Renounce, Resist, Rejoice

Being Church in the Age of Trump

Coffey

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781498245203
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

The election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States was a watershed moment in American history. In this book, Michael Coffey reflects on major social and religious issues leading up to and following the election. Coffey addresses the political issues of the day, not from a partisan position but from the question of what it means to be faithful as church now. Rather than pit left against right or Republican against Democrat, Pastor Coffey seeks to explore fundamental issues of Christian commitments centered in love of God and neighbor. Coffey shares his personal responses to the events surrounding the election while exploring central biblical and theological themes that have shaped and challenged the church in every age. This book confronts conservative and liberal Christian assumptions and creates space for dialogue about what it means to prioritize the Gospel message of compassion and mercy over partisan politics, nationalism, and ideology. Church leaders will find resources for leading conversation. Church members will find a rich and challenging resource for dialogue. Those outside of religious communities who are politically engaged will find insight for understanding how people of faith live out their commitments in the public realm.

Part One

Renounce

Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.” (Daniel 3:13–18)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one look down on you. (Titus 2:11–15)

A Pastoral Letter after the Election of Donald Trump

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ at First English Lutheran Church and all who belong to the body of Christ,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus, our brother and Lord, the man of peace, the incarnation of God’s love for all.

The election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States may strike each of us in different ways. Some of you may have voted for him and are pleased. You may feel that the brokenness of our politics and economy now have a chance to be mended and work better for those who have been left out. Let us hope, pray, and work together for those good ends.

Others may have voted for Hillary Clinton and are disappointed, and possibly quite upset. You may feel that this loss is a shock, and is a significant shift away from your hopes of forming a nation where more and more people have full participation in society with mutual respect and rights ensured. Let us hope, pray, and work together for those good ends still.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gave something like an inaugural address at the very beginning of his ministry and his earthly reign as the prince of peace and the embodiment of divine mercy. The text goes like this:

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind,to let the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16–21)

I am aware that at this moment, many are responding to the election with anxiety and fear. I am thinking specifically about:

• Muslim Americans who fear they will be oppressed and face greater hatred

• Mexican Americans and other Latinos who fear their family members may be rounded up en masse and deported

• Women who fear that language that normalizes sexual assault will become acceptable

• LGBTQ persons who fear losing their rights as full citizens

• African Americans who fear a growing backlash against the first African-American president and the further eroding of voter rights

• Persons with health insurance gained through the Affordable Care Act who fear that within months they will no longer have health insurance.

• Others who have been listening to offensive words that degrade and reject their full personhood coming from the man who will be the next president

There are more I could list. Whether you are supportive of the election results or opposed, we can all keep in mind that many people will now live with legitimate fear and anxiety about their well-being and their families’ futures.

The beginning of Jesus’ public life laid out a vision and a hope that we need to hear now. It is one of care for the poor, the oppressed, and the hurting. It is a message of liberation and release. It is a deep trust in the work of the Spirit to bring about what no human institution can bring about: The kingdom of God’s reign of love and mercy for all.

People of faith are called to shape and support human institutions like government to reflect the values and visions of God’s reign. But they are never called to put their ultimate trust and hope in those institutions. They are called to a faith that rises above the limited and deeply flawed world that people can create, even as they work within, for, and when necessary, against those institutions.

We are a people called to a life of loving our neighbors, caring for the least, working for a world of justice with mercy, and most of all, placing all our trust in one who created us out of love and called us to be love in a world longing for and fighting against God’s love. It’s a hard calling, one symbolized by the cross of Jesus, one known throughout history in the lives of humble servants and the blood of martyrs.

Beloved, no matter how you voted, this is how we must live together: loving our neighbors, caring for the least, working for a world of justice with mercy, and placing our trust in God alone. Our call is the same now as it was yesterday, though for some of us, it may feel more urgent and daunting. So be it. We follow Christ Jesus, who lived the costly love of God in all its fullness no matter the cost, who died for that love to be revealed through powerlessness and humility, and who rose to be the great, divine “yes” to all of this world’s “no” to God’s reign.

Work with me, brothers and sisters, in being the people of light and love, now more than ever. We do not do this work alone. We have the Spirit of the Lord upon us through baptism and grace, and the presence of the risen Lord Jesus, who walks this stumbling path with us all the way to the end. And the end is not your worst fear, but your greatest hope, and something even greater than that.

Peace to all in Christ.

Your Baptism Is Calling You

The Church in Trying Times

Written between the election and the inauguration

We are living in trying times. The election of Donald Trump has many living in fear, anxiety, and expectation that their lives may be in danger or their families may be ripped apart. This is not a normal reaction to a presidential election. This is not persons upset because their candidate lost. This is a reasonable reaction to the eighteen months of racist, xenophobic, and misogynist speech of the candidate himself. As we have seen in the rise of hate speech and crimes, whether or not Donald Trump himself believes the things he says, he has stirred up, empowered, and emboldened those who do to act out in hate, intimidation, and violence.

More than that, president-elect Trump has appointed Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Bannon is a man well known to be a supporter of the alt-right movement, which is blatantly racist. His former job as the head of Breitbart News gave him a ready platform to promote these beliefs, and Breitbart infamously has. We now have a white nationalist in a high position of power in the upcoming administration. We now have the authority and power of the White House making racism, xenophobia, and misogyny normal, acceptable, and powerful.

Church, your baptism is calling you.

In the ancient tradition of Christian baptism, the message is very clear: By going into the water, you are dying to an old life, and rising to a new one. The old life? That’s the life of sin, self-centeredness, lack of love for God and neighbor. The new life? Love, love for all, love for the other, the love of Christ mysteriously finding its expression in the flesh through you.

Baptism is about the paschal mystery of death and resurrection as the only path to new life. It comes through the death and resurrection of Christ, but it is now the death and resurrection of the baptized person. Early Christians made baptism a highly significant ritual. The initiation process, architecture, and rituals all said this is a life-and-death matter. Some ancient baptismal fonts had steps leading down into the water, and steps leading out the other side. They speak of drowning and dying, and then rising to a new life. Some early Christian fonts were round, symbolizing a womb of rebirth. Some were octagonal, speaking to the “eighth day” of resurrection, as Christians thought of it, a new day of creation where the old has passed away and in the resurrection of Christ, the new has appeared.

In the ancient baptismal tradition, one important thing must happen before the baptism. The baptismal candidate is asked three vital questions. And after each question, the candidate says: I renounce them. Here are the questions:

Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God?

I renounce them.

Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?

I renounce them.

This is a bold statement that the baptismal candidate is making, and the church is making with her. Something must be renounced in order to have new life in Christ. I think the rubrics here should say: Shouted with every fiber of one’s being: I renounce them!

In some ancient traditions, this renunciation is ritualized by facing west, the direction of the setting sun, the way of darkness. Facing that darkness, facing evil, the triple renunciation is spoken boldly, as if to speak directly into the face of evil and say, nope, I’m done with you. Then, the candidate faces east, the direction of the rising sun, the way of light, and confesses faith in Christ.

And then the baptism, the plunging into the waters of death and resurrection, the joining of one’s life to Christ indelibly, the rebirth. After the baptism in many traditions, the newly baptized,...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part One: Renounce
• Part Two: Resist
• Part Three: Rejoice