Here I Stand, I can do no other

I have been writing this blog post for about a month now.. There have been countless opportunities to write, starting with National Suicide Prevention Day (Sept. 10th) until now "Columbus Day," (which is really Indigenous People Day). There have been countless natural disasters riddle in-between, the kneeling protests in the NFL, numerous Trump tweets and other obscenities, and the heartbreaking events in Las Vegas. The things I could blog about are endless! But I've had every excuse in the book not to.. mainly 1. I've been so busy and my free time is spent elsewhere and 2. fear.

There is one thing I need to make clear about myself:

I am not of a Liberal/Conservative/Democrat/Republican or anything agenda. The only agenda I follow is that of the Gospel. Period. If that looks liberal, so be it. If that falls more in line with the Democratic party than the Republican, whatever. I. Do. Not. Care. I subscribe to NOTHING but the Gospel.

I am a CHRISTian and that shapes how I live in this world.

The Church as an institution cannot, and rightfully so, take a political position and back candidates. BUT the Church, as the body of Christ, is called to justice and peace. CHRISTians are called to be of the same mind as CHRIST, to live like Christ lived and to love as Christ first loved us. I, as a called minister of the Word, am in the business of calling out injustice and oppression when and where it happens. I am in the business of loving others and loving them includes making sure their basic human needs are met and their quality of life is good.

I'm not going to say I like President Trump, because I don't, but my disgust for the current state of our nation is BIGGER than Trump. We have a HUUUUGE systemic problem. It IS the business of our politicians, the JOB of our government to ensure all humans have their basic needs provided for and have "certain unalienable rights" and have the opportunity to live a quality life. Yet our government, the systems which have been put in place throughout American history, have failed the very people they/it "works" for.

It is my JOB to call out the injustice as I see it. It is my JOB to remind everyone of God's love for them.. for people of color.. for people of other faith traditions.. for people who are LGBTQ+.. for people who are homeless, on welfare, mentally ill.. the list literally goes on and on because God's love is endless and unlimited. THAT is the agenda I am pushing and I am not sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.

This uncomfortableness that surrounds me is what I want to talk about now...

The one good thing that has come out of this "Trump Era" is that people can no longer hide from nor deny the issues in this country. ALL have been forced to see white supremacy alive and well. ALL have been forced to see how black lives have indeed never mattered in America. ALL have been forced to see how the system works for ONE minority: THE RICH. No one wants to see this, it makes us all uncomfortable, and I have found this to be especially true when it comes to the people I find myself surrounded by.. middle class white american midwesterners.

In the past week alone I have heard loved ones of mine express their desire to turn it all off, shut off the tv, stop reading the news, and go about their lives as normal. As if nothing bad is happening. They have the desire to live a nice, quite, and comfortable life. They have one goal - to be happy. And what's wrong with that!? BUT what they are unwilling to acknowledge is that the very act of being able to "shut it all out" is a PRIVILEGE. The people who deny "white privilege" exists are the very people who are unwilling to see it alive and well in their own hearts. I too want to say, "I just can't care about this right now." I too want to worry only about my own happiness. But I was raised differently... Not that this was a valuable lesson my parents taught me growing up, but that I grew up in an unhealthy family, never having the chance just to care about myself. I've always been a caretaker, you could say that it is in my blood, but ugly childhood or not I do believe that if one just opens their eyes, ears, and hearts to see what's happening and put themselves in the shoes of another they too will fight for OTHERS right to be happy.

I CANNOT be happy and enjoy my privileges until the day when ALL have what they need to be happy.

-access to healthy and affordable housing, access to healthcare and prescriptions, access to food and clean water, access to quality education, ability to make their own choices/ability to HAVE the same choices available to them to choose from as all other people, ability to love whoever it is that they love, ability to express themselves and just plain BE themselves as God made them, ability to feel safe, access to jobs, promotions, and benefits (everyone on the same playing field)... The list goes ON.

Why do I feel so strongly about this?? Because I believe that this is what God intends - this is how I answer 'what is life' and 'what were we created for.' We were meant to love one another. We were meant to build a just and loving world where God is our Lord and Savior, not money or anything else we give power to. I believe that we are working to break the Kingdom of Heaven into the here and now until God brings it into its fullness. I have no illusion that human beings can bring about the Kingdom of God, but I am just foolish enough to believe that we have a "kingdom responsibility" to live and love as Christ did, which brings to us glimpses of that Kingdom, here and now, offering HOPE - the ONLY thing stronger than fear.

