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Dear San Marco Church Family: If you have not had the opportunity to hear Bishop Mariann Budde’s sermon delivered at the National Cathedral this past Tuesday, I highly recommend that you watch it in its entirety. It is a fifteen minute homily focusing on unity and the ingredients necessary for unity. You can watch Bishop Budde’s January 21 sermon here. She discusses the Christian virtue of humility and she eloquently explains the power of unity among people with a great diversity of viewpoints and life experiences. Unity requires honoring the inherent dignity of all human beings, and it requires honesty in private and public discourse, and finally it requires humility because we are all fallible human beings. Even as I challenge you to listen to the sermon, I ask that you NOT just listen to the four or five minute clip that the major news outlets have shared. When we only listen to a short portion of a sermon, or of any public discourse, we often miss the rich and complex ideas that the speaker seeks to convey. Ironically, in our world of media saturation, it seems that many of us have such short attention spans that we miss important content despite widespread access to such content. Frankly, it drives me crazy when folks comment about a sermon, or any speech or writing, without having reviewed it in its entirety. I have often struggled with how to articulate the voice of the church in the world of social and political dialogue. I believe that we all have a duty as followers of Jesus to be informed citizens and to support policies that are consistent with the teachings of Jesus. At the same time, as the church we do not endorse specific political candidates. We are called to be bearers of the gospel in our private and public lives and I believe that it is sinful of us to remain silent in the face of injustice in our world. I have been guilty of such silence in my life. My prayer for our nation and our local community is that with God’s help we can model and promote civil, respectful dialogue regarding the many social and political challenges that plague our world. No matter how acrimonious the cable news becomes, we need only follow and emulate the life and teachings of Jesus, such as the “Sermon on the Mount” found in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. I recommend reading those chapters after listening to Bishop Budde’s sermon. As always, I welcome your questions and ideas about sermons or sermon series ideas that interest you. Feel free to email me anytime with your questions and ideas at stevehart100@gmail.com. I remain grateful to serve as your pastor, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday! Steve Hart
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