God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, Page 100).
In the prayers found in the Book of Common Prayer as well as in much of the Bible we find the word ALL. Now maybe everyone watches too much television and immediately associates the word ALL with laundry detergent. One so called pro-life group calls themselves ALL (American Life League). But when the word ALL is used in the Bible, I think there is sufficient evidence that ALL includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.
Even Paul used the word ALL in such places as Ephesians 4:4-6. "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all." If God the Holy Spirit is in ALL, doesn't that seem to be a very different message from the anti-gay rhetoric of those who oppose same sex marriage?
This past Wednesday, marriage equality began in Washington, DC. Despite the attempts of marriage equality foes to stop it from happening, same-sex couples began applying for marriage licenses on Wednesday, March 3rd. As of yesterday, Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane gave his permission for the Priests in Washington, DC to preside at civil marriage ceremonies. In his remarks, + Chane said:
"Through the grace of Holy Baptism, there are no second class members of the Body of Christ, " Chane said. "We are of equal value in the eyes of God, and any one of us may be called by the Holy Spirit into holy relationships as well as Holy Orders."
This is quite the stark contrast from the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC and a group of protesters who stood outside the DC Courthouse singing: "God won't hear what you say when you pretend to pray." As if they know the heart and mind of God. I guess what Paul wrote in Romans 11:33-36 is something that anti-gay protesters avoid listening to.
"O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to God to receive a gift in return?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen."
Why did Episcopal Bishop Chane give reference to Holy Baptism? What does that mean for LGBT people on this 2nd Friday of Lent, when we are talking about the Cross? Because in Romans 6:3 to 4 we read:
"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him in baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."
The Cross is where every human person finds our commonality amidst our diversity. At the Cross we are all faced with the reality that all of us one day will die. By uniting ourselves with Jesus Christ and the Cross all of us who die with Christ in Holy Baptism, will also be raised with Christ. There is that word all and every. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are a part of God's plan for salvation. LGBT people are included in our relationships, in our being people of faith and individuals of sacred value. The death of Christ on the Cross was not just for heterosexuals, white people, men, those who are healthy, intelligent, without any kind of physical/mental or psychological challenge. The Cross is for every person whom God created, because through the Cross every person has been redeemed. Through God the Holy Spirit, all of God's people are made one through the Blood of Christ on the Cross.
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the Cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, Page 101).
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