Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: The Beatitudes: All Are Blessed

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 5:1-12 (NRSV)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:


"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.


"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.


"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.


"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.


"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.


"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.


"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.


"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Blog Reflection

How might the beatitudes suggest the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people in the Church and society?  Who are those whom Jesus is teaching about the poor in spirit, those who morn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for what is right,the merciful, the peacemakers, those persecuted for the cause of right?  

As the LGBTQ communities continue to work towards marriage equality, child adoption rights, basic rights etc, anti-gay groups suggest that as equality for LGBTQ people presses forward, that it is "religious discrimination" that is impacted.  No matter how many times they may be told that no religious institution will be forced to do things not condoned by their religious point of view, the reason marriage equality must not happen is because it will "limit religious freedom."  The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell will "limit religious freedom" in our Military.  How interesting.

The problem with such assertions is that they lead to idolatry.  Only by having things their way, will anti-gay Christians have a sense of "freedom."  Rather than seek happiness and wholeness in God, they seek hate and discrimination as being their chosen vehicle to which they believe they will find some sense of peace.  

The beatitudes tell us that if we are poor in spirit and need a companion for our souls, we will find that companion in God's revelation.   We are told that God visits those of us who mourn because of injustice and oppression to help us know that we are not alone.  God gives us the gift of God's Self in our meekness, hunger and thirst for what is right, and in our willingness to be merciful.  Jesus tells us here that we are blessed when we seek with purity of heart the will of God, even if others do not share our opinions or understandings of what purity is.  When we are persecuted and abused in the Name of Jesus for speaking peace, equality and justice on his behalf for those who are marginalized, oppressed, hungry, poor, homeless and in need of love, we are blessed of God. 

God is not so much interested in what our skin color, or cultural origin is.  God has made us all unique out of God's extravagant love.  We are all sinners who are in need of God's saving grace.  The goodness and mercy of God is available to all who wish to know in the inner most secretive places of our hearts, that there is no bounds to God's unconditional and all-inclusive love.  When the violence of the world such as what is happening in Egypt, Uganda and here in these United States becomes too much for us, God is our peace and strength.   When arch-conservative Christians continue to bash our sisters and brothers who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, Pagan, Wicca and even New Age, God calls all of us who know better to be the peacemakers.  To say "No, God loves all, so should we" is the peace making that we are blessed to know and be called to proclaim.  When anti-LGBT organizations call homosexual and bisexual love making dirty, damned and a danger to society, progressive and loving minded Christians can reply.  Our reply should be something like this.   Purity of heart means being true to ourselves, others and God.  We love the way we do, because to love in a way that does not reflect how God has created us, would be impure, because it would be dishonest.  To say that God has damned us because we loved our significant other so deeply that we shared the most intimate parts of our bodies and souls with each other, is to presume that God is no longer God.   Purity of heart is not found in abstaining from that which God has gifted us to use and do so well to love someone else with the very self sacrificing love that Jesus Christ loves all of us. 

St. Paul begins the reading for today with "The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18).  To those who are perishing with attitudes of hate, violent rhetoric and exclusion of others based on their own biases, the idea of LGBTQ people clinging to the cross appears foolishness.  To those of us whom Jesus told we would be blessed for being persecuted on Jesus' account, the cross is that power of God that is bringing about our salvation.  We experience every day the evil talk that comes our way from Christians who feel justified by what they are doing.  We can cling to the cross and claim our victory with the Crucified and Risen Christ who has redeemed us and continues to invigorate us with God's Holy Spirit.  We who are redeemed are welcomed to "dwell" within "your tabernacle, and abide upon God's holy hill."  In Christ all of God's LGBT people are "leading blameless lives, doing right and speaking the truth from our hearts."  (See Psalm 15).  

What Christians would do well to do is instead of looking at ways to suggest that some are better off or worse off than others,would be to seek the goodness of God in all people.   Look for every reason including the fact that Jesus has for the most part here said that all people are actually blessed, and to honor and love one another as such.  No more seeking to do religious, spiritual, social or political violence towards anyone and no more justification of it either.  To work together in a partnership with God and the Church to seek out the common good of all God's people, recognizing that we serve Christ in those who remain marginalized and oppressed.  All of us are blessed of God to do that which God calls us to do.  All that remains for us to do is respond with abandonment to God's holy, loving and inclusive will.

Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, page 215).


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; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).

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).

Huffington Post Article: "Worship God, Not the Bible." Must Share

All my blog readers know how much I write about the dangers of reading and interpreting the Bible literally.  Today via The Episcopal Cafe, I found an excellent article in the Huffington Post.  "Worship the God, Not the Bible" by Matt Idom.  The article is so good, I am going to quote the whole thing here. 

"If you still say the bible is not true, I will say that no book is more honest."

My latest literary diet has consisted of an obscure historical novel entitled Honor's Kingdom. Written by Owen Parry, it is a nineteenth century tale surrounding espionage in London between Confederate and Union agents and their attempts to secure European support during the Civil War.

In one chapter the lead character is bemoaning the decline in respect for the bible brought on by the Age of Reason and the scientific explosion of that generation. Wrestling with the tenants of Darwinism, he brings to light the doubt that many have for biblical authority. In frustration the character shares his personal credo on the matter: "If you still say the bible is not true, I will say that no book is more honest."

Indeed, there is no more honest writing to, as Parry declares, "Show us who we truly are." But I wonder in this age of enlightenment, super computer technology and instant communication, if this honest book is really authoritative to most people's lives?

Do you know what I mean by "authoritative?" To me that means seeing the bible as the guide, the source, and the inspiration for my life. In other words, through the writings in the bible I find the directions for how I choose to live. Through the bible I am introduced to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit and the expectations for how to model my existence.

But there is a challenge here that is at the heart of what defines the Christian community in particular and human relations in general. And at the sake of being called a heretic, I think many folks are confused about what to do with the bible.

For instance, there are many who insist on taking the bible literally in every aspect. They refer to it as the "literal word of God." They then suggest if you or I do not believe it, accept it literally, then somehow we are wrong. And if you are wrong about that, then you probably better get it right or suffer eternal consequences.

When I was ordained back in 1980 the first church I served was in a town of about 350 people. I preached my first sermon that morning and then that evening I led the bible study. I will never forget standing up to read the scripture from the bible my bishop had given me when a member of the church stood up and shouted at me: "That's what's wrong with you seminary boys. You don't read from the real bible!" He got up and left in an angry huff. Of course, the "real" bible was the King James bible.

