An Ethic for Today - May 6

Over the past seven years, the Rev. Fleming Rutledge has been caregiving for her husband and largely absent from the pulpit. She is an evangelical voice in our tradition, a titan in the preaching world, and someone who stirs my own faith to proclaim the hope of Jesus Christ more boldly. For the past two seasons of Advent, I have read her collection of sermons and essays Advent: The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ for my own formation and spiritual growth.

This past week, she posted her first Substack essay, Preaching in the Trump Era, which you can read here. If you are someone responsible for preaching, you might find this exceptionally helpful. In her essay, she suggests that perhaps one of the greatest threats to democracy is the way we have siloed ourselves into parties and lost the ability to care for, listen to, and engage with one another.

She explores the polarization among Iranian expats, quoting a New York Times article: “Friendships and business relationships have broken down… vicious insults have been exchanged online… ‘People are kind of scared of clearly explaining their point of view,’ says an Iranian-born academic.”  She believes we have reached a “time when public expression of contempt for those who are on the other side politically has reached an extreme never before seen in American public life.”  I think she rightly asserts our universal connection to social media is the engine for this.

If you’re curious about her response and don’t have time to read the full article, she believes the preacher’s task is to gather narratives that serve as illustrations—stories that show people how to love and embody the truth of the Christian faith, and that help us avoid the catastrophic divisions within communities that the church is struggling to address as opposed to the typical exhortation that produces either shame or agreement.

While I don’t have a compelling illustration to offer here—and may be slipping into exhortation in this reflection—today’s Epistle from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians offers a powerful example. Today’s reading comes at the end of the letter. Paul appeals to the Christian community to be at peace among themselves. He encourages them to admonish those who have stopped working because they believe the second coming of Christ is imminent, and to encourage the fainthearted. Paul urges them to help the weak, to be patient with all, and to repay no one evil for evil. He calls the community to rejoice always, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all circumstances.

What strikes me is how practical and how demanding this vision really is. Paul is describing a way of life that resists the very fractures we see all around us. In a world that rewards outrage, fear, and division, this kind of community stands out. It takes discipline to rejoice when anxiety feels more natural, to pray when we would rather react, and to give thanks when the world feels unsteady. It takes courage to refuse to repay evil for evil.

And yet, this is exactly the kind of life that can begin to heal what is broken among us. It is small but transformative acts of faithfulness that we are called to live out.  This is how the Church becomes a witness to a different way of being human.

John+

Question for Self-Reflection:
Where in your life are you being invited to resist division and instead practice the quiet, faithful work of peace?