In many, the Kyrie Elsison is sung:
Lord have mercy,That word, "mercy", captured national attention this winter in the wake of Bishop Mariann Budde's homily at President Trump's inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on January 22. She spoke of the foundations of unity: honoring the inherent dignity of every human being; honesty in both private conversation and public discourse; and humility.
Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy.
And she closed with a short, gentle plea for mercy:
Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are transgender children in both Republican and Democrat families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals—they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
Some who heard Bishop Budde's words were outraged, as was the president himself. Some members of the US House of Representatives even introduced a resolution of condemnation.
Some church leaders, including Catholic priests, the United Church of Christ president, and the Presbyterian Church (USA) praised her for her courageous witness and fidelity to the words of Jesus. The United Methodist Church Committee on Faith and Order sent her an official letter of support:
In The United Methodist Church we encourage our bishops to live out “a prophetic commitment for the transformation of the Church and the world.” We say, “the role of the bishop is to be a prophetic voice for justice in a suffering and conflicted world” (The Book of Discipline ¶403.1.d). We believe this is in keeping with the prophetic tradition of Amos who encouraged us to “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream” and Micah who told us that what the Lord requires is justice, kindness and humility before God. We believe this is in keeping with the ministry of Jesus who took special care for the least. We witnessed such episcopal leadership in you this week. You inspired and encouraged us. As a committee we found your sermon profoundly rooted in the prophetic tradition of our shared Christian faith, while being delivered with gentleness and respect. We are pleased to call you a friend in Christ and offer our prayers.
Some from Episcopal backgrounds found Bishop Budde's words unremarkable:
If you have ever attended an Episcopal Church ordination service, Bishop Budde’s sermon would not have been surprising or different. The Prayer service was, in essence, like an ordination.
The request Bishop Budde made to President Trump at the end of her sermon was not a political one. It was a request made directly from the Holy Bible in which God charges, first the leaders of the Jewish people and then also Christians, to Love God and in so doing, care for the alien resident, widows, children, the homeless, the hungry, to clothe the naked, and, yes, visit the prisoner.
Asking the President of the United States of America to consider these biblical commands in the course of carrying out the duties of his office was not a political nor disrespectful action. It was an act of recognizing his position.
Voices from the pews are more difficult to document, but I know from my own conversations with friends that some life-long followers of Christ heard Bishop Budde lambasted from pulpits in their own churches and quietly resolved not to return. And I know from social media posts and reports from Episcopal and national press that some Christians who left their increasingly right-wing politicized churches have since visited or are considering joining Episcopal churches.
I also know there are others, in Episcopal and other churches, who urged church leaders to rebuke Bishop Budde and her use of the pulpit in implying criticism of God's chosen leader or using the inaugural homily to say anything that could be interpreted as critical of the president-elect.
While it's been two months since that inaugural homily, it continues to echo through social media, church communities and quiet conversations. In a sense, that sermon has become a Rorschach inkblot test: an assessment tool that reveals our partisan leanings, our view of scripture, what it means to obey God's call and our understanding of the role of faith in political discourse.
In the questions raised and the swirl of responses, I find myself praying for mercy.
For our nation. For our world.
For our churches. For our fractured Christian witness.
I'll be writing more about the word "mercy" and about Christian witness in this divided political season.
For now, if you haven't watched the sermon, please take a few minutes to do so.
What do you hear? What do you see? What do you pray?
Lord have mercy.