Saturday,
July 5, 2003
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New York pastor calls for more color in MCUSA
By LYNDA HOLLINGER-JANZEN
Mennonite Mission Network Saturday, July 5, 2003
“We should look a little different,” she said. Banks, co-pastor of King of Glory Tabernacle in New York City, said she remains with Mennonite Church USA because God is speaking through it and because, in many crucial aspects of transformation, it leads the way. However, Banks said the diversity required by God demands that Mennonites step out of their comfort zone and make themselves vulnerable. Banks built on the morning’s theme, “Table of Surprise,” by expanding on a well-known verse from Psalm 23. Not only does God prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies, but we are called to prepare tables for our adversaries. “The surprise is that we are not only led to the table, we are called to lead others to the table,” Banks said. Table fellowship, while a powerful illustration of the kingdom of God, makes our task look deceptively simple, according to Banks. Leading our enemies to the table in an act of mediation often requires a complex struggle that necessitates that we become advocates for our adversaries, she continued. Drawing from II Kings 6:8-23, Banks encouraged Mennonites to drop their apolitical stance. Elisha engaged the political authorities of his day and defused a war by commanding the king of Israel to offer food and drink to his enemies. When Banks mused about the potential impact that reading the biblical passage might have had on President George W. Bush’s decision earlier this year to initiate war in Iraq, applause erupted, as it did many times throughout her message. God’s call alone does not transform us, Banks said, but we are transformed as we act in response to the call. Even after Elisha was called, he was a violent man, using his God-given powers to sic bears on 40 youth. She observed that “today Elisha would be prosecuted for child abuse. But he was transformed as he came to the table.” Banks called for transformation that includes fewer “programs” and a redistribution of resources so “God’s abundance is lavishly” shared. Banks, who also works at Groundswell, a community center for peacemaking and economic justice in the Bronx, said she was not using high and lofty rhetoric. “I have been humbled,” she said. “I have become bread – broken, kneaded, baked in a hot oven – yet, not taking credit when people come to the table. You don’t see the yeast in the bread.” Referring to the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, Banks reminded her listeners about the dire consequences of not making room at the table. “We are at the table,” she said, “but God requires more of us. If we are not transformed at the table, we have no choice – we will be thrown out. We can be thrown out in darkness or remain inside and be in the light. I believe that God is seeking to use MC USA so my brothers and sisters can walk in the light as he is in the light.”  |
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