Scriptural Basis
Hebrews 3: 1-11 (NRSV)
Blog Reflection
Josh Thomas in today's reflection for Lent in 2011 Lenten Meditations from Episcopal Relief and Development writes:
Josh Thomas' question is a good one. Can we think of ourselves as holy partners with Christ? If we think of ourselves as holy partners with Christ, what would that holy partnership look like? What would it mean for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people to be holy partners with Christ?
We cannot answer those questions in quite the same way as straight individuals do. I know we are talking about equality and inclusion. But, let's be frank. We are not there yet. When a group of party crashers in Queens beat a young teen to death while shouting anti-gay slurs, we have not achieved justice, equality and inclusion just yet. In fact, such a horrible true story, tells us that we are quite far away from equality. When Sen. Gillibrand must petition people to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (and I hope you will sign the petition). because the GOP House of Representatives have decided that they will defend DOMA in court because President Obama has announced that he will not, we have not achieved equality.
For LGBT people to be holy partners with Christ this Lent, we must recognize the reality of where we are. We are among the very people that Christ came and sought out in his earthly life. We are among those who experience political, religious and social oppression. We are among those who are marginalized, because Christianists use the cross as their excuse to scapegoat LGBT people. We need to be holy partners with Jesus so that we may know God's plan for our lives.
When we think of those two words "holy partners" what might come to our minds?
As soon as I hear those two words I think of the holy partnership that Jason and I share.
Jason and I are two individuals who are eight years a part. We share our lives together. We share our happy times and sad times together. We share our faith together. We love each other physically, romantically, emotionally in spite of those things about each other that we may find sometimes difficult to live with. Yet, because there is no one who loves me like Jason does, I can live with Jason's love of the Muppets, his computers, his school work, his knitting (all of which he does really well, so I am not complaining). Jason finds that no one loves him quite like I do. That's why he has been so patient with me as I have gone through a year or so of evaluations to discover that I have Asperger's Syndrome (meaning high functioning autism), which is why I am unable to work. Jason faithfully goes to work every day, and weekly brings home what we need to live on, so that we can have a stable home environment in which to live and love each other. Both Jason and I recognize that we do not have equality in the Church and society because of laws that are very much unjust and prejudicial. But, does that stop us from living the best life we can, until such time as we can be legally married? No.
To be holy partners with Jesus is to recognize that if we are going to have justice, equality and our full inclusion in the Church and society some day, we need to accept the fact that we cannot do this work without God's help. We cannot achieve equality, justice and inclusion if we allow the anti-LGBT rhetoric of Christianist groups like the Family Research Council, American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family, to determine for us, our faith, life and love as LGBT people.
While I totally understand that many LGBT people just cannot deal with any religion including and especially Christianity because of the hate of anti-LGBT churches and groups, I simply cannot give those groups the pleasure of knowing that they have taken Jesus Christ away from me. When I was 16 years old I was baptized with the words: "I love Jesus Christ" on my heart and lips, and no Christianist preacher too full of themselves to realize the hate within their heart and life, is going to take my faith in the God I love away from me. There have been so many people who have influenced my life in wonderful ways. But none has influenced me more than my God who came into this world in one man who changed the face of human history like Jesus Christ has. As I have been through the highs and lows of my life history, there has been one love that has always been there. Jesus the Christ. Now that I have recognized that I am gay (actually quite a while back), that I enjoy the company of my partner Jason, and realize that there are other Christians who are LGBT, I know that God in Jesus loves me now, just as much as he ever did. And no, Pope Benedict, Archbishop Neinstedt, the Catholic church's ex gay ministry Courage, you cannot take the love of my Lord, and the love my Lord has for me, away from me, just because I live a life that you do not agree with. And none of you have any business trying to get the State to write discrimination in the the Constitution of Minnesota so that Jason and I cannot be legally married some day.
I believe that is what it means to live a life of holy partnership with Christ as a gay person. Realizing that no person, group or church board can take from us, what is God's to give. Our dignity, integrity, value and respect come from the reality that God has made us who we are, and loves us as we are. God wants to do a work of justice, equality and inclusion for all marginalized persons through those who recognize that we can and do have a right to worship and love God, through helping others like ourselves who are oppressed. Such as the Japanese right now, who are oppressed by many such as a Christian pastor who believes God told him that God was going to bring an earthquake upon Japan because they embrace atheism.
LGBT Christians and other progressive Christians with good hearts can look this kind of thing in the eye and conclude that someone who really understands what Christianity is, would never consider saying such a thing.
Are we holy partners with Jesus as LGBT people? Or do we let the anti-LGBT rhetoric of Christianist groups decide our faith and life for us? Do we see ourselves as holy partners with Christ to help relieve the oppression and suffering of other groups of people experiencing injustice and oppression?
Each individual will answer this question differently. But I do hope that we can all admit that what God has begun in us, no anti-LGBT person or group has any business taking it away from us. If we have been baptized as holy partners with Christ, shouldn't we continue to live as such?
Prayers
Hebrews 3: 1-11 (NRSV)
Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also 'was faithful in all God's house.' Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, "They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways." As in my anger I swore, "They will not enter my rest."'
