Bishop Hughes reminds us that while aligning oneself with the marginalized can feel political, taking care of God’s beloved people – all of them, however they are found, and wherever they are found – is Christian. (Time: 4:27.)
Video Transcript
This is Bishop Hughes in the Diocese of Newark. It has been a full weekend, a weekend as people think about Martin Luther King Jr’s life, a weekend where a new President was inaugurated, a weekend where many people are asking themselves, what is next, and a weekend where Christians are really having to weigh and measure what is Christian and what is political. I think sometimes the answer to that question is quite obvious. What is political involves people in political offices. It involves voting, etc. And what is Christian for us is what aligns with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
So what puts us in the world, in places where we are feeding his sheep, as he asked us to, what puts us in the world where we’re giving people food, where we’re giving people clothes, where we’re being friends to the friendless, where we are healing those who are sick and where we’re casting out demons. What puts us in those places? What puts us in places with people who are marginalized, or people who have been cast out, or people who have been considered unclean. All of these are deeply Christian places, places where, when you read the Gospel stories, you will see Jesus.
To some people, aligning oneself with the marginalized will always feel political. It’ll feel like it’s not just political, but it’s partisan politics. I hear it very often as culture wars or identity politics. And I would say, that’s an easy place to live, as long as it’s not hurting you or hurting anyone in your household. But on the other hand, if you are any part of a group that is being marginalized or being oppressed or having its rights overlooked or misaligned or rejected outright, that if you’re in one of those groups, it feels very personal, it feels very hurtful, and in some cases, it feels terrifying.
So as Christians, what are we to do? We certainly aren’t to keep our heads in the sand. Sometimes there are things that we do that are political. We are to be in touch with our elected representatives. We’re to let them know exactly what it is that is important to us. We’re also supposed to go out and vote and to protect the votes of other people and to help other people get to polling places. So that part of our lives, it does, as citizens, seem political. But this other part, taking care of God’s beloved people, all of them, however they are found, and wherever they are found, that is Christian.
Let’s be clear about who we are. We are Christians, and in some way, our life here on this earth, at this particular time, especially in the United States, is meant to look like the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
There are going to be times where we do that and we feel nothing but goodness about it. We feel nothing but the warmth of helping another person. And there are going to be times when we do that and we are rejected and vilified for it, and that is what life is as you follow Jesus.
I know this probably sounds hard and maybe harsh, but I will tell you what else it sounds: It sounds fulfilling. It sounds like living into the world the way Jesus asked us to live into the world.
Jesus gave us so much, most of all, his very self, and continues to give his very self to us, and has promised us that wherever we go, he will be with us. So we are not in this on our own. We don’t have to figure it out on our own, but we do have to go – go to the places where people are in trouble and where they’re in need. We will find God’s people there, and Jesus will go with us.
