Friday, May 23, 2003

By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

It was time for evening prayer and I was trying to decide whether to do evening prayer alone in my room or to go to the chapel and observe the time with the other 50 people who had gathered at the retreat center in Florida for a special conference. It had been a very long eight weeks and my spiritual batteries were in serious need of recharging. Deciding that the evening speaker might have an uplifting, edifying message, I chose to walk to the chapel. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The Reverend James Armstrong, a former United Methodist Bishop, walked to the pulpit and began the only sermon that I have ever heard that left me infuriated. The entire "sermon" was a well-crafted, cunning, bombastic, anti-George W. Bush tirade.

Recalling the worship service in the Washington Cathedral, following the Sept. 11 attacks, Armstrong opined that the President of the United States had no business being at the pulpit and addressing the nation. One assumes that, since Mr. Bush is not a cleric (an ordained minister), the bishop felt that Mr. Bush should not have spoken to the nation from the pulpit of the prestigious cathedral. He neglected to mention whether it was appropriate for the Muslim cleric to have spoken from the pulpit of a Christian church.

Armstrong mocked Bush's assertion that Bush "heard from God," saying, "Does the president believe that he has a direct line to God?" He also ridiculed the belief of George W. Bush that he is in office at the will of God. Invoking the name of several Old Testament prophets, Bishop Armstrong, saying that he could not remain silent, then proceeded to bash Bush and his Iraqi policy, especially his conduct of the war.

Bush was described by the bishop as a "religious/political fanatic." Somewhere later in the message, Armstrong noted that Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Anwar Sadat, Yatzhik Rabin, and Jesus were all men of peace. One can honestly argue whether Sadat and Rabin fit the bishop's description as men of peace, their Nobel Peace Prize awards notwithstanding, since Sadat's Egyptian military launched a sneak attack on Israel Oct. 6, 1973, and Rabin spent 28 years in the Israeli military. The bishop neglected to mention these little facts as well.

Nevertheless, Armstrong declared that all these "men of peace" were eventually killed by "religious/political fanatics." The implication was clear: President Bush, also, according to the bishop, a "religious/political fanatic," is a dangerous man. Somewhere in the sermon, the words "hatred," "cruelty" and "greed" were also bandied about. One wonders whether the bishop had similar objections to former president Jimmy Carter, who was unashamed of his Southern Baptist roots and his "born-again" Christianity. Or does the Bishop simply object to deeply religious people serving in political office only if they are Republicans?

Evidently, there is much that Bishop James Armstrong chose to ignore in his quest to trash the President of the United States during that evening prayer in Orlando; for example, the New Testament Book of Romans. St. Paul said, "For there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God" (Rom. 13:1 RSV). So yes, Bishop, Bush is in office at the will of God. And, yes, so was Bill Clinton. Paul also calls rulers "God's servants (ministers)" in Romans 13:4 (RSV) and, in that same passage, gives those rulers authority to "bear the sword."

So, yes, Bishop, as God's appointed authority in the land, Bush had every right to address the people from the pulpit of the Washington Cathedral. And, I might suggest, sir, that in your labeling the President as a "religious/political fanatic," you have failed to "pay respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due" (Rom. 13:7 RSV).

What about the charge that Bush thinks he has a direct line to God? Well, so did the Psalmist, who wrote:

"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer" (Ps. 17:6 NIV).

"I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God" (Ps. 38:15 NIV).

"In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me" (Ps. 87:6).

And so do most evangelical Christians, who believe that they can pray to God with a reasonable expectation of receiving answers, in one form or the other.

Armstrong is no lightweight in church circles. In addition to serving as a pastor and having been elected a bishop, he has served as a former president of the liberal National Council of Churches, has authored several books, and has served as a seminary professor. His comments and input have often been sought out by the media.

In a radio interview first aired Oct. 10, 1998, Bishop Armstrong said, "... we should not let another person function as our conscience." Sorry, Bishop, I refuse to believe that President Bush should allow you to act as his conscience or mine for that matter.

I wish you had chosen to bring something enlightening and strengthening to fifty weary ministers instead of serving up a plate of politics. And I wish I had prayed alone in my room.

[David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church on Ga. Highway 34 between Peachtree City and Newnan. He may be contacted at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.CTKCEC.org.]

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