The IRS New Ruling

 Friends, 

The IRS issued a ruling this week that allows churches to endorse candidates for political office, without endangering their tax-exempt status. It seems to me that some churches have been openly endorsing candidates, parties, policies, or issuing “voter guides” for quite some time, and the IRS has largely turned a blind eye. 

 

Today I want to offer a few personal perspectives on this new ruling issued by the IRS. I do not feel that being the pastor who preaches regularly at St. Mark puts me in any position of authority to speak to this issue. Rather, I feel that being the pastor who preaches regularly at St. Mark obligates me to clarify my own approach to an issue that can have many valid perspectives. Here goes.

 

1. When we have a stewardship drive or call for the offering, we never appeal to tax advantages. We speak of our “debt of gratitude,” and begin with the claim that the earth and everything in it belongs to God. It seems crass to appeal to making an offering to God as a matter of economic advantage. Still, that deduction is something that we all take for granted. My guess is that tax advantages is a part of the equation in church giving, but I have no idea how significant it is and I hope it is quite small.   

 

2. Someone who is called to preach the Word of God needs to ask theological questions, moderating their words by what God requires far more than a fear of losing their tax exemption. There are theological reasons for preachers to observe the difference between the Christian message and a partisan political stance and here are a few that shape the way I try to speak the Word of God, even when it involves issues that have been politicized: 

 

- “God alone is Lord of the conscience,” which sets the individual conscience free from the dictates of any religious or secular authority.

- “The Christian conscience is captive to the Word of God” – remember Repentance means “change the way you think about everything!” 

- “Sin is radical and universal” – radical in the sense that there is no aspect of our being that is unaffected by it, including our opinions; universal in the sense that no religious or political opinion is exempt from the taint of sin. 

- “We are the church reformed, always being reformed,” by which we mean the living God whose Spirit is among us is ever at work transforming our hearts, renewing our minds, and challenging us with the possibilities of new life. 

- “The church is a prophetic community,” which is my own summation of how Presbyterians view the story of the Day of Pentecost and its meaning for us today. That story takes the power of prophecy, the call to speak truth to power, and pours it out on all the people of God. 

- In addition to worship and fellowship, the church of Jesus Christ is called to peacemaking, the right administration of justice, liberative preference for the poor, caring for creation, upholding the dignity and value of all persons, and demanding accountability of those in leadership, among other things. In order for these commitments to be more than just pious rhetoric, they require study, encouragement, organization, advocacy, and action.

- When we proclaim the Living God, who loves “the world,” and for whom justice matters, we cannot reduce the gospel to what Jesus did once upon a time or reduce salvation to a purely personal matter. A living God is far more disruptive of our ways than that. 

 

3. In “the separation of church and state,” the line of demarcation between church and state is always elusive. Is something like ‘advocating for immigration justice’ an act of Christian conscience or is it ‘political’? If an issue of justice is politicized, how do we speak to it as an issue of justice and escape the claim that we’re being political? 

 

I don’t think it is possible for the church to be squeaky clean in separating matters of justice from matters of politics, when the purpose of politics is to ensure justice. So, when it comes to what we proclaim, it seems to me that the issue of tax exemption should matter much less to us than keeping our theological convictions. 

 

That’s me just thinking aloud this morning,

Mark of St. Mark

 

 

Bread for the World

Friends, 

Happy 4^th of July. Today I will find time to honor my annual habit of reading Frederick Douglass’ astounding reflection, “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” You can watch a powerful recitation of that speech by Douglass’ great-great-great-great grandchildren here. It will be time well spent and that speech continues to offer prophetic power. 

 

Speaking of offering prophetic power, on the weekend of June 1 we commissioned one of our youth, Collette Anderson, and one of our deacons, Angie Vazirian, to attend a Bread for the World conference. Here is Collette’s response and report of that event for us. Wow, she speaks truth. 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 2025 Bread for The World Advocacy Summit. Bread for the World is a bipartisan Christian organization with a focus on solving world hunger. In times like these making your voice heard is very important and this summit allowed me to do so. I met so many incredible people and learned so much about advocacy and the right ways to do it. Having meetings on the hill and knowing that I am doing everything I can to make a difference is such a great feeling. This experience taught me so much about the importance of the voice of the people. It was inspiring to see so many people of all ages coming together for such a great cause. Everyone I met was so driven and had such an amazing heart. On the last day of the summit, we had meetings in the offices of our representatives on Capitol Hill. Some people met with the representatives themselves, in my case, I met with the staffers. We approached the meetings with the “ask” of protecting SNAP, WIC, and international food aid programs. My representatives have all been openly and loudly supportive of these programs so our focus was on asking how they were planning on getting the support of their colleagues across the aisle. Meetings like these are important because they give the representatives stories to sway their colleagues. I was told that by speaking to representatives with your same opinion you are “arming members with an arsenal of anecdotes”. It is also very impactful to send your representatives emails and letters and call their offices directly.