There is both the implied and literal assumption that if the bible is not literally true in every aspect, every KJV "jot and tittle", then it is somehow flawed and not to be trusted. I've heard it called "the perfect word of God." (Isn't that designation reserved for Jesus as The Word made flesh? John 1 for reference.) I have always struggled with that kind of belief. Is my faith to be in the bible? Or is my faith to be in the One the bible reveals? I choose the latter, regardless of the translation. For me, it is just more honest.

Of course, folks who think the bible has to be taken literally are threatened when someone who does not believe like they do are still confident about going to Heaven and serving God. Gives 'em the willies!

Take the bible literally? Here is what that would look like. We would stone homosexuals to death ... along with adulterers and misbehaving children. Sorry, but we would never, under any circumstance, allow women to preach the word of God. (But they can teach it to children in Sunday School?) And don't forget, you must tithe 10 percent of your income. Before taxes! Then there is that whole business about handling snakes.

We preachers are notorious about moving in and out of scripture like it is some worn out back door, ever struggling with the temptation to use it to prove a point or leverage a position. I am guilty, I confess. But, if you will pardon the biblical quote, Jesus said we are to use our hearts, souls and minds in this faith adventure. Do you suppose he was saying there should be a logical dimension to our faith? I do.

Of course, the biblical belief pendulum swings the other direction, too. There are many who see nothing absolute, nothing "true" about the bible. It is fiction, it is myth to them. Like reading of Greek gods and Roman mythology, it is just fable and literary meanderings that have defined a culture's pre-occupation with mortality and immortality.

A few years ago I participated in an archaeological dig with the University of Oklahoma. The site was a 10,000 year old bison kill with artifacts from Clovis man. One day about a dozen professors and professionals from across the nation drove in to view the excavation. I chatted up a number of them and when I announced I was a volunteer there for the experience, they asked me what I did for a living. "Me? I'm the pastor of a church in Texas." It was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. One of those learned men turned on me with a challenging tone. "How do you reconcile what you are seeing here with what it teaches you about creation in your bible?" I told him that if I believed the bible was a science book, I might have some problems to explain. But in that it is a book of theology, I saw no conflict. His wife drug him off, huffing.

Literal? Nope, not for me. Authoritative? Absolutely! Important to my life and faith? Without it, I would be lost.

But, I must always remember, it is not through the bible that I am found. No, that is more about the one God I understand the bible to be revealing. And in that sense, it is more about honesty than anything else. God is the author of grace, not the bible. The bible reveals that grace, but can never dispense it. And as one reads the very real, very human struggles of biblical characters that, in all honesty, have the same failures and hang ups as the rest of us, we actually begin to see ourselves. Honestly.

It was, I believe, Robert Schuler who warned Christians to beware of "bibliolatry". That is, worshipping the bible to the same degree that we worship the God the bible reveals. To be consistent, that means remembering the Trinity only has three sides, not four.

Maybe we should stop buying those fancy versions bound in Moroccan leather with gold tipped pages and red letters for the words of Jesus. Maybe the bible should be made like a laminated auto mechanics manual or a good, serviceable travel atlas. You know, something we can handle and not be afraid of, something that is viewed as the honest tool we can trust as we negotiate the repairs we need to make and navigate through life. Ultimately, I think our engines of faith will run better and we will arrive at that final destination just fine.

Much of what I write in my blogs is so well written about here that all I can say is Amen.  

Truth Continues to Be Revealed as Diversity is Embraced and Defended

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 13:47-52 (NRSV)

Jesus told his disciples, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Blog Reflection

I remember my Church History Professor Dr. K. Stephen McCormick saying: "Once you define absolute it is no longer absolute."  Even though he was a professor in a conservative Christian liberal arts college of the Church of the Nazarene, what he said is as true for Anglicans and Episcopalians.  It is true for all of us who call ourselves Christians. 

Last year Ret. Bishop Christopher Senyonjo taught me one of the most valuable lessons when he preached on John 16: 12 and 13.  Jesus said: "I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, she will guide you into all truth; for she will not speak on her own, but will speak whatever she hears and she will declare to you the things that are to come."  With this Scripture we can understand that none of us knows the full truth about God, ourselves and others.  Not one of us has obtained all truth about the Bible, theology or anything else either by ourselves or from the best of scholarship to know all that there is to know.  Therefore, as Christians we would do well to be open to the idea that all the truth we now know that began with God's revelation continues that revelation (Epiphany) even today.  We must be open to new things and understandings.  We must never stop with just our Nicene or Apostles Creeds.  We must never read the Bible literally without some attention to good researched information and attention to detail.  As Anglican's we can implore Church and human Tradition and Reason to better understand how and where the Holy Spirit is leading us into truth.

Today as we commemorate St. Thomas Aquinas, we celebrate God's Spirit continuing to lead us into all truth.  Recognizing that those who make billion dollar profits off of building capitalistic empires of hate for homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people by misinterpretations of Scripture are most likely wrong about the conclusions they have made.  There is more than one way to interpret the favorite "clobber passage" Leviticus 20:13: "If a man lies with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them."  As a proud gay Episcopalian Christian, I think that is actually good news.  I would never want a man to lay there with me another man as he would with a woman.  I want him, my Partner Jason, to lay there with me as one man lays with another man. There are lesbians who are quite happy to hear that a man should not lay with another man as they do a woman, seeing they don't want men laying next to them. I thank Rev. Robyn Provost for this thought that I have just shared with you.  I also know that the word "abomination" meaning "toevah" means "cultural taboo".  There are plenty of us that eat shrimp that is also considered an abomination.  A lot of people where clothing made of two kinds of material.  And how many of us today would take a child that is being disobedient to her or his parents out to the edges of the city and stone her or him to death in front of everyone to watch?  Because we are open to being led into truth which was the work of St. Thomas Aquinas even in his limited ideology, we now understand so much more than he did.  It is said that upon his death bed, he said he did not really believe a word of what he wrote.  So even Thomas Aquinas questioned things like we do today.

