Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, 'Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.' Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, 'I do choose. Be made clean.' Immediately the leprosy left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. 'Go,' he said, 'and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.' But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, 'Friend, your sins are forgiven you.' Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, 'Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?' When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, 'Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Stand up and walk"? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins' -he said to the one who was paralyzed-'I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.' Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, 'We have seen strange things today.'
Blog author Derek Olson wrote a magnificent post in the Daily Episcopalian. The post Olson wrote is entitled: Christ, Culture and the Struggle Over Same-Sex Relationships. He wrote the blog post in response to remarks made by:
"the Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, a senior figure within the Russian Orthodox church gave an address at the Annual Nicean Club Dinner at Lambeth Palace in London. His remarks were focused on the concern he had for the future of the dialogue given liberalizing trends within the Anglican Communion. The Metropolitan repudiated the Episcopal Church for the ordination and consecration of women and for the consecration of Gene Robinson (not “Jim Robertson” as the Metropolitan stated…) and suggested that a similar fate was in store for the Church of England if it did not side-line its plans for the consecration of women as bishops. Instead, the Metropolitan framed the debated as a matter of capitulation to the culture:
We are also extremely concerned and disappointed by other processes that are manifesting themselves in churches of the Anglican Communion. Some Protestant and Anglican churches have repudiated basic Christian moral values by giving a public blessing to same-sex unions and ordaining homosexuals as priests and bishops. Many Protestant and Anglican communities refuse to preach Christian moral values in secular society and prefer to adjust to worldly standards.Our Church must sever its relations with those churches and communities that trample on the principles of Christian ethics and traditional morals. Here we uphold a firm stand based on Holy Scripture. ....
What can these churches say to their faithful and to secular society? What kind of light do they shine upon the world (cf. Mt. 5:14)? What is their ‘salt’? I am afraid the words of Christ can be applied to them: If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men (Mt. 5:13).In reading the Metropolitan’s words, I’m reminded of the classic work by H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture. In this book, Niebuhr lays out five basic modes through which Christians construct the encounter between Christ—his shorthand for the faithful proclamation of the Gospel—and culture—the human environment, the backdrop in which we live and move.
Later in Olson's post we read:
With regard to liberalizing Anglicans—those who agree with the ordination of woman and those who will accept patterned homosexual clergy however conditionally—we need to take a hard look at ourselves, our theologies, and our motives. It is true that the prevailing Western culture has moved in a permissive direction over the past decades. Why are we in favor of these developments? Is it because it just seems right or because we have friends that we don’t want to disappoint—or because we truly believe that these innovations are demanded by the Gospel? All too often I see defenses of the liberal position that are based primarily in “rights” language or are grounded by warm personal anecdotes about friends, In advancing our arguments in this way, I fear that we do nothing more than confirm the caricature and, worse, ally ourselves with it. This does no service to our cause. I see the ordination and consecration of women and the ordination of people in committed exclusive life-long relationships blessed by the church—gay or straight—as mandates proceeding from the truth and morals of the Gospel. I sincerely hope that those who believe as I do understand it in the same way. It is only when we proceed from these bases that we can respond to the Metropolitan with a firm “no” and still look him—and ourselves—in the eye. We must ask ourselves whether we pass the Niehbuhr test—are we simply capitulating to the pressures of a permissive culture or do we understand the necessity for Christ to transform and rightly order our practices and relationships? Are there points where we clear identify the Gospel to be in conflict with our wider culture?
On the other hand, those who have taken for themselves a conservative label—whether they be Anglican, Russian Orthodox, or some other group—often fall short of the high ground they claim. While they may appear to be standing with Christ against Culture, all too often a deeper examination of their position reveals them to be nothing more than followers of a Christ of Culture as well. Assuredly, their culture is not the current contemporary Western culture, but sometimes the Gospel becomes nothing more than an excuse for the imposition of yet another human culture, especially one fashioned by nostalgia. Too often language about “traditional morals” is not an appeal to principles of virtue or the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church but to a by-gone all-too-human culture where women and gays stayed in their respective homes and closets.