 

If there's ANY form of legislation or policy you are passionate about, reach out to your representatives. Your voice is important, now more than ever. There are so many issues in need of addressing and anything you care about is worth expressing. Whether it be by email, physical letter or even scheduling a meeting with their office make your voice heard. This summit specifically focused on urging representatives against passing the Big Beautiful Bill which will cause $290 billion in budget cuts over the next 10 years. So although there are other concerns I would have liked to address as well, we focused specifically on this bill. As an organization voicing concerns for world hunger, we focused on the issues that the bill will cause on people who rely on programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) as well as international hunger aid programs. SNAP is a federal program that provides financial assistance to low-income individuals and families to purchase food. It operates through an Electronic Benefit Transfer card, which can be used at authorized retailers to buy food items. WIC is a federally funded program that provides supplemental food, nutrition education, and health care referrals to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, as well as infants and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk. These programs are relied on by over 45 million Americans and are a large part of solving the hunger problem in the U.S. The budget cuts in this bill will strip millions of families of this support leaving them hungry. If this is something you are passionate about you can use this link to send a pre-written email to your representatives that can be modified in any way to fit your specific views or any personal stories.https://go.bread.org/page/82476/action/1?locale=en-, You can use this link to contact your senators about any matter important to you: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm US No matter what it is you are passionate about and no matter what your opinion is I strongly urge you to reach out to your representatives because your voice can and will make a difference. Advocacy is important. There is no way for a representative to know what the people want unless we tell them. We are the people.

 

Collette Anderson

Pentecostal Mystery

 Friends, 

Today I present a Pentecost poem, written by St. Mark member Don Beard, a man of many passions and artistic talents. Enjoy.

 

Today

Is Not the Tomorrow

My Yesterday Self

Dreamed OF

Hunger Still Exists So Needlessly.

Lives and Livelihoods Are Still Destroyed by Greed and Wars.

Loving Our Neighbors and One Another

Is Not as Inclusive as it Ought to Be.

Such Truths as These and Others not Listed

Continue to Remind Me

That Today

Is Not the Tomorrow 
My Yesterday Self Dreamed Of

But then I Remember the Pentecostal Mystery

Of How God Brough His People Together

To Speak and Understand a Though With One Voice.

Reminding Us That It Is in Our Togetherness

That We Too Can Be Part of the One Voice

Proclaiming The Power and The Promise of The Resurrection.

My Hope and Prayer for the Here And Now

Is That Someday, Hopefully Not Too Far Away,

By Continuing to Use Our God Given Skills and Talents

Along With Our Combined Voices,

That We Will One Day Be Able To Say,

Today 
Is the Tomorrow 
Our Yesterday Selves

Dreamed Of

 

 

Mark of St. Mark

The Disruptive Holy Spirit

Friends, 

 

I took a break from my Pentecost theme last week to honor Holmes Rolston III and Walter Brueggemann of blessed memory. Now, back to the theme. 

 

I want to talk about the discomfort and disruption that the Holy Spirit often brings in her wake. First, let me nerd out for a second about the term “Holy Spirit.” The Greek term for Spirit is πνεῦμα. As you may know, in Greek – as in many other languages – nouns are often identified as either masculine, feminine, or neuter, and πνεῦμα is neuter. So, if one wants to select a pronoun, one can go with “him,” “her,” or “it.” Translations rarely choose “it” when referring to the Holy Spirit, because Christian doctrine considers the Holy Spirit to be the “third person” of the trinity, and “it” is impersonal, usually referring a thing. I prefer to speak of the Holy Spirit with the pronouns she/her for a couple of reasons. First, I should confess, I like how it catches people off guard and makes them ask questions. But, more importantly, some of the related terms to πνεῦμα are specifically female nouns, such as πνοή, that mighty rushing wind/breath that entered the house on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:2). In addition, the Holy Spirit is often described in ways that “Wisdom” is described in the Hebrew Bible, and the term in Hebrew, as well as its Greek counterpart “Sophia” are also feminine. Proverbs 8 has the most delightful description of Wisdom accompanying God during creation, which the Old Testament scholar Bill Brown says reads like “take your daughter to work day”: “then I was beside [God], like a master worker, and I was daily his delight, playing before him always, playing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” That is Wisdom speaking, a participant in God’s act of creation. 

