The Supreme Court will not save us.

So we are gonna have to save ourselves. We will save each other, love each other, be sanctuary for each other.

And that too, is a political act.