This past Tuesday, a National Prayer Service was held at Washington National Cathedral.  The service of worship was attended by leaders of many faith traditions, newly elected leaders of our nation, and others.  Our freshly inaugurated President and Vice-President were present. Bishop Mariann Budde was the preacher for the occasion and used the opportunity to address the need for unity in our nation. Using Jesus’ well-known parable that contrasts a house built on rock with that built on sand, Bishop Budde exhorted those present and, by extension, all of us, to do our part to work toward unity.

Bishop Budde stated that people of faith are not so naive as to think that unity is the same as uniformity. In a nation as diverse as the United States, it is to be expected that there will be differences of opinion on all manner of things. Indeed, the whole notion of democracy is that positive solutions to great challenges are discovered when we engage, dialogue, disagree, debate, compromise, and negotiate. It’s a slow, arduous process.  It’s a lot of work. 

Can we not, Bishop Budde asked, strive for a sufficient unity, one that will propel us forward as a nation, one that will afford all people the opportunity to live abundantly?  And can we not build this sufficient unity by respecting the dignity of every human being, speaking the truth in love, and finding some humility in our walk with each other and with God?

In the aftermath of the prayer service, Bishop Budde’s sermon went viral. Many acclaimed her courage in “taking it to the president.” Many others condemned her words, chastising her for having the audacity to confront President Trump in a sacred space and sacred service of worship. One Congressional Representative actually called upon Bishop Budde to be “added to the deportation list” for her words.  

Apparently, President Trump was not positively moved by her sermon either. On Truth Social, President Trump remarked, “Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!” 

My goodness. 

My own reaction to the sermon was that Bishop Budde did what all Christians are called upon to do: to speak the truth as she understands the truth. She was asked to preach, and she preached about a God of love who desires abundance of life for all people: democrats and republicans and independents, citizens and non-citizens, documented and undocumented, people who are straight, gay and trans.  Bishop Budde spoke of a God who calls upon humans to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with each other and with God. She challenged all of us, including those newly elected, to be people of integrity, matching our prayers with our actions. And finding herself under the same roof as the most powerful human on the face of the earth, Bishop Budde used the occasion to ask President Trump to consider mercy when making the difficult decisions required of his office. 

I found her words to be squarely in line with all the words and actions of Jesus. Quite frankly, I found nothing that she said to be radical at all, at least not radical if one identifies as a Christian. I find myself in complete agreement with the one who commented, “If you’re a Christian and what Bishop Mariann Budde said offended you, then Christ isn’t the one you’re following.” I stand resolutely and humbly beside Mariann, my sister in Christ. 

My siblings in Christ, if we are to find a sufficient unity to hold our families, our faith communities, our nation and our world together, it seems that it’s not too much to ask that we heed the words of Bishop Budde:

to respect the dignity of every human being 

to speak truth, as we understand the truth, to one another

to find some humility in our walk with each other and with God

May God give us the grace to witness to Christ’s sacrificial love for the whole world, striving for a sufficient unity in both our words and actions. 

~Father Art