 

In addition to the arguable femininity of the term, the word πνεῦμα has a wide array of meanings. It can mean “spirit” as in a human spirit or God’s spirit. It can also mean “breath” or “wind.” When translations speak of the sound of ‘a rushing mighty wind’ entering the room (Acts 2:2), then says they were all filled with the “Holy Spirit” (2:4), we are receiving their best interpretations. Verse 2 could read, “rushing mighty breath” or “rushing mighty spirit.” Verse 4 could read that they were all filled with “the holy breath,” which sounds like the creation story in Genesis 2, or “the holy wind” (although that sounds odd). And the capitalization of “Holy Spirit” instead of “holy spirit” is entirely a judgment call., as is the King James Bible’s phrase “Holy Ghost,” using “ghost” instead of “spirit” for πνεῦμα.

 

What is more important about the Holy Spirit is how disruptive she is. As we heard last weekend, religions are inherently enculturated. They are typically birthed in a particular culture, with particular views of the world, particular languages, and particular authoritative figureheads. And while they may grow and extend beyond the original culture, they tend to privilege certain aspect of their history. Think of how a religious book might describe a war, with God clearly on one side and not the other. Think of how some 21^st century Roman Catholics argue mightily for bringing back the “Latin Mass” that was ended with the Second Vatican Council, even if they don’t understand a word of it. Think about how a classical piece of music, even it is titled Etude in d minor is considered “sacred music,” while “What a Wonderful World” is considered “secular.” It’s not a criticism, but an observation that religions tend to take on a particular culture, sometimes declaring a language to be more sacred than others, and so on. 

 

With that in mind, look at the disruption the Holy Spirit causes on Pentecost! Suddenly every language becomes a medium for declaring the mighty works of God. Every language, hence, every culture. The language of friends; the language of enemies. The language of the educated; the language of barbarians (seriously, “Cretans” are mentioned in the story!) After the litany of cultural identities present, the story says, “in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” The Holy Spirit tramples on the unspoken rule of religion by bypassing the presumed privilege of culture and language by making God’s story accessible to everyone. Jesus once likened her to “the wind (pneuma) which blows where it will.” That Holy Spirit, she does what she does!

 

It seems that the church has been trying to shove the Holy Spirit back into proper cultural, linguistic, and theological boxes ever since the Day of Pentecost. Our faithfulness lies in setting her free and trying to keep up! 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

  

In Life and in Death, We Belong to God

This past week, two significant figures in the Christian academic world died, both at 92 years old. Holmes Rolston III and Walter Brueggemann had very different, long, and influential careers, for which I want to give thanks today. 

 

From Union Presbyterian Seminary, where I attended, is this writeup about Holmes Rolston: “Rolston has been a part of the UPSem story for decades. Born November 19, 1932, in Staunton, Virginia, Rolston was raised in a family deeply rooted in Presbyterian ministry. After earning a B.S. in physics and mathematics from Davidson College in 1953, he followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps by enrolling at Union Theological Seminary (VA), where he received a Bachelor of Divinity in 1956. His wife, Jane Wilson Rolston, earned an M.A. from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 1955. Rolston went on to complete a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Edinburgh (1958), and an M.A. in the philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh (1968).

 

Rolston is widely considered the 'Father of Environmental Ethics' for his work in recognizing the intersections between nature, religion, philosophy, and ethics. In addition to teaching for over 40 years at Colorado State University, Dr. Rolston published multiple works, including Philosophy Gone Wild (1986), Environmental Ethics: Values in and Duties to the Natural World (1988), Conserving Natural Value (1994), Genes, Genesis, and God(1999), Three Big Bangs: Matter-Energy, Life, and Mind (2010) and A New Environmental Ethics (2012, 2020). His argument that nature possesses intrinsic value beyond human utility reshaped environmental philosophy and religious thought alike. His work served as a moral compass in an age of ecological crisis, offering a framework in which care for creation is not only a scientific necessity but also a sacred duty.”

