Faith's Responsibility

Among the many things that continues to impress me as I read the Gospel stories is how those closest to Jesus seem to miss the mark. The Disciples spent day and night with Jesus, listening ever so closely to him speak. The followers saw the miracles Jesus performed, ate with him, slept where he slept and even experienced much of the persecution Jesus did. Yet, the Apostles seemed to miss the important elements of who Jesus was and what he did. Ironically those who were marginalized and outside of Jesus and his closest companions knew who Jesus was and what he could do for them.

The faith that we are given by Jesus as Christians is more than just some nice lofty experience. It is given to us to both change us within and give us the grace to be part of a missionary group promoting change. We cannot be good agents of change however, unless we allow God the Holy Spirit to bring about change in us. This is why we must never be too comfortable with where we are, we must always be willing to allow God the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts and call us away from ourselves and into the realm of God in prayer and eventually beyond ourselves into the lives of those in need. No one person can do it all, but all Baptized Christians are called to serve God by seeing every person as being created in the image and likeness of the Community of love in the Holy Trinity, and honoring them with as people with dignity and integrity. We must be willing to let God become our source of stability, while giving God every permission to bring change to our stubborn and fragile hearts. The task is never an easy one, but it is something that our loving God will lovingly work us through if we will give God permission and opportunity to do so.

Faith is given to us not to just be a word that is abstract in our Bibles or a big fancy theological virtue. Faith is a verb, and it means movement of our stagnant understandings of ourselves and the world around us. Faith without reason is faith that is only a noun that does not come alive in and through us. Faith is willing to take a risk and trust in God with whatever the outcome might be. Faith can question and faith can give an answer that is different than what we expected. Faith is not limited by our finite human condition. Faith does not box God in, yet it allows for us to catch up in our own slow understanding. Faith also knows that there is Faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13: 13).

In today's Gospel of Matthew 17:14-24 Jesus challenges the faith of those who follow him. From the way the writers of Matthew's Gospel it sounded as if Jesus was getting pretty ticked with his Disciples. It seemed that the longer he was with them, they just did not get it. It is easy to look at the Disciples and say; "Hey, guys, get with the story." However, that is a pretty self-righteous way to look at what was happening. After all, are there not moments when our own hearts have been closed to the call of God to accept our need for change? If my readers are like me, there are always those moments when we know we should do better or different, but our stubborn hearts just want to do things our way. Sometimes our way is the right and best way, but changing to serve the needs of others is what we need to do. But we just cannot bring ourselves to that place where we just let go of our own way long enough to serve the need of another. So, let's not be too hard on the Disciples.

Faith's responsibility includes a willingness to understand that where prejudice and hate still live, God's work of healing must take place. There are many Christians who justify their attitudes of discrimination and hate towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. We saw just last week, how prejudice for LGBT people can lead an entire Catholic Archdiocese to consider discontinuing their services to the poor. Yet, from that outrageous act of bullying as an excuse for arrogant bigotry came the words of another leader. In response, Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane of the Diocese of Washington wrote an outstanding endorsement entitled:
A Christian Case for Same-Sex Marriage. In his endorsement Bishop Chane wrote: "Most media coverage of the D.C. Council's steps toward civil marriage equality for same-sex couples has followed a worn-out script that gives the role of speaking for God to clergy who are opposed to equality. As the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, I would say respectfully to my fellow Christians that people who deny others the blessings they claim for themselves should not assume they speak for the Almighty." "Some conservative Christian leaders claim that their understanding of marriage is central to Christian teaching. How do they square that claim with the Apostle Paul's teaching that marriage is an inferior state, one reserved for people who are not able to stay singly celibate and resist the temptation to fornication?

As historian Stephanie Coontz points out, the church did not bless marriages until the third century, or define marriage as a sacrament until 1215. The church embraced many of the assumptions of the patriarchal culture, in which women and marriageable children were assets to be controlled and exploited to the advantage of the man who headed their household. The theology of marriage was heavily influenced by economic and legal considerations; it emphasized procreation, and spoke only secondarily of the "mutual consolation of the spouses."

The Episcopal Church's 1979 Book of Common Prayer puts it this way: "We believe that the union of husband and wife, in heart, body and mind, is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord."

Our evolving understanding of what marriage is leads, of necessity, to a re-examination of who it is for. Most Christian denominations no longer teach that all sex acts must be open to the possibility of procreation, and therefore contraception is permitted. Nor do they hold that infertility precludes marriage. The church has deepened its understanding of the way in which faithful couples experience and embody the love of the creator for creation. In so doing, it has put itself in a position to consider whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

Theologically, therefore, Christian support for same-sex marriage is not a dramatic break with tradition, but a recognition that the church's understanding of marriage has changed dramatically over 2,000 years.

I have been addressing the sound theological foundation for a new religious understanding of marriage, because it disturbs me greatly to see opposition to marriage for same-sex couples portrayed as the only genuinely religious or Christian position. I am somewhat awed by the breadth of religious belief and life experience reflected among more than 200 clergy colleagues who are publicly supporting marriage equality in D.C.

But it's important to emphasize that the actions taken by the D.C. Council do not address the religious meaning of marriage at all. The proposed legislation would not force any congregation to change its religious teachings or bless any couple. Our current laws do not force any denomination to offer religious blessing to second marriages, yet those marriages, like interfaith marriages, are equal in the sight of the law even though some churches do not consider them religiously valid.

Existing laws require religious organizations that receive public funding to extend the same benefits to gay employees as to straight ones. In many instances, that includes health care for spouses. This has led some religious leaders, who believe same-sex marriage to be sinful, to threaten to get out of the social service business. I respect these individuals' right to their convictions, but I do not follow their logic. The Catholic Church, for instance, teaches that remarriage without an annulment is sinful, yet it has not campaigned against extending health benefits to such couples. Additionally, several Catholic dioceses in states that permit same-sex marriage have found a way to accommodate themselves to such laws.

D.C.'s proposed marriage equality law explicitly protects the religious liberty of those who believe that God's love can be reflected in the loving commitment between two people of the same sex and of those who do not find God there. This is as it should be in a society so deeply rooted in the principles of religious freedom and equality under the law."

Faith's responsibility needs to be given room to rip open the air tight lids of the boxes we place God in, and allow the wind of the Holy Spirit to move us to the next place. "God has already removed the stone when God raised Jesus Christ from the dead."(Taken from "In the Eye of the Storm, by Bishop Gene Robinson, see Chapter 6, Page 62 to 64). We have nothing to fear. In moments when we are afraid let us remember a verse from that wonderful old hymn Amazing Grace.

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; 'tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home." Amen.