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Choosing Integrity During Turbulent Times
Transfiguration Sunday ● March 2, 2025
Katie Reimer © 2025
You can view the full worship video recording at:
Scripture Readings: Proverbs 11:1-5, Romans 8:14-25 (The Inclusive Bible)
The texts of the readings are in the worship bulletin linked here.
What does it mean to choose integrity during turbulent times?
One year ago, Church of the Village came together for a World Day of Prayer service, with a liturgy written by Palestinian Christian women. In that service, we heard the story of Shireen Abu Akleh through the words of her niece, Lina.
Shireen Abu Akleh was a prominent Palestinian American journalist who worked for Al Jazeera for over 25 years, becoming one of the most recognized voices reporting on the Israeli occupation. Her dedication to covering the experiences of Palestinians made her an iconic figure throughout the world. She was known for her fearless and unwavering commitment to telling the truth, even in the face of great personal danger. Shireen’s reporting was about the facts, but it was about more than the facts—it was about giving voice to the marginalized and oppressed, echoing the biblical call to justice and truth.
On May 11, 2022, Shireen was killed by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli military raid in Jenin, despite the fact that Shireen was clearly labeled as press. Ultimately, Shireen paid the ultimate price of her life for her integrity.
In our reading from Proverbs today, we hear: "The integrity of the conscientious guides them; the treacherous are destroyed by their own treachery."
The Hebrew word here for integrity is tummah, which means moral wholeness. Integrity means being whole, unbroken, undivided. It describes a person who has united the different parts of themselves, so there is no longer a split in their soul.
Often we hear integrity defined as simply alignment between what we believe and what we do, between our values and our actions. But this definition breaks down when we encounter someone whose beliefs themselves are harmful. A person can be consistent between their harmful beliefs and their harmful actions, but we would not describe that as true integrity.
That’s why I think the concept of tummah is so valuable. It's not just any alignment—it's alignment with truth, justice, and love. True integrity is not merely internal coherence between beliefs and actions. Tummah is coherence with God's way of righteousness. Tummah is wholeness that flows from being aligned with the divine values that uphold the dignity and flourishing of all life.
And losing this moral integrity, even in small ways, erodes our humanity. Each time we compromise our values for convenience or comfort, a small fracture forms in our souls. And over time, these fractures can become chasms, separating us from our authentic selves and from the divine presence within each one of us.
Shireen Abu Akleh understood this. For her, truth-telling was not just a professional obligation. It was a moral imperative. In that liturgy that we read a year ago, Lina said:
“Many people did not know that my aunt was a Palestinian Christian. Shireen’s faith led her to bear with all in love, despite differences in faith traditions. [Shireen] stood with all who were being harmed. [Shireen] struggled for both Muslims and Christians to have access to the holy sites in Jerusalem. [Shireen’s] truth telling was even a way of bearing with the occupiers in love. Speaking the truth is a form of loving resistance, because it calls the oppressor back to their humanity.”
Shireen knew that speaking truth to power might cost her. And indeed, it did cost her her life. But Shireen also knew that failing to speak would cost her something even more precious: her tummah, her wholeness.
We've seen similar choices of integrity playing out in our own political landscape in recent weeks. Within the last month, 7 Department of Justice employees have resigned over the Trump administration's attempt to drop corruption charges against New York City mayor, Eric Adams. These 7 public servants chose to walk away from their positions rather than compromise their professional ethics and the rule of law.
Also in the past month, 21 civil service employees resigned from DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, saying they refused to use their technical expertise to "dismantle critical public services."
In yet another example, USAID's chief of staff—who was, by the way, a Trump appointee—resigned after 2 top USAID officials were placed on leave for refusing to share classified information with DOGE.
These individuals chose integrity even though it meant personal sacrifice to their livelihood. They walked away from their jobs, their careers, and work that was deeply meaningful to them. But in making those difficult choices, they preserved something more valuable: they remained whole, undivided in their commitment to their deepest values.
In recent months, I have found myself revisiting the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For those of you who may not be familiar with him, Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident during the rise of Hitler's regime in the 1930s and 1940s. While many church leaders compromised with or even supported the Nazi government, Bonhoeffer helped establish the Confessing Church, which stood in opposition to Hitler's attempts to nazify German Protestant churches. The thing I find striking about Bonhoeffer’s story is that he could have remained safely here in New York City. He had the opportunity to avoid the rise of Nazi Germany. But Bonhoeffer chose to return to Germany to stand with his people against tyranny, eventually being imprisoned and executed for opposing Hitler and his regime.
