Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill.' But when Jesus heard it, he said, 'This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.' Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.' After saying this, he told them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.' The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.' Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.' Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with him.'
Yesterday the news came through that the Scottish Episcopal Church has decided that all references to God as masculine are to be stripped from their Liturgy. This means no more "Father" "Lord" "he" or "him." I am a believer in inclusive language. We need language in our Liturgy that helps all people find their place with God and not feel that they are being excluded just because they are.
As I stated in my comments on the Episcopal Cafe Lead yesterday:
"I guess I am more in favor of a "Both/and" approach to inclusive language rather than a "one or the other" approach. If God is beyond our gender references, then I am of the opinion that we should be able to use them all interchangeably.
I think we should be as open to calling God: Creator, Servant and Life-Giver as we are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is as much room to refer to God as our Mother as much as calling God our Maker, Rock, King, Queen, as well as Father.......
I think to worship God, means to be open to how all of us pray to and worship God. I think it means being open to all of the possibilities of who God is and what God can do. God uses our history to guide us into our future. In our future God can teach us what we did not know about our history. How can inclusive language hang on to both, and still serve everyone?"
Another commenter Peter Pearson commented:
"Our problem with inclusive language is so much more about us than about the God we sing. Maybe this uncomfortable moment is exactly where God wants us to be."
Thank you Peter.
Since when is being a Christian suppose to be all about comfort? We tend to fall into the trap of thinking that to be a Christian means to be all comfortable and cozy. There are two sides to our Christian Faith actually, the one that helps us know that we are forgiven, and in the good graces of God. The other side is the one that challenges us to never be comfortable with where we are, but to always be willing to let the Holy Spirit open that Pandoras Box we put God and others into. Sometimes it is through being uncomfortable that our Mother the Holy Spirit is able to open up that Box that we have fashioned and stuffed God and others into.
The challenge for Christians with transgendered people for example, is to learn to think of gender as much more than a man with all his parts must be a man, who will fall in love with a woman, get married, help the woman get pregnant and help raise children to a ripe old age. The challenge of gender and transgendered people is more than noticing all that is different about a woman from a man, and that she is a lot more than an incubator and totally subjective to men. That a woman's place is not limited to the kitchen making supper, or raising children, taking orders from a man, but that a woman is a person who is dignified by the very thought that God created her to be stronger than most men can ever be. Transgendered people are as much about gender transformation of a man's body to a woman, or a woman's body into a man's body. It is about recognizing that in all genders there is something unique, but it is not limited to only one way of being, thinking or communicating.
Why does the issue of transgendered people make us so uncomfortable? Even for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people? It is because of the fear of women. Misogyny! Think I am wrong?
When a father thinks his son is not playing well enough on the little league baseball team, what might he say to the boy? "Why are you playing like such a sissy?" Isn't the dad putting a fear in to the boy about even the hint of behaving like the opposite gender? What seems like a motivational technique is really the further stigmatization of one gender about another. It promotes an attitude of disrespect toward those who are not quite like ourselves.
As a guy who has spent a lot of time with the subculture called bears within the LGBTQ communities, I have read many profiles on Bear websites asking that the responder please be completely masculine. Therefore any guy who talks with a gay like accent, or moves his hips just a little more like a woman, is instantly rejected. Why? Because the feminine makes men just a little bit uncomfortable.
In today's Gospel, Jesus has been told that his friend Lazarus is ill to the point of death. Yet, he does not immediately go and take care of the situation. As we will read in tomorrow's Gospel, Jesus will arrive and raise Lazarus from the tomb. Jesus is basically allowing his disciples to feel a little bit uncomfortable with letting Jesus do what he is going to do. It is in those moments when what we think God should do, that God does something so incredibly wonderful that is better than what we had hoped for. When that happens, the whining "Oh God, why aren't you helping me like I need you to?" Fades away, into "Oh my! I guess God was right all along." But because we are human and we do miss the mark, we have to experience that kind of thing so that we can see God doing new things in front of us.
Jesus came to put a new face on those who had died. Jesus was to be the "Resurrection and the life". To do that, Jesus had to show that he could do more than raise us up after death, he had to show that he could awaken a body that was dead. He had so many people wanting to know if he was in fact the Son of God. They did not believe him because he caused a visually blind person to see. Just because he turned the water in to wine at the Marriage of Cana, did not convince people of who Jesus was. Jesus had to show that God was putting a new name and face on those who have died. Those who have died are usually forgotten by all of us at some point. We never quite stop missing the person, but we do go on, knowing that we have to continue if we want to live life past the person who has died. Jesus came to help us know that even in death, God does not forget who we are. That is why Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead. That makes all of us just a little bit uncomfortable. May be it is God's will that we are.
If we are to see a change in our society and the Church so that our world is more inclusive and accepting, then we must be willing to face that which makes us uncomfortable. What gives prejudice it's ugly fire? Fear! How does fear get fed? By ignorance! How do we change fear? By educating, talking, touching and understanding. Once people understand that LGBTQ people are created as we are, it's how we love and challenge the world to understand love, gender, etc, the fear that creates homophobia, trans-phobia will begin to go away. How do we help the people who want to burn Quran's this Saturday understand that it is wrong? By challenging Islamophobia to learn to see that the religion of Islam is peaceful so that they understand that their fear does not have two legs to stand on.
How do we understand our discomfort? How can we spend some time in prayer about our discomfort, so to understand that God is calling us to a new understanding?
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 18, Book of Common Prayer, Page 233).
Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, Page 826).
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