 

Walter Brueggemann was one of the most influential biblical scholars of our time, for me and for a large host of students of the Bible. He retired as a Professor Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, GA, after a widely published and sought out career as a preacher and teacher. I will share a prayer he wrote called, “On Controlling Our Borders.” 

 

“Jesus – crucified and risen – draws us into his presence again, the one who had nowhere to lay his head, no safe place, no secure home, no passport or visa, no certified citizenship.

We gather around him in our safety, security, and well-being, and fret about ‘illegal immigrants.’ We fret because they are not like us and refuse our language. We worry that there are so many of them and their crossings do not stop. We are unsettled because it is our tax dollars that sustain them and provide services. We feel the hype about closing borders and heavy fines, because we imagine that our life is under threat.

 

And yet, as you know very well, we, all of us – early or late – are immigrants from elsewhere; we are glad for cheap labor and seasonal workers, who do tomatoes and apples and oranges to our savoring delight. And beyond that, even while we are beset by fears and aware of pragmatic costs, we know very well that you are the God who welcomes strangers, who loves aliens and protects sojourners.

 

As always, we feel the tension and the slippage between the deep truth of our faith and the easier settlements of our society.

 

We do not ask for an easy way out, but for courage and honesty and faithfulness. Give us ease in the presence of those unlike us; give us generosity amid demands of those in need, help us to honor those who trespass as you forgive our trespasses.

 

You are the God of all forgiveness. By your gracious forgiveness transpose us into agents of your will, that our habits and inclinations may more closely follow your majestic lead, that our lives may joyously conform to your vision of a new world.

We pray in the name of your holy Son, even Jesus." 

Prayers for a Privileged People, Walter Brueggemann, Abingdon Press, ©2008

 

In life and in death, we belong to God.

 

Mark of St. Mark

Pentecost and Zeal

I want to repeat my comment from last week that we Presbyterians do ourselves a disservice by leaving Pentecost to Pentecostals. When I was being examined for ordination by the East Iowa Presbytery thirty years ago, most of the questions were concerned about my Pentecostal upbringing and whether I would try to impose Pentecostalism onto the congregations I served. I understood where the concerns were coming from and actually shared many of them. At the same time, I didn’t want to throw the story of the Day of Pentecost under the bus in order to demonstrate that I was a safe candidate. Growing up Pentecostal offered me a host of positive experiences, along with negative experiences that I’ve been trying to work through spiritually and theologically during my adulthood. I will save the negative experiences for a memoir or a comedy routine at a later time, but some of the positive experiences may surprise someone unaccustomed to the tradition: Women preachers (not pastors, but preachers) were common; we called one another “brother” or “sister” instead of “Mr., Mrs. Miss, or even Rev.”; men were unafraid to hug one another, even before the “bro hug” became a thing; and within the Christian life there was an expectation of zeal. Today I want to think about what it means to honor zeal as an important and valuable part of the Christian experience. 

 

First, the necessary caveat. Zeal comes in many forms, some of them awful. Unbridled zeal has often led to a fanatic willingness to commit atrocities in the name of some supposed commitment to a greater end. Zeal blurs the lines between sacrificing oneself and sacrificing another. Zeal often makes us unreasonable, unable or unwilling to see things from another perspective. Zeal justifies bombing villages, driving a truck into a crowd, conversion therapy, banning books, or declaring war. Just as emotions can often seem antithetical to reason, zeal can often seem antithetical to basic human decency. So, zeal rightly takes on a very negative connotation in many cases. 

 

Still, there is a lot to be said for zeal, enthusiasm, ardor, and an “all-in” level of commitment. Dr. King’s zeal for justice and human rights is what drove his feet to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge, despite the dangers that awaited him on the other side. Jesus’ zeal for God’s house is what compelled him to turn over tables and drive money-changers out of the temple. Any commitment to justice, peacemaking, inclusivity, or transformation that lacks zeal tends to flame out, because there are so many barriers that one needs the energy to push through. That might be a great definition of zeal: The energy to push through, especially when the initial euphoria has worn away. The word “zeal” brings to mind exclamation points, loud voices, adamant stances, and the like, but true zeal is often a matter of showing up, faithfully, time and time again. 

