The Scripture Readings for today give us two very different pictures. The reading from 1 Maccabees 3: 1-24 is a story about war and violence. Yet, the story is one in which Judas Maccabees turns the tide against the king and those who are oppressing the people of Jerusalem. The story of the transfiguration of Jesus gives us an entire alteration from the story in 1 Maccabees. The transfiguration is about Jesus in all his glory as witnessed by Peter, James and John and a prefiguring of the resurrection. Yet the story ends with Jesus and the Disciples who witnessed his transfiguration returning to every day ordinary life.
Life is an everyday event. Every day that we live and breath we face conflicts and struggles. There are moments when we loose and moments when we win. God is with us in the ups and downs of life. We are never alone. God wants to love us through the times when life is not so glorious. God celebrates with us when life is awesome. God gives us those moments when we can see right into the heart of God's glory. God is also ever so close to us when life really stinks, when evil wins out.
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals, families and couples find churches and houses of worship where they are welcomed, affirmed and celebrated we feel really happy. We can finally worship our God and grow closer to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When we find congregations where our sexual orientation and relationships, our gender expressions/identities are understood as gifts from God to us and the world, it can seem as if we have died and gone to heaven. I know that over the last many months since my partner Jason and I began attending Sunday Eucharist at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, the difference in our lives of prayer and worship have been like night becoming day. When LGBT people find a house of worship where they can grow in their relationship with God it sets our wondering spirits free and it energizes us in ways that we often cannot describe.
But the reality is, we cannot live forever in the house of prayer and worship. We eventually have to leave the comfort of our churches or synagogues and face the world where discrimination and prejudice are often rampart thanks in part to religious groups that do not welcome and affirm LGBT people. We continue to face job discrimination, state ballot initiatives that take away our civil rights to marry the person we love, and a political establishment that will not act fast enough to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. We return to our communities where there are hundreds of people who will die because cannot afford health care. When we leave our churches and synagogues we deal with the grief experienced by people who are affected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases. It can seem like the house of worship where we are accepted feels like heaven, and the rest of world is just like hell.
It is because of the way that the world is about LGBT individuals that welcoming and affirming churches, synagogues and houses of worship are so important. We need the energy that comes from finding God who loves us and church communities that support us. With the negative voices of the religious right, the Catholic church, and so many political groups against the interests of LGBT individuals, couples and families we need the good energy that comes from sharing with one another in prayer and worship. There are many terrific Metropolitan Community Churches. There is the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the United Church of Christ, The Disciples of Christ, many United Methodist Churches, many congregations of the Presbyterian Church, USA and many more than I can write about in this blog that are very welcoming to LGBT Christians. There are Jewish Synagogues that are welcoming to LGBT individuals. Finding places where LGBT individuals can find some peace and energy to combat the discrimination and hate of the world around us is important.
It is also important to develop good healthy friendships and relationships. Good healthy relationships help us grow closer to God, because they remind us that God is our best friend and that we are never completely alone. We need those relationships where we can grow close to people and share with them our deepest thoughts, feelings and emotions and be validated. God did not place us on this earth to be miserable. God did not put us to live through the hardships of life alone. God made us social beings for a reason.
As we go about facing the difficulties of the world around us, let us ask for God's powerful graces to help us find those people and places that affirm and lift us up. Let us pray that God will help us to have an attitude of "It is good for us to be here."
Almighty God, whose Son had nowhere to lay his head: Grant that those who live alone may not be lonely in their solitude, but that, following in his steps, they may find fulfillment in loving you and their neighbors; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, #48, For Those Who Live Alone, Page 829)
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