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Ladies and gentlemen, Bishop Shelley Brian Wei. Good evening. I want to say to you all before I begin, I'm an American and I love my country. I believe deeply in the promise that this nation holds. Not because we've always lived up to it, but because the ideas and ideals that have shaped this country continue to spark imagination. I believe in the ongoing struggle toward liberty and justice for all. Right. And I'm a Christian. That's probably obvious, but I want to state it clearly.
I follow Jesus. I believe and hope in the promises that are revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm not asking for you to believe what I believe, but I want to state clearly where I'm coming from. And tonight, I'm also going to reference scripture. I'm a pastor and a bishop, and that's just what I do. But before I uh before I do that, before I read from the Bible, I want to say a few things about the Bible and what it stands for. Now, this is a Bible. I'm even holding it right side up.
The Bible was written by humans in particular historical contexts. It contains many genres, poetry, history, prophecy, letters, stories, songs, laments. These 66 books, 39 in the Hebrew scriptures or the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. They were all written by people over centuries to try and make sense of who God is and how God works in the world and how the relationship of God works with all of the complications that people had in their various times in history. Now for Christians, the Bible is the sacred text.
Many Christians turn to it for guidance, meaning and hope. And I'm genuinely glad when people read it. I believe these writings are inspired by God. But let me be clear. Christians don't worship the Bible. When I hear someone say, "I attend a bibleelieving church." I always want to ask, "Don't you mean a Jesus believing church that reads the Bible?" 500 years ago, Martin Luther, the one who launched the Lutheran re reformation, the Protestant Reformation, not Martin Luther King Jr., who was named after Martin Luther, and he was also a great man, but that's not who I'm referring to. Um, Martin Luther, the
500-year-old guy, used a helpful image on how to read the Bible. Luther said that the Bible was like a cradle. And Jesus is the child laying in the cradle. Now, the cradle matters. It's good to have the cradle, but the point isn't the cradle. The point is who is in the cradle? Who the cradle is holding? Jesus. And another thing that Martin Luther said is that the Bible is that all of the scriptures in the Bible are to interpret each other. So scripture interprets scripture. No single verse stands alone.
Every verse and passage is meant to be in conversation with the broader arc of scripture, with the prophets, with the gospels, with the poetry, with the letters, and above all with Jesus. And so when a verse is plucked out and when it seems to pull us toward harm or exclusion or domination, well, we as Christians need to say, "Wait, let me read that passage again. Let me see what's going on around that scripture and let me read this more deeply, more faithfully, more honestly with all of the scripture.
Now, I could give you many examples of verses being ripped out of context to demonize or silence groups of people, but let me give you just this one verse right now because this particular verse is being quoted a lot. I keep hearing it and it's Romans chapter 13 verse 1. This is the verse. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, right? For there is no authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. this I don't remember this being read you know like when Obama was president but anyway this single verse written once in a specific letter to a specific community has been repeatedly weaponized to demand unquestioning obedience to those in power.
This verse, this verse is known through the ages. It was used to defend slavery, to silent dissent in Nazi Germany, to condemn those who opposed apartheid in South Africa, and it is being used today against protesters and critics of the current administration. But using that verse that requires blind loyalty to the state ignores the rest of scripture. When prophets confront kings, when apostles defy unjust laws and Jesus himself is executed by the state because of what he says and does. When one verse out of more than 31,000 verses in this book, when one verse out of all of this is used to protect power over people, scripture stops being good news and becomes a weapon. And that's not faithfulness. That is abuse of the scriptures and
quite frankly an abomination. So with all that grounding, I'm now going to start my speech. Now let me read from the Gospel of Luke. Luke is one of four accounts of Jesus's life in the Bible. And I'm going to read from chapter 4. So it's pretty much at the beginning of Jesus's public ministry. He's been born and he's grown up and now he's going to start his public ministry. And Jesus goes to his hometown and he goes to the local synagogue to go to worship because as we know Jesus was Jewish. And he's invited to read a scripture at
