meanwhile in one corner of the Evangelical world......

[callmeslick]

one divinity student, who attended Bernie Sanders' speech at Liberty University penned a short sermon including the following words:


He was convicting the Christian leaders and the religious leaders in that university, and calling us out for being complicit in the abandonment of those who suffer, the least of these, and siding with the powerful and rich, the masters of this world. And he was convicting us and calling us out, and we scorned him, and we stared him down; and, with sour faces, we thought, "Who is this wacko, and why do all these people seem to follow him, seem to like him – this wild-haired Jew, crying out from the wilderness of the political left, in his hoarse voice?"

When I heard Bernie speaking in that way, when I saw that guy on stage at Liberty University, I saw John the Baptist...crying out to the religious leaders, the Pharisees of his day, calling them corrupt and complicit with those who have all the power and all the money and all the wealth, and abandoning the people that God loves, that God cares about...

As I heard Bernie Sanders crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his hoarse voice, with his wild hair – this Jew – and he proclaimed justice over us, he called us to account, for being complicit with those who are wealthy and those who are powerful, and for abandoning the poor, the least of these, who Jesus said he had come to bring good news to. And in that moment something occurred to me. As I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him, I realized Bernie Sanders for president is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders for president is Good News for the poor. Bernie Sanders is gospel for the poor. And Jesus said "I have come to bring gospel" – good news – "to the poor."
And lightning hit my heart at that moment. And I realized that we are evangelical Christians. We believe the Bible. We believe in Jesus. We absolutely shun those who would attempt to find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretations of scripture that they would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big message that they want to flout. We absolutely scorn such things, and yet somehow we commit to the mental gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon the least of these, to abandon the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison.

I listened to Bernie Sanders as he said he wanted to welcome the immigrants and give them dignity, as he said he wanted to care for the sick children and mothers and fathers who do not have health care, as he said he wanted to decrease the amount of human beings who are corralled like cattle in the prisons, as he said he wanted to do justice for those who have nothing and live homeless. And I remembered the words of Jesus who warned his disciples that there will be judgement, and on that day he will look to his friends, and he will say "Blessed are you for you cared for me, for I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you cared for me, I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was in prison and you came to visit me, I was homeless and you gave me shelter." And his disciples said, "When did we do any of those things for you?" And he said, "If you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me."

Those words echoed in my heart as I listened to that crazy, hoarse-voiced, wild-haired Jew standing in front of the religous leaders of the Evangelical Movement, calling us to account, as a Jew once did before, telling us that he intends to care for the least of these, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for the sick, to set the prisoners free.

I wouldn't be much of a Christian if I didn't stand on the side of gospel for the poor, because, the last time I checked, that's where my master Jesus stood, and I'll stand with Him. And, for now, that means I stand with Bernie Sanders

[Lothar]

I've seen a lot of articles about Sanders-to-Liberty in the last couple days. Here are some of my favorites:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/4 ... ted-warmly

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/09/li ... space.html

https://www.liberty.edu/champion/2015/09/sanders/

http://www.peteenns.com/bernie-sanders- ... -disagree/

[snoopy]

I wonder how much hyperbole the student intended.

Here's what I'll say: The cue that I take from Christ (in a context like this) is His staunch refusal to get embroiled in politics. Simply put, I think one of the church's largest struggles throughout the ages has been a tendency to get too closely tied to politics and politicians. This problem was at the heart of the crusades, the reformation, and a lot of our current political stereotypes. The church should make it their business to stay out of politics and instead focus on loving individuals. To me, it sounds like Liberty did a fairly decent job of acting that out; engaging with the person, not the politics.

[Lothar]

The cue that I take from Christ (in a context like this) is His staunch refusal to get embroiled in politics

I think it's interesting that He addressed a number of political-type questions in His day, though often in a roundabout way. The question about whether it's lawful to divorce one's wife "for any reason" was a major political controversy, with one group of rabbis teaching that the law allowing divorce if your wife is "displeasing" refers only to serious transgressions like adultery, and another teaching that it refers to even trivial things like burning a meal. Jesus takes the question head-on and says the Hillel school is wrong and Shammai is (close to) right. Likewise, Jesus' statements about paying taxes are a strong and subversive political statement -- drawing attention to the inscription on the coin (which calls Caesar "divine") is a way of criticizing people for participating in an entire idolatrous economic system. But by phrasing it as "give Caesar what's his, and give God what's His" Jesus sneaks the teaching in under the noses of the Romans.

Ultimately, though, Jesus refuses to limit Himself to mere side-picking or position-backing or identity-choosing. He doesn't tell people to follow the Shammai school or to support Herod or one of his heirs. He doesn't get entangled in the power structures of the day, but instead calls on people to do the right thing on a personal level, whether or not the government or the rich and powerful are along for the ride. Which is a lesson we can all take in the next election -- no matter who the next president is or what policies they can get through Congress and the courts, we will still have the poor and the powerless and the oppressed, we will still see the devaluation and mistreatment of some classes of humans (unborn, immigrants, black, handicapped, Muslim, elderly, LGBTIA, etc.), there will still be hunger and imprisonment and mourning and people in need. And while it would be nice to have a giant organizational backing like "the feds say it's illegal to oppress those people" or "the feds are writing you a check to help you out", the reality is, that only gets us partway, no matter who is in office. Both Bernie Sanders and the student who wrote this essay are right to point out, it's easy to come up with excuses to abandon those in need, instead of following Jesus' teachings about caring for the lowest of the low.

[woodchip]

Posting in the color fuchsia makes the words more noteworthy.