Friday in Easter Week: The Resurrection and Same-Sex Love. Yes! Yes! Yes!

Scriptural Basis

John 21:1-14 (NRSV)

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Blog Reflection

One of the biggest lies told by Christianists and for many years the Christian Church all together, is that the only sexuality that is valid, pure and holy is heterosexuality.  As States such as Minnesota and many others push for marriage amendments and/or try to pass marriage equality the one matter the opposition to LGBT equality raises is homosexuality.  The reason that marriage equality for same-sex couples should be stopped no matter what it takes is because of the "dangers" of homosexuality.

When humans are afraid of something, the greatest cause of their fear is usually due to ignorance.  Most of us who are LGBT have heard so many gross statements about homosexuality and those who do it, that what is really offensive by itself also becomes quite comical in the long run.

Contrary to those who think they know, most LGBT people who engage in homosexual love are not perverted any more or less than straight people.  LGBT people are successful, intelligent, beautiful and are as capable as living pure and holy lives as anyone can.

What constitutes "pure of heart" and "holiness" is not the act of sexuality inside or outside the marriage of a man and woman.  What is a matter of purity and holiness is the intention, the attitude and the mutual honesty, love and respect of the individual(s) engaged in the act.  Loving what you are looking at, and feeling those awesome urges that we all feel are part of the wonder of our sexual beings that God created as part of who we are.

Did anyone else besides me read the verses in today's Easter Gospel about Peter putting on his clothes because he was naked before he dove in the river to go meet the risen Lord?   Hello, 11 men on board a fishing boat and one man, the man who is said to be the first of the Apostles was naked.  I think we could easily assume that Peter was not the only one.

When Jesus greeted the eleven men who were out to sea fishing, to see if they had caught anything, and then to allow them to get an overflowing catch, do you think he was at all concerned that Peter was naked?

After finally coming ashore they sat around a fire and shared in the meal of bread and fish.  What a beautiful story.

The risen Jesus gets such a bad rap when people insist that he must have been a sexual prude.  The resurrection is such a fairy tale when people insist on making Jesus the reason why every other kind of sexual activity besides what happens between a man and a woman so that a baby can be born.  The cross and resurrection might as well be a story in a dusty old book on a shelf if the story of human sexuality is limited to only one kind.  I really do not think that God or Jesus are really that small minded.

The sexual love between two women or two men is indeed blessed by God as something very beautiful, very holy and very pure.  The suggestion that those who practice that kind of love between each other are somehow damned forever and therefore must be treated like animals who must be tamed is just nonsense and an excuse for an enterprise of hate.  It certainly does not exemplify the resurrection.

As we continue through Easter, let us all see the resurrected Lord with a new set of eyes.  The eyes of love through which God sees and embraces all of God's pure and holy people.

Prayers

Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; 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 Friday in Easter Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 224).

Thursday in Easter Week: Where is that Peace the Risen Christ Was Suppose to Give?

Scriptural Basis

Luke 24:36b-48 (NRSV)

While the disciples were talking about how they had seen Jesus risen from the dead, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

Blog Reflection

"Peace be with you!?!"  Where the hell is the peace the risen Jesus wished the disciples on Easter Day for the people in the six southern states where over 250 people were killed by tornadoes? 

How can we have that peace that Christ wished with a Oklahoma law maker stating that "Black people do not work as hard as white people do"?

When a married lesbian supreme court nominee is bullied in her confirmation hearings in Massachusetts, and the State Senate there votes to limit away collective bargaining rights for health care for public workers, where is the peace the resurrected Christ wished?

How are people suppose to believe in the peace the resurrection of Jesus Christ brings with anti-LGBT equality groups suggesting that Planned Parenthood billboard advertisements are "too gay friendly."

Keep in mind a couple things.  The people Jesus gave his peace too, were not exactly the most faithful people to him.  The men that the risen Jesus said "Peace be with you" too, were the 12 men who all accept one abandoned him in his time of suffering and death.  Even Peter who is known as the "first of Apostles" whom the Catholic church says was the first Pope, denied Jesus three times out of fear for his life.  If you were Jesus who had died and risen again, would  you really wish 11 cowardly men peace?

There is another way to look at this. 

The people Jesus wished God's peace to, were not perfect, were not without their fears, difficulties or without their fear of what people will say or do to them.   These were not people who had an unshakable faith in God's power.  When Mary Magdelene first brought them news of the resurrection, many of them were not so sure they believed it until they saw him with their own eyes  

Yes, the risen Jesus wishes all of us God's peace.  Even when we do not exactly believe or trust in God in our most weak and vulnerable moments.  Even when the pain of loss such as what the folks in the six southern states are experiencing, the risen Christ still comes in the midst of their tragedy to give them a sense of God's peace.   Even when believing in God's goodness and mercy is really difficult because of how much life stinks, God's peace through the risen Jesus is still at work and somehow will in the end become real.

