Responding to the Call
By Katie Nix
(Paul said) “God’s calling for a radical life-change. God has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And God has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.” At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; other said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.”
I recently attended a lecture at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum hosted by the Women’s Society of Washington University. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I had never ventured into the museum, even though it is less than a mile from my house. The lecture was planned during Holy Week, a time jokingly marked by most pastors as Holy H@#$ Week (or holy heck week). Even with time and anxiety working against me, I found the courage to walk across the street from my office to WashU’s campus to hear the presentation.
In the early 1940s coinciding with America’s entry into World War II, Washington University became a haven for persecuted Jewish scholars. H.W. Janson, who had left Nazi Germany in solidarity with his Jewish teachers, arrived in 1941 and in a very short period of time transformed and modernized the art collection of the university, today the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Director and Chief Curator Sabine Eckmann had me spellbound for over an hour with her stories of the “Exilic Vision” and how Janson deliberately (and controversially) sold off a great deal of the collection to acquire modern pieces from artists who were being persecuted, pushed out, and deemed degenerate by Nazi politics.
Throughout the riveting presentation, a key phrase was repeated that has since found a deep anchor in my soul. Eckmann, as she flashed through her powerpoint, reminded us—What we do is always political. She framed it within the motivation for Janson to reimagine WashU’s role in saving modern art. But in the context of Holy Week and our current environment, I could not help but ponder on it long after I left the museum.
A great deal has been written lately about the role of the church in government. Voices from all sides and all traditions have weighed in on the role of faith when it comes to leadership and power. Countless examples of how faith helped or caused harm are thrown around daily on social media. Even within my home denomination of the United Methodist Church, the vein of politics is seeping into the very fabric of our institution, splintering us into warring sects that bring out the worst in us and not our best.
Jesus was no stranger to the political undertones of his message of peace. His very presence on Palm Sunday stood as a statement against the second parade happening that morning. As Pilate entered the city with pomp and circumstance, showing off the full power and might of an empire that used military force to silence those whom they viewed as a threat, Jesus came on a humble donkey declaring a message of peace. Those in the crowd who had been oppressed cried out the ancient words of Psalm 118 as he rode by—Hosanna, God save us.
There were, and still are, two options for people to turn to for salvation. One is military dominance and imperial power. The other is the Kingdom of God and the way of peace. As a pastor, I know the “right” answer to the question I just posed. But it feels like that way has gotten much harder to follow over the years. Too many within the church are choosing a narrative of Jesus as a wartime victor and using the Gospel as a weapon against those who would fail their approved litmus test of belief. Allegiance is being demanded from a place of fear, and I’m being asked to abandon gospel principles of loving thy neighbor and caring for the poor all for the sake of “voting the correct way.” What am I supposed to do when the way of peace is losing? What happens when the voices of power and dominance are speaking loudly and causing real and lasting damage?
The Apostle Paul was no stranger to the realities that this faith in Christ would cause in the world around him. Even in the booming metropolis of Athens, there were a variety of voices vying for power and prestige. Intellectuals, persons of faith, and those who had been pushed aside are lining the streets looking for answers to the problems of their day. And into this scene the Apostle Paul calls the audience to a radical change of life that will set everything right.
Like the saints before us, from the listeners in Athens to those in our community of faith today, we are given a chance for a radical life-change SO THAT all will be set right. We are called by Christ not simply to keep the peace; we are commanded to be peace makers. Which circles us back to the words from the art lecture. If everything we do is political, then when the empire in their quest for power offers us peace at the expense of another, we are called by Jesus to speak up and protect those on the margin. We do not give into a rhetoric of fear but proclaim the truth of God that says all are valued, beloved, and precious. We do not use the tactics of the tyrant or an evil system, because we believe that God’s Kingdom is so large that no one is left out. And in our quest to follow Jesus, we will make sure no one is left behind, pushed aside, or used as a prop in a political game.
Perhaps some will walk away, like they did from the Apostle Paul that day in Athens. But perhaps even more will want to go deeper, hear more, and change their life.
Rev. Dr. Katie Nix is lead pastor of Grace United Methodist Church, a church partner of The Carver Project.