Two incredible pieces of news have been shared in the last 24 hours. I will start with the newest and that is the Affirmation Declaration has reached a total of 786 signatures. Please continue to encourage others to sign it. Secondly, as of last night the Ugandan Parliament had announced that it will be removing the punishment of life imprisonment and the death penalty from it's Anti-homosexuality bill. The bad news is that the Ugandan Parliament that is under the influence of several religious leaders one of whom is the Anglican Bishop of Uganda to punish people who are gay and who choose to exercise their sexuality. While we are happy with the news that Uganda will not punish by imprisonment and the death penalty, we remain rightly concerned that any government or church would encourage the idea of putting in prison for any length of time someone because of their sexual orientation and their choice to love someone in the way God created them to. I wish to acknowledge in particular the work of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC who has been covering this issue for the last two weeks with honest reporting and analysis. Let us continue to pray and advocate for those who continue to live under this threat. May we never settle for anything less than equal rights and protection in our own country and others for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.
The motto for The Affirmation Declaration is "Serving Christ, Building Bridges, Defending Love." I think that is what Jesus was doing in his many woes to the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew 23:13 to 26. Jesus is giving his stern warnings and down right angry at the religious leaders of his day for their hypocrisy of how they refuse to be instruments of God's love. Jesus speaks very directly to how the Pharisees lock everyone including themselves out of God's kingdom. Jesus is angry because love of neighbor has apparently taken a back seat and for the Pharisees their precious "reputation" and prestige has proven more important. Jesus is down right angry and he scolds them harshly.
Among the many things that I am awestruck at is how Jesus is very loving and healing of those who are marginalized such as the hungry four or five thousand, the adulterous woman, the Canaanite woman, the prostitutes and the lepers. To those who really come to Jesus in need of a Savior and looking to trust in God, Jesus is so very close and compassionate and merciful. But those such as the Pharisees who have it all together through the following of the law, Jesus strongly scolds them. He scolds them not so much for following the law, but for neglecting their duties to those who have been treated as outcasts by the religious establishment. All through out the Gospel stories, Jesus has been demonstrating to the religious leaders that God is closest to the outcast, the lost, the second class citizens of society and the Church. But the Pharisees are all concerned about the laws and how Jesus threatens their comfort zones.
How is Jesus challenging our comfort zones today? Is Jesus calling LGBT Christians to be a voice for themselves and others who are seen as second class citizens by society and the Church? Are Episcopalians being called by Jesus to speak up to the Archbishop of Canterbury and tell him that it is wrong to not speak up about Uganda's Anti-homosexuality bill yet, publicly call out the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for the election of Bishop-Elect Mary Glasspool? Is God challenging the Episcopal Church to continue to shake things up?
Jesus Christ was someone who shook things up. Christianity that does not shake some people up is not doing it's job. In his book "In the Eye of the Storm" Bishop Gene Robinson in talking about the parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37), writes: "The real challenge of this story is whether or not we want to be admirers of Jesus or disciples of Jesus. It's easy to admire Jesus, to think he was a nifty guy with wonderful, worthy ideas. Following Jesus, being his disciple, is a whole lot harder. Doing the work of ministry and doing justice--getting into Gospel trouble--is what we are meant to do. That's what makes disciples out of us." (Page 126). Jesus is challenging the Pharisees as he is challenging the Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury and all of us, do we want to really be disciples of Jesus or do we simply want to admire him? Being disciples of Jesus will require us to be friends of the friendless, to love people who are second class citizens and to speak up when injustice is being promoted. Being disciples of Jesus requires us to love the unlovable. In our case, LGBT people are unloved by right winged Christians. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ means that we "serve Christ" and "build bridges" by "defending love" as The Affirmation Declaration states so beautifully. Jesus is calling all of us to be bridge builders and to defend the love of God for LGBT people and the love that LGBT people share within our relationships.
How are LGBT Christians building those bridges and defending our love? This is especially the case for many LGBT people who have understandably given up on Christianity and all forms of organized religion. The anti-gay statements of everyone from Pope Benedict to Rowan Williams and the Anglican Bishop of Uganda are enough to make any good minded person turn away from Jesus and the Church. However, what poorly informed people do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in regards to LGBT individuals, we do not have to accept nor agree with them. The Episcopal Church is an autonomous body that is in no way bound to the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury. We also do not have to let their own poor example of the Gospel affect our own resolve to follow Jesus Christ by accepting who we are and being the followers of Jesus Christ that we are called to be. If we happen to live the Gospel better than those who accuse us of violating the Scriptures than so be it. If we happen to win some people over to a renewed understanding of homosexuality and the Bible than our suffering is worth it. If some people make the choice to continue to be anti-gay that is not our fault. Nor should we let them dictate what our faith in God and Jesus should be.
I read the most wonderful article yesterday. Columnist Richard Morison wrote a column entitled: "Nothing but sex please, we’re vicars . . ." In his column he writes "What Christ did apparently say (and, as a soundbite, it’s as potent as anything from the silver tongue of Barack Obama) is: “Let him without sin cast the first stone”. Let’s recall the context. A bunch of zealots were about to stone to death a woman for adultery (they would pick on the woman, naturally). Christ was asked if he would approve this punishment, since it was laid down in the law of Moses. It was a trick question, of course. He neatly sidestepped it. Instead he turned the moral searchlight on the zealots. Such was the force of his argument, we are told, that the persecutors decided to slink off and leave the woman alone.
To me, that’s a clear indication of what Christianity should not be: spiteful and punitive, especially in the field of sex. That’s not a licence for licentiousness (after all, Christ told the woman to “go and sin no more” — quite a challenge!). But it does send a signal that the Church, and society at large, has no business prying into private lives, unless there are compelling signs (child abuse, domestic violence) that someone is being harmed.
Yet the impression gathered by the outside world is that prying into people’s sexuality, and discussing it endlessly, is what the Church’s leading lights do all day. Never mind their core business of saving souls. To judge from some of their public statements, it’s as if the evils of the modern world — genocidal wars, Third World exploitation, grinding poverty, abandoned children and old people — are minor issues compared to the vital matter of whether the new deputy bishop of Los Angeles cuddles her girlfriend at home."
I think Jesus is challenging all of us to put the Gospel back into it's proper place. It is about serving those who need to hear how much God loves them and how we are to play a role in helping people know that. How are we playing our role in "serving Christ, building bridges and defending love"?
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 101).
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