There is no peace however, in prejudice or scapegoating in the Name of the resurrected Jesus.  The Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics who are working to establish amendments against marriage equality for LGBT people such as what is happening in Minnesota, does not establish the peace of the resurrected Jesus.  There is enough discouragements to faith in Christ's resurrection through natural disasters without adding discrimination against people for their sexual orientation and/or gender expression/identity, or race.  If it is the goal of Christians to establish the peace of God's reign on earth, prejudice and violence driven by bad religious zeal goes a long way to damage the faith of people who might otherwise want to believe in the resurrection.

May Jesus Christ give God's peace to those who are suffering this day because of nature, prejudice or violence.  May Christians become instruments of the peace that the risen Christ can and desires to give people looking and starving for some kind of peace in this world.

Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Thursday in Easter Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 212).

Wednesday in Easter Week: The Risen Christ Walks With and Feeds God's LGBTQ People

Scriptural Basis

Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

Now on that same day, the first day of the week, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Blog Reflection


I write this particular blog post with some sadness and anger.  Yesterday we learned that a senator in the Minnesota State Senate has introduced a bill that would amend discrimination into our State Constitution that would ban marriage equality for same-sex couples.  If passed by both houses there will be a measure placed on the 2012 ballot that gives a majority in Minnesota the power to vote on the marriage rights of a minority of people.  If you would like to help us fight this amendment, please sign this petition. 


When I open the Lectionary page for today's Gospel to write this blog I find one of my favorite Easter stories.  The walk to Emmaus.

This is one of my favorites because it helps say what Susan Russell said so well on Good Friday that "the worst we can do cannot kill the love of God."  To those of us who are LGBT here in Minnesota today, we are feeling like the worst is about to come upon us.

This story of the walk to Emmaus is a reminder that the risen Jesus walks along beside us amidst our sorrow and grief.  When we feel like we have been betrayed by someone we trusted, the risen Christ is with us in the breaking of the bread.  Christ the resurrected Savior feeds us with the very presence of God to show that we are not alone.  We are not losers.  We are not orphaned.  God is close to us and loves us all.

Jesus Christ walks with the marginalized of society and the Church.  Jesus feeds us with the fullness of God's Self and lets people such as LGBTQ people know that God is so much closer to them than all the discrimination and violence that Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics/Episocpalians/Anglicans/Orthodox/Lutherans and so many more can throw at us.

In Jesus Christ we are not dead as many say.  We are alive through the Jesus who gave himself out of love for all God's people and rose from the dead to make of LGBTQ people among God's redeemed.

Do you feel like you are alone today?

Look no further than inside yourself and listen with the ears of your heart to God tell you that you are a beloved child of God.  With you, God is well-pleased.

Prayers

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Wednesday in Easter Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 211).

Look with pity, O God, 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).

Tuesday in Easter Week: The Risen Lord First Appeared to Women. What Could that Mean?

Scriptural Basis

John 20:11-18 (NRSV)

Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Blog Reflection

Is it any wonder that the first person to see Jesus after he had risen was a woman?  Why do you suppose that was the case?

Is it possible that the first person to see Jesus alive was a woman because a woman was not afraid to be at the tomb to serve him while she thought he was dead?

Perhaps Jesus went to a woman weeping so that he could transform her tears of sorrow and confusion into tears of joy and happiness.

All through the Gospels, we see Jesus making friendships with women.  Women were among the best friends of Jesus.  Wherever he went Jesus spent more time and energy upholding and lifting up the spirits of women. We also see women time and again allowing himself to be corrected by women, such as the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman. (See Matthew 15: 21-28).

How very interesting that we read story after story about Jesus recognizing the goodness and leadership quality of women. Yet, still the Church in the 21st Century still has issues with women being ordained leaders.  Even in churches like The Episcopal Church, women can be ordained Bishops, Priests or Deacons.  But, it is still really difficult for a woman to become the Rector of some churches.  Women can come and help, but they come as assistants. How great it is that our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is such a wonderful woman and bishop. Some of our greatest Cathedral Deans and best authors are women in the Episcopal Church. As of last year we have one open lesbian Bishop  We have made great strides, but have a ways to go.

I read just this morning a great post from Vicki Black in Speaking to the Soul about Tuesday in Holy Week.  Here is a quote from that post.

The Resurrection of Christ could not be seen by man, for it was a resurrection into a world which no human senses could follow it. There are many powers in nature to which we can have no immediate outer testimony. We know their existence by their results. So it is with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We experience its power because He went into a world beyond our natural gaze.

How can this be related to Jesus and his friendship with women as well as all who are still second class in society and the Church?

The resurrection is something we cannot see with our natural human eyes. It is something we must experience in our relationships with ourselves and others. The resurrection cannot be witnessed or experienced if we do not deepen our relationships with those who remain marginalized. The more women are denigrated by laws and rules that are really about power and control than anything else, the more the resurrection is just another fabled story from the age of the Roman Empire.