Blog Reflection
Josh Thomas in today's reflection for Lent in 2011 Lenten Meditations from Episcopal Relief and Development writes:
"May I be, as Hebrews suggests, a fellow apostle with Jesus? One who is sent-by God, into this world. A holy partner with Christ? A sister or brother to all others?
Is that me? Can I live that life this Lent, and beyond?" (Page 11).
Josh Thomas' question is a good one. Can we think of ourselves as holy partners with Christ? If we think of ourselves as holy partners with Christ, what would that holy partnership look like? What would it mean for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people to be holy partners with Christ?
We cannot answer those questions in quite the same way as straight individuals do. I know we are talking about equality and inclusion. But, let's be frank. We are not there yet. When a group of party crashers in Queens beat a young teen to death while shouting anti-gay slurs, we have not achieved justice, equality and inclusion just yet. In fact, such a horrible true story, tells us that we are quite far away from equality. When Sen. Gillibrand must petition people to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (and I hope you will sign the petition). because the GOP House of Representatives have decided that they will defend DOMA in court because President Obama has announced that he will not, we have not achieved equality.
For LGBT people to be holy partners with Christ this Lent, we must recognize the reality of where we are. We are among the very people that Christ came and sought out in his earthly life. We are among those who experience political, religious and social oppression. We are among those who are marginalized, because Christianists use the cross as their excuse to scapegoat LGBT people. We need to be holy partners with Jesus so that we may know God's plan for our lives.
When we think of those two words "holy partners" what might come to our minds?
As soon as I hear those two words I think of the holy partnership that Jason and I share.
Jason and I are two individuals who are eight years a part. We share our lives together. We share our happy times and sad times together. We share our faith together. We love each other physically, romantically, emotionally in spite of those things about each other that we may find sometimes difficult to live with. Yet, because there is no one who loves me like Jason does, I can live with Jason's love of the Muppets, his computers, his school work, his knitting (all of which he does really well, so I am not complaining). Jason finds that no one loves him quite like I do. That's why he has been so patient with me as I have gone through a year or so of evaluations to discover that I have Asperger's Syndrome (meaning high functioning autism), which is why I am unable to work. Jason faithfully goes to work every day, and weekly brings home what we need to live on, so that we can have a stable home environment in which to live and love each other. Both Jason and I recognize that we do not have equality in the Church and society because of laws that are very much unjust and prejudicial. But, does that stop us from living the best life we can, until such time as we can be legally married? No.
To be holy partners with Jesus is to recognize that if we are going to have justice, equality and our full inclusion in the Church and society some day, we need to accept the fact that we cannot do this work without God's help. We cannot achieve equality, justice and inclusion if we allow the anti-LGBT rhetoric of Christianist groups like the Family Research Council, American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family, to determine for us, our faith, life and love as LGBT people.
While I totally understand that many LGBT people just cannot deal with any religion including and especially Christianity because of the hate of anti-LGBT churches and groups, I simply cannot give those groups the pleasure of knowing that they have taken Jesus Christ away from me. When I was 16 years old I was baptized with the words: "I love Jesus Christ" on my heart and lips, and no Christianist preacher too full of themselves to realize the hate within their heart and life, is going to take my faith in the God I love away from me. There have been so many people who have influenced my life in wonderful ways. But none has influenced me more than my God who came into this world in one man who changed the face of human history like Jesus Christ has. As I have been through the highs and lows of my life history, there has been one love that has always been there. Jesus the Christ. Now that I have recognized that I am gay (actually quite a while back), that I enjoy the company of my partner Jason, and realize that there are other Christians who are LGBT, I know that God in Jesus loves me now, just as much as he ever did. And no, Pope Benedict, Archbishop Neinstedt, the Catholic church's ex gay ministry Courage, you cannot take the love of my Lord, and the love my Lord has for me, away from me, just because I live a life that you do not agree with. And none of you have any business trying to get the State to write discrimination in the the Constitution of Minnesota so that Jason and I cannot be legally married some day.
I believe that is what it means to live a life of holy partnership with Christ as a gay person. Realizing that no person, group or church board can take from us, what is God's to give. Our dignity, integrity, value and respect come from the reality that God has made us who we are, and loves us as we are. God wants to do a work of justice, equality and inclusion for all marginalized persons through those who recognize that we can and do have a right to worship and love God, through helping others like ourselves who are oppressed. Such as the Japanese right now, who are oppressed by many such as a Christian pastor who believes God told him that God was going to bring an earthquake upon Japan because they embrace atheism.
LGBT Christians and other progressive Christians with good hearts can look this kind of thing in the eye and conclude that someone who really understands what Christianity is, would never consider saying such a thing.
Are we holy partners with Jesus as LGBT people? Or do we let the anti-LGBT rhetoric of Christianist groups decide our faith and life for us? Do we see ourselves as holy partners with Christ to help relieve the oppression and suffering of other groups of people experiencing injustice and oppression?
Each individual will answer this question differently. But I do hope that we can all admit that what God has begun in us, no anti-LGBT person or group has any business taking it away from us. If we have been baptized as holy partners with Christ, shouldn't we continue to live as such?
Prayers
Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only true God: through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Tuesday in the First Week of Lent, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 37).
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday of Lent, Book of Common Prayer, page 218).
Compassionate God, whose Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus: Draw near to us in this time of sorrow and anguish, comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (On the Occasion of a Disaster, Holy Women, Holy Men, page 733).
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