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.)