Scriptural Basis
Mark 16:15-20 (NRSV)
Jesus said to the eleven disciples, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
Blog Reflection of Spirituality, Justice and Inclusion
The Gospel reading for today's commemoration is Mark's version of the great commission. Mark's rendition is a bit different. In Matthew 28: 16-20, the narrative depicts Jesus telling his disciples to go out and Baptize all nations in the name of the Creator, Redeemer and Sancitfier. In Mark's Gospel, the commission of Jesus to his disciples is to preach the good news. Jesus then appears to be stating the benefits of being baptized vs. the consequences of not being baptized.
One thing to keep in mind is that the Bible, including the Gospels are written, translated and revised according to someone or a group of people's perspectives of how they understand what the Bible is to say.
Are there genuine messages that are maintained from one translation to the other? Yes. Are they always worded the same? No.
While the Bible is inspired by our Mother, the Holy Spirit, the humans who translate it are not exempt from making mistakes or inserting their own flavor of what is to be included or excluded.
One such example is the Message Bible. The Message Bible has some wonderful wording to it. It actually transcribes many of those clobber passages used against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people in a more readable and less condemning way. However, the Message Bible was also put together by conservative evangelical people, who have inserted a few anti-semitic ideals into the Bible. For example there are places in the Psalms that spell the word, "word" as "Word." In the Bible what that word is spelled with a capitol W it is referring to Jesus. It contains a sentiment of hostility towards those who believe and practice Judaism. What seems like semantics to some, is a matter of religious oppression to others.
Today, we are commemorating Saints Cyril and Methodias. They were missionaries to the Slavic people. They brought the message of the Gospel and the worship of God to the Slavic people, in their own language. Their message was not all that well received. They had their difficulties with the people they were trying to reach as well as within the Church. Though the Bishop of Rome at the time was very good to them, they still faced incredible opposition from religious people in the country they were working in. In the end, their words and actions brought some radical change to the people they served.
Our words and actions matter a great deal. What we do with them and who we use them for and to have their consequences.
We saw just how effective words and actions can be with the murder of gay rights activist David Kato of Uganda.
Bishop Gene Robinson wrote a really reflective piece in the Washington Post just before the National Prayer Breakfast.
Words can inspire good, and they can incite hatred. We're seeing a lot of the latter lately, and it's getting dangerous. Even deadly.
Last week, one of the only gay activists willing to speak out about gay rights in Uganda was bludgeoned to death with a hammer that fractured his skull. The authorities say it was a likely robbery. But David Kato's image had recently appeared in a daily Ugandan newspaper with the headline "Hang Them." His murder, regardless of its true nature, has sent palpable fear through the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender community and their friends, colleagues and families. Because in Uganda, not only might you be murdered for being gay, there is formal legislation that may soon go for a vote before Parliament that would make being a gay "repeat offender," punishable by death. For others - life imprisonment. It proposes extradition for all LGBT Ugandans living overseas, and prison sentences for those who don't turn in their gay friends, colleagues, and even family members. So what does this have to do with America -- a continent away?
An array of conservative American Christians have taken it upon themselves to "educate" those in Africa about the evils evils> of homosexuality. Appearances throughout Uganda and even before the national legislative body, by people claiming to be scientistsscientists >, warning about threats to their children from homosexual predators, and calling acceptance of homosexual people a Western plot to undermine the families of Uganda, had their effect.
But it is a member of "The Family" itself who used this extremist propaganda to create the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009, bill: Uganda Member of Parliament David David> Bahati. "The Family" is the secretive group that organizes the highly influential National Prayer Breakfast that is being held this Thursday morning in Washington, DC. Among the most terrifying of the statements in the bill Bahati introduced is this line: "A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death."
Words do matter. While American conservative Christians feign shock that their words would lead to such draconian laws it's not nearly enough when their influence means that every moment of every day, members of Uganda's LGBT community fear for their lives. Why, they had intended no such awful thing!
