In my Annual Address during our service of Holy Eucharist last Sunday, I referenced the statement in response to the murder of Renee Good posted by Matt Moberg, NBA chaplain for Minnesota Timberwolves. With his words, chaplain Moberg offers a cry of the heart—and a call to Christians and all faithful people to examine what discipleship means in our lives. You may or may not agree with him, and your feelings and reactions may find expression differently. Still, in the spirit of spiritual challenge and the need for us all to embody the Scriptural exhortation to stand in opposition to injustice and oppression, I offer his post here, in its entirety:
If you’re a church posting
prayers for peace and unity today
while my city bleeds in the street,
miss me with that softness you only wear when it costs you nothing.Don’t dress avoidance up as holiness.
Don’t call silence “peacemaking.”
Don’t light a candle and think it substitutes for showing up.Tonight an ICE agent took a photo of me next to my car, looked me in the eye and told me, “We’ll be seeing you soon.”
Not metaphor.
Not hyperbole.
A threat dressed up in a badge and a paycheck.Peace isn’t what you ask for
when the boot is already on someone’s neck.
Peace is what the powerful ask for
when they don’t want to be interrupted.Unity isn’t neutral.
Unity that refuses to name violence
is just loyalty to the ones holding the weapons.Stop using scripture like chloroform.
Stop calling your fear “wisdom.”
Stop pretending Jesus was crucified
because he preached good vibes and personal growth.You don’t get to quote scripture like a lullaby
while injustice stays wide awake.
You don’t get to ask God to “heal the land”
if you won’t even look at the wound.There is a kind of peace that only exists
because it refuses to tell the truth.
That peace is a lie.
And lies don’t grow anything worth saving.The scriptures you love weren’t written to keep things calm. They were written to set things right.
And sometimes the most faithful thing you can do
is stop praying around the pain and start standing inside it.If that makes you uncomfortable—good.
Growth always is.
And if you would like a gentler version of this same message, here is a video of the open letter signed by over 150 Bishops in the Episcopal Church (including our own!): https://youtu.be/dAQtbl_Zzbs?si=tkHJz9VrHSjchspA.
Blessings,