Yesterday MoveON.org reported that just in the last 4 months there have been 916 bills offered by Republicans against women.  The bills are not just limited to to anti-choice bills.  In other States around the country there have been bills offered to take away equal pay rights for women.   And the statements made against women by Christianist's like Pat Robertson have been degrading and rude.

How do these reflect the resurrection?

I do believe that Jesus's first appearance to women in the Gospels after his resurrection is a reminder that Christ died and rose for all of God's people.  It is a message that in God's eyes there are no losers, there are none to be swept aside and forgotten.  There are no outcasts in God's reign. There is room for everyone including women, LGBT, immigrants, Native Americans, and so forth to honor and serve God, the Church and society.  There are people of all kinds and every where that are weeping wanting to hear their name called to be loved and to serve.  Jesus' resurrection and the greeting to Mary Magdelene is a sign that God wants everyone including those who weep from despair, grief, discouragement and discrimination to know that God loves them and wants them to serve and be served as members of God's family.

Prayers

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Tuesday in Easter Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 222).

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).

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you;
  you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.
Often you weep over our sins and our pride,
  tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds,
  in sickness you nurse us and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying, we are born to new lilfe;
  by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness;
  through your gentleness, we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead,
  your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy, heal us;
  in your love and tenderness, remake us.
In your compassion, bring grace and forgiveness,
  for the beauty of heaven, may your love prepare us.

(Song of Christ's Goodness, by Anselm of Canterbury, Enriching Our Worship 1, page 39). 

Monday in Easter Week: The Resurrection and LGBT Equality. They are Linked Together.

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 28:9-15 (NRSV)

Suddenly Jesus met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You must say, `His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.

Blog Reflection

Another Easter Sunday has come and gone.  Yet for those of us who are part of more Liturgical traditions, Easter Day is only the beginning of the resurrection story. Today is Monday in Easter Week.  The entire week through next Sunday is a week of solemn celebration of the Easter Day events.

Holy Week and the Easter Triduum (the three days) of this year saw a tragic event. On Monday, April 18 in a McDonald's in Maryland a transgender woman was attacked and beaten before appearing to have a seizure.  An employee (now a former employee) video taped the incident on his portable phone. The two individuals who attacked her have been arrested. Many in the anti-LGBT movements are already slandering the woman and many are even ready to turn the incident from being about transgender equality to an incident about race.  People who hardly ever look at matters of race are willing to look in that direction so as to deny a transgender woman the justice that should be hers.

For many LGBTQ people, Easter Day is not the day of celebration.  It is a day of nightmares with the family and those who continue to use the Christian Faith to stereotype and discriminate.  

The college student who has been out at college comes home to her/his family and cannot talk about her/his exciting discovery about themselves. They live in a home of conservative Christians. To say anything could have results that would ruin a holiday celebration.

Even for the lesbian or gay person who's family says they accept her or him, coming home for Easter risks some comment about how butch or fem their daughter or son is. The family says that they accept, but they don't show it quite so well.

Perhaps a gay father who came out to his adult son, finds himself being preached to by his conservative Christian son about how his son is ashamed of his father for "choosing" to be gay.  Or he might hear of guys who beat the living blood out of his son because they learned that he is the son of a gay father.  His daughter gets picked on every day on the school bus when they call her father a fag.  (The word is used for emphasis, not meant to be offensive).

A transgender woman who would like to have a place to go for Easter, might be out on the street selling her body because her parents told her that there is no home for her unless she changes.

A bisexual woman in love with her husband but can't tell him.  If her husband finds out she also loves women,  he might divorce her. Or take her kids away from her. There are still many states in this country that will not award custody of children to LGBT parents.

Contrary to the beliefs of many, the resurrection and LGBT equality, justice and inclusion are linked together.  The Easter event is far reaching and all embracing.  The resurrection is a sign of God's love for all people.  Including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people.  When Jesus rose from the dead he gave eternal and unending life to all who die.  The resurrection of Christ also gives life to those who are dead in the eyes of society and the Church.

The resurrection is what gives hope to those trapped by disease, addictions and prejudice.  The resurrection happened so that those who greet Jesus at the tomb along with Mary Magdelene can hear God calling their name and say: "Do not be afraid."  Do not be afraid to accept yourself as "I have created and now redeemed you."  "You are loved, just as you are."  "You are my precious child.  And during your life time of suffering, when you see only one set of footprints in the sand.  It is then that I am carrying you." (Part of it borrowed from the famous Footprints in the Sand).

The resurrected Christ wants to carry all of God's children and for them to love and accept themselves.  God does not want LGBT people in "conversion" or "change" therapy. There is nothing to convert in the sexual and gender diversity of LGBT people.  What is to be converted is the feeling that God cannot and does not love LGBTQ people unless they change who they are and who and how they love others. There are many devout lesbian and gay couples who care for children and work every day jobs, are active in their communities and helping others in need. We don't want anything more than the opportunity to share in the fruits of the resurrection without being exploited by anti-LGBTQ politics and groups that are obsessed with homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender people.

