01-25-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
January 25, 2026
It is Sunday morning, and so many across our country are dealing with power outages, significant ice and snow, and so many other weather-related challenges. Yet I am overwhelmed by the violence being brought against peaceful protestors, including clergy, though clergy or not, this should never happen. If you are a student of history, this kind of thing is never remembered well. Bull Connor, the man given the title: Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, did not bring safety to his community. There were hateful and racist people who were absolutely thrilled with Bull Connor’s approach to “public safety,” yet today there are very few people who find anything moral or just or good about the actions of Bull Connor. And there were those who were pleased with the public safety campaign that silenced a trouble-making radical named Jesus. He stirred up too much trouble as his teachings offered common folks a very different vision of the future, including one where those with the sword and credentials from Rome would find themselves powerless through the unconditional and relentless love of God. It was a world being turned upside down, and those in power could not have such talk. When Jesus eventually chose some good old-fashioned street theater, as the prophets were known to do, and turned over some tables in the Temple, it was the final straw that led to his arrest and execution. And it put many of his followers on the same trajectory. Yet was that violence against peaceful and love-centered people remembered well? It is the way of love, kindness, mercy, and justice that always wins in the end. More people may be killed, families torn apart, innocent people harassed, and a growth in a hateful Us vs. Them ideology, but none of it will be remembered well. Every moment offers an opportunity to choose what the prophets and Jesus referred to as righteousness, which had nothing to do with arrogant religious piety, but a world turned upside down, or in the eyes of God, right side up. We have another moral crisis moment, and if you spend much time reading the prophets or the best-known sermon by Jesus, then you know what righteousness looks like in this moment.

For the innocent and vulnerable, for the peacemakers, and for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, we seek to join you, Holy One, and your Spirit of transformative hope in turning this world right side up. It won’t be easy, yet through the lens of our faith history, we know what is good and right and just. Amen.