In southern California, when someone is careless with a campfire, which then gets out of control and burns thousands of acres of land and countless homes, they are held accountable. Just because you didn't intend to burn down trees and homes doesn't mean you are not responsible for its happening. We hold them accountable for the very real damage that they've done, whether or not they intended that damage.
Similarly, words matter, because they can be as combustible as a match in dry underbrush. Incendiary words, whether spoken on TV, or in a town meeting, or halfway across the world, can incite hatred and even violence. When that violence occurs, it's not good enough for those who have incited it to claim no responsibility, because they never intended it. They need to be held accountable.
I know whereof I speak. I have been the target of such incendiary criticism. Dehumanizing someone - in my case someone who is gay -- is the first step in making it acceptable to "take them down." When Anglican archbishops called me and people like me "lower than the dogs" and asserted that when I was consecrated a bishop, "Satan entered the Church," it gives the crazies all the reason they need to take this to a violent level. I required full time security in 2003, and wore a bulletproof vest for my consecration. A year ago, state police arrested a man on his way to kill me - with Mapquest maps to my house, pictures from the Internet (across which the man had scrawled "Save the Church! Kill the Bishop!"), and a sawed-off shotgun and ammo sitting next to him in the passenger seat. These are not idle threats. Incendiary language has real ramifications, giving such imbalanced people the notion that such actions are warranted and acceptable.
So as a bishop in the Episcopalian Church who has been attacked for being openly gay, and as someone who has friends and colleagues in Uganda, I call on the National Prayer Breakfast organizers, as an act of good faith at this Thursday's Breakfast, to lead their roomful of influential politicians, religious leaders, and dignitaries in a prayer of compassion and concern for the family, friends and colleagues of David Kato, and pray for their protection from further harm.
As we continue to strive for justice and equality for LGBTQ and other marginalized persons in the Church and society, it is so imperative that we understand that our words and actions make a huge difference.
It is the power of the dehumanizing words of those who oppose equality and inclusion for LGBTQ people that they are so effective. The homonegativity, combined with the "simplified moral constructs," and such as Glenda M. Russell suggests, are done to feed individuals with false information about sexual and gender diversity. Their words are designed to make LGBTQ people as the "other." In addition, such words and actions helps push the idea that heterosexuals should continue to benefit at the expense of those who are not.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is written and spoken of in different languages, expressed in so many different ways to be able to reach and transform many different people. That transformation does not happy in the same way for every person. We have all been made different. We are loved by God with all of our different ways of living, loving, existing etc.
For LGBTQ the message of the Gospel comes in the language of inclusive love and an acceptance of diverse ways of relating, loving, embracing and sharing. The words "God created us all the
If our goal is to make our words and actions matter to bring about justice, equality and inclusion then we must focus on changing our culture. When people see lesbian and gay couples out and about, raising children, sharing their love with each other in appropriate ways as on this Valentine's Day, our actions inspire change in the minds of people. When we share a word of condolence and concern with someone who's spouse has died, our words do move people's hearts. When we show through our example that we are concerned about the rights of workers to organize and bargain for better wages, health care and retirement benefits, we show that LGBT people are not just about sex or gender surgery. We are seen and understood to be people of justice for all people. In so doing, we help peoples minds move, perhaps towards a more open mindedness that not all LGBT people are what the conservative Christians are saying. We challenge stereotypes and attitudes. We give our opposition a run for their money.
How is God calling us to use words and actions that matter today? What difference are we to make with our words and actions to inspire cultural change?
Today on Valentine's Day, let us make sure that our words and actions communicate a sense of love and respect for all persons.
Prayers
Almighty and everlasting God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you moved your servant Cyril and his brother Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a hostile and divided people: Overcome all bitterness and strife among us by the love of Christ, and make us one united family under the banner of the Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Cyril and Methodius, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 223).
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).
No comments:
Post a Comment