My sermon February 12, 2023 at Bluegrass United Church of Christ in Lexington, Kentucky.
The audio is available at kennybishop.com/podcast or on your favorite podcasting service.
Jeremiah 29: 11-14 (CEB)
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me. I will be present for you, declares the Lord, and I will end your captivity.
I think many of you know that I work at the State Capitol in Frankfort. It’s my full-time job. I always try to make a real effort to keep separate my work there as a legislative and policy advisor and my work here as a church leader.
What I always hope though, is that the attitude of being good and kind and helpful that I strive very hard to live personally, and the spirit and compassion that I preach and work toward here will somehow be obvious there - especially when we’re dealing with laws and debating policies that impact the life, death, health, and wellbeing of our fellow humans, and even more especially the most vulnerable among us.
We’ve become a cynical society. It’s very easy these days to look at the snippets and soundbites, the social media posts, and short quotes that are carefully selected to get an emotional response - it’s easy to look at those things and come to a quick conclusion on an issue. And we’re getting really good at making up our minds on whether someone, especially a public official, is a good person or a bad person based solely on their politics.
I hate politics. I hate politics almost as much as I hate religion. And I think one of the reasons I hate politics as much as I do is because of the way it has become so much like religion - giving divine ultimate power to old, outdated words and ideas and using them to divide humans, suppress voices, and demonize anyone who doesn’t agree.
I realize this may sound hypocritical coming from me - someone who spent 20 years making his living in ministry and religion before leaving it to go into, of all things, politics. But the way I see it, if anyone in the world gets to make a judgment call on hating religion and politics it’s someone whose whole professional life has been in religion and politics.
When it comes to those two things, most of you know where I am now. I’m not ashamed to say that I believe the bible we read today is as reliable and fallible as the people who wrote it, translated it, and interpreted it. I feel the same about the people and documents that founded our nation. Pure-hearted saints did not draft our constitution nor sign the Declaration of Independence, or write the words of scripture we revere today.
To some, that makes me despicable and evil. They’d call me un-American and un-Christian. And I get where they’re coming from. For those twenty-some-odd years that I was in full-time ministry, and for the first good number of years that I was in full-time politics, I would’ve agreed with them. But not anymore.
I’m happy to talk with you about how and why my views have changed. But the simple explanation is that when I started thinking with my heart more than my head, my thinking on a lot of things.
A friend of mine who attends a large, pretty conservative church in Frankfort was telling me about an event his church held a few of weeks ago with the well-known theologian and preacher Albert Mohler. Dr. Mohler is president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is very well-known in the Evangelical world. After his sermon, members of the congregation were able to ask questions - a Q & A type thing. In an effort to keep things from getting too dicey and under control, they had folks submit their questions in writing beforehand. A moderator would vet the questions, then call on the person with the question to come to a microphone that had been set up out in the congregation.
Before the moderator could lay out the rules and announce how things were going to go, a woman made her way to the mic and asked, “Dr. Mohler, how is it possible for a Democrat to be a Christian?”
That is the perfect example of why I hate religion and politics.
To this woman, they were one and the same. It was impossible for her to imagine that someone whose politics aren’t hers could even claim a relationship with God. Her politics have become her religion. Or maybe her religion has become her politics.
Now, we have to be honest here. We’re not so innocent either - those of us who lean more progressive in our theology and politics. We can be just as judgmental and just as harsh sometimes. I’m guilty of it.
At the same time that those who see things opposite of me are praying that God would “open my eyes” to the “truth,” I’m praying the same thing about them. We just don’t agree on what the “truth” is.
But to me, when I can’t figure out what is “true,” I try to find what is good and let that make my decision. And the bible has very simple guidance when it comes to doing good:
It’s doing justice, it’s loving kindness, it’s walking humbly.
Politics, and it seems religion too these days, especially a religion that’s informed more by certain politicians than Jesus, doesn’t seem to leave a lot of room for justice, kindness, and humility.
Part of the problem for politicians is they have to pick a party, and that decision pretty much decides everything else. It decides who they are going to show up for.
It’s not uncommon, but this past week, in Frankfort, we saw very clearly who was showing up for who when members of the state legislature debated a bill that would, among other things, allow teachers to opt out of referring to students by their preferred name and pronouns.
One side said they were showing up for the teachers, students, and parents. The other side said they were showing up for the teachers, students, and parents.
Truth is, both of them were showing up for some of the teachers, some of the students, and some of the parents. That’s because, just like the politicians who can’t agree, neither can the teachers, students, and parents.
I have my own thoughts on this matter - if you’re interested. Until there are straight or cisgender students and educators in distress and taking their own lives because there are trans and other LGBTQ people in their classroom, I think we should allow and make room for trans students to not only have a place to learn and grow, but to excel in it. I think we should let them be who they are. I think we should love them as much as we can through something that’s already incredibly difficult. I think we should let our hearts make this decision.
Those who view anyone other than straight cisgender people as legitimate will disagree with me, and some will call me heretical, but in my mind, that’s the way God views LGBTQ humanity.
That’s why we extend the invitation and open our doors to anyone who wants to come.
That’s why, when we’re asked to provide space for drag queens to raise money for organizations like Simon House that provides housing for homeless mothers with children and women who are pregnant, we say absolutely!
Put the date on your calendars, come enjoy some wonderful entertainment, and help us raise some money for this wonderful organization that’s showing up for these women.
That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to show up for those who need someone to just show up.