 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Saturday, March 12, 2022 What does it mean to choose the kingdom of God over all others?  Why did it take “boldness” to proclaimthe kingdom of God? Maybe you haven’t ever noticed that phrase before. But think about it. It’s as dangerous as saying that Jesus is Lord. We have so often sanitized, privatized and diminished the power of both phrases. But think. Has any kingdom of this world EVER really been prepared to submit to the kingdom of God?Is anyone in power EVER really ready to accept that Jesus is Lord – and that they aren’t? What is happening in Russia is not unlike that happened in Hitler’s Germany, where religious leaders who opposed the Reich were jailed – or murdered as traitors. And it is not, in principle, unlike what happens when certain well-known religious leaders in our own country opt for wealth power, prestige, and authority-over others despite the man whose tactics they still admire has nothing at all in common with Jesus, the Lord. Here is today’s story. Everything we do is theological. Every decision we make is theological.It’s all about God – or else, nothing is.  This is Father Ioann Burdin, the rector of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the village of Karabanovo in Russia’s Kostroma region, who has been arrested for delivering an anti-war sermon to his congregation. He also shared anti-war images and a petition on the parish’s website. He faces charges of “discrediting” the Russian Army. The police report states that he had told parishioners about “Russian troops in Ukraine shelling the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkiv and killing citizens of Ukraine – brothers and sisters inn Christ.” A message on the parish’s website states,“We Christians, cannot stand idly by when a brother kills brother, a Christian kills a Christian. Let’s not repeat the crimes of those who hailed Hitler’s deeds on the first of September, 1939.” Last week more than two hundred and seventy Russian Orthodox priests and deacons signed an open letter appealing for reconciliation and an immediate ceasefire in the war. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, did not sign the letter. And that is significant.  The patriarch and President Putin are very close. Putin is a church-goer. They both share the same autocratic, authoritarian, top-down understanding of both Church and State. And both, like some of our most famous religious leaders who signed on to the former president’s agenda, believe that it is a legitimate exercise of Christian responsibility to prevent people from making their own informed decisions about social issues – especially sexual ones. They equate rejection of abortion, homosexuality, feminism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They say that explicitly. And are prepared to force their views on their populace. Think about Texas, or Florida – or even, Missouri. They also share the view that “Russia first” or “America first” is a reasonable and holy excuse for doing anything to crush an opponent – as we see in Ukraine today.That quickly becomes, in both countries, “Russia over all” – “The USA over all.” And that is a far cry from “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth.” But do not forget the 270. Or the hundreds of Evangelical pastors and teachers in our country who have opposed this trend in our own country, despite proclamations form their “leaders.”. They aren’t being arrested.But they are being rejected, put out of their churches and universities. Pray for them. |
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