Today, outside the tomb the resurrected Jesus calls us by our name.  He says "Do not be afraid.  Go tell my people that I will see them where ever they go." Whoever you are. Whatever you do. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, or atheist black, red or white or any other color. Whether you are lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer. Whether you are a woman or man. No matter who you are. The resurrection of Jesus Christ happened not so that those who are Caucasian, Christian, male, heterosexual, wealthy, healthy etc could dominate and exterminate those who are different. Easter is God's love for all humankind.  Everyone is part of God's family. As Aaron says in the movie Latter Days: "We are all little dots, but I think we are all connected." 

Do we as Easter people live like we believe that?

Prayers

Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we who celebrate with awe the Paschal feast may be found worthy to attain to everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Monday in Easter Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 222).

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).

Easter Day: Has Anyone Seen the Resurrection?

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 28:1-10 (NRSV)

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, `He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Blog Reflection

I remember the first time I read an article with the title: "Has Anyone Seen the Resurrection?"   It was in the newspaper on Easter Day.  It was a group of very skeptical scientists looking at the scientific evidence of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

I was a young Christian who had just been baptized in a protestant evangelistic church.  I was full of faith and vigor for what I understood the Christian Faith to be about.  I was also arrogant and proud of what I believed.  "How come every person does not believe as I do?  Their lives would be so much better.  The world would be a more perfect place if every person was a Christian who believed" as I did.

I have traveled just about every journey with in the Christian Faith.  I went to a Nazarene College to study Church music.  I spent some time in a United Methodist church with a charismatic pastor who was also a fundamentalist. I eventually became a Roman Catholic.  I even wanted to become a Priest or a monk.  The one thing I never wanted to be at that time, was a liberal, mainline openly gay Episcopalian.  I wanted to be anyone, except who God had created and redeemed me to be.  With all the horrible anti-gay messages of protestant evangelicalism and Roman Catholicism, how could I see myself as a good gay person?

It was not until I actually accepted myself as a gay man and prayed to God to help me to love myself as I am, and to help me know God's unconditional and all inclusive love for myself as a holy gay man, that I experienced a death of my old self and a resurrection as the person God made me to be.

That's right.  God can do a work of conversion in the life of a gay person, without changing sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression.

Has anyone seen the resurrection?

Let's be honest, even with all the accounts of the resurrection in the Bible, we do not have an account of someone actually seeing what happened.  Matthew and John's Gospel records a story of what happened.  But remember, the Gospels are most likely written by not the authors, but people who wrote the story according to how the authors would have told the story.  There were translators involved.  Many who could have and most likely did translate according to their own ideals.

Does that mean that the events of the resurrection did not happen?  No.

Does that mean that the events of the resurrection did happen?  No.

As Christians we have our story from the Gospels.  That is a good thing.  As Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in For the Bible Tells Me So said: "The Bible is the word of God through the words of human beings.  Speaking in the idiom of their time."

While the details about what happened could have been inserted or changed or drawn up by someone, the message about what happened is certainly not untrue.  However, without the actions of Christians to live out the meaning of the resurrection, the story of Christ rising from the dead with all the victorious language, music and celebration that is Easter Day, might just as well be a story.

How can Christians ask the world around us to believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead when Christians live and work as if the resurrection never happened?  How can people move from beyond celebrating Easter Day to living the resurrection if Christians use the Bible as a literal weapon of choice to discriminate against women, LGBTQ people, immigrants, Muslims, Jewish people, those who do not write or speak english, Native Americans, African Americans and so on?  Where is the evidence of the resurrection in that?

Christian history is full of instances of how the Church has failed to give witness to the resurrection because of prejudice and the idea that Christianity supercedes all other religions and philosophies.  Church bearaucracy on a world wide and local level has been used to justify more cruelty and violence that has resulted in faith scandals that may never heal for some.

Has anyone seen the resurrection?

As Christians it is our belief that in the resurrection we have been freed from the slavery to sin and death.  The crucifixion, death and resurrection is the turning point for a faith that believes that death is not the final word.  Yet, many Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics/Anglicans/Episcopalians/Orthodox etc are content to allow the story of the resurrection to remain a dead and buried event that is only a tale on a page. 

I loved the image I chose for this Easter Day.  It is an image of Jesus that does not display him as being Anglicized as white, or masculine.  It is an image of Jesus as one like those who remain oppressed because of race, sexuality, skin color etc yet risen with hope for all humanity.  Do I believe in that?  Yes. Yes I do.   But I also believe that it is not enough to just gaze on a beautiful image, or celebrate in triumphant solemnity about the resurrection.  The only image of the resurrection that changes lives, ends violence and oppression is the work of Christians along with all other persons of all types, sizes, shapes, appearances and behaviors to work together for a society and Church where there is justice, equality and inclusion for all of God's people.

