Sermon from November 4, 2007
When he (Jesus) had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" – John 13:12-17.

The City of Man
On September 24 of this year Lee Bollinger, President of Columbia University, gave President Ahmadinejad of Iran a platform to speak at an Ivy League school. He justified it as a demonstration of Columbia's commitment to a "robust debate" of ideas of all kinds. As you know, he received vigorous criticism for that decision.

Then, in his introduction of President Ahmadinejad, he scolded him with a series of accusatory questions. It was like inviting someone to your home for dinner and then humiliating him in front of dinner guests before the hors-d'oeuvres. He did not do what his teacher and Lord had done.

I don't think he should have invited him, but once invited, he should not have humiliated him. It's another example of our blindness to the values of Islamic culture. In that culture reason doesn't matter nearly as much as honor and shame. To shame the President of Iran on global television made him a hero and martyr in the Muslim world and reinforced the image of America as the Great Satan.

President Bollinger also gave freedom of speech a black eye. He doesn't care about freedom of speech; he cares about being politically correct. He doesn't care about truth; he cares about being politically correct. Has he ever invited James Dobson or Church Colson to Columbia? Did he ever invite Jerry Falwell? Not to my knowledge.

The City of God
Duke University did invite Jerry Falwell to speak there. (The quotations in this section come from First Things, November 2007, 78.) "The Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgendered Alliance demanded" that William Willimon, the chaplain at Duke "be fired for inviting a man infamous for his 'close-minded, racist, homophobic, self-righeous, incendiary rhetoric.'" I wish the Duke students had been more willing to give him the same tolerance they ask for themselves.

Like President Ahmadinejad at Columbia, Rev. Falwell at Duke answered questions from the student body. "One of the first questions was, 'How many African Americans do you have at your Liberty University?'"

Falwell said, "'Young lady, you could not have asked a question that hurts me more deeply.' He went on about how hard he had worked over the years to recruit minority students and how he regularly discussed the matter with Coretta Scott King. 'She told me not to be so consumed with this problem, but I can't help myself.' He finally allowed that only 12 percent of the students at Liberty are African Americans.

"Then he asked, 'Do you know, by the way, how many African Americans are enrolled at Duke?'" Of course, no one knew the answer, smug, self-righteous, privileged kids that they were. "Falwell said, 'I will tell you. Six percent. Six percent! Your endowment is 50 times bigger than ours. You have had years to work on this issue....I struggled with whether the Lord wanted me to come here tonight to a school that, though you have been given great gifts, has such a poor record of minority enrollment.'"

A Call to the City of God
I'll take my stand any day of the week with Jerry Falwell and his shortcomings over the president of Columbia University and his shortcomings. I"ll tell you why. Jerry Falwell really cared for truth and justice, and he demonstrated a willingness to admit he was wrong and make the personal changes necessary to correct his mistakes. I've heard him say things on national television that made me wince; I've also seen him on national television say he was wrong. I didn't sense the same courage or integrity in President Bollinger.

What I want you to see is that the principalities and powers that govern the politics, education and entertainment institutions of our nation no longer hold the moral high ground. They care more for endowments, power and self-indulgence than they care for beauty, truth and goodness. Their moral diminishment is damaging the nation's morale and sapping the nation's courage.

Now is the time for the Church to be the Church, as Christ envisioned the Church. The Church could restore the nation's morale and bind up her wound. Not by seizing political power but by the Royal Order of the Towel.

"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all – Mark 10:42-44.

The Royal Order of the Towel summons the Church to be a servant to each other and to the world. That's why we want to build bridges to the stranger and even to people, who are uncomfortably different from us. We want to serve them in the name of Christ.

We want to treat people so that no one is ever an It but is always a You with a name and a history and feelings that cannot be ignored. We want to bear witness to the truth about God with obedience and humility and a generosity toward those who disagree with us. We want to use the gift of sexuality in a way that honors God and is befitting to the chosen people whom the Bible calls the Bride of Christ. The same is true of our uses of power and wealth and of our habit of thanksgiving.

The Royal Order of the Towel is a grassroots movement. People in power find it harder and harder to lead. They are too beholden to special interests, and the system in which they serve becomes more unwieldy with every passing election. But at the grassroots level, where we live, we have great freedom to act and to speak. We can be salt, making people want more, and light, pointing people to a better way.

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
The Lord's Supper proclaims and seals our solidarity with Christ and with each other as followers of Christ. Here today it is appropriate to remember that prior to instituting this supper, our Lord girded his waist with a towel and washed His disciples' feet. It is appropriated to remember that He said, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." We should consider in this communion with our Lord that He may have set before the Church in our morally diminished nation an unexpected open door to minister hope and help in His name. Let's push on that door.