 

As zeal pertains to worship, the Presbyterian Book of Order has long described worship as containing both “order” and “ardor.” The wisdom of our tradition says order and ardor are not antithetical to one another, rather, they enhance each other. The “order” ensures that our zeal does not descend into fanaticism but is ever held accountable to other forms of God’s wisdom and grace. That’s how we ensure that our Pentecostal fire does not become wildfire, destroying everything in its wake. The “ardor” ensures that our propriety does not reduce our worship to rote, lifeless pronouncements that don’t recognize the presence of the living God right there with us whenever we gather. It is the Pentecost fire that stokes the engine to life, at times in a flash and at other times in a constant heat. 

 

I so appreciate those of you who show up again and again, ready to serve, ready to worship, and ready to lift one another up. That, to me, is the constant heat that the fire of Pentecost brings, which enables the church to be the church through thick and thin. I also appreciate those of you who “get fired up,” whether you express it by clapping or nodding or saying “amen” during worship, or by jumping in and making sure that we do what justice calls us to do. The fire of Pentecost is what keeps us writing that letter, making that call, marching that march, and telling that truth. 

 

So, while wearing red may feel a bit gimmicky, it will be a reminder to us that we are empowered, enflamed, energized by God’s own Spirit. What a beautiful gift that is. 

 

Mark of St. Mark

 

The Roots of Pentecost

 Friends, 

As I mentioned last week, we will spend the month of June focused on the story, event, and meaning of Pentecost. Christians ground our understanding of “the Day of Pentecost” in the story of the second chapter of Acts, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers who had gathered to pray. That moment could only be described with poignant symbolism – tongues of fire, diverse languages, the sound of hurricane-like winds, and so on. As such, it was a phenomenal event (literally!), rich with meaning. 

 

While the event in Acts is often the way that Christians become familiar with Pentecost, it was a celebration with a long history before the early church’s experience. This weekend, we’ll read from the book of Leviticus how this celebration got its name and was initiated as an agricultural festival, namely the “Festival of Weeks.” Numbers matter. In the creation story of Genesis, the earth is created in six days, with God resting on the seventh, creating a “Sabbath.” That seven-day story seems less about geology and more about theology – God blessed the rhythm of work and rest. Consequently, the number seven became associated with completion, which is why is shows up so often in other biblical stories. 

 

The “Festival of Weeks,” was a time of seven weeks, which could be called “seven sevens,” “seven Sabbaths,” or “a week of weeks.” The day after these 49 days, day 50, was set apart as something like a “super-Sabbath.” It was called various things, such as “Shavuot,” based on the Hebrew word for ‘seven,’ or “Pentecost,” based on the Greek word for ‘fifty.’ As the second great celebration in Israel’s annual liturgical calendar after Passover, it was also a harvest festival, so it was celebrated with bringing in the “firstfruits” of the field and cattle. We will circle back to this brief history this weekend in worship. 

 

Pentecost was also at the heart of a controversy in the Jewish tradition, between the groups that we have come to know as the “Sadducees” and the “Pharisees.” The controversy was about when the count of 50 days was to begin. This controversy took place during what is often called the “Second Temple” period, when the temple had been rebuilt after the exile to Babylon. Also during that period, the celebration of Pentecost took on new meaning. It was interpreted as signifying how, seven weeks after leaving Egypt (as commemorated in the Passover meal), God gave Moses the Law on Mount Sinai. So, many Jews today will tell you that Shavuot is a celebration of when God gave the People of Israel the Law. 

 

To be honest, I have enough trouble keeping up with controversies and theological innovations within our own Presbyterian household to begin trying to comprehend the significance of the Pentecost tradition in Judaism. But I do find it important to remember that Pentecost is not a liturgical celebration that just plops out of nowhere onto the Christian Church in the book of Acts. “The Day of Pentecost” enters the story already full of meaning and that’s part of what we will hear this weekend. 

 

It may be due to my Pentecostal upbringing, but I think we Presbyterians have done ourselves, our history, and the Holy Spirit herself a disservice by leaving the story of the Day of Pentecost to Pentecostals. We worry that too much attention to it leads to excessive focus on excitable feelings. Believe me, I have my own criticisms of excessive focus on excitable feelings and worked hard to move myself from the Pentecostal tradition to one which, I think, has so much more value and meaning to it. But this story of Pentecost is way more than a moment of excitable feelings. And, to be honest, I’m not sure if excitable feelings are any worse than uber-controlled emotions. So, rather than choosing between the “Holy Roller” or the “Frozen Chosen” camps, we will chart a faithful course that listens to the story of the Day of Pentecost as the living Word of God today. I can’t wait.

 

Mark of St. Mark