I am so inspired by the work that many of you are doing in our community and in the world. As I was writing this sermon, I held in mind two prayers that members of this community have lifted in recent weeks, and I’m going to paraphrase them here. The first prayer was, “May we know our values and have the courage to stand up for them.” And the second prayer was, “May we not cede our power in advance.” Our values. Our truth. Our power. I’m going to keep coming back to those themes like a refrain.
Today we read three sayings of Jesus that build on each other.
Store up your treasures not on earth but in heaven, for where your treasures are, there will your heart be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If the eye is healthy, the body is full of light and radiates that light out to the world.
You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and wealth.
On Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, January 20, 2025, a day when we pause to lift up the work for civil rights and justice in this nation, the United States inaugurated our 47th president. On the following day, January 21, there was a service of prayer for the nation at the National Cathedral, where the homily was given by the Right Reverend Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C. The president and all sorts of important people were there. Bishop Budde’s theme was unity—not agreement on everything, but a sense of community that respects and celebrates differences.
She said,
[I]s true unity among us even possible? And why should we care about it?
Well, I hope that we care, because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in our country threatens to destroy us. We are all bombarded daily with messages from what sociologists now call “the outrage industrial complex,” some of it driven by external forces whose interests are furthered by a polarized America. Contempt fuels our political campaigns and social media, and many profit from it. But it’s a dangerous way to lead a country. [Mariann Budde homily, https://cathedral.org/sermons/homily-a-service-of-prayer-for-the-nation/.]
I confess that I can be tempted into this culture of contempt, especially for people who hold views that are radically different from mine. How can they think that way? How can they not see that my views are the correct ones? This culture of contempt is not, of course, Jesus’ way. Consider the teaching about storing your treasures in heaven. What treasures might these be? How do you get a lockbox and say, “Okay, Jesus, hold this for me”? So these treasures cannot be money, jewelry, fancy cars, or big houses. The only treasures we can lay up in heaven are the ones we find as followers of Jesus: loving our neighbor, living in community, taking care of each other, welcoming the stranger, tending the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked. Those are our treasures, and we are more powerful when we come together in community to proclaim the truth of these values. Our values. Our truth. Our power.
Consider as well what the culture of contempt does to the eye as the lamp of the body. What light shines as the lamp of the body? I suggest it is the light of love. All of us yearn to be loved—to be seen, valued, accepted as we are. And when that light fills us, we can radiate it back out to the community. We are a lamp to our bodies and to our neighbors and to all the world.
Perhaps you recall the quote from Marianne Williamson:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
Our deepest fear is that we are
Powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves who am I to be
Brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission
To do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically
Liberates others.
[Marianne Williamson, “Our Deepest Fear,” https://www.reddit.com/r/Poetry/comments/pt2hmv/poem_our_deepest_fear_by_marianne_williamson/?rdt=35660]
As Rev. Emily Melcher reminded us last week, we are the light of the world, and we are called to let our light shine.
The part of Bishop Budde’s homily that caught the most flack was when she addressed the president directly and appealed to him to have mercy. She said,
Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are transgender children in both Republican and Democratic families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals—they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land. [Marian Budde, ibid.]
And, of course, the “outrage industrial complex” kicked right in. A bill was drafted taking a stand against her “inappropriate” sermon. One legislator suggested that she be deported. (She is a lifelong US citizen.) I am sure she has received all sorts of hate mail. Because she asked our president to have compassion and mercy on vulnerable people in this country. The people he was elected to serve.
Apparently, Bishop Budde hit a nerve. When an administration is trying to run on fear and loyalty to the leader, it is an abomination to ask, in front of all the world, for that leader to show compassion and mercy, to work toward unity. And all the people who have opted to serve the God of fear and wealth are exposed. I do not envy Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Satya Nadella, who had to fly to Florida to meet with the president and then be showcased like trophies at the inauguration. I do not envy those who are being ordered to dismantle their DEI programs—diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. I do not envy those whose careers depend on kowtowing to a tyrant who demands absolute loyalty. These people are, in some sense, prisoners.
Karen Georgia Thompson, the general minister and president of the UCC, issued a statement in response to the response to Bishop Budde’s homily. This UCC statement reads, in part:
Unity is not partisan. Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree. . . .
Bishop Budde’s words and actions are consistent with many faith leaders over the centuries and today who have provided voice in the call for justice. The voice of faith leaders must be heard in the public square calling truth to power in all times. We commend the courage and wisdom of Bishop Budde and other faith leaders who bring a message of justice and hope for the oppressed.
[Add quotes from Karen Georgia Thompson here? https://www.ucc.org/faith-expressed-freely-statement-on-congressional-response-to-bishop-budde/]
When we declare that we worship the God of love, not the God of fear or wealth, we declare liberation. It is dangerous in these times. There may be consequences. When we lay up our treasures in heaven rather than on earth, it is harder to hurt us. When the lamp that fills our bodies is love, not fear or contempt, we will do the bold thing if it is the loving thing that creates community.
So I personally am looking for ways to build community, to stand with vulnerable populations, knowing that these actions will take me out of my safe, happy comfort zone. This past Thursday was Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Day in Olympia. Just the thing to knock me out of my comfort zone. But more fun to attend if you go with friends. So I went with Rev. Adina Meyer of Keystone and a few folks from that church. Adina and I wore stoles. We joined a march around the Capitol grounds and then attended a rally on the steps of the Capitol Building. You have been seeing photos from that event all through this service.
The night before, I received an email warning that ICE officers and counter protesters might be present. People who were undocumented were told that they might want to not come, or they should bring whatever identification papers they had with them, just in case. Suddenly this felt very real. At 3am as I lay awake in bed, I started imagining worst-case scenarios about all of us being rounded up and having to appear in court, and all the eloquent speeches I could give in the courtroom. As if anyone was interested in arresting me. I am not in danger at such events, but I had a new appreciation for the courage of those who are at risk and come anyway.
I did not see anyone who obviously looked like an ICE officer; nor was I aware of any counter protesters. The march and rally were a success. Some people had made these large cardboard butterflies (because butterflies migrate) and decorated them in all these colorful, creative ways. One butterfly, which appeared on a slide earlier in the service, said, “Sin papeles! Sin miedo!” (Without papers! Without fear!)
We heard speakers from the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, the Low Income Housing Institute, numerous legislators, the local president of the AFL-CIO. And the message to our immigrant siblings was consistently “We see you, we hear you, we love you, and we will not abandon you.” Speakers said there are efforts to isolate people into small groups, to pit groups against each other. But we are stronger together. Love wins over hate. Love wins over fear.
Perhaps you’ve wondered, as I have, why anyone bothers to attend a rally. What does it actually achieve? Who’s listening? The answer at this rally was clear: it’s to be reminded of our better selves and to answer the call to live into those better selves however we can. Lay up your treasures in heaven by loving these people. Let that love fill your body and be a lamp to your soul that radiates out to the world. Serve the God of love, the God who loves the immigrants and all the other vulnerable populations in our midst. Serve the God that shows mercy and compassion. Our values. Our truth. Our power.
There are several things we can do as actionable steps. One is to write a postcard to Bishop Budde thanking her for her appeal for mercy. Her address will appear in the chat, and we will post it in the Tuesday email as well. Another thing we can do is to register “Pro” on several bills that are working their way through our state legislature.
Immigrants are not the enemy. They are our siblings in Christ. When we stand for our values, when we stand in our truth and our power, when we refuse to stop loving across boundaries, we are building the realm of God. Amen.