Today more than ever, Christians and all people of good will need to be open with what truths the Spirit is leading us to.   Over the past 24 hours we have been hearing two pieces of really bad news.  We have heard of the tragic murder of Ugandan LGBT Activist David Kato who was found stabbed to death in his home.  I am so proud today of Archbishop Rowan Williams for his response to this news that you can read here.  I am also proud of many in The Episcopal Church including our Presiding Bishop who had these words to say:  

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said Kato's murder "deprives his people of a significant and effective voice, and we pray that the world may learn from his gentle and quiet witness, and begin to receive a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone. May he rest in peace, and may his work continue to bring justice and dignity for all God's children."

We are also very disappointed that an Anglican Priest in Uganda led efforts to yell inappropriate anti-gay remarks outside Kato's funeral

Many of us have responded to the 24 hour petition for Brenda Namigadde, a Ugandan lesbian in the UK who faces deportation back to Uganda where she has a death threat awaiting her.

In Louisiana, a gay man has become the victim of a hate crime, by being beaten with a Billiards cue stick.

Yet, on the other side of the same coin, there is some good news for LGBT people today.  The Senate Majority Leader in Iowa is making himself a human shield in a sense to keeping marriage equality the law there.  He has been working very hard to make sure the Constitutional Amendment there does not come to a vote in the Senate.    There has been a Gender Identity anti-discrimination bill introduced in the House in Maryland to protect transgender people from identity theft. 

While there is terrible religious based bigotry towards LGBT people all over the world, in the USA and the Church, there are still really terrific things that are happening as people turn their minds to the Spirit who is continuing to "guide us into all truth." 

Truth continues to be revealed as we embrace and defend diversity.  I do believe that is the kind of truth that St. Thomas Aquinas wanted to convey.  Though his own personal reach may not have extended as far as we do today, the point that he began at has contributed in some small way to where we are now.   That is why we commemorate him and all who continue with the Spirit to "guide us into all truth."

Prayers

Almighty God, you have enriched your Church with the singular learning and holiness of your servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Thomas Aquinas, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 195),

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). 


O God, who created all peoples in your image, we thank you for the wonderful diversity of races, cultures, sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions in this world.  Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of fellowship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. (Thanksgiving for the Diversity of Races and Cultures (Sexual orientations and Gender Identities/Expressions added by blog author), Book of Common Prayer, page 841.)

The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle: May the Church Always Be Open to Conversion

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 10:16-22 (NRSV)

Jesus said to the twelve, "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

Acts 26:9-21 (NRSV)

Paul said to King Agrippa, "Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

"With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' I asked, `Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles-- to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

"After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me."

Blog Reflection

I think for LGBT people and many women if we were to meet St. Paul our first question upon meeting him just might be: "What the hell were you thinking when you wrote the things you wrote?"  St. Paul is a hero to those who are white, male and heterosexual.  At lest we think he is.  Considering how much the whole Bible and particularly Paul is used against LGBT and the inclusion of women in the Church, many of us have painful memories of how Paul's writings have been used.  That is of course until we read a good book about unraveling those famous "clobber passages" in Romans 1:27, 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1: 10.  There are others who suggest that the "thorn in my flesh" that Paul referred to in 2 Corinthians 14: 7 was homosexuality.  However, if we take that in light of what Gray Temple says in his book Gay Unions: In the Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, then there is a real problem.  Because the Biblical authors including Paul did not have two abstract concepts called heterosexual and homosexual. 

Today, we commemorate not so much of what Paul says, but his conversion experience.  He was a man filled with misplace zeal as he was on his way to kill Christians before Jesus confronted him.  How many of us wish that Jesus would confront the Tea Party folks and many others who continue to suggest gun violence towards President Obama and those of us who are liberals or progressives.  Paul was told who it was that he was persecuting.  Jesus in that moment personified in Paul the teachings he laid out in Matthew 25: 31-46.  How well are we in this 21st Century personifying the words of Jesus who tells us "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."?

We continue to see Christians using the Name of Jesus Christ to justify scapegoating women, LGBT and many others.   We also hear of Christians using the Bible as a WMD to individuals of other religions, such as Rep. Peter King who is determined to continue to vilify Muslims and Islamic people.  On Martin Luther King's Holiday, an individual left a very destructive explosive during the MLK Parade in Spokane, Washington.  As much as we don't really want to talk or hear about it, let us not forget that earlier this month a Jewish member of Congress was shot in the head as she was trying to meet with constituents in her district.  The Westboro Baptist Church led by Rev. Fred Phelps was prepared to picket the funeral of the nine year old girl who was killed on that terrible day.  They even produced a poster that suggested that the shooter did America a "favor".

When we see Christians using the Gospel as an excuse for violence and prejudice we need to ask the question, is the Church in 2011 still open to conversion?   Do we understand that there needs to be some good conversation about how to help people on ground zero work their way towards some kind of personal independence?  And that Christians do not exemplify a converted heart when we ignore our obligation to those who really do need us to love them as they are, welcome them in all hospitality and participate in the radical ministry of reconciliation for and with them?     It really is not okay to justify the violence that refuses to see that Jesus Christ is suffering in the poor, the marginalized and the sick.  When we turn our backs on the countless women and men who are unemployed, afraid of loosing their homes, not sure if they will have their health care because our Republican House and many Legislatures around the country want to take health care away from people, we are ignoring Jesus Christ who is being forgotten.   We are failing to participate with the Holy Spirit as she calls us to conversion as the Church. 

Conversion is something that is on-going.  It is not a once done, it's done deal.  Once we have experienced conversion there is no "guaranteed life insurance policy."  Conversion takes place every minute and hour that we participate in God's Holy Spirit's call to allowing God to use us to influence the world for the better.  When we work to bring peace where there is war.   When we learn acceptance and let go of prejudice to learn about those things that we do not understand about other people, God is converting our hearts and lives.  It is quite okay to face those things and learn that our former attitudes and actions were wrong.  That is when we and the world around us experiences conversion.  Kurt Kaiser in the hymn Pass It On wrote: "That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it.  You want to sing it's fresh like spring, You want to pass it on."  


Prayers

O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we pray, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Conversion of St. Paul, Book of Common Prayer, page 238, 239).

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.  (A Prayer attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi, First Woman Priest in the Anglican Communion, 1944

Scriptural Basis

Luke 10:1-9 (NRSV)

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

Blog Reflection

About this Commemoration

Named by her father “much beloved daughter,” Li Tim-Oi was born in Hong Kong in 1907. When she was baptized as a student, she chose the name of Florence in honor of Florence Nightingale. Florence studied at Union Theological College in Guangzhou (Canton). In 1938, upon graduation, she served in a lay capacity, first in Kowloon and then in nearby Macao.

