Although these times are hideously violent on so many emotional, physical, financial, intellectual, and spiritual levels, I don't know of a better time to be a Christian who is an Episcopalian.

I am so very proud of the leadership exhibited by Sean Rowe, our Presiding Bishop, President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala Harris, Washington DC Bishop Marianne Buddee, NY Bishop Matthew Heyd, LA Bishop John Taylor, Minnesota Bishop Craig Loya, Indianpolis Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Missouri Bishop Deon Johnson, Connecticut Bishops Jeff Mello and Laura Aherns, Virginia Bishop Mark Stephenson, Central NY Bishop DeDe Duncan Probe, Maine Bishop Thomas Brown, Michigan Bishop Bonnie Perry, and so many other strong, prophetic voices in The Episcopal Church at every level.

They stand on the solid ground of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is also the foundation of decades of resolutions from General Convention that speak to the mission of the Church to "proclaim the Gospel, and promote justice, peace, and love," as well as to live out the last two vows of our Baptismal Covenant, to "seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself," and to "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being."

I commend to your reading this morning's article from ENS, "Episcopal Church raises alarm at GOP fiscal plan’s potential to harm low-income Americans," by David Paulson. It documents some of the many General Convention Resolutions that provide us with solid ground of the Gospel of Jesus Christ amid the sinking sand of cruelty, greed, and corruption that has infected our culture.

I also commend to you a Letter from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on Episcopal Migration Ministries of the Episcopal Church, in which it was announced that it would end its decades-long work, which has helped resettle more than 110,000 refugees over four decades, rather than participate in Trump’s propaganda.

Importantly, Rowe decided to “leave loudly,” issuing a statement, explaining their reasons for refusing to participate in the resettlement and calling out the Trump administration for its distortions of refugee policy:

In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step. Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the US federal government.

It has been painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years. I am saddened and ashamed that many of the refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country.”

If you have not read "Presiding bishop defends decision not to resettle Afrikaners, calls church a ‘bulwark against injustice," also by David Paulsen, I commend it to your reading, as well.

I think the quote from Bishop Sean in this article ought to be posted in the vestibule of every Episcopal church:

“Institutional resistance is now more important than ever. The church may be one of the few institutions that will be able to stand up and to tell the truth along the way, not to fold to demands to continue to be asked to make compromises on our moral decision-making.” Sean Rowe, Presiding Bishop

Yes, we must remain true to our claim of full inclusion of all manner and condition of humanity, and make a wide path of kindness for the great diversity of opinions which individuals may hold. However, we can not - must not - remain silent in the face of cruelty, White Christian Nationalism, and the greed which violates the basic Gospel principles of hospitality to the stranger and oppression of the poor, widowed, orphaned, elderly, infirmed, and imprisoned.

My immigrant Portuguese-Azorean grandmother used to say that what she loved most about this country is that you have the freedom to wave your arms as wildly as you please, but that right stops at the end of the other person's nose.

Here's the other thing I learned from my grandmother: Courage is contagious. As some of us learned this Lent, Bonhoeffer wrote, "We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself."

Anything less is "cheap grace," which Bonhoeffer says is “the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”

I am so deeply grateful for the courageous leadership of our religious leaders in these dangerous times, who are willing to pay the high cost of discipleship.

It’s a great time to be a Christian. It’s a great time to be a person of faith and conviction, of moral principle and ethical responsibility, however that finds its expression.

As my grandmother said, courage is contagious. Go, thou, and do likewise.