Mtr Kelli Joyce

But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority.’

Friends in Christ,

I wrestled with the question of what to write to you today. I thought about talking about the Ark of the Covenant, or about Judas betraying his teacher and friend, but kept coming back to this sentence from Acts. “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” What a frightening thing to read - what a tremendous expectation it is!

Earlier this month I went with a number of other priests from Saint Philip’s to the courthouse downtown, so we could take part in an interfaith service of prayer in support of Scott Warren, charged by the federal government with crimes - with a felony, no less - for providing food, water, shade, and medical aid to two migrants he encountered by chance in the Sonoran desert. You may have seen the signs around town, with a drawing of a gallon jug of water, and the text “Humanitarian aid is never a crime - drop the charges!”

I understand the impulse behind the claim that humanitarian aid is never a crime, and was delighted when the jury in Scott Warren’s trial did not convict him. But I also wonder - what will we do if humanitarian aid *does* become a crime? Are we prepared to face a world in which the law of the land demands that we break the law of God, and stand by as fellow children of God suffer in deserts and cages and slums? Do I have the courage, like Peter, to say “we must obey God rather than humans”? Does the Church?

Mtr. Kelli