The hard edge of the Gospel cuts against all human constructions of power and propriety. Sometimes its call to repentance, love, and virtue align with platforms either on the Left or on the Right. But neither platform ever captures the Gospel’s clarion. All platforms fall short. We inevitably fall short. But for all Anglicans, all Christians, who care about the on-going proclamation of the Gospel in a culture which needs to be redeemed by it, we must remain committed to holy conversation—with the Spirit and with one another, holy listening—to the Spirit and to our neighbors, and saturation in the Scriptures and Sacraments which are the trustworthy vehicles of the Gospel.
I am most intrigued by this post and I think the folks in the Gospel for today's Daily Office were experiencing the same kind of "culture shocks". Those whom Jesus healed were suppose to be separated from the rest of society. It was thought that such people were the way they were because of some sin either they or their parents had committed. Fortunately, today's more progressive theologians have gotten away from the idea that God punishes us through sickness and disease. Rather we understand that sickness, disease and even death is an unfortunate part of fallen humankind. Instead of attempting to demonize people who are sick, poor, dying or different, what we believe Jesus Christ does in this Gospel and calls his followers to do, is to recognize and reverence the goodness of God in all people, and seek ways to make everyone's life more meaningful. We may not have the answer for curing HIV/AIDS or cancer, nor can we cause a paralyzed person to walk. But when we take the time to be compassionate and share just a little bit of our own lives with those whom society and the Church ignores, we bring the Light that is Jesus Christ into people's lives and even the whole world. Christ becomes part of our culture and in the words of Niebuhr, "Christ transforms our culture."
Through out this year we have seen many victories on the way to equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and queer (LGBTQ) people. The DOMA trial in Massachusetts where DOMA was declared "unconstitutional." The Proposition 8 trial where that was declared "unconstitutional". The recent trial about Don't Ask, Don't Tell that was also declared "Unconstitutional." The recent case in Washington State where a judge has ordered a Military Nurse who was discharged under DADT to be reinstated by the Military. All of these things are terrific work towards equal rights for LGBTQ people.
We have also seen some very unfortunate turns for LGBTQ equality. Most recently here in Minnesota the anti marriage equality DVD being put out by the local Catholic Archdiocese. The number of suicides in the Anoka-Hennepin school district due to anti-gay bullying. Just today on Box Turtle Bulletin was reported a 13 year old gay boy in Houston committed suicide because of bullying. Earlier this year we heard the story of Constance McMillan who was barred from attending her High School Prom in a tuxedo because she is a lesbian. She won her case for damages, but the damage done to her and other LGBTQ students cannot be ignored. The National Organization for Marriage continues their assault on marriage equality all over the country through their bus tour. They have launched an all out war to remove the "activist judges" who declared Iowa's Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage as "unconstitutional." Right here in Minnesota they have spent over a million dollars to make robo calls telling Minnesotan's not to support either Tom Horner or Mark Dayton for Governor of Minnesota because they support marriage equality.
As Jesus Christ attempts to make change many parts of our culture and even our understandings, which I believe includes accepting sexual and gender diversity, so many of his followers think they are doing the Biblical thing by standing in the way of the Holy Spirit. Some times it is easier to create a culture war based on nostalgia than it is to allow God to help us gain a change of heart or mind. Unless we are willing to see that Jesus does forgive sins and can change our understanding of God and others who are different from ourselves and allow equal rights for all, we will experience a spiritual and cultural like paralysis that leaves us unable to do much more than plea for help. If we will open our hearts and minds to Jesus and say: "Heal us if you want to." We will hear Jesus say to us: "'I do choose" or even "I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home."
May today be the day when we ask God to heal us and that we will choose to allow him to do wonderful and strange things in and through us.
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 21, Book of Common Prayer, page 234).
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. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).
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