the worship service. So he reads from the prophet Isaiah. He had his own uh in the first century. Um their scriptures were what the Hebrew scriptures, what we know as the Old Testament as Christians. And so he was asked to read from his scriptures, the prophet Isaiah. And this is what he reads. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And then all of the people from his hometown, they're all sitting there listening to him. And he says to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
So these are the words that Jesus spoke in his hometown. Now, I want you to hold on to those words because we're going to come back to them. So remember what Jesus said to all those people in that synagogue. But now I'm going to ch go all the way in the Gospel of Luke to chapter 19. Chapter 4, chapter 19. We're skipping this at the moment. So, chapter 19. And in Luke chapter 19, we hear a story about Jesus entering Jerusalem and he's riding on a donkey. Any of you know this story. This is a story um called Palm. We know it as Palm Sunday. And Palm Sunday is um the Sunday that Christians celebrate before the Sunday before Easter. So we have Palm Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem and this week is called Holy Week where we remember Jesus's arrest and death at
the hands of the empire and then we get to Easter that we celebrate his resurrection. So, so we are at this Palm Sunday and what happens when Jesus enters Jerusalem is that these crowds are gathered, these people are gathered and they throw palms on the ground. That's why it's called Palm Sunday, right before he enters Jerusalem, right before Holy Week. Doesn't it strike you as strange though, this Palm Sunday parade? We don't know how many people were there, but I guess it's not very big. But don't you find it strange that this small, humble parade, Jesus on a donkey, some people waving palm branches,
that it would end in crucifixion? What could possibly make the Roman Empire feel so threatened that it would execute a young, possibly homeless man riding a borrowed donkey surrounded not by soldiers but by fishermen, farmers, women, children. I mean, these were nobodyies, nobody's throwaways, a rag tag group without wealth or influence. And yet something about this man and this movement terrified the empire. So why did they kill him? Well, that answer begins with what Jesus proclaimed in Luke chapter 4. That scripture that I just read, those words that he said there, Jesus proclaims who he is and who he stands with in that home synagogue. He unrolled that scroll
from Isaiah and he said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year in the Lord's favor." For those who had ears to hear, they heard what Jesus was proclaiming. Jesus was proclaiming a jubilee, a total reset, a reversal of systems that enslave, oppress, and divide. When Jesus said, "These scriptures have been fulfilled in your hearing," Jesus said, "It's revolutionary time." Before Jesus healed a leper or told a parable or fed one hungry person, let alone 5,000 people or stopped a storm or entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Before any of that, Jesus said, "This is who I am." Jesus said, "I am anointed. I am
called. I am sent out to bring good news to all of God's children who are bound up, pressed down, broken in spirit, impoverished, imprisoned, and desperately hungry for good news. At the very beginning of Jesus's ministry, Jesus promises that is God's anointing. He's turning the world as it was upside down. And in the end, yes. And in the end, after Jesus heals and teaches and shows love for those who've been excluded and welcomed others back into community after he did all of those things, those chapters I skipped, after that Palm Sunday, after all of that, The Empire.
Well, the Empire strikes back. And when the empire does its worst, when they humiliate him and mock him, when they beat him and whip him, when they ultimately crucify him and he dies at the hands of the state, Jesus does not answer with anger or retribution or vengeance. but with forgiveness and ultimately resurrection. So what you might say? Lots of people have died at the hands of the state. Who cares about a donkey 2,000 years ago when so much of what I hold dear and sacred is being torn down, maybe even literally. I'm worried about the price of groceries, the erosion of women's rights, officers dressed like Imperial Stormtroopers, immigrants who are being targeted. And the names Renee and Alex, So why does this matter?
Well, these things are exactly why this story matters because the Roman Empire is long gone. But empire is not. And the empire today is alive and well in our midst. And many so many are being harmed. And we are being called to resist with love, to live in courage, and to proclaim another way. So, let me pause here and clarify a few things. The church is not called to demonize one political party and sanctify another. The church's role is not to endorse parties or candidates regardless of the gutting of the Johnson Amendment. Every political party that exists in this country and around the world can and should be critiqued.
