“Christians Aren’t Called to Play Power Politics”

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 18, 2011
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32
“Christians Aren’t Called to Play Power Politics”

            There was a time when the leaders of the major protestant denominations were called to counsel presidents, senators, and congressmen.  There was a time when major protestant denominations would make statements about public policy that were noticed by the national news.  And, there was a time when those statements would actually affect public policy.  That time is over and it is not coming back.  We can hope and plan and wish but it is the truth.  I think a sign of this is the fact that a local congressman refuses to meet with protestant clergy who are actually his constituents.  The fact that this isn’t a major scandal is a clear sign of our loss of power.
            The protestant church, once the standard bearer of the republic, is in decline and irrelevant in popular culture.  Some in our denomination see this loss of influence, money and membership as a sign we are not being faithful.  Insert your favorite issue as “the reason.”  However, the anxiety and the infighting in most of the old-order Protestants has more to do with our unwillingness to name and mourn a reality that is not going to change any time soon.  Instead of addressing the deeper issues, we fight over who has control over our diminishing power in public life.  Some now believe the answer is to leave to form another denomination.  Sadly, that will not bring back the glory days or usher in a new future with more money, membership, and access to power.
            While I could spend energy critiquing the new religious standard bearers of the republic, those invited to speak at inaugurations and give views on the evening news, I think our best energy is to focus on our own house.  After all, when we had access to the powerful, we were not particularly faithful.  Many who complain about our loss of power, point to the confession of 1967 as the moment when we lost our bearings.  I have come to believe that was the moment we chose to speak truth to the powerful.  It was indeed that action, that statement which cost us our access.  But because of our inability to recognize the enormity of its power we have spent many years turning inward fighting amongst ourselves. 
            In its own way, this is Westminster’s story.  When this church could finally imagine that God called them to worship side-by-side with Black folk and not move to West County it cost the church in a traditional sense.  While that is past, many would like to forget because of its painful reality. I believe it is time we revisit it.  Not with the idea to simply bring up the pain, and certainly not to make heroes out of those who stayed.  Instead the purpose is to acknowledge that the decision to remain here and to stop being an openly racist church had unintended consequences.   That decision was too difficult for some.  The idea that God calls the followers of Jesus to be on equal footing, whether white or black, was simply too radical for many people to imagine, so they left.    And, just because many people left, it does not mean those ideas and beliefs left with them.  After all, it is hard to give up ideas that are sewn into the very fabric of our republic.  But whether people left, stayed or have come in the years since, many of us are still captured by the belief that a church’s faithfulness is measured by the number of members and amount of money.  By those standards we do not measure up.  But we know a different story and that story will be instructive to others as our denomination struggles with its own loss of power.
         But it leads me to wonder, what would a west county Westminster have looked like?  Would we be like those once small county churches that now are full of many members, young families, and plenty of money?  Would there be a membership program for all our needs and desires?  And wouldn’t it be mostly, if not all, white and well-to-do?  That isn’t a condemnation of those churches.  It is simply the reality of Saint Louis.  It is the history of this city where we have confused church faithfulness as money and membership with religious institutions that have benefited or struggled because of the racial history of this city.  Isn’t that the history of Saint Louis where white folks going west and black folks going north… each to their own group and economic level?  By now you might be asking, “Why is he talking about race when this sermon is about power politics?”  Good question. I am glad you asked.
        What happened to Westminster in the 1960’s was the confluence of the belief that faithful action would lead to success in money and membership.  No one really knew what it would be like to stand against the tide.  In fact, when folks of privilege stand against the tide, those who have been doing it all their lives are often doubtful of the staying power.  Standing up for justice, real justice, can be costly.  It may mean loss of power, privilege, money and even our very lives.  That is why I have heard it said in the struggle for justice, be wary of those who don’t have skin in the game. 
