John 7:37-52 (NRSV)
On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.' " Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, "This is really the prophet." Others said, "This is the Messiah." But some asked, "Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not arrest him?" The police answered, "Never has anyone spoken like this!" Then the Pharisees replied, "Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law-they are accursed." Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, "Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?" They replied, "Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.
Is it not amazing that when someone steps forward to take on a task of doing good all of those standing around and watching begin controversial discussions. "Oh, she's too demanding." "He is much too disorganized." "They are just doing things the wrong way." Yet, those who complain the most, are the one's who contribute the least.
Jesus is giving us good news. He is talking about the new life he will give through the waters of Baptism and the Holy Spirit. God is wanting to do good things among God's people. Rather than embracing the good news that Jesus brings everyone wants a debate about who's saying the right thing. People approach this news as coming from someone from Nazareth where they assume that Jesus might not know what he is talking about. Many within his hearing are not sure if he is the Messiah who has come to save us from our sins. Yet, those who know there is something different about Jesus are willing to defend him, even mislead those who want to kill him into thinking other things. Sounds an awful lot like the debate over health care, DADT, marriage equality and Wall Street reform. There are those who come along with very good ideas, but there are always people ready to chip away not only at the idea, but at those who brought them in the first place.
One of the many strengths of Jesus is that though these things are happening around him, he continues his ministry. Jesus keeps delivering the poor, the disadvantaged, those degenerated by society and the religious community around him. Jesus does not give up, he stays on track so that he can do his Father's will. Those whom Jesus came to serve and invite into the company of God's Church are most important to him. Though there is much debate on every side of him, Jesus keeps his focus on what he set out to do.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community is facing difficulties on all sides of our quest for justice and equality. Those on the right want nothing to do with it and are determined to stop us any way they can. Many on the left campaign for our votes and money, but drag their feet and make excuses. There are many who think that we simply need to either stop fighting for equal rights or simply slow down and take what we can get.
We need to ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our fortitude to continue the work for justice and equality while facing the opposition on every side. We know that in all walks of life that while people struggle hard to obtain a particular goal there are always those who will stand in the way of progress. There will always be those who say we can't make it, or we should not bother. While we all need to stop and rest along the way once in a while, we should never discontinue our pursuit for civil rights and equal protection under the law. We should continue to have conversations with our family, friends and communities about LGBT issues so that people become educated and informed. LGBT people are gifted and valued by God for this work. We must pray daily for the gifts of wisdom and understanding. We need to ask God to help us to forgive those who are barriers in our way, and seek to empower those who can help us in our struggle for equality with the tools they need to do the work for and with us.
The barriers toward LGBT equality are there to energize us to move forward, not knock us off the path. Everyone has a role to play and God knows we can do it well.
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, BCP, Page 236).
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