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This is all a beautiful illustration of the best of this country. The United States came into existence with the statement that “all men are created equal,” and here, in the Des Moines airport in the middle of Iowa more than two hundred years later, we are living into that ideal. Our country has welcomed immigrants from many shores, some of whom are sitting here in the airport with me.
The gospel of Jesus teaches us that every human being is a beloved child of God. In our Baptismal Covenant we promise to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being. These values correspond well with the belief that “all men,” or, as we now understand it, “all people,” are created equal.
In our baptismal covenant, we also promise that, whenever we fall into sin, we will repent and return to God. This last promise is necessary because we are human, and however hard we try to live into the values of the gospel, we will inevitably fall short at some point. Through misunderstanding or inattention we may fail to treat someone else as a beloved child of God. We may even, without meaning to, fail to respect the dignity of every human being. What is important is that we remain committed to learning and growing, and when we realize, or when someone tells us, that we have failed to live up to the promises of the baptismal covenant, we repent and return to God—and also do our own interior work to learn where we went wrong and how we might do better in the future.
This is especially important in this moment in history, where our country is experiencing deep division, the culture wars are enflamed and entrenched, and many church people are adamant that politics needs to stay out of the church.
I can understand the reasoning behind keeping politics out of the church. Political divisions are deep, and growing deeper, and having disagreements with people we care about is uncomfortable and makes us unhappy. We look to the church for comfort in adversity, and discussing issues that threaten to divide us is the opposite of comfortable. We would prefer to love our church family without looking too closely at their political beliefs, or letting them look too closely at our own.
However, if we are prepared to stand up for our country and the Declaration of Independence, including the statement that all are created equal, and if we recognize that our baptismal covenant says the same, then politics and church may be more aligned than it appears at first glance. As Christians, our allegiance is first to Christ, and only after that to our country. As Christians, we know that we are the recipients of unearned grace, which makes it possible for us to recognize our mistakes and our sin, because we are assured of forgiveness and reconciliation to God. In this assurance, we need not be afraid to recognize the mistakes and sin of not only ourselves, but our country as well. There is no better place to discuss things that matter deeply to us than in our church communities, where we believe that our bonds of love are far stronger than anything that might seek to divide us, and where we are part of a community that knows how to forgive because each and every one of us has been forgiven.
Christians need to be able to confess that our country has long fallen short of the ideal that all are created equal. Those words in the Declaration of Independence were written by people who knew that they did not treat all people equally. From the very beginning of this country, political compromise has been present, holding back the fulfillment of the ideals that we, as a country, express.
The church, like the prophets in the Old Testament, is called to remind the politicians and the rest of us of the deep values that we hold, and to warn when political compromise threatens those deep values. The church is called to stand in solidarity with those who are suffering and to boldly proclaim the gospel values that Jesus taught, and to defend those values in the public square.
Right now, in Iowa, the call to the church to be a prophetic voice for gospel values in our common public life is urgent. The church proclaims, like the Declaration of Independence, that all people are created equal. Despite this, and partly because of the considerable political involvement of Christians who see their faith very differently than the Episcopal Church does, our state is moving in the direction of privileging some of God’s children over others, and taking rights away from some of God’s beloved in Iowa that others of God’s beloved will still enjoy.
Politicians in our nation and our state need to hear from Episcopalians about the ways we see our gospel values intersecting with the laws that they are passing. Our common political life needs to hear our voice, not as members of whatever political party we may choose to affiliate with, but first and foremost as followers of Jesus who prioritize the same people Jesus prioritized: the poor, the marginalized, those left out of society and those left behind.
As we celebrate Independence Day and rejoice in our freedom, we need to remember that our true freedom comes from being baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Our call is to follow our savior in loving God and loving our neighbor. Loving our neighbor includes standing in solidarity with all of our neighbors, especially our marginalized neighbors. It also includes advocating for laws and policies that uphold our gospel values, the promises we make in the Baptismal Covenant, and the declaration at our founding that all people are created equal.
Yours in the abundant life of Christ,
+ Betsey
The Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot, Bishop of Iowa
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