In May 1941 Florence was ordained deaconess. Some months later Hong Kong fell to Japanese invaders, and priests could not travel to Macao to celebrate the Eucharist. Despite this setback, Florence continued her ministry. Her work came to the attention of Bishop Ronald Hall of Hong Kong, who decided that “God’s work would reap better results if she had the proper title” of priest.

On January 25, 1944, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Bishop Hall ordained her priest, the first woman so ordained in the Anglican Communion.

When World War II came to an end, Florence Li Tim-Oi’s ordination was the subject of much controversy. She made the personal decision not to exercise her priesthood until it was acknowledged by the wider Anglican Communion. Undeterred, she continued to minister with great faithfulness, and in 1947 was appointed rector of St. Barnabas Church in Hepu where,on Bishop Hall’s instructions, she was still to be called priest.

When the Communists came to power in China in 1949, Florence undertook theological studies in Beijing to further understand the implications of the Three-Self Movement (self-rule, self-support, and self- propagation) which now determined the life of the churches. She then moved to Guangzhou to teach and to serve at the Cathedral of Our Savior. However, for sixteen years, from 1958 onwards, during the Cultural Revolution, all churches were closed. Florence was forced to work first on a farm and then in a factory. Accused of counter revolutionary activity, she was required to undergo political re-education. Finally, in 1974, she was allowed to retire from her work in the factory.

In 1979 the churches reopened, and Florence resumed her public ministry. Then, two years later, she was allowed to visit family members living in Canada. While there, to her great joy, she was licensed as a priest in the Diocese of Montreal and later in the Diocese of Toronto,where she finally settled, until her death on February 26, 1992.  (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 186).

The Gospel reading chosen for today's commemoration is so very appropriate.  Jesus chose seventy others included in the twelve he had already called.  Among those seventy there were undoubtedly women.  There were most likely lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people among those seventy who were sent out.  Given that the region that Jesus lived in there is a good possibility that they were all middle-eastern people, if not very few Caucasians.  How then, has the Church over these two thousand or so years become so narrow minded?  How has the Anglicized Church of a middle-eastern Jewish carpenter become so full of people who want the doors, pulpits, sacraments and places of leadership closed to every body who is not white, male, heterosexual, healthy, wealthy etc?  How very interesting that the first woman Priest of the Anglican Communion was Japanese. And of all years for the first woman Priest, who was Japanese, to be ordained, the year 1944.

As with any new door that is opened, the first woman Priest faced the worst controversy and back lash.  Just as Bishop Gene Robinson has received death threats, hate mail, email and horrible treatment because he is the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church.  The outrageous comments that came before and after the ordination of Suffragan Bishop Mary Glasspool by the Archbishop of Canterbury are bitter and not so distant memories for most of us. I remember when Bishop Barbara Harris was ordained the first woman Bishop and all the ground shaking anger that followed that wonderful event. 

The issue of women's ordination to the Priesthood and to be Bishops continues to be a very controversial issue.  There remains many parts of the Anglican Communion that are divided over the issue of women clergy and ordaining openly LGBT individuals as Bishops, Priests and Deacons.

To be open to new things happening in our lives and the Church requires an opening to the movement of the Holy Spirit.  The Life-Giver that is the Holy Spirit never stops moving us to new and exciting opportunities for personal and social transformation.  The Jesus Christ event that we celebrate as Christians opened humankind to going forth from what we have learned to knowing and understanding that God is not finished with us just because we have met Jesus in the comfort of our church pews and altars.  The visit and withdrawal to our churches is to rest in God just for a little while, and then be sent forth as one of Christ's many followers into the world.  Having been fed by the Word and nourished by Christ's Real Presence we are sent forth to make God's Presence real in our lives and the lives of others.  If we leave with our hearts and minds closed to the movement of God the Holy Spirit to teach us new things, then we have left God back at our favorite pew when we exited our churches.  All we have done is used God to politely knock on our Pandoras Boxes while we insist that they remain closed.  But, the Holy Spirit with her gentle and moving grace never leaves us alone with our boxes closed.  She wants to rip them open and take us to new opportunities for the Advocate to work in and through our lives. 

The acceptance of ordaining women to the Priesthood was a difficult change for me.  You see, I had been an arch-conservative Roman Catholic up to the time I left the Courage RC ex-gay group.  When I finally faced the reality that I could not remain a Roman Catholic because I wanted to be true to God and myself about being gay, I chose to visit St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.  Upon our first two weeks that Jason and I started worshiping there, I was met with my own prejudice by seeing then Canon Cara Spacarelli (now Rector of Christ Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC) wearing an Anglican clerics clothing.  As a Roman Catholic I was convinced that the Catholic church's reasons for not ordaining women was correct.  They claim that they do not ordain women because in their minds, women cannot bring about Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist because they do not share the "maleness" of Christ.  Once I began to open my heart to the Holy Spirit to transform my thinking, I began to reconsider that idea by asking myself the following question. If Jesus first came into the world through the womb of a Virgin Mother named Mary in a miraculous way that cannot be explained, then why can't Jesus also come to us in a way we cannot explain through a female Priest as she offers the Eucharistic Prayer?   I further asked myself: is God really limited to our human thinking, or are we ready to admit that God can do things beyond our limited understanding?  As I employed the gift of Reason into my understanding of Scripture and Tradition it also led me to the belief that Mary was the first female Priest.  She offered herself to the use of God, to bring about through the sacrifice of her will, that wonderful event of God's perfect revelation in Jesus Christ.  And, while all the other disciples fled in fear for their lives it was Mary, who stood at the foot of the Cross with John and offering her son through her own pain and anguish in total surrender to God's will for the salvation of Humankind.  Is that not what a Priest does through her or his work? 

As we recall the ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi as the first woman Priest in the Anglican Communion, let us also ask ourselves what changes is God the Holy Spirit asking us to open up to?  Are we participants in the work of transformation that the Holy Spirit wants to do through us, or are we obstacles in her way?  How can we more open ourselves to the changes that God, the Mother, the Holy Spirit wants to do through our lives?  Be ready for the Holy Spirit to help you answer those questions.

