"When they had heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died. And Saul approved of their killing him."
The Church's calendar is very interesting indeed. Yesterday we celebrated the arrival of Jesus in Bethlehem. The joyous sound of the Angels singing: "Glory to God in the highest heavens, and on earth peace among those whom he favors" (Luke 1:14) yesterday is now the stoning of Stephen the first Deacon of the early Church and recorded as the first Martyr. Oh dear God, you've ruined the party. We were having so much fun yesterday, or were we?
As many of us celebrated Christmas holiday there were those members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer communities that were not celebrating. In Christmas 09 in Pam's House Blend there was a very moving post by someone who writes about something that I am sure many LGBT individuals can relate to.
"There’s a red envelope sitting near the paper shredder. It arrived about a week ago, the shape betraying it as an obvious Christmas card, the writing on the front looking like my mother’s. The envelope is still unopened.
This happened last year, too. At that time, my partner got tired of looking at it sitting there, and said, “do you mind if I open that thing? You never know, maybe she’s had a change of heart. You never know what it will say until you open it.”
“I know what it will say,” I tell her. “It will have a lengthy sentimental series of verses of love for one's son printed on the card, and inside, there will be a two-page handwritten letter from mom about how she prays for me every day and asks God to take away this feeling that I’m a girl. She’ll tell me all about how Jesus can supposedly fix it all in an instant when I ask, and then she’ll go on about how much I’ve hurt her and the family by my transition. She’ll go into a few paragraphs about how my sister is doing and how my niece and nephew are growing up, just to remind me of what I’m missing, and then she’ll finish by talking about how every day she’s just holding on in hope of seeing the day that I’ll find Jesus, go back to being a boy and then she can die knowing that my soul will be saved.”For many LGBT individuals this past Christmas Weekend was not the most joyous of times. Many due to the influence of Southern Poverty Law Center designated anti-gay hate groups and many more not listed, many LGBT individuals and couples were not welcomed to their parents holiday celebrations, unless of course they are willing to put "away the gay" for the day. Or better yet, accept Jesus Christ and commit to something like Courage or Exodus to "change" them. Many arch-conservative Christians and Catholics do not understand, that being LGBT is something we cannot change, infact the more we try to change it the worse our lives become. They cannot understand how accepting ourselves as LGBT and being in a relationship with someone that we love is a good and moral thing.
As we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen I want us to perhaps see him and ourselves as LGBT people in a bit of a different light. Why were the Apostles and other Christians down through the centuries and even today, why are they killed? Because they threatened an established order. Christians are known for shaking things up and challenging the status quo. Christians like St. Stephen challenged positions of power to remember the marginalized of society. Christians called upon people to stop treating others like second class citizens and see them as people who should be celebrated and helped.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people challenge the status quo of heterosexism. We challenge people who have established the misunderstanding that being straight, being married as "one man and one woman" is somehow the only way to live. Just as people of different skin colors reminds us that not everyone is caucasian so LGBT people reminds others that not everyone is straight. Power structures that have held that being heterosexual is the only way to be, are threatened by LGBT people. If they do not threaten Republicans and people like Pat Robertson and Dr. James Dobson, Tony Perkins and Bryan Fischer, many families that have been going to church for years hearing that homosexuality is a sin, once they learn that one of their own is gay or lesbian or transgender suddenly the structure they always knew has been disturbed. When age old structures are disturbed what do most people do? They rebel and they want to destroy and even kill to keep that structure from falling apart.
That is why Jesus Christ is such a scandal to most people. Jesus Christ when he came into our world was suddenly a threat to an established order. Jesus "disturbed" those who had gained their power through political maneuvering and challenged the established order to see God in every person. God was to be seen in those who were blind, paralyzed, sick, suffering, the stranger and the outcast. In Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, God welcomed all and refused none. For many who had established a powerful relationship with the world by their stature, Jesus was the new threat to that power structure. And so was St. Stephen and so are LGBT people.
When I think of a great gay martyr, I think of Harvey Milk. Why was Harvey Milk shot by Dan White? Because Harvey Milk for many was a threat to an established way of thinking and existing. In the days of Anita Bryant and her assault on gay rights, Harvey Milk was a voice for those being left behind by the Bryant's and Briggs of society. Harvey Milk's courageous work on behalf of the LGBT people of San Francisco got national acclaim and he even saved a boy from committing suicide. People like Harvey Milk and others who have paid the price due to being LGBT are examples of what it means to be a martyr. They stood up for what they knew was right and they paid the price of their lives on behalf of the marginalized of society.
As we the LGBT people of today work to help the people of Uganda and Rwanda and other places work for our rights, we are often reminded that working for civil rights comes with a price. Fighting religious oppression comes with a price. It may cost us our lives. It will cost us our reputation and even our relationships with those closest to us. But, if we can cling to Jesus Christ and the example of those who have gone before us, I think we can make a difference in the world. We do not have to have all of the right answers, but we do have to be willing to put ourselves, our voices and our lives out there to show people that being LGBT is not a sin. Our love lives are holy lives, even if others do not think so. Our love for our partner, significant other, friends and all that, that is the love of God at work in and through us. Putting our love on the line like that can be a dangerous thing. There is always the possibility that we will be laughed at, mocked, told we are sinning and maybe in some places thrown out. But that's because we threaten an established order. We put the "unusual" in the face of those who think that straight is the only "usual."
On this Feast of St. Stephen, let us pray that as we witness to the love of Jesus Christ that peoples eyes, ears, hearts and minds may be opened to new understandings of God's love. But let us also not be afraid to be who God has made us, and may we challenge every structure and every prejudice that says that we are second class citizens. Let us remind everyone that God came for all of us and that means all of us.
We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Collect on the Feast of St. Stephen, Page 237, Book of Common Prayer).
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