In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. One afternoon at about three o'clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius." He stared at him in terror and said, "What is it, Lord?" He answered, "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside." When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa.
About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean." The voice said to him again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.
As I read this passage from the Acts of the Apostles my mind drifted to a few events that are about us. The debate going on in our country over the Islamic Center in New York City and now in other parts of the country continues to dominate the news. Just yesterday a group in Kentucky refused to allow an Islamic prayer center to move into a strip mall over a parking ordinance. A local business owner made the remark that the Muslims would not park where they are suppose to, but should the space in question be occupied by Baptists they would do what they are suppose to do. Such comments lack not only justice but a serious sense of integrity and dignity for others who are different than ourselves.
In today's reading from Acts, Peter is confronted by a sight of animals and foods that in his Jewish tradition are considered unclean. The final point is not about foods, but about revering all individuals as beheld in the eyes and heart of God. Just because someone does not look like we think they should look, dress the way we think they should dress, act in a way that we find acceptable does not mean that they are any less children of God than anyone else. And just because a group of people do not worship God through Jesus, does not make them any less devout or any less noble of people. This debate about the religion of Islam in our nation, is another form or racism dressed up by conservative Christians to look like a crusade to save the nation from an otherwise peaceful and beautiful expression of worship.
Bishop Mark Sisk of the Episcopal Diocese of New York wrote a beautiful letter about the whole controversy surrounding the Islamic Center near Ground Zero. I am not going to post the entire letter, but I am going to post the second, third and fourth paragraphs.
The plan to build this center is, without doubt, an emotionally highly-charged issue. But as a nation with tolerance and religious freedom at its very foundation, we must not let our emotions lead us into the error of persecuting or condemning an entire religion for the sins of its most misguided adherents.
The worldwide Islamic community is no more inclined to violence that any other. Within it, however, a struggle is going on - between the majority who seek to follow a moderate, loving religion and the few who would transform it into an intolerant theocracy intent on persecuting anyone, Muslim or otherwise, with whom they disagree. We should all, as Christians, reach out in friendship and love to the peaceful Islamic majority and do all in our power to build and strengthen bridges between our faiths. We should also all remember that the violence and hateful behavior of the extremist are not confined to any one religion. Over the centuries we Christians have numbered more than a few among us who have perpetrated unspeakable atrocities in Christ's name.
I must admit that I also have a more personal connection with this issue. At the Episcopal Diocese of New York we know the leaders of this project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan. We know that they are loving, gentle people, who epitomize Islamic moderation. We know that as Sufis, they are members of an Islamic sect that teaches a universal belief in man's relationship to God that is not dissimilar from mystic elements in certain strains of Judaism and Christianity. Feisal Abdul Rauf and Daisy Khan are, without question, people to whom Christians of good will should reach out with the hand of hospitality and friendship, as they reach out to us. I understand and support their desire to build an Islamic center, intended in part to promote understanding and tolerance among different religions.
Today the Episcopal Church is commemorating Louis, King of France. I am a bit reluctant to write much, because he was one of the kings that involved himself and his country in the Crusades. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that many of the wonderful women and men that we regard as Saints were not people without their sins or grave moral evils. They may have been people who wrote marvelous theologies and were what the Church and others would call devout. Given that all of us are human beings, including the Saints that we commemorate, even our greatest devotion and theological knowledge can be short sighted. Being a Saint requires an interior desire to do the right thing, and yet we can still get it wrong. We are not asked to get everything exactly right, we are asked to be faithful and do the best we can with what we have. I certainly do not want to come across as if excusing Louis for the Crusades, especially since we in 2010 have this blown up debate over the Islamic people going on. What I do want us to consider is that no matter how right we feel we have things, we can always miss a mark somewhere. A look at Peter in today's reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows how even a man as devoted as Peter, needs God to correct him and show him new and good things. So it is with us here in the 21st Century.
There are still people who insist that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people are "unclean" because of our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression and or our relationships. We know from having read books such as Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason by Gray Temple and In the Eye of the Storm by Bishop Gene Robinson, that the Bible does not in actuality condemn loving, committed same-sex relationships any more or less than loving, committed relationships of the opposite sex. "What God has called clean, you should not call unclean." It is very important for all of us at one point and another to look at what we have always been taught to think, understand and say and consider the possibility that we have been getting it all wrong. If we have been getting it wrong, that is okay God is here to help us fix it. God will bring those people and situations into our lives to help us not call what God has made clean, as unclean. LGBTQ people as well as the Muslims are among God's holy and beloved children. There is room in the Church and in society for everyone. We should be working harder at helping everyone to find room to coexist, rather than welcoming oppression, discrimination and violence. We are called to make peace with people, not oppression.
May today be one more opportunity that we take to move forward in our life and love with God, others and ourselves.
Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirt, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 16, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).
O God, you called your servant Louis of France to an earthly throne that he might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave him zeal for your Church and love for your people: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate him this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Louis, King of France, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 541).
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, Book of Common Prayer, Page 833).
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