Bonhoeffer once wrote, "The sacrifice more painful than that of his life is that of his ethical purity." Let me read that again. The sacrifice that is more painful than that of one’s life is the sacrifice of losing one’s ethical purity. It is more painful to lose one’s ethical integrity, one’s tummah, than to lose one’s life. What a profound statement. For Bonhoeffer, maintaining moral integrity was even more precious than physical life itself. Because when we compromise ethical purity, we lose something essential to our humanity, something that defines our very souls.
Although Bonhoeffer was eventually executed for his stance against Nazi tyranny, he maintained his tummah, his wholeness. He refused to be divided against the goodness of God, even when the cost was his own life.
But integrity isn't just about grand, heroic stands. Integrity is built in small decisions, everyday moments when we choose integrity over comfort.
In our First Imaginings conversation for this worship service, Kelsey, our Chair of Worship, shared a story about an experience she had just that morning. It was a Saturday morning, and she was volunteering to be a safe presence outside of a reproductive health clinic. Kelsey told us that it was not fun getting yelled at by protesters at 8am on a freezing Saturday morning. But she also noted how patients coming out of the clinic thanked her for being there.
What struck Kelsey most, though, was her realization that even without that external validation, there was a feeling of alignment—of doing the right thing. And that feeling of alignment was more powerful than the discomfort she experienced. In that moment, Kelsey embodied tummah—she was whole, undivided, and unbroken. And that integrity sustained her through difficulty.
Another way we are called into tummah is by embracing the full truth of who we are. When trans people live into the full truth of who they are, they embody tummah. Sometimes, and more in recent weeks and months, this leads to loss of community, loss of jobs, and loss of safety. But when trans people live into the full truth of who they are, they avoid the more costly path of being divided against themselves.
In our reading from Romans today, Paul writes that when we share in Christ's suffering, we also share in Christ's glory. This speaks directly to the cost and reward of integrity. When we suffer for living with integrity, we also live into the glory of a whole and undivided life.
Paul goes on to say that all of creation is eagerly waiting to be freed from corruption. All creation is eagerly waiting to be freed from corruption. There is a profound connection between our personal integrity and the healing of our world.
When we choose the path of integrity—choosing truth even when it costs us—we participate in this cosmic liberation that Paul was describing. Every single act of tummah becomes part of something much larger than itself: the redemption of creation itself. The restoration of life. And I think this is why Paul could say that the sufferings of the present are nothing compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. The temporary discomfort of standing in our truth pales in comparison to the glory of participating in God's restoration of abundant life for all.
When we live with tummah—when we live with wholeness and integrity—we don't just preserve our own souls. We participate in freeing all of creation into a world where life can thrive. This is the glory that we share with Christ: becoming vessels through which God's healing flows into a fractured world.
When Shireen Abu Akleh stood firm in her commitment to truth-telling, she wasn't just preserving her own integrity—she was participating in the liberation of an entire people. When those Department of Justice employees and civil servants resigned from their jobs rather than compromise their ethics, they weren't merely protecting their personal values—they were maintaining the integrity of vital democratic institutions that serve the common good. When Dietrich Bonhoeffer returned to Nazi Germany despite the danger to himself, his act of tummah was part of a larger resistance against tyranny that ultimately helped free the world from that chapter of corruption. When Kelsey stands outside that clinic on freezing Saturday mornings, her personal discomfort is transformed into a healing presence that supports others in their most vulnerable moments. When trans people courageously live into the fullness of their authentic selves, they not only achieve personal wholeness but they also create pathways for others to embrace their true identities.
Integrity is not just a private virtue. Integrity is how we live well through turbulent times. Integrity is how we avoid splits and fractures to our souls. Integrity is how we stay whole. And integrity is how we participate in God's ongoing work of liberating all of creation.
In a moment, we'll have some conversations around the tables. I invite you to explore together how the Spirit is nudging you to stand with greater integrity. To be whole and undivided. The times we are living through are very difficult times. And difficult times are when our integrity is put to the test. But when we find the courage to live with tummah, with integrity, we not only preserve our own humanity—we help restore humanity to our world.
This is good news. Thanks be to God.