SHOULD BERNIE SANDERS HAVE BECOME A RABBI INSTEAD OF A POLITICIAN?

…Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University

A young evangelist at Liberty University has apparently “seen the light” about Bernie Sanders

As with most people, I was surprised when I heard that Bernie Sanders was giving one of his campaign stump speeches at Jerry Falwell’s, Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.  Yes, the same conservative university where Texas Senator, Ted Cruz had announced his campaign for the Republican nomination.

But I was also even more surprised when I heard how well Bernie was received by the evangelist students, especially when an anonymous Liberty University graduate student posted a full church sermon on-line about Sanders speech. 

 

In his sermon, the student compared Bernie to “John the Baptist” and he wrote “that crazy, hoarse-voiced, wild-haired Jew” that was standing on the stage sounded like “Jesus, who warned his disciples that there will be a judgment”.

This young Christian had listened carefully to Bernie’s speech and he came to understand that the speech was actually calling out “…the religious leaders in [our] university, and calling us out for being complicit in the abandonment of those who suffer…… and siding with the powerful and rich, the masters of this world.”

In the sermon he wrote, “When I heard Bernie speaking in that way, when I saw that guy on stage at Liberty University, I saw John the Baptist...crying out to the religious leaders, the Pharisees of his day, calling them corrupt and complicit with those who have all the power and all the money and all the wealth, and abandoning the people that God loves, that God cares about...”

From this young evangelist’s point-of-view, “As I heard Bernie Sanders crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his hoarse voice, with his wild hair – this Jew – and he proclaimed justice over us, he called us to account, for being complicit with those who are wealthy and those who are powerful, and for abandoning the poor, the least of these, who Jesus said he had come to bring good news to. And in that moment something occurred to me. As I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him, I realized Bernie Sanders for president is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders for president is Good News for the poor. Bernie Sanders is gospel for the poor. And Jesus said "I have come to bring gospel" – good news – "to the poor."  

I had personally never thought of Bernie’s speeches as possible religious “sermons”, but this young man did, as he listened to Bernie and he compared what was said to what he has learned from the Holy Bible. He also realized that he and many of his college friends were actually being religious hypocrites.

“And lightning hit my heart at that moment. And I realized that we are evangelical Christians. We believe the Bible. We believe in Jesus. We absolutely shun those who would attempt to find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretations of scripture that they would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big message that they want to flout. We absolutely scorn such things, and yet somehow we commit to the mental gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon the least of these, to abandon the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison.”

Wow, did Bernie actually miss his true calling?  Should Bernie have instead of becoming an Independent Vermont politician, should he have become a Rabbi?

The young evangelist then asked if this wild haired Jew was, “…calling us to account, as another Jew once did before, telling us that he intends to care for the least of these, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless, to care for the sick, to set the prisoners free.”

Then the young man ended his sermon with the greatest compliment that Bernie Sanders could have ever asked for: “I wouldn't be much of a Christian if I didn't stand on the side of gospel for the poor, because, the last time I checked, that's where my master Jesus stood, and I'll stand with Him. And,  for now, that means I stand with Bernie Sanders.”

It’s pretty amazing to imagine that a graduate student from Jerry Falwell’s conservative religious Liberty University would even consider voting for a progressive presidential candidate like Bernie Sanders.

Amen brother, amen.

Copyright G.Ater  2015