This is what drew me in to be a leader in Christ's church, to answer God's call...

But the Church - the holy catholic (universal) and apostolic Church - has let me down, as every institution will. The Church - the Body of Christ on earth - has never gotten it 'right' because it has always been made up of humans, who are full of sin. The Church throughout the years has waged war, has made it only about the afterlife, has abused money, abused human beings, has rained down hellfire and brimstone, has spread hate and been exclusive.. and even though it has been 500 years since the Protestant Reformation, we are STILL reforming today. The overarching "Christian" message is STILL not one of love, but one of prosperity. "If you love God you will receive all that your heart desires.. love God more and get rich, love God more and watch your illness fade away, etc." In the time of the Reformation it was a small few who stood up for what the Gospel message truly was/is. In the time of Hitler's Germany it was but a few who denounced the Nazi regime and followed Christ. In the Civil Rights Movement many churches remained segregated, it was but a few that accepted the kingdom responsibility. And now... now, what will we do?

As an aspiring Lutheran theologian, it is only natural that when I think of prominent figures in Church history that stood up and called out the Church for not BEING the Church, of course I think instantly of Martin Luther, Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

At the Diet of Worms in 1521, Luther stood before a council of political and religious leaders and was tried as a heretic for posting his 95 Theses on the church door and sparking the Protestant Reformation. He was given the chance to take back what he had said/done/taught about the ways the Catholic Church had corrupted the Gospel/the Good News, but Luther believed with all his heart that he was right and he simply used the Gospel as factual evidence and so said, "Here I stand, I can do no other." Even in facing exile and/or death, the Gospel message provided the courage to overcome injustice.

In 1933 when Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany and persecution of the Jews intensified, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor in Germany. Many Protestants welcomed Nazism and within the year the national church synod at Wittenberg approved a policy that excluded all with "Jewish blood" from the ministry. Bonhoeffer quickly responded by helping to form the Pastors' Emergency League. Then in 1934 he joined the anti-Nazi Confessing Church, for which he formed and taught at it's seminary. In 1938 he courageously became involved with conspirators and engaged in a plot to kill Hitler. This led to his arrest and imprisonment in 1945 and ultimately his death by the Nazi regime.

Karl Barth was a theologian of the Swiss Reformed Church also during this time of Hitler's Nazi regime. He too took part in the Pastors' Emergency League and Confessing Church. He was not killed by the Nazi regime and he did not boldly try to take out Hitler himself, but he did make clear his view on the failure of the Church in such a dire time. In 1934 he wrote the Barmen declaration, which became one of the Confessing Church's founding documents, arguing against the influence of Nazism on German Christianity and mailed it straight to Hitler! He lost his job as a professor when he refused to swear an oath to Hitler. He wrote in 1935: "For the millions that suffer unjustly, the Confessing Church does not yet have a heart."

I CANNOT and I WILL NOT sit idly by as I watch my brothers and sisters of color beaten and killed by the very people that swore to protect them.. as I watch my President toss paper towels to the American citizens of Puerto Rico who have no power, water, food, homes, or other basic needs.. as my President, who only marries immigrants, demands a border wall, kicks immigrants out, and refuses to help refugees... as my President proclaims those who marched with Confederate flags, Nazi flags, and tiki torches were "fine people" but NFL players are "sons of bitches," not to mention how he also mocks the disabled & "grabs women by their pussies".... This government as a whole has shown that it does not care for anyone who is not white, rich, and a straight male. Period.

THAT IS NOT OKAY!

I CANNOT and I WILL NOT enjoy to comfort of my own privilege while others die from my indifference.

The Church as the body of Christ must. do. more. It is NOT enough to "send thoughts and prayers," God has entrusted us with creation and CALLS. US. TO. ACTION. This is NOT a way for us to GET into heaven or win favor with God, but a RESPONSE to the way in which GOD LOVES US. God loves us SO much that God sent his only Son to DIE for us, and we have failed to return that love.. To love ourselves and one another is to love God. To stand up for injustice and oppression AS CHRIST DID is to love God and do God's will.

At a recent church conference a speaker shone light on this quote by Aditi Juneja, "If you've wondered what you would have done during slavery, the Holocaust, or Civil Rights Movement... You're doing it now."