Has anyone seen the resurrection?

Yes.  As the world becomes a more inclusive place, the resurrection happens.  As people begin to recognize that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people have love in their heart and desire, and that diverse sexual orientations and/or gender expressions/identities are good in and of themselves, so people begin to see resurrection.  The resurrection happens when we move from counting people (ie diversity) to people count (ie inclusion).  The resurrection is seen and experienced when we recognize the need to help people in need by working to uphold and defend their dignity from those who would violate the heart of who each person is.

Has anyone seen the resurrection?

What are we going to do differently this Easter Day to help others see the resurrection and experience it?  It just might help people believe the story, because it is really happening now, tomorrow and every day here after.

Prayers

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; 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 Easter Day, Book of Common Prayer, page 222).

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Easter Day, Book of Common Prayer, page 222).

Holy Saturday: The Story Does Not End Here

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 27:57-66 (NRSV)

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, `He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

Blog Reflection

The last event to take place during the funeral of someone is the burial.  During the prayers for the dead at the place where she/he will be laid to rest is the one place where relatives and those who loved the individual just cannot hold back their tears. Why?  Because at the burial point everything seems so final.

There are many images of the dead being buried from many of the great movies. 

The scene of the undertakers dumping the body of Mozart in the movie Amadeus into a grave of bodies for those who could not afford their own cemetery plot is chilling. 

In the movie Fried Green Tomatoes there are two burial moments that are so moving.  One was for Buddy and the other for Ruth.  There was even a burial moment for Buddy Jr's arm. 

Death with it sense of finality in this world leaves us with a sense of powerlessness. 

How many people have died from HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease and many other illnesses?  The deaths of those we love or knew well strike at our core.   They remind us of our mortality.  Life is really very brief.

The reading from Lamentations so well speaks of the emotions that so many of us feel

Lamentations 3:1-9, 19-24 (NRSV)

I am one who has seen affliction

under the rod of God's wrath;

he has driven and brought me

into darkness without any light;

against me alone he turns his hand,

again and again, all day long.

He has made my flesh and my skin waste away,

and broken my bones;

he has besieged and enveloped me

with bitterness and tribulation;

he has made me sit in darkness

like the dead of long ago.

He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;

he has put heavy chains on me;

though I call and cry for help,

he shuts out my prayer;

he has blocked my ways with hewn stones,

he has made my paths crooked.

The thought of my affliction and my homelessness

is wormwood and gall!

My soul continually thinks of it

and is bowed down within me.

But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

The death of Jesus though, has a whole different meaning for those of us who wait for Easter.  The story does not end here at the sealed tomb.  

One of my favorite readings to date about Holy Saturday, comes from the Roman Office.  An ancient Homily on Holy Saturday.

Something strange is happening--there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness.  The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep.  The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and has raised up all who have slept since the world began.  God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

God has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep.  Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, God has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, Jesus who is both God and son of Eve.  The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory.  At the sight of Jesus Adam, the first man God had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: "My Lord be with you all."  Christ answered him: "And with your spirit."  Jesus took Adam by the hand and raised him up, saying: "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light." (Liturgy of the Hours, Volume II Lent and Easter Seasons, pages 496, 497)

We do not know who is the author of this great homily.  But it is beautiful in it's descriptive language.

As I reflect on Holy Saturday, as we await Easter Day I have to stop just for a bit and ask us to reflect on the reality that just as there was hope for the first parents Adam and Eve, there is hope for all who have died.  Jesus Christ is the hope of all who live and all who die.   Among the many things Jesus did was to put a face on those who have died.  In Jesus death and the burial is not where the story ends.

Therefore, I must plead with our faithful conservative friends.  Please remember that Jesus Christ, not you, nor your literal interpretations of the Bible have the final say over the souls of LGBTQ people and many others.  It is the death and resurrection of Jesus that we await to celebrate tomorrow that ultimately brings salvation to all people, because of God's unconditional and all inclusive love.  May we all put away the rhetoric that is so destructive to those different from ourselves.  May we all put far from us any and all thoughts of violence and oppression that would make some privileged while others are to be targeted and destroyed.  

In Jesus, God has forgiven all our sins and made us all worthy to share in the eternal life prepared for all God's people.  It is because of Jesus that every person has the hope to await our own resurrection on the last day. 

Let us end our need to scapegoat.  Let us end the anti-Judaism that suggests that the Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus, and therefore violence and prejudice towards God's holy people in the Jewish faith is justified.  Let the culture war against Muslims stop.  May Muslims be recognized as among God's children who must be respected, loved and admired for their devotion. May the ill favored behavior towards LGBTQ people, women and people of different colors, races etc end because Jesus Christ died and rose for all.  Not to be scapegoated or changed at the core of who we all are. But, because God has loved us all and gives us every reason to love one another as Christ has loved each of us.

Prayer

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Holy Saturday, Book of Common Prayer, page 283).

