Thread by @jeffblack945

#RevThread #132
Stewards of the Mystery

1/ St.Paul says that as a preacher and leader of the Jesus movement, he - and by extension preachers like me - are “Stewards of the Mysteries of God.” (1Corinthians 4:1)

2/ I like that. The idea of the steward is that the steward is never the point; what he or she is taking care of belongs to Someone Else. God and God’s “mysteries” are the point. Hmmm.

3/ The main mystery of “Mysteries” is, of course, God. If someone claims to you that he or she has God all figured out, my advice is to put your hand over your wallet and back quietly out of the room.

4/ Part of stewarding the mystery is to insist that some things ARE mysteries, they are holy, they can’t be subjugated to a transaction, can’t be bought, can’t be sold, can’t be forced.

5/ Another part of stewarding is to let the mystery change you: to explore it, to be shocked by it, to be humbled.

6/ Sacraments, liberty, rights, the Creation - these are mysteries. It has been my life’s work to steward - to cherish and value and protect and understand and honor - the Gospel.

7/ In a similar way, it is the calling and the honor of every citizen of America to steward the mysteries of liberty and law.

8/ “Demos” is the Greek word for “all the people.” “Cracy” is the ancient word for “power.” In a ‘Demo Cracy’ the power and responsibility for stewarding the mysteries of freedom and law rests in all the voters.

9/ We are watching all this sacred truth be brushed into the trash as clumsy, profane louts assert American Fascism.That fascism is on plain view in the GOP, the White House, the United States Senate, and most vividly on our Southern border.

10/ Our problem is not that our foreign policy has taken a nose-dive, although that is serious. Our problem is not that our economy is heading for another crash, although that too is serious. Our problem is that we have embraced fascist, race-based cruelty.

11/ When Germany went into the darkness in the early 30’s, they had suffered horrendously for years.

12/ We are entering a similar darkness, not because American life has become impoverished, but mostly because collectively the nation wanted to reassert wealthy white male supremacy .

13/ [Additionally, Russia helped the GOP to prevail, for Russia wants to destroy democracy in the world, lest their people get restless under the oligarchs’ rule.]

14/ You may think that calling this moment in US life incipient fascism is hyperbole...

15/ I say when we have detention camps filled with brown-skinned people and stadiums filled with white people roaring their approval, and when the leader of all this GOP madness is trotting the globe obsequiously toadying up to murderous tyrants..

16/... then there is something to this claim of American fascism.

17/ In detention camps, thousands of non-criminals who had earlier asserted their legal right to apply for asylum, having committed no crime, are separated from their families.

18/ There are 50,000 such souls currently imprisoned across our country - none charged with any crime. This is human rights abuse on a colossal scale.

19/ In Clint TX, hundreds are crowded into filthy cells built for 35 people, with no drinking water & one toilet in the middle of the room. When a thirsty inmate asked for a drink of water, a guard responded, “drink from the toilet.” That’s a statement worthy of the Gestapo.

20/ Our dogs drink from the toilet. Not our visitors. And certainly not anyone who comes into our home seeking help. Who in hell have we become?

21/ We are still called to steward the mysteries of God. We are failing. I remind all of us that one of the primary responsibilities of the steward is to give an account to the Owner of the Estate.

22/ What will you and I say to the Owner when asked what we did to steward liberty and justice for all during the rise of Trump Fascism in our land? And what will we say to our grandchildren?

23/ There is no political issue - not health insurance, not economic problems, not educational failures - that matters as much as facing the fact that fascism has seized large sections of the GOP and is now threatening our entire country.

24/ If your clergy have abetted Donald Trump’s agenda, find a new church. If your boss is thrilled by Trump, send out your resume.

25/ Do not let your soul be engulfed by this enveloping contagion. Stand for freedom. Steward that mystery. March, protest, and vote these creeps into the oblivion they so richly deserve.