Prayers

Gracious God, we thank you for calling Florence Li Tim-Oi, much-beloved daughter, to be the first woman to exercise the office of a priest in our Communion: By the grace of your Spirit inspire us to follow her example, serving your people with patience and happiness all our days, and witnessing in every circumstance to our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the same Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Commemoration of the Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 187).

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, page 215).

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).

Third Sunday After the Epiphany: The Call to a New Justice and a New Hope

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Blog Reflection

This first part of the Season after the Epiphany (manifestation, revelation of God's Light in Jesus) is about listening and responding to God's call in our lives.  Jesus has been baptized and is now preparing to embark on his ministry.  Part of his preparation is to call others to be his witnesses and partners in his ministry who will also carry on the work he began.  Each of the individuals Jesus calls are different.  No two minds think exactly alike.  Every person whom Jesus calls has those awesome abilities, while also having their flaws and complications.  Some of Jesus' first followers liked a lot of drama.  Others just wanted to watch and learn.  Some were excited to be leaders, but not to eager to learn before they can teach.  So it is with each of us.  We are all different.  We are all special.  We are also affected by our weaknesses and sins that have caused us to do those things that are not so great.  The call to discipleship is an opportunity to gain more self knowledge and to use what is good and not so good to help establish the reign of God in the world.

This new event that is taking place has already cost John the Baptist his freedom.  John has been imprisoned by King Herod.  Thus we understand as Jesus is very aware that the choice to follow God's will is one that is not necessarily free of obstacles and dangers.  We are called to understand that those dangers are not as important as being committed to the work and message of this new call to justice and new hope.  This call of Jesus is open to all people. Women and men.  Those who are black, red, copper skinned, white or any race, color, or culture.  Lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer, pansexual, asexual and so on are welcome to be part of this call to a new justice and a new hope.  Poor or rich.  Your language can be any language, but come and follow, participate with Jesus in this new call to a new hope.  If you have been marginalized by society and the Church, you too are called to participate and be part of the solution that Jesus brings in the call God is making on all our lives.

This New Year of 2011 has already begun with so much violence and prejudice.  The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the conversations around "deadly weapons regulation" and hateful political rhetoric, health care reform, women's rights, LGBT equality.  All of these issues and how they are being handled by the media, politicians, religious institutions and leaders, says a lot about where the debates are going.  The call to a new justice and hope that Jesus is calling us to today and every day, is to recognize that who ever or what ever we are that "the Lord is my Light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear?" (Psalm 27).  Yet we hear and see arch-conservative Christians working overtime to put the greatest fear about Jesus into people's minds in order to justify scapegoating and violence.  Fox has turned down an ad that was going to be played during the Super Bowl that says "Jesus hates Obama."  To suggest that Jesus hates any person is quite presumptuous.  It's dangerous thinking.   A Virginia law maker is determined to be sure that Virginia can exclude openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the State's National Guard.   And these are only two examples of how Christians are misusing their call to suggest fear and hate for any one group of people.   Hate and violence, prejudice and exclusion is never the will of God.  That is not being presumptuous.  Jesus himself after he rose from the dead greeted his disciples, those who abandoned him during his hours of suffering and death, Jesus stood in their midst and said: "Peace be with you."  God does not desire fear, prejudice, violence and destruction.  Individuals misusing the Christian faith to say those things are suggesting that which is certainly not Biblical or true.

In today's New Testament reading, we read the following.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (NRSV)

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

As I heard this reading today, I thought what an interesting reading for Anglicans.  As Episcopalians and Anglicans we agree to pray in common, even if we all do not necessarily believe the same.  Yet if you read the Book of Common Prayer and even Enrich Our Worship you cannot help but see how much our prayers include references to many of the strong belief's of most Christians.  We pray in the Name of the Holy Trinity more times than can be accurately counted.  Yet, each of us are encouraged to believe and relate to God with all of our different understandings, beliefs and expressions.   In the Episcocat Calendar, Nancy Walsh wrote beneath January 2011's cat photo: "High Church, Low Church, Broad Church....What ever happened to Christian unity, not to mention charity?"

A vital part of the road to Christian Unity is learning to appreciate and respect our differences as well as our similarities.  All we are asked to really do is recognize that whether we are Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Baptist, Evangelical, Liturgical, Weslyan or even Calvinist is to love each other with the love that Jesus Christ has loved all of us.   That does not mean we must agree with what each other does or does not do.  We are called though to recognize that we are all baptized into Christ Jesus in the Name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity to serve all humankind with an answer to Jesus' call to a new justice and a new hope.  To serve those who are poor, marginalized, left behind by prejudice and not allowed their civil and human rights.  To bring a sense of peace between all the great religions of the world, including those who do not believe in God.  And to stop using the Name of Jesus Christ as our excuse for scapegoating and seeking to destroy other people, culture's, sexual orientations, genders, gender expression/identity, skin color, language, wealth status, health status, religion and all the rest. 

This  morning at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral we all enjoyed hearing Rabbi Amy Eilberg, the director of Interfaith Dialog Programs at the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning.   Rabbi Amy Eilberg was the Preacher for this morning's Eucharist.  She did not focus on our differences.  She focused on recognizing God as our source of peace, and to strive and seek peace at every opportunity.  What a gift that was for us to hear.  She even chanted Psalm 27 in Hebrew chant.  When she finished there was a peace of God's Spirit that was so real, so defining that no one wanted to disrupt it.  That is the peace that "surpasses all human understanding" (Philippians 4: 7).   That is the peace that we all need and want to work towards.  That peace is the call to the new sense of Justice and Hope that Jesus calls all of us to embrace with and for each other, to bring the full reign of God with Light, love and goodness to all of God's people.

Prayers

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, page 215).

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, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Holy God,
    We meet you in the darkness,
        we see you in the light.
    Shine upon us.
    Turn us around from
        selfish interest and privilege.
    Forgive us and give us courage
        to shine with your compassion, justice, and peace.
    Amen.  (Prayerfully Out in Scripture). 

Confession, Transformation and Justice: They Can Work Together

Peter and his brother Andrew were the first disciples Jesus called. Peter is perhaps the epitome of a saint: a thousand times wrong, even grievously so, yet the rock upon whom Christ built his church. (Taken from The Daily Office Site).

