Rector Ramblings

By The Rev. Jim Stewart

     I have been pondering what our faith is all about in the world today.  We are chosen to follow the Word of God and be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  I sometimes wonder what has happened to a lot of people in our society when they say they are Christians and yet attack those that speak up for those that cannot.

     At the service we heard from Bishop Budde as she addressed the President of the United States.  She did not tell him how to do his job or make undo demands on him.  All she requested was for him to carry out his duties with mercy.  It is not going against the protocol for a bishop to address the president during a service as it has been done in the past.

     The definition of mercy is to show compassion or forgiveness toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.

     Bishop Budde asked the same thing I preach every week at our services, and that is to show compassion, love, grace and mercy towards every human being.  The idea is to show kindness no matter who we are addressing and help them if we can.  She was on a bigger stage but was asking the same thing that we would ask of each other.

     As I watch the comments since that service, I have been appalled by all the hate for a bishop or as far as that goes towards any human being.  She was doing exactly what we are called to do.  I would like to share the Words of our own Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori while she was our presiding bishop.

1, How can we help to break the cycle of poverty?

2, How can we become a place of refuge and healing for the most vulnerable members of our society?

3, How might we be a prophetic voice for those who find themselves stuck in dead-end situations?

     The answer is simple to proclaim Mercy for all people.  To be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.  Remembering Jesus’s words, “what you do to the least of these you do to me”.

     Bishops are ordained as all priests and deacons are and in her ordination during the examination she was asked the question, “Will you be merciful to all, show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper”, and her answer was, “I will, for the sake of Christ Jesus.”  

      May the peace and love of Jesus Christ be in all of us.