When Mariann Budde, Episcopalian Bishop of Washington, addressed United States President, Donald Trump, about national unity, prayer, and action, she must have expected to be belittled, criticised and
attacked.
In a silent, packed, Washington National Cathedral, Budde said: “Have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” She was referring to immigrants, many of whom have fled to the US from
victimisation in their own lands. And she was speaking about children, members of the LGBT community who will face undue oppression under Trump’s watch.
Bishop Budde’s sermon—which lasted a mere 15 minutes— has been labelled as radical, weaponising the pulpit, mixing State and Church, or out of place.
Setting aside the issues which she raised—immigration and the LGBT debate—what Bishop Budde did through her sermon was to give the church a prophetic voice which has been missing in the US for far too long.
While her words were uncomfortable for Trump and his many millions of supporters, Bishop Budde chose to take the tradition of the prophets of the Bible and use the office of a church leader to speak truth to power.
Throughout much of the US, preachers of every Christian denomination had leaned for decades towards one of two branches of theology. The first, End Times Theology, forces people to convert to Christianity asserting that the world will soon end, and non-Christians have no place in eternity.
Prosperity Theology—the more you give to God, through the church, the richer you will be—has taken hold in a country constantly chasing more money, bigger cars, larger meal portions.
There is extraordinarily little space given, if at all, in US pulpits to justice, responsibility for creation, eradicating poverty, love and care for neighbour.
In fact, many US churches align themselves to either the Democratic or Republican parties, thus becoming part of the system. And so, they choose to remain silent for fear of criticism from leaders and the people.
In the Pacific, churches have ventured down the same path, preaching two main subjects – salvation and prosperity. There are very few churches which speak out against climate change, poverty, drugs, teenage pregnancies or the renewed threat of HIV and AIDS. Why? These are the issues which affect the people of the Pacific today.
There is no shortage in the Bible of prophets who confronted kings, challenged oppressive systems, and demanded justice. Jesus Christ—whom Christians worldwide claim to follow—spoke regularly against the injustice of the Roman Empire, Jewish culture, and the oppression of the community by church leaders.
He preached against unjust taxation, colonisation, health care systems, which did not work, and violence against women and children.
One role of the church must be to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. That is a lesson Pacific churches can learn from Bishop Budde. The pulpit must become a place from which to seek justice for the people and address the current issues of society.
