WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) last night delivered a speech on living out one's faith in difficult times and the role of faith in public service at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, followed by a moderated Q&A. The speech was part of the church's McClendon Scholars program, which hosts renowned scholars, theologians, authors and other thought leaders for lectures, sermons, and dialogues that explore the intersections of faith, scholarship, and action. Senator Coons is the first sitting U.S. Senator to participate in the program.

Senator Coons connected the nation's current political and social struggles to historical context, noting how Americans in previous eras met the challenges they faced with sustained faith, community, and service.

In answering what gives him hope, he cited his work authoring bipartisan foreign assistance funding and called out the Trump administration for gutting efforts to aid vulnerable populations. Senator Coons called on the nation to choose compassion over cruelty, inclusivity over exclusion, and justice and liberty.

A video of Senator Coons' full remarks is available here.

A partial transcript of Senator Coons' remarks are included below:

Senator Coons: This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. I think it is best to just start by remembering whose we are, why we're here, what we're called to. We're going to have plenty of time to talk together about trouble, but I began this morning walking around my house, singing "This is The Day," and my wife said to me, "what's gotten into you?" And I said, "hopefully, a spirit-filled message to share with some friends - fellow Presbyterians, my congregants at home who might be watching - a few of them - and all of you."

Pastor Johnson, thank you. Thank you for the privilege of the pulpit and the chance to be with you, with your congregation; to the session, to Theo Brown for organizing this and for that luxurious introduction - I only wish my mother were here to hear it. She would have not only believed it, she would have said, "and you forgot one more thing."

I am honored to speak as a part of the McClendon Scholars Program. Pastor McClendon made these walls a place of refuge in the midst of the storms of when I first visited Washington in 1968 as a boy growing up - then in Baltimore, and later in Delaware - he made this a place where Martin Luther King spoke in the midst of a moment of unbelievable tumult and division and challenge. And it's hard to walk past New York Avenue with - or be here - without thinking about Abraham Lincoln, and how the destruction and the death and the chaos and the righteous cause of our Civil War brought him to his knees in prayer - and occasionally on his feet. Thank you for the chance to be with you, and I cannot help but be awed by reflecting on who else has had a chance to be here with you.

It's also, I think, helpful to remember that though the moments now are troubled, though we are divided, though this is difficult, though this hurts our heart every day - what is happening in our nation and our world - it is hardly unprecedented. In this exact space, folks came from around the country to protest. From this exact space, folks went to Selma to march. In the sanctuary that preceded this one - on this spot - a president in the midst of the most bloody and divisive war in our history sought refuge. Having given up on any other source of inspiration, he at long last turned to the Lord.

Too often we have lives where personal tragedies - the kind that could have happened last year, could happen next year - overlap with political ones.

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I struggle. I am struggling these days because decision after decision by our president, the animating spirit seems to me to be cruelty. The cruelty is the point.

In the last Congress I wrote the bill that funded USAID. And so many people of faith - of both parties - long supported our investment of billions of dollars in saving the hungry, the sick, those at the margins; and building partnerships with nations struggling to navigate their way through climate change, famine, poverty. I was so proud of the work we were doing, and yet so quickly it was cut and taken away. One moment when I wept was when we shared with the administration - there's a whole warehouse full of already purchased, already available medicines. And rather than just distribute them, even just open the doors and let people take them, they burned them to make sure they wouldn't go to help others. Sometimes it feels to me that the cruelty is the point.

Yesterday, I had lunch with another president in my home state, and I turned him at one point, I said: "you know what I miss most about working with you day to day? Compassion. Your motivating value at your core is compassion - seeing people, seeing their struggles, seeing what they're going through, having lived through your own grief and found your way to get back up again through prayer - your compassion." He wouldn't like me to repeat that, because he hates it when I compliment him.

But I think at the end of the day, we as a nation are facing a turning point and a simple deciding moment, when we as a nation will once again have to say: are we a nation of cruelty, or a nation of compassion? Are we a nation that says, "this is mine, stay away," or a nation that says, "come on in, we'll all be better off," "are we about liberty or about justice?"

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[Jesus] loves those who are outside in the cold and homeless, and he smiles when this congregation welcomes them in for a warm meal, some companionship and fellowship on your Sunday mornings. He loves those who are at the margins, those who are at the dawn of life, those who are at the twilight of life. And however you meet them and serve them, He is thrilled when this congregation sees and finds its purpose in serving others, and sees Him. Saturday morning, I was at First and Central as we were feeding and encouraging and engaging with 80 people from Wilmington who spent the night on the street. As I walked out, a woman, not even four foot tall, threw her arms around me and said, "Can we pray?" And by the end of our prayer - her blessing me, "I pray that Chris can make it through this week" - I was in tears. So, let's pick up the tools God gives us. Let's figure out how we're going to get through this together: Companionship. Fellowship. Meditating on scripture. Prayer and praise. Engagement and action.

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If you feed yourself things that are good, things that are strong, things that are pure, things that are true, things that are just - your heart, your life, your actions, your speech will reflect that. If you feed yourself things that are cruel, things that are warped, things that are wicked, things are unjust - so too. So, if we had a take-home packet of actions for this congregation, it would be those things: find a way to feed your soul and your spirit, whether through fellowship, reflection, prayer, praise, or action.

Let me leave you with these three things. [Dietrich] Bonhoeffer said, "Where people praise, there is the church. And where the church is, there is never loneliness." One of our greatest diseases of this moment is loneliness, division, isolation, not being seen. Put your phone down and come to church. I know I'm preaching to the choir.

From Jeremiah: "The man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is indeed in the Lord, is blessed. He will be like a tree planted by the water. It sends its roots out towards a stream, and it doesn't feel the heat when it comes; its leaves remain green." What is that warmth? Scripture. Jesus. Your congregation. Connect with God and your faith community. If you want to know how to get through this time, that's the way we go. Together, we can heal the brokenhearted, bind up our wounds, lift up the downtrodden, cast out the wicked.

Joshua said, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

In the most terrifying, difficult, and dizzying moments of my life, three times I thought I was about to die in hard places, a long way from here - I won't tell you the story. I suddenly started singing "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know." Now, did anybody go to vacation Bible school? What are the songs? - "This Little Light of Mine." "This Is the Day." "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." And "Jesus Loves Me."

Sing those to each other, to yourself in the morning and at night, and you'll find yourself sustained even in gale force winds. Thank you.