COMMENTARY: During Holy Week and always, affirming sacred worth

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Like most clergy, I often cringe when folks ask what I do.

It’s not that I am ashamed of being a pastor, it’s just that the historical church has done a lot of damage in the world. While I haven’t personally done it all, I represent an organization that has caused pain, especially to those who haven’t felt included. As a flawed human being, I recognize that I have also caused pain for others in my life.

I struggle with that. And, like many others, I struggle with the church. That’s why this week, of all weeks, I’ve felt compelled to do some writing. First, for all those who have been hurt by the church, I’m sorry. I hear you.

This week, one we call “holy,” represents something that I profoundly believe is true, human beings matter and love matters, and sometimes the cost of love is incredibly high.

More than 2,000 years ago a man spoke truth to power. He confronted the Roman Empire and he even confronted the leadership of his own faith and it cost him his life. It isn’t enough to simply say I believe that if I’m not willing to let it change me.

So, for me at least, the holiness of this week, means a lot of internal work. Do I love at all costs? Do I speak up for those on the margins? Do I work for the love and grace of God to be spread throughout the world? And the answer is that I try but I’m not perfect. The answer is both yes and no. It’s what I want for my life, and I must keep trying.

What I love most about this week, though, is that I’m reminded that everyone matters. I profess belief in and preach from a book that includes in the very first chapter the words that God made humankind in God’s very own image and then God called us very good. You are very good, and you reflect a part of God to me that I can find in no one else. That’s why community matters so much. We, at our best, offer one another glimpses of holiness. We are woven together for a reason.

It’s called sacred worth, and you have it just because you are a human being.

For the things we have done wrong in the church, we ask your forgiveness. For the places where we could do more, we ask you to challenge us. And we invite you to join us as we work to figure all those things out and so much more.

You are so very welcome to worship with us at Vashon Presbyterian, but we aren’t the only reflection of God’s church in town, and finding the right fit is like trying on clothes. If you are open to it, try some on and find your perfect fit.

I’m grateful to be a part of this community. You make me feel safe, you make it okay for me to be vulnerable and my prayer is that we can all do that for one another. This is a holy week, a good time to remember what love looks like.

Grace and Peace.

Leigh Weber is the pastor of Vashon Presbyterian Church.