All systems of government have at times used money, fear, and power to exploit people, especially marginalized people. All have at times lied to those they claim to serve. But I want to be clear, we are in a fraught time and we cannot be disengaged. We cannot remain silent and we must name what is happening in our country right now. So crystal clear for y'all. The people in this current administration, the Trump administration, who we could call empire, are using the principles of Christian nationalism to further their agenda of hate, bigotry, greed, power, and control. This is a well-funded and far-reaching operation that began in school boards and runs throughout this country. And let's be clear, Christian nationalism has no place in either
Christianity or patriotism. I don't care if you're a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent. This is not about party platforms. Christian nationalism seeks to make a few more powerful, erode rights of all who protest against them, demonize groups of people, and ultim ultimately make it so only those who agree with them have voice. Christian nationalism is a fake religion that invokes the name of God while pretending that God is only serving them. This turns God from being the ultimate creator and redeemer
into a mascot for the empire. Can you picture what it looks like when Christian nationalists turn God into a mascot? Now, I know I'm wearing a cross, so what I'm about to say, but I know it's required. ambition. Perhaps picture someone wearing a cross while lying about how tariffs are a tax cut for the American people or claiming that the big beautiful bill doesn't affect access to health care or insisting that cuts to USID and farm
aid and other cuts and other ways that helped people are really just about waste and fraud. or arguing that some Americans aren't really truly Americans. Or perhaps picture masked federal agents invoking Romans 13:1 as they charge toward protesters in Minneapolis, teargassing people already pushed to the ground with their foot on them, shoving people in cars, asking people to strip in minusderee temperatures. es and murdering people in our streets. perhaps hear the words of the chief adviser to the president, Stephen Miller, who said on January 6, 2026, the anniversary of the insurrection, he said, "We live in a world governed by strength, by force, by power." As if that's a good thing.
Christian nationalists do not care what is written in scripture. They don't care what the prophets or Jesus said about welcoming the stranger or that the first will be last and the last will be first. No, it's all about weaponizing the Bible, weaponizing Jesus into power, intimidation, and amassing wealth at the expense of everyone they are to be serving. You know, I find it heartbreaking and honestly appalling that some of the loudest voices claiming to defend Christian values, the ones insisting that crosses hang in every public space and that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every classroom.
They are the very ones breaking the first commandment again and again. Do you remember the first commandment? If you do, say it with me. You shall have no other gods before me. It's simple. No nation, no power, no wealth, no ideology. That replaces the first commandment. And then there's the commandment that Jesus says is the fir is the greatest commandment of all. love God and love neighbor. Yet we see those in power steadily gaining wealth and influence while those they are called to serve are lying awake at night. terrified that someone is going to invade their home and arrest grandma or worried that the cancer medication
that they desperately need they won't be able to get because they can't afford health care anymore or speculating what will happen if they don't conform, if they don't shut up, if they don't submit. We see and hear this and we realize these people wearing crosses and flag pins are only about power and greed and coercion. This is not faithfulness. This is idolatry dressed up as Christian values and patriotism. Christian nationalism turns faith into a tool of control and is truly about shutting down anyone who doesn't agree with them. It's about dividing everyone into who's a true American and not true Americans.
You know the true Americans, right? They're they're white. They're Christian as they define it. and nativeborn, although not truly the nativeborn. and not true Americans are immigrants, non-Christians as they define it, LGBTQIA plus folks, black and brown folks, and weirdly the actual native born. Christian nationalism is about eroding democracy and replacing it with fear, white supremacy and control. And it certainly is not about following Jesus. Jesus himself said no to political power. This is why in Luke chapter 18, he said, "My kingdom is not of this world." And he refused to play along when others wanted to crown him king. But you know what?
People love power. We love power. We love strength, dominance, winners. We love to win a prize. Although maybe not a fake peace prize from a soccer organization. But we love those who are rich and powerful, shiny and glossy. We're all suckers for it. And I do admit, I really, really hope that the Seahawks take it all. But that's not what Christianity is about. That's not what following Jesus is about. And my friends, I am so tired of them using my faith to further their goals of amassing power and stepping on necks to do it. When we reject Christian nationalism, we are not rejecting our faith and we are not rejecting our country. No, we are rejecting the idolatry. That power or whiteness or wealth are divine.
If you have these things, you are blessed. and if you don't, you're cursed. In contrast to that, we are called to follow Jesus and to stand where he stood. When people blaspheme God by quoting scripture to justify Christian and nationalism, we must fight back. Not with swords, but with courage, with witness and words and actions. And we must do it together in community for we are stronger together. Together, we must fight back using the very life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as our lens. Because let me remind you, Jesus wasn't polite or quiet or nice in the face of injustice. He confronted religious leaders who aligned themselves with corrupt power.
