Streams of Mercy

In 1996, I was Commissioner from the Presbytery of the Peak to the General Assembly in Albuquerque, NM. Being so far away from home for a period of two weeks and rooming with a Commissioner from Taiwan was a growing experience, for sure! From year to year, I find myself revisiting my GA experience and following the current meeting. This year, the meeting is a hybrid experience, with committees meeting in-person in Louisville, KY, and plenary sessions meeting on-line.

The theme of the 225th General Assembly is “Lament and Hope,” and the Call to Worship declared: “We gather in faith, lamenting for all that is piercingly broken, lost, dismissed, or stolen. We gather in faith, hoping for all that God will beautifully redeem and make new…” The call to confession was entitled “Invitation to Groaning” : “As we bring our whole selves to God, let us give pause to the groan of Lament – that deeply profound sadness, regret, grief, guilt, yearning or weariness.” The prayer of confession was titled “The Call to Recognition” and it invited participants to, “…moan and groan in solidarity with those who are suffering, those who remain unseen and silenced, and with Creation.” It encouraged those gathered to be, “…deeply moved by the guilt of complicity, the comfort of apathy and the difficulties of enduring change.”

Rev. Gregory Bentley preached at opening worship of the PC(USA) 225th General Assembly. Micah 6:1-8 was the central scripture for the worship service, and the sermon entitled, “From religiosity to righteousness.” Bentley compared the context of 8th century Judah BCE of the prophet Micah with the modern context of the 21st century noting, “We’ve just become more technologically savvy, more advanced, more sophisticated and superior at working wickedness and implementing iniquity, in doing what my grandmother called ‘devilment.’ This ethical lapse amongst the leadership of the nation, the ones who are supposed to be modeling covenant life and commitment, the ones who have been charged with superintending the wellbeing and flourishing of the people, this ethical lapse has had not only disastrous economic consequences but devastating ecological consequences as well.”

Bentley contrasted religiosity and righteousness stating, “Religiosity is self-centered and righteousness is God-centered; religiosity is about piety, righteousness is about justice; religiosity is about rules and regulations, righteousness is about relationships.”

Bentley called those gathered to be people of righteousness and not religiosity stating, “God is not looking for more people in church, God is looking for more church in the people! God is not looking for more rules and regulations, God is looking for more redemptive and regenerative relationships!” He told the congregation that they need to rededicate themselves to the meat of this message in Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Bentley stated that these three actions reverberate with and interpenetrate one another, and that the shift from religiosity to righteousness will require a regeneration of the human heart and spirit. He closed his sermon with a call to be born again, born from above, to be alive to the spirit and brimming and bubbling over with the very life of God. (from Presbyterian Outlook Reporting, June 18, 2022, Greg Allen-Pickett)

I continue to ponder these words from the Prayer of Confession – our call to be “deeply moved by the guilt of complicity, the comfort of apathy and the difficulties of enduring change.” May God bless the Presbyterian Church (USA), a church reformed and ever reforming!

Elizabeth