 

 

 

 

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 16:13-19 (NRSV)

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Blog Reflection

"As we watch Peter struggle with himself, often stumble, love his Lord and deny him, speak rashly and act impetuously, his life reminds us that our Lord did not come to save the godly and strong but to save the weak and the sinful.  Simon, an ordinary human being, was transformed by the Holy Spirit into the "Rock," and became the leader of the Church." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 174).

When I first read this paragraph for today's commemoration of the Confession of Saint Peter the Apostle, I had a bit of a problem with it.  I remember my own days of being an arch-conservative Catholic and thinking that the Pope in Rome could do no wrong.  In addition to trying to treat being gay or lesbian as men or women with "same-sex attraction" the ex-gay Courage Roman Catholic group in America seeks to help their members live in "chastity" according to the understanding and teaching of the Pope and the Catholic church.  However, as the paragraph from Holy Women, Holy Men suggests, Peter was certainly not a perfect man.  Neither is the Pope or any Bishop, Priest or Deacon.  Therefore, Courage RC is also wrong and far from perfect. Ex-gay groups are down right evil.

The Confession of St. Peter reminds us that our Christian Faith comes from what we believe in our hearts and minds.  Church Tradition and human reason says that what we believe in our hearts and minds actually lives when we actively seek the justice, equality and inclusion of all humankind.  Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ was a defining moment for him, just as it is for all who profess being a Christian. But that definition was only the beginning.  Well after his confession, Peter struggled, failed, learned and had to be confronted for being wrong on many occasions.  It was Peter's faith that was weak which is why he began to sink as Jesus walked on the water towards him.  It was Peter who denied Jesus three times and had to be reinstated by Jesus asking Peter if Peter loved Jesus three times. (See John 21: 15-22).  Peter and Paul had an argument over Peter's conservatism over whether Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised according the Jewish Law or not.  Yet the faith that Peter confessed made him, an imperfect, sinful man the Rock on which Christ would build up the Church.  Jesus did not install Peter as a worldwide political super power as has unfortunately happened in the Roman church over the years.  Jesus called Peter to be a spiritual leader.  To learn as well as to advise.  And to help the Church to always be open to learning and growing.

Confessing Jesus as the Christ should be accompanied not only with piety, but also a determination to seek out the common good by working for the justice, equality and inclusion of those who remain marginalized, oppressed and in need of our concern and help.  If our confession of Jesus is limited to our own personal selves which is good in and of itself, we become lamps hidden with no light for others to see.  When we use the Name of Jesus the Christ to negatively stereotype people of diverse races, religions, sexual orientations, genders, gender identities/expressions, languages, health, wealth etc, and seek to take away their basic human rights, Jesus gets a bad Name.  When Christians use Jesus Christ to plan to repeal health care reform, burn Qu-rans, violate the Jewish people, and discriminate against women, LGBT, Native Americans, African Americans and so forth, Christians get labeled negatively and people are led to believe that Jesus Christ was and is nothing more than a legendary fairy tale.  If we want our confession of faith to live and inspire others, we have to become inclusive, accepting, forgiving and let go of our erroneous understandings of the Bible and Church history.

St. Peter's Confession is the confession of Faith for all Christians.  If we really believe in Jesus as the Christ and want to live that faith in our lives, than we must also be open to the transformation that confession will bring to our lives, the Church and the world.  That transformation includes being open to learning the Bible anew with the help of critical and accurate Biblical scholarship, not Biblical Literalism nor allowing the Church alone to determine what the Scriptures mean.  The transformation of a world from injustice, inequality and oppression into one of justice, equality and freedom for all people should be the wish and work of all who confess Jesus as the Christ.  We must be open to seeing our own prejudices for what they are and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts as she did with St. Peter, so that we can be open to keep learning about this incredible Faith of what it means to be a Christian.  And understand that if our Faith stops with our prejudices, that Faith along with the Church will die.  As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of both the living and the dead, which includes all of God's people.  Therefore, our Christian Church and our hearts that confess belief in Jesus as the Christ must also include all of God's people.  No exceptions.


Prayers

Almighty Father, who inspired Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Confession of St. Peter, Book of Common Prayer, page 238).

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). 

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Diveristy and Inclusion: America and the Church Have A Long Way to Go

Scriptural Basis

Luke 6: 27-36 (NRSV)

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32
‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.^* Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father

Blog Reflection

Does it suck to read this particular Gospel today or what?  Yes!  It does suck.  This upcoming Wednesday the Republican controlled House of Representatives will hold a vote on repealing the new Health Care Law. I don't particularly want to be told I have to love those who are about to vote to take health care away from seniors and people with pre-existing conditions and give health insurance companies free will to do as they please.   I certainly don't feel like loving the Illinois Family Council who today is accusing LGBT people of "willing to exploit the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement in order to achieve their morally dubious and intellectually vacuous goal."

These are difficult days to love people.  Over this past week we have heard of how violent rhetoric has catastrophic consequences in the attempted assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the others killed and wounded in Tucson, Arizona.  As horrific as those acts were, the rhetoric and the finger pointing continue.  Have we learned anything?

The legacy and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr continues to live on even 43 years since his assassination in 1968.   His work on behalf of our African American sisters and brothers is one worthy of our consideration.  Here in 2011 we still have many people today who still cannot see past the color of another persons skin, or the differences in cultural practices, religions, sexual and gender diversity, languages, economic status, health or lack thereof, age, etc.  Here in the beginning of the second decade of the 21st Century we still have an American nation and a Christian Church with those who struggle to see past our own prejudices.  There are those who suggest in the name of Martin Luther King we should launch a campaign for the Nation's unemployed.  The struggle for the civil rights of all kinds of diverse peoples should take place in honor of Martin Luther King.  I agree with both of those.

Loving our enemies and doing good to those who hate us is not the same as loving what they do and/or approving of what they say and promote.  Spreading violence, hate and malice has deadly consequences as we saw last week.  Continuing to divide groups of people against each other, using the words "blood libel" carelessly that offends our Jewish sisters and brothers, and the scapegoating of other people to avoid taking responsibility for our own actions or lack thereof is as much against what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about as failing to love even those who use such ideological rhetoric.   Love is not necessarily only in our emotions, or our willingness to go along with what is easy.  Love is expressed in actions or lack thereof in order to protect and appreciate the common good that is a part of every human person.  That is precisely what has been missing in much of the rhetoric used this past week and over these many years before and since Martin Luther King.  Our concern for our neighbors needs to move beyond our limited thinking and become apparent in our actions and even our activism on behalf of the poor, marginalized, sick and oppressed among us.  When individuals use the Gospel as an excuse to keep people poor, marginalized, sick and oppressed it is our obligation to respond out of loving concern for the poor, marginalized, sick and oppressed.  It is also a commandment of the Gospel that our response be as much about telling our enemies they are wrong as our "speaking the truth in love." (See Ephesians 4: 1-16).  It is a tough task, but "somebody's got to do it."

