I
decry this virulent epidemic of bow-ties.
Stop the madness, people!
The
morning, after the usual housekeeping details, was invested almost entirely in
finishing the Middle East report.
This began with an attempt to reconsider the action taken the night
before.
I
had been up until 1:30 with a group brainstorming about possible strategies to
get divestment back before the Assembly.
Knowing what I know about Assemblies and about parliamentary procedure,
I knew this to be a long-shot no matter what. In the end we settled on four possible strategies, and let
the friendly commissioners decide what to do. Unfortunately, they chose to use all four in
succession. One of the approaches
might possibly have worked. But
the full-court-press tactic merely tried the patience of the Assembly, and each
initiative failed by margins wider than the last.
After
finally deciding that the Israeli policies in the occupied territories were not
technically “Apartheid,” the Assembly finally voted to ask the Board of
Pensions to find a way to relieve the consciences of those who did not want
their pension dues going to support the non-Apartheid atrocities committed
against Palestinians. The Board
tried to weasel out of this and were peremptorily told to do it anyway.
Then
we all got up and sang some upbeat hymns.
So it’s throw your neighbor under the bulldozer and sing about Jesus.
The
“Confession of 1967” talks about Jesus Christ as a “Palestinian Jew.” Now we see these two essential elements
of the Lord’s identity divided and cast as enemies. But under the non-Apartheid regime in Israel-Palestine even
Palestinian Jews are second or third-
class citizens. Non-Jewish
Palestinians are treated like non-humans.
Jesus is a Palestinian Jew.
He identifies with the suffering of each of these groups. In this case it Jesus’ Palestinian
successors who now suffer most systematically and profoundly. It is they who identify most with the
Israelites in Egypt and the Jews in Babylon, and even with the Lord himself on
the cross. I don’t see how we can
sing in this Assembly songs about Jesus while at the same time in effect giving
him the finger by our participation in the oppression of people with whom he
identifies. Jesus is a
Palestinian, for God’s sake. I
mean literally.
On
to same-sex marriage….
The
Assembly began by getting hung up on whether a motion may contradict the
Constitution. If this were true it
would be impossible to amend the Constitution, since proposed changes would be
ruled summarily out of order. This
reasoning was used yesterday by the chair when someone moved something in
contradiction to the Trust Clause, one of the fattest of our sacred cows. This concept was turned against the
chair by some who said that since the Constitution only defines marriage as
between a man and a woman, any attempt to change that standard is out of
order. This effort failed, but it
left the august figures on the platform looking inconsistent and hypocritical. Then they spent the rest of the first hour
wrangling over assorted parliamentary nonsense.
After
three hours of debate the Assembly basically voted to do nothing. Given the level of courage we have seen
so far, and the allergy towards change, will this Assembly will no doubt pride
itself in there being little evidence that this meeting ever happened? Perhaps.
Later
in the evening attempts were made to roll back the changes from last year and
reinsert sex language in the ordination standards. These efforts also failed, showing that this was an Assembly
committed to making no changes at all, progressive or conservative. The theme here is inertia.
However,
it appears that the young people present, both Young Adult and Theological
Student Advisory Delegates, were generally willing to make strong choices
moving the church forward. Since
these are the folks who will inherit the denomination, we have reason to hope
in the future.
Another
thing that gives me hope is this initiative to establish 1001 new worshiping
communities. Now, we’ve proclaimed
initiatives before that went nowhere.
And this will not happen unless we loosen up a lot of our governance and
even more of our way of thinking.
As I said earlier, we are designed to accomplish as little as
possible. But if we get out of our
own, and the Holy Spirit’s way, this is something that could be done. Note that the initiative is about “worshiping
communities,” not necessarily “churches.”
A worshiping community can be more informal and (gasp!) spontaneous. But we’re going to have to lose our
mentality about turf, and not allow existing churches to obstruct new things by
which they feel threatened. And
there’s a lot of fear out there.
One
of the texts that was preached on repeatedly at the Assembly, is Mark 2:1-12,
the story of the paralytic who is healed when four of his neighbors lower him
down through the roof of the house where Jesus is teaching. The preaching had us identifying with
the friends, or even the healed man.
It appears that a paralytic is a fitting image for this non-ambulatory
Assembly, which was unable to stand up and get itself anywhere. We find ourselves at that point where
we are looking up at Jesus in hope.
We rely on the faith of others, forebears, advocates, courageous saints,
prophets, people with enough gumption and commitment to demolish the very roof
of the Lord’s house, and convey us into Jesus’ presence. When we are healed it will be because
of the faith of these others that Jesus sees and imputes to a church unable to
walk on its own.
Some
of those others were there in the Assembly. Some were testifying before committees about their
work. Some were present only in
memory and spirit. Some were
watching at home. And very many
were barely aware of this big, expensive meeting in Pittsburgh. But those are the blessed folks who
carry the church into the saving presence of the Lord.
I
will not say the theme of the Assembly – “walk, run, soar” (from Isaiah 40:31)
was ironic. But it was a hope we
still retain.
During
the Assembly, in order to keep in some semblance of physical shape in all this
sitting and eating (and enjoying some remarkably good beer), I took the stairs
whenever I could. Including up to
the 9th floor of our hotel.
The first time I did this I am ashamed to say I had to stop on the 4th
floor and gasp for breath. Maybe
that’s where we are as a denomination.
Out of shape, trying to climb higher, but needing to take a breather. Maybe the Spirit was subtly at work
strengthening hearts and limbs unaccustomed to strain. (Not to disregard the people we manage
to leave in suffering and despair while we’re taking our breather….)
By
Friday I could make the ascent without stopping. (Not without gasping, however.) And maybe after this Assembly, we will be more equipped to
walk, run, and hopefully even soar, in God’s mission.
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