God's Plumb line

The reading from Amos today says: "Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste." (Taken from Amos 7:1-9).

In today's commentary on the reading Fr. Mike Michie wrote: "Let's take a look at our reading from Amos today. Nothing like starting your Monday morning off with prophetic predictions of punishment! As we've been reading, Israel is about to live into the consequences of their unjust and self-indulgent behavior. They have not sought God, they've served themselves.

In chapters seven through nine, we read of five symbolic predictions of punishment. The first three are in our reading today. Notice, in the first two, locusts (v. 1-3) and drought (v. 4-6), are so terrible that Amos pleads to God on behalf of his people and God relents! I think this is a beautiful picture of intercessory prayer. No one is too far gone where prayer no longer makes sense. Keep praying!

The third uses the image of a plumb line. (v. 7-9) Do you know what that is? It's like a string with a weight on the end of it, that people used to determine a true vertical up and down. The picture of the Lord with a plumb line is a harrowing one indeed: it's like He's checking one last time to see if things are too warped to be repaired. This is a sentence that cannot be revoked, it is time to start again."

One of the great things about God is that it is never too late to begin working with God about what can be worked on in our lives. There is still time to pray, begin a work of justice for someone who lives on the margins and there is always an opportunity to love someone who is difficult to love. Today is an opportunity to be preparing for Christ to come by asking ourselves what is there that needs to be looked at with a different set of eyes perhaps? Are we still down on ourselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people because the religious right is constantly telling us that we are people who have separated ourselves from God and the Church through our sexuality? Are we still letting the politics of those who constantly disappoint us keep us from recognizing that God loves us because God created us and redeemed us in Christ Jesus. Is there a relationship in our lives where there needs to be an honest conversation, but we've just been putting it off too long?

Today is an opportunity to encounter God by looking into our hearts and asking God to help us sort out all the clutter in our lives. God never asks that we have everything perfect, nor does God ask us to do all the planning of how we are to get things in order. All God wants is to be invited into those spaces in our lives where we have disorder and disunity with God and work together with God to make our lives the holy lives that Christ redeemed them to be. As LGBT people it is wrong of us to constantly put ourselves down for being LGBT when it is God who has so graciously created us that way, and sees us as beautiful people just as God created us to be. We share the life of Jesus and John the Baptist by living on the margins of society and the Church and calling people to remember that Jesus was the best friends of those who were on the margins of society. In Jesus God called those on the margins and into the company of Christ's Church to share in God's love and the salvation that Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection. If the disunity with God in our hearts is over our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression it is time to be at peace with that part of ourselves with God, because God is very much at peace with who we are. As LGBT people who are constantly stigmatized by the Church and society we must pray that "the peace of God which is beyond all understanding will guard (our) hearts and (our) minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7).

Letting God into the places where there is discord in our lives is not a simple task. It means letting go and letting God be God. It means that we do not do it all by ourselves and it also means that we do not live our lives according to the standards of the religious right. Perhaps there is an addiction in our lives that needs to be worked on. Perhaps there is someone we need to forgive or apologize to. Maybe the discord that is in our hearts is caused by something we said to someone that we deeply regret. Maybe the disorder of our hearts is something that we allowed someone to say to us, without our answering them and standing up for ourselves. Could the discord we are experiencing be with God for having allowed a member of God's Church to discriminate against us and we need to settle our anger with God? The good news is God has really big shoulders. There is nothing you could say to God that God does not already know. If you are angry with God, talk to God about your anger and get it out of your system. God does not always fix the person who hurt us most, but God will help us heal our relationship with God if we will give God the opportunity to help heal us.

As long as we have the time and opportunity, let us use today's moments to talk and commune with God about how we are to work out our salvation with God. Let us ask Jesus to help us deal with all the injustices that LGBT people endure year after year, day after day. Tell God about how disappointed many of us are in President Barack Obama for not working hard or fast enough to make the changes in LGBT rights that he promised. Pray to God for the LGBT people in Uganda who are facing the possibility of an LGBT holocaust while many world and religious leaders are neglecting their duties to human rights issues. Pray for our Senate to remember those without health care as they debate the issues that face so many people all over the nation.

God may be taking a plumb line to us and our nation. It is never too late to being turning things around for the better. It is best to start with ourselves and then place ourselves at the concern and service of others. As LGBT people we are in the same position with all other marginalized people. Therefore we are so blessed to be able to identify with others who are on the edge of societies priorities. And we are able to do our part to help recreate a world of justice and equality where it does not exist at this time.

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, #3 for the Human Family, Page 815).