He overturned the tables in the temple because of the exploitation. religious leaders were doing. And have you ever listened to any of his parables? He dared to live and speak and act that proclaimed God's reign of justice and mercy in direct opposition to Rome's empire of violence and greed. Jesus was executed as an enemy of the state because he refused to bow to the earthly powers who thought they held all authority. And we are called to stand up to these powers too because we know why people who are wannabe dictators and
kings are afraid of ragtag groups of people. Empires eventually fall. Love and justice ultimately win. This is not only promise. This is certainty. What do we do when every day seems worse? What do we do when innocent people are ripped from their beds or snatched from the streets? What do we do when those who stormed the capital are free and those who attempted to hold Trump accountable are indicted?
What do we do when the president of the United States, who promised to uphold the Constitution, is tearing it to shreds and getting ever more rich in the process? What do we do when lie after lie is being told and those who are supposed to be the checks and balances are cowards and people are being cancelled and Colbear is no more. Well, we hope Stephen Coar has a long and happy life, but his show. I know. Exactly. That's the next one, right? And thank God he's back.
I know. It's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to believe that this is someone else's battle to fight. And sometimes it does feel like the Empire is winning, that we are stuck in the second movie of some trilogy and the Jedi are not returning. are us. Here we are. We have been placed here for this moment. Now when we grow weary, remember that we are a nation that holds in our bones these words. That we are a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Like those who came before us, those who died on that bloody Gettysburg battlefield, marched from Selma to Montgomery, stormed the beaches at Normandy, fought for votes for women, stood firm at Stonewall.
We are not to be afraid. Or maybe we can be afraid. And yet we just need to work through our fear. For we are called to stand up against empire and to stand with all who are in the path of its destruction. We are called to stand with all who are pushed to the margins. Those whose voices are dismissed, whose bodies are threatened, whose dignity is denied. Say this with me. This means we stand. This means we stand with the poor and unhoused. This means we stand. Sorry, just the this means we stand. We'll try it again here. Okay.
Thank you though for repeating. You your line is only this means we stand. Okay. This means we stand with the poor and unhoused. This means we stand with black and brown communities. This means we stand with indigenous peoples. This means we stand with immigrants and refugees and all who are seeking our lands. This means we stand with our LGBTQIA plus siblings, especially right now our trans siblings. This means we stand with women. This means we stand with people living with disabilities. This means we stand with people in rural communities who are losing their way of life. This means we stand with those who are already standing in Minneapolis and in Maine and in all places. People who are
standing for justice and love and peace. This means we stand with all who are standing for a new world. To follow Jesus is to stand where he stood alongside all those we just named. To follow Jesus is to love and care for our neighbor. To follow Jesus is to resist empire in all its forms. Let us remember the words that Jesus's mother first spoke when she was pregnant with Jesus in Luke chapter 1. The Magnificat. Do you know those words?
She said those words as she was pregnant with Jesus. And I'm sure I'm positive that as Jesus nursed at her breast, she whispered those words into his ears. Because these are the words where the powerful are brought down, the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are filled with good things, and the rich sent away empty. So together, together let us stand against empire and let us stand for all those who are our neighbors. Let us enter the halls of power and refuse to back down. I can't promise that this will be easy, but I can promise that all will be well. For as we hear in Luke chapter 4, the spirit of God is here among us and you have been called. God's jubilee is breaking in. A new world, a new peace, a new shalom, a new salam is
coming. For we believe that where death is, even as we grieve and cry out, even as we stand in ashes and ruin, even as the powers of this world build monuments to greed and self-interest, or maybe I should just call it a big goddy ballroom, or plastering one's name on every single thing that they can possibly plaster their name on. Even then, we believe that resurrection follows. For in such a time as this, we are called. We are called to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and freedom to the oppressed. This is Jesus's proclamation at the beginning and at the end and everywhere in between. This is our Palm Sunday call to action. We are the rag tag group throwing those palms down.
And Jesus still leads the way. For we follow the one who shows us that love, real costly, revolutionary love is stronger than fear, stronger than hate, stronger than empire, and even stronger than death. And truly, as I said to you at the beginning, the spirit of the Lord is upon you. Amen.
