The Angry Mob

Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, 

but inside they are full of the bones of the dead, and all kinds of filth.

- Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 23: 27 (NRSV)

This morning, before I even had my coffee, I read this account of a Nazarene Pastor who attended a Trump rally in Florida.  You may have read it too, and if you haven't take a minute to read it now. I'll wait.

Done? Good.  We need to talk.

If you are not familiar with the various nuances of Christian denominations, you need to know that the brother that wrote that story is probably much more tied into the Trump nation than I am. You might have read his comments about demonic influence and idolatry as being a bit on the kooky side of the religious spectrum, but don't write him off that quickly.  The Nazarene pastors that I have known are pretty far from the spooky snake-handling end of the baptismal pool, but they are mostly not on the progressive end with us mainline heretics either.  I read his account with a great deal of sympathy and I actually value his assessment of the idolatry of nationalism.  I am also sickened by people using the Lord's Prayer to attempt to bless the hard-hearted and fearful set of policies that assault immigrants, sick people in need of healthcare, poor people in need of support, all of us in need of clean air and clean water.

I get the impression that perhaps Joel was a bit more optimistic about the general direction of politics at the start than I can bring myself to be.  Say what you want about all of that, disagree with me and my "liberal agenda." But do not try to smooth over the demonic forces that are part and parcel of the zeitgeist of this moment in history.  The idols and the demons drop their masks in moments like this.  I have an eleven year old daughter who would have been shaking behind me at a moment like that as well. And that is what hit me in the guts about this story.

I like to think that I would have stood with Joel at that rally, but the reality is that you couldn't pay me to attend a Trump rally, because the mystique of the POTUS is not enough to draw me there out of respect or even curiosity.  I certainly wouldn't take my daughter.  The demons of fear and hate are out to play in this nation right now.  The idols of power and greed are unabashedly at the helm.  The Lord's Prayer in that setting is mocking the Holy.  God Bless America, when America does not care for the poor and the vulnerable is nothing but hollow and empty words. Woody Guthrie hated that song, that's why he wrote This Land Is Your Land.

There's a verse of that song that doesn't generally get taught to children that reflects something powerful about our nation at the moment:

In the shadow of the steeple, I saw my people

by the relief office, I seen my people;

As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking:

Is this Land made for you and me?

I want to believe that we are better than what we have been showing lately, but my faith in us has been strained to say the least. I suspect that those people who screamed obscenities at a Pastor probably consider themselves Christian. I consider them whitewashed tombs.

The good news is that they can be redeemed, because God is not done with them or us just yet, but we really need to remember that exile and destruction are definitely on the menu of divine remedies for arrogance, greed and idolatry.

Something to keep in mind the next time you say, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."