America and the Church have a long way to go on the road to accepting and dealing with diversity and inclusion.  Like Martin Luther King we need to be willing to take our steps together and keep on the journey. The people who's lives we touch and those who will join us and oppose us are among God's chosen people as anyone else.  While we must "speak the truth in love" and even love those with whom we disagree, we must nevertheless keep up our activism and prayers for the conversion of a world of hate into a world of love.  Seeking the common good of all people, especially those oppressed by the incorrect use of the United States Constitution and the Bible by well meaning individuals and now corporations is why Jesus Christ experienced his Epiphany.  As God manifests God's presence through a diversity of ways, may we be as open to expressing God's love in diverse and inclusive ways to make our nation and the Church a more welcoming and healing place for all.  Amen.

Prayers
  

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Martin Luther King, Jr.  Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 307).


O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Our Enemies, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).

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. (A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).
 

Second Sunday After Epiphany: Accepting Our Identity

Scriptural Basis

John 1:29-42 (NRSV)

John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, `After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."


The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter). 

Blog Reflection

There are still some religious and monastic communities in which when a postulant enters the novitiate she or he assumes a new name.  The new name is not to in any way make a quality judgment on the original name.  A novice is beginning a new chapter in her or his life.  She or he is making a transition from one community and/or way of life to another. 

As we continue through the Season of Epiphany (ie.revelation) we read in our Gospel about Jesus after his baptism was called "the Lamb of God" to take away the sins of the world.  The story is followed by Jesus calling his followers and giving them a new name.  The new name also assumes a new sense of identity.  As Christ's followers we are empowered to live with ourselves and others with a sense of honesty.  Our baptism is the Sacrament that makes us Christians.  Being a Christian is more than just a name.  It is an identity by which we live and grow into an understanding about ourselves and our relationships with others.  Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer poeple cannot be true to our relationship with God and others if we live our lives by the lie that is the closet.  This is why the work of ex-gay ministries is such a deed of destruction to what being a Christian is all about.  There is a reason we refer to ex-gay survivors as if we are talking about a cancer survivor.  Ex-gay ministries and groups are toxic.  Not only to lesbian and gay individuals, but also to society as a whole.  Ex-gay groups rob lesbian and gay people of our identities as they strip society of a diversity that enriches every thing from the arts to journalism, clothing design, diversity of personal expression and so much more.

As LGBT people of faith we are empowered by the identity of Jesus Christ so that we are "not lacking any spiritual gift." (1 Cor 1: 7).  Regardless of our race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, religion, language, employment, wealth status etc Jesus Christ gives us the wonder of our identity as adopted daughters and sons through the riches of God's grace.  Jesus manifests God's awesome presence and love as God confirms all of us as God's beloved with whom God is well-pleased.  That which is unique about all of us, is the result of God's grace working in and through the diversity of each person.

This weekend we are also celebrating the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He was one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders of all time.  Martin Luther King challenged America to go beyond our racism and learn to embrace every person as our sisters and brothers.  The late Harvey Milk also challenged America as the first openly gay person elected City Supervisor of San Francisco, to see beyond our heterosexism.  Thirty-five years or so later since Harvey Milks assassination and we are still not over heterosexism.  Forty-three years since Martin Luther King was shot and we are still facing racism, sexism, heterosexism and religious discrimination of all kinds.  Over this past week since the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tuscon, Arizona we have heard so much about the violent rhetoric that comes from one group of people to another.  The violent rhetoric is not only politically motivated, but it is also linked to the bigotry that still grips our Country and even the Church.  Unless people identify exactly as we think they should, we can justify just about anything we do in response to our prejudices.  We can talk however we want about anybody, and it is "free speech".   We forget that with every right there is a responsibility.  When we use our rights to justify actions the result in violence, death and cruelty from one person to another, we are neglecting our responsibility to love one another as Christ has loved us.  Jesus Christ loves us to the point where we are given a new identity as God's Beloved.  Therefore there are no excuses for scapegoating.  Christian charity and concern for the common good of all people is the business of all who take seriously the message of the Gospel.  The message of the Gospel is about accepting and loving those different from ourselves.  Not finding new reasons to hate and destroy one another.

As we meditate on the new names given to the disciples, let us think of what the name Christian means for us.  Especially those of us who are LGBT Christians and people of good will.  Society and the Church has had more than enough of Christians using the Bible and Jesus as excuses for violence, hate and apathy.   If the Christmas and Epiphany message should change anything in Christians, it should be looking for every reason and opportunity to become more inclusive of all of God's Beloved people.  The name calling, the violent rhetoric and the justification of political, social and religious based discrimination should not even be questioned for acceptance among those who claim to have been redeemed by the Paschal Mystery of God's perfect revelation.  It is time to give Jesus Christ and the Christian Church a new Name and identity.  The very name and identity Christ has given us sends us as missionaries to share the Gospel through creating and nurturing inclusive, accepting and celebrating diverse communities.

Prayers

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday After the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, page 215).

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Martin Luther King, Jr. Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 307).

St. Aelred: A Gay Saint. Let's Talk About Love, the Soul and Sacred Spaces

Scriptural Basis


John 15:9-17

Jesus said,"As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

Blog Reflection

 The news that St. Aelred is a gay saint is very new to me.  I found out about it through Walking With Integrity.  Here is some fascinating information about St. Aelred and his connection to Integrity USA

Who was Aelred?

Aelred was one of three sons of Eilaf, priest of St Andrew's at Hexham and himself a son of Eilaf, treasurer of Durham.

Aelred was born in Hexham, Northumbria, in 1110. He spent several years at the court of King David I of Scotland, rising to be Master of the Household before leaving the court to enter the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx, in Yorkshire, in 1134, at the age of twenty-four. He may have been partially educated by Lawrence of Durham, who sent him a hagiography of Saint Brigid.

