To my fellow young ministers,
In leading the German people towards a perpetration of genocide, Adolf Hitler execrably stated that "the personification of the Devil, as the symbol of all evil, assumes the living appearance of the Jew." Written a decade-and-a-half before the Shoah, these words (and many like them) sparked an ideological mobilization among the German people that led to the systematic murder of over six million Jewish people. This was the birth of a genocide - not the killing of the first beloved child, but the authoring of these hateful words by an ideological leader.
Today, more than ever since, words like these are promulgated by such leaders. In our context, these words are spewed by a despot not unlike the leader of the Third Reich, whose words of hate have reached all parts of the popular American consciousness. Just as the speeches of Adolf Hitler rang across the German nation, so too have his speeches of hate slashed at the consciouses of all Americans. By his words, a dangerous form of ideological regressivism has swept across the United States of America. In their aftermath, regressive thought has been invigorated, white nationalism has been revived, and scapegoats have been created. Many of our neighbors have embraced this regressivism, and by their embrace of his words, our nation's collective ship has turned back towards the shores of yesteryear.
I need not tell you that this leader's election places fear in the hearts of many, nor that this regress diminishes hope in the hearts of our peers. I find it likely that you possess this fear yourselves, for I don't understand how you couldn't. While many of you may look and present as I do, many of you identify as the very people this movement hates. If you do not, I am confident that many of your parishioners do. Even in the impossible case that neither you nor your parishioners are hated by this movement, you are inextricably linked with countless of our other siblings who are. Therefore, none of us are able to escape the hate espoused by this movement. So, I see it morally impossible that you not feel fear in some capacity right now. This fear is endemic to all ministers at this time, and we must not deny this.
Therefore, fear, you do, and anxiety, you experience - especially today. We find ourselves in a day that righteousness has not won, a day that our move towards justice has been slowed. The election of this despot reveals the deeply ingrained status of regressivism in the American consciousness, and further, it announces that the United States is not prepared to release itself from the hierarchical and settler-colonial foundations on which it has been built.
But fear not, my fellow ministers of the Gospel, for there is good news in the midst of our fear! As there was One in the fire with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, so too does One walk in the fire with you! In this story of our spiritual ancestors, there is encouragement and wisdom for our current day. Let me remind you of the circumstances of their predicament: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were Israelites exiled to Babylon. They were taken from their homeland by Babylonian armies, and they lost everything - even their names. Upon arrival, they were enslaved to Babylon's king. They were then charged to worship his golden statue, but they refused to do so. Therefore, as punishment for their refusal, they were condemned to be thrown in a fiery furnace. However, upon the execution of their sentence, a miracle took place. Upon being thrown into the furnace, they did not burn - for there was a fourth figure in the fire, walking alongside them and protecting them from the heat of the flames. This fourth figure did not allow even the hems of their garments to be singed.
So, why do I remind you of this story? I shall say it again - there is another in the fire with us! In this present time, you have been commanded to worship at the feet of a golden statue - be it the statue of regressivism, white nationalism, or the despot who intertwines and espouses these ideologies. Yet, you have refused, and must continue to refuse, to worship this idol of evil or declare that it is your God!
Now, we, fellow ministers, will soon be faced with the threat of the furnace. I do not pretend to know what this furnace will look like or when we will be forced towards it. Yet, I do know that this threat is closer than we think. We will soon be placed in front of the flames, and when we are, I charge you to step forward. I charge you to leap into the flames with which you are faced. Enter the furnace that has been laid before you, for you will not burn! Fellow ministers, there is another in the fire, the fourth figure - Our Christ! The Christ walks alongside you, and the Holy Spirit of God exists within the Christ and within you! In the spirit of the prophets, I declare that you shall walk in flames and not be burnt; you shall be thrown into heat and not succumb.
In this moment, I believe we are called to perseverance amidst fear. Us ministers are saturated with verses that admonish us "not to fear" - but let me remind you that the biblical authors do not say that fear is "unnatural." For we know that "perfect love casts out all fear," but for fear to be cast out, it must first be present. It is fully natural, fully normal, for one to be fearful at this time - especially us ministers of the Gospel. We teach a message contrary to the ideological regressivism of our current time, for we teach a Gospel of love, hope, and reconciliation, leading to liberation, justice, and joy. For we rightfully have fear now, but let us simultaneously live with the knowledge that this fear is neither everlasting nor paramount. The God of Our Ancestors has given us this Good News for times of paramount fear - for a time such as this.
In concluding, let me remind you what comes to be for Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Upon seeing the miracle of the fourth man in the fire, the king calls for them to be released - but it is not only these three men who are released from their punishment. For the king announces that the God of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah is now to be praised by all - Babylonian and Israelite, Slaveholder and Enslaved, Imperial and Native, Guard and Captive, High and Lowly. The idol that the king had erected - the idol of himself - was to fall in recognition of the majesty of God Now-Revealed.
My fellow young ministers, I write this letter to admonish you to have faith like that of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. In the face of a regressive idolatry that stripped them of their whole identities, these three persevered in the ways of their ancestors before them. They knew that their God had delivered them before, and they knew that their God could deliver them again. They stood for what was right and advocated for identity stolen and endangered, refusing to bow down to the regressive evil that plagued their people and the land.
I believe that we, fellow young ministers, must do just that. This is our holy call, our necessary endeavor. Jesus called for the Gospel to be taken to the "ends of the earth," announcing the Reign of God to all who could hear. Despite the fear that we possess and the furnace that lay ahead, let us proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to all who may hear.
I do not pretend to know if Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah believed themselves to be on the brink of death when they faced the furnace's flames. I would assume they thought they were soon to die, upholding their beliefs in the face of imperial oppression and ideological regression. However, I wonder, if at the back of their minds, they remembered an old family story - the story of a burning bush that did not wither in its flames. Perhaps these three saw the burning furnace with no fear, knowing their God would not allow them to be consumed. And maybe, just maybe, they believed themselves to be on holy ground, communing with the God of Their Ancestors and believing that their just liberation was soon to come.
Yours in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
Luke T. Bitzkie