There has been much conversation generated by the sermon preached by Episcopal Bishop Budde at the National Cathedral at a prayer service on the day after the presidential inauguration. Near the end of her sermon she prayed for mercy upon many of the marginalized peoples in our country, particularly the LGBTQIA+ and immigrant communities, who feel very anxious about their fates under the new administration.
President Trump was in attendance and following the service made no secret of his disagreements with Bishop Budde. Putting aside the personal attacks, as someone who has received many critiques of my preaching over the years, I believe the President certainly has the right to offer his opinion.
But I wonder what his reaction would have been had Jesus been the preacher that day and gave what was his first sermon recorded in the Gospel of Luke. The president might have preferred Bishop Budde to preach.
In the Gospel for Sunday, Jesus had just come back from the Wilderness where he had been tempted by Satan for 40 days. Returning to his hometown he entered the synagogue where he chose to read these words of Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” Jesus preached “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.” 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.”
I am particularly struck by the phrases “proclaim release to the captives” and “to let the oppressed go free” as we learned that one of President Trump’s executive orders put an immediate stop to all refugee resettlement operations; even cancelling airline tickets already issued to refugees awaiting a long-delayed reunification with family members and loved ones.
Once again, the issues of illegal immigration and refugee resettlement have been conflated. As our congregation is a long-time partner of Inspiritus and Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services) and having numerous personal experiences of supporting newly refugee families in our histories, it is important that we all are clear about this important distinction.
As stated in a press release by Global Refuge’s President and CEO Krish O’Mara Vignarajah.: “The refugee program is not just a humanitarian lifeline through which the U.S. has shown global leadership. It represents the gold standard of legal immigration pathways in terms of security screening, community coordination, and mutual economic benefit. Refugees undergo rigorous vetting, including multiple background checks by national security agencies, before ever setting foot on American soil. Their integration is coordinated through close collaboration between federal agencies, local stakeholders, and nonprofit organizations, including many faith-based groups, positioning them to quickly become vital contributors to their new communities.”
Martin Luther in his Two Kingdom’s theory was clear that we are all called to respect our governmental leaders as empowered by God to maintain order and prevent chaos in the world. But he was also clear that if those authorities command something contrary to God’s Word, Christians have a duty to speak out and challenge those commands.
And so I was pleased also to read a release from Inspiritus: “We remain steadfast in supporting those already resettled, accompanying them on their paths from surviving to thriving.” Lutheran Church of the Redeemer also remains steadfast in our call “to bring good news to the poor…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” that Jesus word may be fulfilled in our midst.