Good Friday: By His Bruises We Are Healed. Or Are We?

Scriptural Basis


Isaiah 53: 1-9 (NRSV)

Who has believed what we have heard?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities
and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

By a perversion of justice he was taken away.

Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people.

They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Blog Reflection

The events of Good Friday are every person's story of life and death. 

Just a few moments ago before I began writing this blog, I completed my yearly Stations of the Cross that I do on my own.  You can find an internet copy of the Stations of the Cross at this link.

As I prayed through those Stations that are so heart wrenching, we contemplate the steps and actions of Jesus as he experienced his passion and death, I was also made aware of how much our world, our Church, our communities remain broken and wounded. 

This past year we have heard Jesus being given a bad name by those who practice Christianity from the point of view that Christianity supercedes all other religions.  The cross on which Jesus died out of love for all of God's people has become a weapon that somehow justifies actions and rhetoric that is so cruel and vicious, and hateful, that there remains no responsibility for the wanton destruction of religious based bigotry. 

Our reading from Isaiah today says that "by his (meaning Christ for Christians) bruises we are healed."  Yet all around us in the Christian Church we see wound after wound inflicted on those who are not Caucasian, male, straight, wealthy, healthy, speak and write a particular language and on the list goes.  Are we healed through the bruises and wounds of Christ's death upon the cross?  Or not yet?

We have read the accounts of the Pastor who burned the Quoran. The remarks made about Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, LGBTQ, women and many others. Has the cross really been a source of healing, or has it been used as an excuse?

If we see and understand the death of Christ on the cross as being the opportunity and reason to become inclusive and to work for justice and equality for all people, then the cross is a source of healing.  The death of Christ that we recall today, with all of its horrible imagery, becomes the story of Christians.   People can believe in the goodness of what Christ did on the cross, because the fruits of the Crucifixion become real and visible and believable. 

If on the other hand, the cross is the reason to scapegoat, hate, destroy individuals and communities that we despise because of our own bias, then the events of Christ's death are nothing more than a fable, another legend.  Another piece of artwork on the wall that is nice to look at.  But, what does it really mean?

The Stations that I made reference to earlier invite those who pray them, to meditate upon the suffering of the world around us.  Especially third world countries and communities.  Places like South Africa where HIV/AIDS is the story of pretty much every man, woman or child.  Places like Libya where war and an evil dictator have been tearing apart the lives of real people for decades.  Yet we cannot be looking too far across the oceans to see suffering and oppression.  Here in the United States we have been hearing of tremendous political and social violence and oppression towards a woman's right to choose, LGBTQ people, the poor, the sick, the immigrants, youth and others who want the power to vote for people to represent the issues that are important to them. 

How is the death of Christ upon the cross going to become real where political, religious and social oppression and suppression are the way of life for so many people?   Didn't the death of Jesus end that kind of thing?

Among the things we need to remember is that Jesus was crucified on the cross, to pay the price for the sins of the world, yes.  But as the author of a blog post in Enlightened Catholicism wrote:

For almost 2000 years, believers have found hope and light in recognizing the primacy of the Incarnation. God’s overflowing love wants to embody itself in and for others. Jesus is the first thought, not an afterthought. Does this remarkable belief make any difference in our lives? Absolutely, especially for those of us whose faith has been shaped by images of atonement and expiation.

First, the perspective of creation-for-Incarnation highlights the rich meaning of Jesus. He is not Plan B, sent simply to make up for sin. As Duns Scotus emphasized so well, God’s masterpiece must result from something much greater and more positive (God’s desire to share life and love). Jesus is the culmination of God’s self-gift to the world.

Second, the focus on the Word made flesh helps us to appreciate the depth of our humanness and the importance of our actions. Rahner’s marvelous musings on our life in a world of grace give us renewed understanding of the biblical phrase “created in God’s image”—along with many implications for how we treat all our sisters and brothers in the human family and the earth itself.  (Jesus shows us how to be fully human, to touch and act from our own shared divine life, not necessarily to save us from our fallen humanity.)

Third and most important, our alternate view offers us a new and transformed image of God. Many people suspect that the dominant perspective of God demanding the suffering and death of the Son as atonement somehow missed the mark. (Ya think?)

Indeed, Rahner gently says that the idea of a sacrifice of blood offered to God may have been current at the time of Jesus, but is of little help today. Rahner offers other interpretations of how Jesus saves us, emphasizing that God’s saving will for all people was fully realized in Jesus through the response of his whole life.

 

Other contemporary scholars, including Walter Wink, are more direct. He states that the early disciples simply were unable to sustain Jesus’ vision of the compassionate and nonviolent reign of God. Overwhelmed by Jesus’ horrible death and searching for some meaning, the disciples slipped back into an older religious conviction that believed violence (sacrifice) saves. (This implies the early disciples never got the point of the resurrection, which is Jesus's culminating statement about the truth of humanity.)

