
A message from Pastor Detweiler as printed in the
Richmond Times Ink – March 2017
I recently was asked to sign the Matthew 25 Pledge: “to protect and defend vulnerable people in the name of Jesus” in response to recent political news. Regardless of the positions staked out by each party’s platform, the ends can never justify the means. Campaigning and governing in such a way that invokes fear and chaos, especially amongst the most vulnerable, is in no way good news.
Why take a morally political stand now, especially in light of my own tradition that cherishes the separation of church and state? I believe I am in good company when I consider the witness of such heroes as Martin Luther King Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Desmond Tutu, and now, Pope Francis who have and are speaking truth to power in the institutions of government and religion. Today, when my faith tradition, “evangelical”, fails to confess and proclaim the good news, “God so loved the world” … all of the world…including developed and developing nations, the 1% and the 99%, citizen and immigrant, black, white, brown and rainbow, male and female … all of the world, then I must find a “new structure” to house my faith. There are hinge moments for all of us when we must take our stand. Here is mine. The “old structures”, or what has become of them, will just not do any longer.
A couple of years ago a trusted friend challenged me and pushed harder until I finally straightened my back and confessed, “I choose, like Jesus, to stand with the “little ones”; those throughout history that find themselves vulnerable and on the margins, including that motley group we know as the disciples and the band of women that bravely followed Jesus to the cross. I will always stand with them. Count me in.
It took my own brokenness and vulnerability to soften my heart to the perspective and needs of those most vulnerable. I am one of the “little ones” that bear the mark of chronic illness and all of its struggles. But I have been a recipient of God’s grace, mercy and love through the generous care of family, medical professionals, friends, church, and community. I stand with all who bear the weight of stigma, with all of its fears and chaos, and choose to reach out in love with that same grace, mercy and love that was extended to me. Here I stand.
However you receive this “stand” of mine, know that I have learned to stand boldly, but also humbly. And so with that, I take my stand, pledging, “to protect and defend vulnerable people in the name of Jesus. Come stand with us this year as we remember Holy Week, beginning with services on Palm Sunday on April 9 to the celebration of the resurrection on April 16, Easter Sunday. See our website for details of each service.
Richmond Times Ink – March 2017
I recently was asked to sign the Matthew 25 Pledge: “to protect and defend vulnerable people in the name of Jesus” in response to recent political news. Regardless of the positions staked out by each party’s platform, the ends can never justify the means. Campaigning and governing in such a way that invokes fear and chaos, especially amongst the most vulnerable, is in no way good news.
Why take a morally political stand now, especially in light of my own tradition that cherishes the separation of church and state? I believe I am in good company when I consider the witness of such heroes as Martin Luther King Jr., Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Desmond Tutu, and now, Pope Francis who have and are speaking truth to power in the institutions of government and religion. Today, when my faith tradition, “evangelical”, fails to confess and proclaim the good news, “God so loved the world” … all of the world…including developed and developing nations, the 1% and the 99%, citizen and immigrant, black, white, brown and rainbow, male and female … all of the world, then I must find a “new structure” to house my faith. There are hinge moments for all of us when we must take our stand. Here is mine. The “old structures”, or what has become of them, will just not do any longer.
A couple of years ago a trusted friend challenged me and pushed harder until I finally straightened my back and confessed, “I choose, like Jesus, to stand with the “little ones”; those throughout history that find themselves vulnerable and on the margins, including that motley group we know as the disciples and the band of women that bravely followed Jesus to the cross. I will always stand with them. Count me in.
It took my own brokenness and vulnerability to soften my heart to the perspective and needs of those most vulnerable. I am one of the “little ones” that bear the mark of chronic illness and all of its struggles. But I have been a recipient of God’s grace, mercy and love through the generous care of family, medical professionals, friends, church, and community. I stand with all who bear the weight of stigma, with all of its fears and chaos, and choose to reach out in love with that same grace, mercy and love that was extended to me. Here I stand.
However you receive this “stand” of mine, know that I have learned to stand boldly, but also humbly. And so with that, I take my stand, pledging, “to protect and defend vulnerable people in the name of Jesus. Come stand with us this year as we remember Holy Week, beginning with services on Palm Sunday on April 9 to the celebration of the resurrection on April 16, Easter Sunday. See our website for details of each service.