A Budde Right moment

Wow. A long while since one Anglican/Episcopalian bishop lit up the world's media (both mainstream and social), but Bishop Marian Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, did that last week with her direct address to President Trump at the end of her sermon in a customary post-inauguration service in the Washington National Cathedral.

The whole sermon is available here (and obviously the whole is context for the final part, along with events of the day or two beforehand, including a flurry of executive orders signed by President Trump immediately after he was sworn into office).

The words that have become famous (for those supporting +Budde and her plea to the President) and infamous and objectionable for many (whether passionate supporters of Trump, or enthusiastic enemies of progressive Christianity, or simply agin women preaching) are these:

"Unity is relatively easy to pray for on occasions of solemnity. It’s a lot harder to realize when we’re dealing with real differences in the public arena. But without unity, we are building our nation’s house on sand.

With a commitment to unity that incorporates diversity and transcends disagreement, and the solid foundations of dignity, honesty, and humility that such unity requires, we can do our part, in our time, to help realize the ideals and the dream of America."

"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 Democratic, Republican and independent 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.

May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world."

Like many people making comments, I have been enthusiastically for Bishop Budde. I think she was right to respond to the urgency of the hour - in the light of presidential executive orders about gender (there will henceforth only be two genders in the USA) and illegal immigrants, to (1) observe to the President that people affected by such orders were fearful (2) to ask for the President to be merciful to such people. 

Claims that what she said was (politically) partisan and not honouring the intended bi-partisan nature of the service do not wash with me. Trump crossed a line with his executive orders. As incoming President he exacerbated division and polarization in his nation. +Budde's sermon focused on the unity of the USA. Alarmed by the executive orders, +Budde understood that to be salt of the earth meant avoiding the blandness of saying nothing about people's fears. People are people, not pawns in ideological wars. Their dignity and well-being matter in ways which Trump seems quite oblivious to (at best) - at worst he may be a cruel man (as many think he is). If a Christian leader is not going to speak out when able to, when will it happen? If a disposition to speak up for marginalized communities is "partisan" then disciples of Jesus are and should be partisan! In fact, +Budde struck no particular "party policy" position; she made no claim as to what mercy might mean in respect of Trump's implementation of his policy positions; but she knew that Trump has some understanding of mercy - after all, part of his executive orders was to pardon a whole bunch of people.*

Of course some have taken umbrage at a woman - any woman, whatever title -speaking; President Trump has called her a "so called bishop" but I assume that was not prompted by his understanding of Leo's famous Bull about Anglican orders!; others have looked up her record as a "progressive" theologian and dismissed her plea for mercy not only as partisan but also as the usual drippy wet stuff progressives say; one Republican politician called for her to be deported (she is an American citizen by birth); etc. All this is ad hominem and does not deal with the substance of her appeal which was that this powerful ruler might consider finding the kindest route to achieve what he wants to achieve.

What has both surprised me and disturbed me is that in the midst of such comments Christians, Protestant and Catholic have poured opprobrium upon her - seemingly oblivious to the Christ-like, Christ-disposed substance to her concern: that a powerful ruler might show mercy to the marginalized. Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:3; Matthew 9:13; Luke 6:20; etc anyone? These past few days have demonstrated that global Christianity (not just American Christianity) is horribly rent in at least two parts. For instance, the Russian Orthodox support for Putin in substance seems indistinguishable from many American church leaders support for Trump. Is this the Christianity of Jesus or another phenomenon? (I have even seen comment that Trump is now the anointed supreme church leader for many American Christians ... how can this be so?)

John Sandemann ("Obadiah"), writing from Sydney, Australia, seeing some criticism of +Budde, makes this helpful observation:

"But it struck Obadiah that Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who, while in the progressive mainstream of The Episcopal Church, has shown more grace to conservatives than her more extreme colleagues, did NOT hammer home her progressive views. She did not ask people to become progressives. Instead, she simply called for mercy towards immigrants and LGBTQIA persons, especially children. That Obadiah thinks was smart."

For some other good commentary read this or this. 

A correspondent (personal to me) this week makes this important observation about what underlies +Budde's sermon (and many instances in Christian history of people faithful to the kingdom vision of Jesus and to the universal unity of all things which Paul preached):

"... an offer from God of a "Beloved Community." In it, those formerly oppressed  would be freed from assaults on their dignity. Likewise those formerly complicit in oppression would be healed of the moral injury that their abuse of force had brought on them. ... Bishop Budde .... her comment to the new president is at least beside the tradition above. ... She is explaining that the unity of America depends in part on mercy and invites him to stand in that unity with her. The holism of her vision of America as God sees it and her inclusion of herself and her listener in that whole are what lift her remarks above mere partisanship and toward divine prophecy."

That is, in a world of polarization of societies, if not division of the same, and of divisions in humanity, if not brutal wars between humans, Christians of all stripes and persuasions, reading the whole of Scripture, with an understanding of God's purpose for all of history, to bring redemption (NT) to creation (OT), to secure a new creation of grace (NT) from the old creation of law (OT), tend to speak for social harmony, for unity among human beings, for dignity and respect for all and not for some. The Bible is a vision for a "Beloved Community" and not for a beleagured society with winners and losers. This commitment to unity, including a pathway of mercy to secure it, is a charism of the Christian faith. +Budde (whether or not on some things past and present has said things which place her on the spectrum of theology deemed "progressive") in her sermon was thoroughly Christian. Whatever Trump and Vance's personal situation before God, they do not embrace a Christian understanding which accords with this fundamental character of Jesus-shaped Christianity.

Well, that is more than enough from me. You will have your own thoughts. Save for one final note:

Perhaps we could all agree that preaching - a sometimes questioned aspect of worship - remains a very powerful possibility for saying something which speaks to the world and not just to the congregation physically present before the preacher.

The sermon is not yet dead. Long live preaching!

*Clearly immigration, controlling borders and the like is a complex matter for the USA, noting how successive administrations have largely failed to control illegal migration into the States (including Trump's first administration), and also noting how many parts of US society seemingly collude with illegal immigation by gladly employing such immigrants. Ditto, gender-based policies are also complex matters (e.g. how does a society affirm basic human rights of a transgender person while also affirming other rights such as a sportswoman's right to compete in a "fair" sports field). The point of +Budde's sermon was not to challenge the right of Trump and his administration to change policy settings on such complex matters. It was to ask that the implementation of changed policy might be conducted mercifully.