My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, 'Have a seat here, please,' while to the one who is poor you say, 'Stand there,' or, 'Sit at my feet,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, 'You shall not commit adultery,' also said, 'You shall not murder.' Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
How very interesting it was for me to open my email and find not one but three different comments left by one individual. All three comments were attempts at spiritual malpractice and doctrinal/scriptural abuse because of many of the remarks I wrote yesterday. And so as we were praying Morning Prayer I was very interested that this reading from James was part of the Office.
Over this past year the Tea Party has been raising up a people of violence in rhetoric and action. They have been determined to take power over the country. The racism, heterosexism, sexism and religious based bigotry and fascism have been disturbing to say the very least. The extreme rhetoric much of which is aimed at our President because he is African American over his birth certificate and his stands on health care, equal rights, middle class families and so forth. The advocacy for things like the shooting of doctors who perform abortions, eliminating social security, medicare and any Government run program that is designed to help people avoid poverty and living off of pet food has been nothing short of evil. This reading from James today makes the case for loving our neighbor as ourselves quite clear. The statement made by former Senate Candidate Sharon Angle that "The Government is not God" is just another lame-ass excuse for not caring for the least of Christ's family among us.
We really do need to be reminded of something as often as possible. Arch-conservative religion in America is a capitalistic enterprise. Those who promote anti-LGBT rhetoric and violence erroneously suggesting that it is based on literally applying the Bible do such at billions of dollars in revenue and profits. They are abusing their tax exempt status to do politics hidden to appear as "Gospel values." Such behaviors turn the Roman Catholic church, Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) and others in to tax exempt corporations using the non-profit money they earn to destroy any group of people who are not like them. Among their many ambitions? To bring their agenda and their laws to the center stage of political and religious power. In so doing, they violate the very Gospel they claim to promote.
Luke 16:10-17(18) (NRSV)
'Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.' The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God. 'The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. 'Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
This particular Gospel reading which is also part of today's Daily Office comes after Jesus tells the parable of the dishonest manager. The manager who was not very good with the responsibility his CEO had placed in his hands. Upon realizing that he was about to loose his job, and that he most likely would not be able to perform another gets his act together and begins to do the right thing.
Notice here in this explanation of the parable is the only time we read Jesus using the words: "abomination in the sight of God" and is not using it in reference to homosexuality (of which the Biblical writers had no concept of anyway) but is speaking specifically of greed. For an explanation of what the word abomination means in places like Leviticus 20: 13 read an article here. Furthermore, Jesus is calling our attention not so much to the Law and it's application, but is referring more to the attitudes of our hearts. There is real hypocrisy in saying that God's love is for all humankind and stopping at someone's race, skin color, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression/identity, gender, language, employment status, immigration status etc to suggest that human rights and genuine common courtesy do not apply to them. Yet even Jesus is affected by his cultural climate by which a woman is a man's property, which explains his statements about women and adultery. Such descriptions suggest that even the Bible's many translators could have made a mistake some where.
Today's Daily Office readings are a reminder to all of us that the welfare of others around us is an important part of our responsibility as Christian people. Sharon Angle and the Tea Party are very wrong when they try to persuade people that the Government should eliminate social security and medicare because "the Government is not God." Arch-conservative Catholics, Christianists and Republicans are equally mistaken when they use the Bible or the teachings of any church system to keep equal rights protections from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people. The right to marry the person we love, be protected from loosing our jobs, homes, public assistance, financial help, serving openly in the military, and helping our partners migrate to the United States legally should not even be issues within election campaigns or legislatures. No mailing of a DVD protesting marriage equality can be justified, when in fact it is spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse. Especially when the DVD protesting gay marriage comes at a price tag of $4 million that could be used to take care of the poor and disadvantaged. Statements such as "Gay teens commit suicide because they know they are abnormal" are again spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse.
Do I still believe what article VI states that "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation"? (BCP. page 868). Yes, I most certainly do. One of those things necessary for salvation when I remember not to check my brains at the door when reading the Bible, is that God makes no distinction. All persons are valued, loved and created by God. God does not make sexual and gender diversity an issue, and neither does the Bible. Only those who interpret the Bible literally without thinking and analyzing what it really means believe that homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people are condemned by God. When people can make the distinction about LGBT people, they can also justify the most vicious cruelty and violence towards anyone else that they don't like. They turn the love story that is in the Bible into a Weapon of Mass Destruction believing that God and the Scriptures condone their actions. That my friends is spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse. That is the kind of thing that all of us should be speaking up about to put out of business as soon as possible.
How might we do that? Paul offers some sound advice. "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things." (Galatians 5: 22-23).
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 27, Book of Common Prayer, page 236).
O God the Father of our LordJesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay toheart 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).
Grant , O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; throughJesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).
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