Voice, Values, Vote

by the Rev. Chris Mereschuk
Preached November 2, 2008 at the First Church of Christ, Congregational, UCC, in Glastonbury, CT

Around election time, much is made of the role of faith in politics, and, conversely, the role of politics in faith. The names of the long-dead men who are credited with the founding of this republic are chanted out, and with them, the refrain of this country’s heritage of Christian values. Over the years, those so-called Christian values have been marshaled to both support and abolish slavery, enter into and resist war, drive native peoples from ancestral lands under the divinely ordered cause of manifest destiny, prohibit alcohol during the temperance movement, enforce racial segregation and call for equal rights and protections under the law. For nearly a decade now, if you were to say that your political beliefs are shaped or even dictated by Christian values, chances are good that you would be referring to two main issues: abortion and same-sex marriage.

Phrase it however you like: pro-life, anti-abortion, protection of the unborn or pre-born; anti-gay marriage, defense of marriage, pro-traditional marriage, the sanctity of one-man-one-woman marriages -- these two issues have been the public face of so-called Christian values almost to the exclusion of the myriad other socio-political concerns raised in the life of a Christian.

Search the bible, and depending on what translation you have in hand, you will find perhaps half-a-dozen verses that prohibit same-sex relationships. You will find a few more that you can interpret through an anti-abortion lens, verses concerning wrongful killings and the blood of innocents. But take an X-Acto knife to the good book and cut out references to other issues of social justice and political life, and you will be left with a fistful of confetti, and just perhaps the word “Amen.” Just as David had mentioned a few weeks back when speaking about removing references to money from the scriptures, take out these lines and you are left with one holey book -- but one sad and vacant Holy book.

Maybe I’m not telling you something you don’t already know, but consider these selections from our bible:

• There are over 3,000 verses that relate to poverty and the condition of poor people.
• Over 1,000 verses relating to ecology and the environment.
• We already mentioned, hundreds of verses concerning the use of money.
• Dozens of references to Israel’s obligation to “care for the stranger, immigrant, alien, and foreigner” in the land.
• Nearly all of the prophets warn of God’s wrath against the people due to their neglect of widows, orphans, and children.
• Jesus Christ Himself, “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,” the one from who we would source all of these values, gave his life to serve God, to reach out to the “impure” and “unclean” -- the outcasts and those on the margins who were scorned by the rest of society.
• Jesus commands his followers to love their neighbors as they would love themselves, to extend that love to enemies and those who would persecute you. The Sermon on the Mount takes the radical turn of blessing not the pious, powerful, and wealthy but the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the peacemaker, those who struggle for righteousness.
• Most clearly, in the 25th chapter of Matthew, Jesus proclaims for us just who will sit at his right hand when we enter the glory of the Kingdom: those who have cared for the sick, who have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and visited the prisoner. Why? Because it is through your service to those who are most cast aside and needy in society that you are serving Jesus himself.

Jesus, the man of Nazareth, lived his life and died his death to bring power to the powerless, voice to the voiceless, help to the helpless, and hope to the hopeless -- do you think he would have reduced his message, his ministry to just one or two issues? I find it insulting to suggest that a Christian -- a person living out the Christian faith in this world, day-to-day -- would not be considered to be guided by Christian values if he or she is compelled to take a pro-choice stance or support the legal and equal marriage of two same-sex partners.

I will concede that I struggle deeply with the issue of abortion -- I wrestle with this tension between my strongly held beliefs about the dignity and sanctity of life and my conviction that an individual’s right to self-determination holds equal importance. Truthfully, I am more concerned with the quality and dignity of life on this side of the womb.

On the other hand, the issue of same-sex marriage, or marriage equality, has never been a struggle for me. To allow the legal and protected union of two consenting and loving adults, regardless of gender, serves only to create more stability in society, more opportunity for children to be nurtured, and does more to further the civil rights of all people. Same-sex marriage does not take food from anyone’s mouth, take rights from or oppress any ethnic, racial, or religious group, take money from any socio-economic class, harm our ecology, or engage our country in any military conflict. To borrow a phrase from Thomas Jefferson, it neither “picks my pockets nor breaks my bones.”

Sisters and brothers, do not allow others -- not even me -- to define just what Christian values do and do not include. Do not allow someone else to tell you that your voice is not valued, that your values are not valid. Do not divorce your faith from your values. Do deny yourselves the right to proclaim your faith through casting your vote. If you think that faith has no role in social or political life, I would refer you to Bishop Desmond Tutu, to Mother Theresa, to Dorothy Day, to Monsignor Oscar Romero, to Martin Luther King, to Mahatma Gandhi, to John Brown and countless abolitionists, to the defenders of the Amistad passengers, and ultimately back to Jesus Christ Himself.

Take a look through that bible and see just how long God has called out for justice. Take a look at the United Church of Christ and see just how long, and in how many ways, our denomination has worked for equality and the dignity of all. Take a look at yourself and see just how deeply rooted your values are, and just how closely connected they are to your faith -- your view of God, your understanding of Jesus, your commitment to living in this covenantal community. You are all “values voters.” We are all “values voters.” It is time to reclaim and proclaim. AMEN.