John 16:7-15 (NRSV)
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."
Of all the Scripture Readings that have made a huge impact on my life this past Pentecost this would have to be at the top of my list. The sentence that I have italicized tells us that the Holy Spirit's work is on going. The work of the Holy Spirit guiding us into all truth does not end with the Pentecost event, but continues as long as it takes for her to keep teaching us what truths we do not yet understand. Is that not the role of a good mother? A good mother never stops trying to tell her children the truth, even if they are not really listening. Even if the truth that a mother is speaking is not very popular. The Holy Spirit which represents the feminine nature of God keeps telling the Church and all humankind who will listen that she desires to keep guiding us into all truth.
Over these past thirty to forty years the Holy Spirit has been guiding us into the truth about women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people. The Holy Spirit has also been moving on all of humankind to reach beyond our understandings of people of different races, cultural backgrounds, abilities and/or challenges, languages, religions, understandings, etc. Just when we think we have figured everything out, that is when the Holy Spirit rips open our Pandoras Boxes and reveals things to us about God, others and ourselves. As Christians we make the biggest mistake when we try to close up our boxes. That is the point in which God wants to reach out to us so to inspire us to reach beyond ourselves as much as we possibly can. When we do, it is amazing what God will show us.
Today in the Episcopal Church we commemorate the great author Clive Staples Lewis (C.S.Lewis) and his many masterpieces of Christian Literature. A man who once rejected Christianity. Yet, God had not stopped searching for him. In his famous work Mere Christianity C.S.Lewis wrote: "You must make your choice." "Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up as a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God."
C.S. Lewis' works have been used probably by all branches of the Christian Church. Liberal, Conservative, Fundamentalist, Roman Catholic, etc. Sadly, like many other forms of spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse his work like the Bible is often misused as WMD towards LGBT people. Maybe I need to write a bit more about why I think they become Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
When the Bible or the works of a man like C.S.Lewis fall into the hands of individuals desiring to use them to change who a LGBT people are and/or how an LGBT person loves other people they become WMD. When the Bible and/or the works of Christian Literature including the works of the Saints such as St. Augustine, John Crysostom and many are used to arm twist people into "rethinking" about who we are, they become WMD. This is the reason we must all pray that the Holy Spirit will guide all of the Church into a greater understanding of truth. As long as there are those in the Church who feel that the Bible, C.S. Lewis and many others are reasons for creating Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill or Arizona's Immigration Bill, or a Federal (or State) Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage it means that the Church is not listening to the Holy Spirit. It means that Christianity itself and the Bible and authors who have advised us are not being taken seriously and become WMD. Anytime the Bible, the cross, Jesus himself, the Holy Spirit, or works of Christian Literature become a basis for scapegoating, Christianity gets a bad name. It is way past the time for Christians to stop scapegoating and start paying attention.
Jesus Christ who I believe is God came to restore to God's reign those who have been lost due to scapegoating and marginalization. God's perfect revelation came to us in the body of a man, with the interior qualities of a female as described in Wisdom so that humankind may know God and God may reveal God's Self in a complete and total disclosure of Self. God did this, because God wanted to call unto God's Self all who through no fault of their own have been brushed aside by political, social and economic abuses of power so that they may find their dignity in God who created and loves all of us. God loves all of us unconditionally and all-inclusively. The gracious power of God does not stop at the doors of our race, gender, class, social status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, language, immigration status, etc. Humankind and our misguided perceptions of Scripture, Church Tradition and bad Reasoning have created those barriers. God's power and love transcends all human labels and political correctness. That same power and love calls all of us, who make classifications of persons to break down those barriers and celebrate together the oneness of God's beauty and holiness with that peace that surpasses all human understanding. Even with those that we do not entirely understand. Even with those who make us just a little bit uncomfortable. And that is why we need the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. If she does not continue to guide us into all truth, we will not reach the full potential that God the Holy Spirit wants for us. The walls and isles that now divide us will only get taller and more complex for us to reach over and take the hand of those who remain stigmatized by the Church and society to welcome them into the reign of Christ who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
And let all of God's people together say Amen!
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 29, Book of Common Prayer, page 236).
O God of searing truth and surpassing beauty, we give you thanks for Clive Staples Lewis, whose sanctified imagination lights fires of faith in young and old alike. Surprise us also with your joy and draw us into that new and abundant life which is ours in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for C. S.Lewis, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 697).
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).
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