Grace Notes
‘Us first’

Nancy Kennedy

Sometimes I’ll be thinking about something, an idea to work out as I write this column, and then I’ll hear a sermon from my pastor that is, if not the same thing that’s on my mind, at least similar. I take it as a confirmation from God. This past week my pastor spoke about “a culture of kindness,” and that the church is to be a community of kindness. He used the Hebrew word “hesed,” which is difficult to translate into a simple English word. He explained it as “God’s astounding love for outsiders,” his “covenant commitment,” and his mercy, grace and faithfulness to those who need it most, those we often overlook or look down on and think of as less than human. He said Jesus was always showing “hesed” to the outcasts, the poor, the lepers, the “sinners.” Not everyone loved the way Jesus loved people. The most religious people of his day hated it. Sadly, that hasn’t changed much in the past 2,000 or so years. So, the thing I’ve been thinking about for a while is what our politics have done to poison our culture and especially our churches, our white, evangelical churches in particular. A pastor on social media recently posted this: “I hear Christians say all the time that our nation ‘needs to repent.’ My response to this now is simply to say, ‘Us first.’ “So much of the church needs to repent of its worship of presidents and political power at the expense of the gospel of Jesus. “When the church crawls into bed with political power, its voice not only becomes one with the state, but its Christian witness becomes a mouthpiece for the empire, rather than the gospel of Jesus and advocacy for the most vulnerable. “It dethrones Jesus,” he said, “and replaces him with the worship of governmental power.” Amen. For Christians it’s Jesus first. It’s others first. It’s “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” first. It’s “Whatever you do for the least of these you do for me (Jesus)” first. It’s “bear one another’s burdens” first. Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you,” but that doesn’t mean we leave them in their poverty. “Too bad. So sad. Oh well.” What has happened to us? What is happening to us? How is it that we live in a time when some Christians view charity and mercy and empathy as weakness and give a thumbs up to cruelty? The gospel says ALL have sinned, and whoever calls on the name of Jesus is welcome at God’s table. ALL and WHOEVER. That’s the way of Jesus. He welcomes anyone who repents and asks for forgiveness. Even people who are not white evangelicals or people who vote differently. I am so sad for the American evangelical church. We have gone astray, chasing after worthless idols. In the book of Revelation, Jesus rebukes a self-satisfied church that had forsaken him for riches. He called them “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Then he says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” Is this what Jesus says to the church in America? Yes, our nation, as every nation, needs to repent. But as the online pastor said, “Us (we, the church) first.” Our politics have maligned the name of Jesus. Our witness is laughable at best. May God have mercy on us. Contact Nancy Kennedy at 352-564-2927 (leave a message) or email at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com .

Grace Notes
‘Us first’

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Grace Notes
‘Us first’

Today Can Be Different
Guilty, but forgiven