The emphasis on Jesus as the first thought can free us from those images and allows us to focus on God’s overflowing love. This love is the very life of the Trinity and spills over into creation, grace, Incarnation, and final flourishing and fulfillment.

What a difference this makes for our relationship with God! We are invited into this divine dance. Life and love, not suffering and death, become the core of our spirituality and our morality.

I believe that central to the idea of experiencing that new life through the cross of Christ is to become active in loving others as Christ loved others.  The experience of Jesus' death and resurrection should cause us to come to a new life where there are no excuses for scapegoating or reasons for promoting violence and oppression.  On the contrary, the crucifixion should open our eyes to the wonder of God's unconditional and all inclusive love for all humankind. 

This love is one that sees God's goodness in homosexuality, bisexuality and transgender people as well as heterosexual people. The love of God does not see us according to our labels or the prejudices of Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics.  It is a love that cries when LGBT youth take their lives because of bullying by peers and family alike. It is a love that feels anger when Muslims are investigated for trying to make Sharia Law the laws of the United States. Even though many Christianists are all too happy to see to it that the Christianist view of the Bible is made the law of the land.

The death of Christ on the cross should mean that by his bruises we are healed.   And through the Sacrament of Baptism and the faith of the Christian religion, indeed we are healed.  But, in the matter of living what our Baptism means, in the matter of "seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves" we a long way to go.  In regards to "striving for justice and peace among all people and respecting the dignity of every human being"  the Christian Church (and this means all of them, Catholic, Episcopalian, etc) has a long way to go.

That is why we return year after year to this holy day of Good Friday.  It is the day to remember that Christ suffered greatly for all of us, so that we might experience God's saving power and love one another as Christ has loved all of us.

Prayers

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Good Friday, Book of Common Prayer, page 276).  

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 99).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. (Book of Common Prayer, page 101).


Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies' sake. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 123).


Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.  Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 124).

Maundy Thursday: Radical, Inclusive Hospitality and Service Are What the Eucharist Is About

Scriptural Basis

John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (NRSV)

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you." For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, "Not all of you are clean."

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, `Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 

Blog Reflection

When the time came for me to consider a new spiritual home there was one thing that was most important to me.  I wanted a home for Jason and I where we would be accepted as a gay couple. That is true and important.   To be in a place where Jason and I did not have to hide who we are or fear being sneered at when we kiss each other during the sign of peace was also important.  I also wanted to be in a place that has superb Liturgy and music, and that we have found.  A place that has a strong sense of social justice and doing more than just talking about it, and in spite of the fact that every place could do better in that department, what we have found at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral is really good.

The most important matter to me was the understanding of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  That is something that we have most certainly found in the Episcopal Church.  And I for one could not be more thankful for having found that.

I also deeply appreciate that the Episcopal Church is a place for independent religious thinking and not one where we program people if you please.   We have our Book of Common Prayer, but as Episcopalians within the Anglican tradition we believe in allowing individuals not a Church body to decide for themselves what they believe, why and how.  Yet, we are Christians in all aspects of who the Episcopal Church is.

At the heart of our worship as Episcopalians is the Eucharist.  The celebration of thanksgiving and praise for all God has done through the saving mysteries of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Not only Christ's death on the cross, but also the resurrection, ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  All of these are at the heart of who we are as Christians, Catholics and Episcopalians.

Among the matters that has challenged me about becoming Episcopalian is that we shift the emphasis from how Christ is really present in the Eucharist (transubstantiation, consubstantiation etc), to how each believer makes the presence of Christ in the Eucharist real for them.   That understanding has finally helped me to understand the importance of the Gospel reading on Maundy Thursday about Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.

Our worship of Christ's real presences in the Eucharist is really worthless unless we are willing to engage in radical, inclusive hospitality and service. 

This is why it is so very important for the Church (and here I don't just mean the Episcopal Church, I mean the entire Christian Church) to open the doors, altars, confessionals, pulpits, sacraments, ordination etc to the marginalized of society and the Church, including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people.  If we are to be the Church of the One whom we believe is really present in the Eucharist, then we cannot stop at the people that are most acceptable or "normal" as much as I hate the term.

Jesus made his offering of self in the food of bread and wine, complete by exercising it's meaning when he washed the feet of the disciples.  Jesus was willing to remove his clothing, stoop over and become a servant to all persons to the point of washing their feet.  The most loving and humbling of gestures, gave and gave of himself again and again. 

What God calls all of us to do is nothing less. God calls upon each one of us to be willing to go into the depths of our selves and give of ourselves for the good of others. Even if it means giving up our stature, our "importance" or our prestige. It means being willing to recognize the goodness of every person as one created and loved by God. Putting aside all prejudice and thirst for violence and dominance to become a subjective servant to all, including the unloved by society and the Church. 