Aelred became the abbot of a new house of his order at Revesby in Lincolnshire in 1142, and later, abbot of Rievaulx itself in 1147. He spent the remainder of his life in the monastery. Under his administration the size of the abbey is said to have risen to some hundred monks and four hundred lay brothers. He made annual visitations to Rievaulx's daughterhouses in England and Scotland and to the French abbeys of Citeaux and Clairvaux. He is recorded as suffering from an unspecified and very painful disease in his later years.

Aelred wrote several influential books on spirituality, among them Speculum caritatis ("The Mirror of Charity", reportedly written at the request of Bernard of Clairvaux) and De spiritali amicitia ("On Spiritual Friendship"). He also wrote seven works of history, addressing two of them to Henry II of England, advising him how to be a good king, and declaring him to be the true descendent of Anglo-Saxon kings. Until the twentieth century Aelred was generally known as a historian rather than a spiritual writer; for many centuries his most famous work was his "Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor." Aelred died on January 12, 1167, at Rievaulx.

Source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailred_of_Rievaulx

How did Aelred become the patron saint of Integrity?

At the 1985 General Convention in Anaheim, CA, at the suggestion of Howard Galley, Integrity/New York, the Standing Liturgical Commission recommended Aelred, along with a number of others, for inclusion in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. When this resolution came before the House of Bishops, the preconversion Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong informed the house that, according to John Boswell, Aelred of Rievaulx had been gay--implying this might disqualify his inclusion. With little discussion the House of Bishops approved the others on the list but sent Aelred back to the commission which sent him back to the House of Bishops where, in spite of his being gay, and with the bishops' full knowledge that he was, he was admitted to the calendar.

During the 1987 national convention of Integrity, in St. Louis, the following resolution was submitted by the Rev. Paul Woodrum and was passed: "Whereas the Episcopal Church USA meeting in General Convention in Anaheim, California, in 1985, with full knowledge, thanks to the vigilance of the bishop of Newark, of St. Aelred's homoerotic orientation, did approve for annual commemoration in her liturgical calendar the Feast of St. Aelred on 12 January and did provide propers for the same, Therefore be it resolved that Integrity Inc. place itself under the protection and patronage of St. Aelred of Rievaulx and, be it further resolved that Integrity, Inc. dedicate itself to regularly observe his feast, promote his veneration and seek before the heavenly throne of grace the support of his prayers on behalf of justice and acceptance for lesbians and gay men."

Source: Archived material on Integrity website written by Paul Woodrum.

While the ongoing debate over the inclusion and equal rights of LGBT people continues especially among religious groups, there are some very important elements that are left out of the discussion.

Our sexuality while having a lot to do with what we do or do not do with our bodies, is also about our soul.  The expression of love may come from our bodies as we share passionate love for someone, but the origin of that love comes from our heart and soul.   It comes from the very essence of who we are.  God has created each and every one of us out of love, for love so that we might love.  Love God, neighbor and ourselves.  That place within our heart and soul from which we love others is sacred space.   It is a space in which God's Divine Presence dwells and communicates with us and through us.  One of the most devastating effects of heterosexism and homophobia is the constant invasion and violation of an LGBTQ person's soul.  No Pope, Bishop, Priest, Rev. Fred Phelps, Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer, Paul Cameron or any other person or group has the right or business invading and violating the sacred space of the soul of an LGBTQ person.  Or any other person for that matter.  What is so troubling about the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behavior that comes from anti-LGBTQ groups including ex-gay ministries/groups is how they invade and violate the most precious sacred space of LGBTQ people. The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith of Newark and the Rt. Rev. George E. Councell of New Jersey wrote about this in their response to the death of Tyler Clementi last September.  You can reread that blog post here.

Hate and violence does more than just produce hate speech and influence cruel behavior.  It penetrates the person(s) to whom the talk and violence is addressed.  It violates their soul where God loves them so deeply.
As we celebrate this commemoration of St. Aelred we are given this Gospel from John about loving one another as we have been loved.  Loving one another is more than nice affectionate feelings we have with in us for another person.  Love does not necessarily mean we have to agree with another person.   Love does call us to respect each individual by also respecting that sacred space where only God and the love someone holds for a significant other should be.  Laying down our lives for our friends, means going beyond our prejudices of how we think another person should be, think, say, dress, behave and seeing the beauty of God in the uniqueness of another person. 

Hate may be powerful and destructive as we are seeing with the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.   The hate has gone beyond gun violence as tragic as it is.  It  has become more rhetoric to the point of continued violence towards Jewish people, in some cases Islamic individuals, and the Westboro Baptist Church towards LGBT people.  However, the kind of love that Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel is the love that surpasses labels, race, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression/identity, religion, language, culture etc.  It is a love that is willing to lay down before the other and surrender ourselves to the fact that we are loved so deeply by God, that we want to share that love with others.  Not to convert them.  Not to make them even see our point of view.  But, to know that the sacred space of their heart and soul is so precious we want to honor and respect that person as if Jesus Christ were standing right in front of us.  That kind of love cannot be experienced by humankind in a way that transforms people's lives, unless we recommit ourselves to ending racism, sexism, hetersexism, gender stereo types and expectations, cultural and religious discrimination.  Unless we are willing to reach out to someone who is sick and give them health care and recognize the need to help those who face mental illness, the love of one another as Christ has loved us, cannot be totally experienced.   God's love must be evident in our actions, concerns and exchanges as we work towards accepting each other as diverse human beings. 

This is as much of a tall order for me as it is anyone else.  But, in our Baptismal Covenant on page 304 and 305 of the Book of Common Prayer invites us to commit ourselves to the love and mission of Jesus Christ. 

Our being LGBTQ is about how we love God, others and ourselves.  The sacred space of our hearts and souls is where God communes with us.  It is where we worship, pray and live with God, others and ourselves in attitudes of love and service to others.  No person has any business telling anyone else that their sacred space is less worthy of God's love than anyone else.  Instead we should be admiring and helping LGBTQ people to recognize the beauty of who they are or how they love within that sacred space.  If we could only do that, perhaps the Christian Faith might just become attractive to the LGBTQ communities and hate will turn in to love.

Prayers

Almighty God, you endowed the abbot Aelred with the gift of Christian friendship and the wisdom to lead others in the way of holiness: Grant to your people that same spirit of mutual affection, that, in loving one another, we may know the love of Christ and rejoice in the gift of your eternal goodness; through the same Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for St. Aelred, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 167).


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).


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, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).