Looking for Signs of Unity and Life? So Are The Rest of Us.

Matt. 16: 1- 12 (NRSV)

The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.  He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.'  And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.  An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away. When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread.  Jesus said to them, "Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  They said to one another, "It is because we have brought no bread." And becoming aware of it, Jesus said, "You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?  Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"  Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Within every group of people celebrating a victorious milestone there is one individual who feels the need to put the spot light on themselves and become the killjoy.  The Pharisees and Sadducees it today's Gospel story are looking to get the attention off Jesus and onto themselves.  Part of their tactic is to kill the joy what Jesus was bringing to so many people by asking for a sign, and so do the Disciples.

Today's Forward Day by Day has a great reflection on today's Gospel.

Jesus here expresses his impatience with those who want a sign. He is impatient because they are surrounded with signs--God's creative glory, his love, his word, his continuing presence--all the signs they could want or need.

Yet Jesus says the sign of Jonah will be given. The church has long taken this to mean his own resurrection after three days, but there is another possible meaning as well. Jonah's resurrection is clearly a sign. But so also is the whole saga of the Book of Jonah, which tells the story of the redemption of nations. In it, Ninevah is saved. Outsiders repent and receive God's mercy. Think of that "sign of Jonah" in terms of Jesus' saving act and the spread of the blessed company of all the faithful to the ends of the earth by means of it. Think of Jesus' Great Commission at the end of this gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."

If the Spirit of God should once again hover like a dove over the face of all the waters as it did at the creation, if God should then "become king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9), is that not the "sign of Jonah," and is that not what Jesus would desire? (1979)

In these days when there is so much infighting within the Anglican Communion since the consecration and ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson in 2003 and now Mary Glasspool on May 15th of this year, what sign are we looking for as Episcopalians and Anglican Christians?  There are those within both the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church who are seeing signs that the Holy Spirit is calling the whole Anglican Communion to accept the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people as both lay ministers and ordained as Bishops, Priests and Deacons.  Other parts of the same Anglican Communion and Episcopal Church believe that the Holy Spirit is calling for a Communion wide moratorium and the Anglican Covenant that says, yes but not now.    The web commentaries about what is happening contain wide spread opinions and deserve a bit of attention.  

Yesterday, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori responded to Canterbury dismissing Episcopalians from the Ecumencial Dialogues calling them "unfortunate...it misrepresents who the Anglican Communion is."

"I don't think it helps dialogue to remove some people from the conversation," she said shortly after addressing General Synod *(of the Anglican Church of Canada). "We have a variety of opinions on these issues of human sexuality across the communion ... For the archbishop of Canterbury to say to the Methodists or the Lutheran [World] Federation that we only have one position is inaccurate. We have a variety of understandings and no, we don't have consensus on hot button issues at the moment."

Asked whether Williams has adequately addressed the issue of cross-border interventions, Jefferts Schori said, "I don't think he understands how difficult and how painful and destructive it's been both in the church in Canada and for us in the U.S. ... when bishops come from overseas and say, 'Well, we'll take care of you, you don't have to pay attention to your bishop.'" Such actions "destroys pastoral relationships," noted Jefferts Schori. "It's like an affair in a marriage," she said. "It destroys trust."

She added that it's "a very ancient teaching of the church that bishops are supposed to stay home and tend to the flock to which he was originally assigned."

Asked how Anglicans can focus on mission amid its issues over the place of gays and lesbians, Jefferts Schori said, "By focusing on mission, on the broader context. The hot button issues are an aspect of our mission."

The issue of human sexuality has a place in the communion's Five Marks of Mission, she said. "Where is good news in this conversation about human sexuality? I think we heard some in the [General Synod human sexuality] report ... That people felt they could speak to each other, be heard and speak in a gracious way and that was reported to be a significant shift from the last General Synod."

Part of the church's mission is to gay and lesbian people, she added. "Where's the good news in this for them?"

Another deals with addressing human suffering, she said. "Suicide rates among gay and lesbian teenagers are much, much higher than the national average in Canada and the U.S. How do we address that? That's an aspect in these Marks of Mission."

Developed by the Anglican Consultative Council, the Five Marks of Mission are:

• To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom;
• To teach, baptize and nurture new believers;
• To respond to human need by loving service;
• To seek to transform unjust structures of society;
• To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

Episcopal Priest Matthew Potts had something to say not so much about the rhetorical wars in the internet, but the people on the middle while others on both sides of the issue argue about positions that ultimately affect relationships on their behalf.

What’s missing on our internet, I think, is what’s tragically missing in our church.  Too often our voices on the web, like our voices in the church, shout down the many moderates in the middle who are trying quite hard to live through this crisis honestly.  In other words, they are struggling to be good Christians while still being good neighbors, and these earnest, hurting people don’t get much press.  While factions on the edges clamor and curse, the church sits in the middle trying to hear itself think.  And pray.  If people in the pews are uncertain and hurting, then what we need most, I think, is a place collectively to remember that uncertainty and hurt are profoundly Christian positions.  Uncertainty and hurt won’t condemn us, that’s the lesson of Easter.  But too much certainty and hurtfulness just might.  My hope for the Episcopal web is the same as my prayer for the church: for a space where we can bare our wounds to each other honestly, struggle to become better neighbors, and pray for God’s grace to renew us as Christ’s wounded but risen body.

As a gay Episcopalian among the thoughts that I wish to raise is that it is really easy to talk about who's in the middle, when it is not your sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression that is in the middle of the controversy.  Those of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgendered are among those in the middle.  The heterosexual folks in the middle who have no opinion one way or another are mildly affected by the tensions within the relationships that are engaged in this conflict for control.  Those of us who are LGBT who might feel the call of the Holy Spirit so to be able to answer that call with or without the blessing of the Church are among those who are most affected.   That is why this controversy is so very important and why if the ministry of LGBT people is affected, ultimately the whole Church is affected.  Because if one group of people is told that they cannot acknowledge the Holy Spirit's call to discern a call to ordained ministry, than who else can be told that same thing?  Or better yet, who will not be told that they cannot acknowledge the call of God to ordained ministry?   In an interview with Georgia Public Radio in December, our Presiding Bishop noted that the Episcopal Church does not refuse to ordain to the office of Bishop those who are overweight or those who live extravagant lifestyles.  There are far more pressing issues than monogamous, lifelong, committed homosexual relationships.

So what is the sign are we looking for?  Or better yet, what sign are we not paying attention to?  Are we as Episcopalians and Anglicans really convinced that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead and therefore gave us new life and sent us the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and minds about people who are different than ourselves?  Or do we still live the life that suggests that Jesus Christ died on the cross, but there was no resurrection?  Do we not see that God's Holy Spirit can and does move on all of God's people, not just those who fit into the status quo of Caucasian, heterosexual, male to discern the Holy Spirit's call to serve the Church as Laity or as Bishops, Priests and Deacons?  Can we as the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion continue to come to the table to talk, disagree, debate and work towards a consensus and yet still celebrate Christ's Presence in the Eucharist together?  Can we all demonstrate that the sign of Jonah, the sign of Christ alive and among us in those who are like minded and in those who are not, be able to co-exist for the good of the Gospel and the mission of the Church?  Holy Spirit, help us to see your sign. Amen.

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 5, Book of Common Prayer, Page 229)

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Unity of the Church, Book of Common Prayer, Page 818).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, Page 826),