         So what does that mean?  I think it means that Westminster and churches like her were the canary in the coal mine for our denomination.  And instead of trying to hang on to a past real or imagined, we continue seeking to be faithful.  In fact, I am convinced that as the denomination comes to grips with a new reality we have some things to offer.  Not because we are specially gifted or smarter, though that is entirely possible.  What we have to offer is how to live faithfully and abundantly when the power and access to power is gone.  And it is a lesson we are called to remember and embrace ourselves.  So let us never forget from where we have come. 
       Cornell West and Tavis Smiley do a weekly radio show on NPR which airs on Sunday evening.  While I have enjoyed their work for years I have been inspired by their new found lack of access to the halls of power.  Before he was elected President, these two men had access to Barack Obama.  However, when they spoke critically about the President’s action or inaction on poverty, torture, and the wars, both found themselves completely shut out.  Their access was cut off.  It was not as if they were guest speakers on Fox news or the conservative talk show circuit.  The very opposite was true.
       I mention this because I believe their response to the cold shoulder is the most instructive.  They have not gone on a crusade against the President, though some have claimed that any criticism is unwarranted.  They still hold the President in high regard.  And, they call the president to act on issues of justice.  How did they do that?  They took their show and the power of the airwaves and went on an 18 city poverty tour.  Instead of trying to get back into the good graces of the powerful they doubled down and used their own power to highlight the suffering and struggling of others.  And they did this by talking to real people and had them tell their own stories.  They even turned the microphone over to those who did not agree with them.  And the most impressive thing about the tour was that they didn’t even garner front page news on the nation’s major newspapers.  I would not be surprised if many of you didn’t even know it was happening.
       Those who did know of the tour had visceral reactions.  Smiley and West were labeled sell outs for criticizing the first Black President.  Others said they lacked credibility for this sort of tour.  While there might be valid points with the criticisms, I am more interested in where they have decided to cast their lot.  No matter their motivations or hopes, I believe that there is something to be learned when someone takes a stand and is criticized by both enemies and friends.  And, the fact that their once favored status is tarnished in the process means they are probably speaking a prophetic word.
      Whenever one had power and loses it there are a couple of choices.  You can look for the next program to fix or figure out who is to blame for it.  Or you can look for the opportunity and calling in the midst of it.  In our own denomination many have still not decided to look for the opportunity and want to blame.  It seems many are still trapped by the belief that success and faithfulness of a church is measured by the size of its membership and bank account. 
      One of the earliest statements of faith regarding Jesus is this passage from Philippians.  When we look at that statement of faith how can we come to the conclusion that money, membership, and access to power are the markers of faithfulness?  This Jesus did not use his power for access or control.  Jesus did not see equality with God as something to be exploited, even for the greater good.  This same Jesus was executed on a cross.  Frankly this statement of faith and the belief that faithful churches are measured by money and members simply does not add up.  It is a sign of how trapped some are by this idolatry. 
      When Jesus entered the temple he walked right to the middle of the power structure and called out the religious and political leadership for their abuse of the poor, hungry, and excluded.  While he speaks in cagy and wise ways, he does not do it for access to the powerful.  He uses his gifts and power to reveal the incompatibility of power politics and faith particularly when it ignores the powerless.  It cost Jesus his life.  Follow me, Jesus says.  And that may very well mean giving up access to power and comfort.
       Whenever people of faith have followed this path it has cost them.  The cost has been membership, money and access to power and even their lives.  The struggle for justice, the call to stand with the poor, the widow and the orphan, the excluded, means we too will face exclusion.  When West and Smiley speak of their inspiration they use a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I think it appropriate to end with it here remembering that it was because of his poor people’s campaign for which he was killed and not for the dream.  He said:
        "I choose to identify with the underprivileged, I choose to identify with the poor, I choose to give my life for the hungry, I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity . . . This is the way I’m going. If it means suffering a little bit, I’m going that way. If it means sacrificing, I’m going that way. If it means dying for them, I’m going that way, because I heard a voice saying “Do something for others.”
Amen?  Amen!