Renounce, Resist, Rejoice

The election of Donald Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States was a watershed moment in American history. In this book, Michael Coffey reflects on major social and religious issues leading up to and following the election. Coffey addresses the political issues of the day, not from a partisan position but from the question of what it means to be faithful as church now. Rather than pit left against right or Republican against Democrat, Pastor Coffey seeks to explore fundamental issues of Christian commitments centered in love of God and neighbor. Coffey shares his personal responses to the events surrounding the election while exploring central biblical and theological themes that have shaped and challenged the church in every age. This book confronts conservative and liberal Christian assumptions and creates space for dialogue about what it means to prioritize the Gospel message of compassion and mercy over partisan politics, nationalism, and ideology. Church leaders will find resources for leading conversation. Church members will find a rich and challenging resource for dialogue. Those outside of religious communities who are politically engaged will find insight for understanding how people of faith live out their commitments in the public realm.It is much more difficult and much more important to respond to the Trump phenomenon in a way that is theologically informed, pastorally sensitive, and politically pertinent. Michael Coffey has made just such a response that moves beyond emotive satisfaction to truthful evangelical witness. He makes that witness with courage and finesse, with good humor and compelling honesty. I heartily commend this faithful read of the tradition that now requires much of us.--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological SeminaryRenounce, Resist, Rejoice: Being Church in the Age of Trump is not only timely and insightful, but above all, it is urgent. Michael Coffey speaks truth with love and preaches love with truth through his writing in a moment in history where both virtues are being pushed aside by those in power . . . Pastor Coffey is a voice, hopefully not alone in the desert, to help us renounce and also resist the temptation to normalize and accept what is unacceptable and contrary to the gospel.--Antonio Ramirez, Director at Breathe-RespiraIn Renounce, Resist, Rejoice: Being Church in the Age of Trump, Michael Coffey presents a series of sermons in the spirit of the theology of the cross made famous by the church reformer, Martin Luther. In poignant reflections, Coffey names the evils of racial and cultural divisions that are tearing at the fabric of our common life. . . . For Coffey, being church in the age of Trump is a call to renounce and resist those elements of the culture that are antithetical to the culture of life and neighbor love. The call to rejoice is an act of hopeful living in an age of cynicism. Coffey offers a fresh alternative to the rhetoric of the current political landscape.--Javier Alanis, Executive Director of the Lutheran Seminary Program in the Southwest, Austin, TexasMichael Coffey is pastor of First English Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas, a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He is the author of Mystery without Rhyme or Reason: Poetic Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary (2015). He is a contributing writer to Sundays and Seasons and Sundays and Seasons: Preaching (Augsburg Fortress). His blog can be found at www.ocotillopub.org.