Subjective, not in the sense of giving up all of our own personal dignity, but within our dignity, being willing to uphold and defend the dignity of all persons, including and especially those whom our political and religious institutions oppress because of who they are.   Where they come from.  The color of their skin.  A person (s) sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression.  What language they speak and/or write.  Whether they are totally healthy and wealthy or weather they are challenged or poor.  

Someone who lives the meaning of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is willing to do all she or he can to work for a society and Church where there is justice, equality and inclusion for all people.  A society and Church where "socialism" is understood as necessary to take care of each other, because we are connected to each other.  What affects one person, really does affect us all in one way or another.   This is why we should speak up about bad immigration laws, laws that take medicaid money away from transplant patients, HIV/AIDS prevention and education, food stamps and housing programs.  

Radical, inclusive hospitality and service is willing to go to the lowest point of where people are, and do what we can to lift them up and give them hope for a better tomorrow.  

The slain gay activist Harvey Milk said: "You gotta give them hope."

May all of us see on this Maundy Thursday the opportunity to live out our belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, by giving hope through radical, inclusive hospitality and service.   Amen.

Prayer

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Maundy Thursday, Book of Common Prayer, page 221). 

Wednesday of Holy Week: The Betrayal of a Friend

Scriptural Basis

John 13:21-32 (NRSV)

At supper with his friends, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. One of his disciples-- the one whom Jesus loved-- was reclining next to him; Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once."

Blog Reflection

If there is any place in the Gospels that most people can identify with Jesus, this is it.  The betrayal of a friend who sits at the dinner table.

I think most of us are unaware just how "sacred" the dinner table is.  The dinner table is where families come together to share their food, conversations, difficulties and celebrate together as a family.

Most movies that we watch have some amazing drama at a dinner table.  Such as the hilarious family conversation at the dinner table in While You Were Sleeping.  The exchange of gossip at the table where Sissy and Latrelle talk about everyone and anyone in Sordid Lives.  Some of the worst break ups occur at a dinner table in either someone's home or a restaurant. 

Nothing pierces the heart of a person more than experiencing the betrayal of a friend.  The betrayal experienced when a friend or a spouse totally destroys our trust in them, can feel worse than being cut.   The anger and bitterness that comes when we are betrayed by someone we loved or thought loved us is deep and takes a long time to heal.

In our Gospel today, Jesus experiences that betrayal first hand.  As Judas becomes the one who will betray Jesus, all we can do is look and understand.  Jesus has let us know that God walks with us even through the deep pain of being hurt by someone we have cared about.  Yet, Jesus does something that is very difficult for most of us to do.  Jesus loves Judas anyway. 

The betrayal that is portrayed in this Gospel is not unlike what many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people experience when they come out to their families, friends, church communities, bosses and closest companions.  Many LGBTQ youth have been thrown out of their homes when they come out to their parents. The same parents who always told all their children: "We will love you no matter what."   They turn to their friends for support, only to find that their closest friends betray and abandon them because they become "guilty by association" in school and in the community, or even their own family.   And not to be left out, church communities.  Many pastors will tell distraught LGBT Youth that they can stay, but only if they submit themselves to an ex-gay group, or they keep really quiet about things so as "not to stir the pot." 

The betrayal that Jesus experiences is not unlike what many gay and bisexual men know when they have contracted HIV or any other sexually transmitted disease by someone who told them, that they loved them. 

Many transgender people are told by someone who is interested in dating her or him, that they are accepted as they are, until that someone learns they are transgender and hurts or kills them.

Bisexual individuals feel a sense of betrayal as they struggle with who should they love or form a relationship with, knowing that they want so much more from folks of both sexes. 

Imagine the betrayal that immigrants experience when they hear that America is such a welcoming place that is suppose to be equal for all, only to come here and be interrogated and thrown out of the country by unjust laws. 

The feelings of betrayal experienced by so many women by the man who says that he loves them, only to leave them when they get pregnant so as not to take equal responsibility for the welfare of the woman or the child, are so deep and painful.  And when the woman continues to be rejected by her parents that are oh so "pro-life" leaving her to fend for herself, and a political system that works against her health care, feelings of betrayal are almost guaranteed.

I think the greatest message that we can all read from today's Gospel is that God knows what betrayal is.   In Jesus' experiences God goes through the events of being betrayed right along side us.  God knows the embarrassment, the shame, the fear, the anxiety and the pain we feel when someone we've had deep feelings about lets us down. 

As we follow the events of Holy Week, we will see that these events as tragic as they are, are not the final and only word.  There is new life on Easter Sunday following the events of Good Friday.  God's grace is ever present with us and works with our situation to lead us to a place of peace, serenity and joy.

LGBT individuals, immigrants, women and all others marginalized by the Church and society can find the grace to keep on going and do what is best for themselves, by trusting in the very love and mercy of God.

Prayer

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer for Wednesday of Holy Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 220).

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).

O God, 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). 

Tuesday of Holy Week: The Passion Story Unfolds

Scriptural Basis

John 12:20-36 (NRSV)

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."

Blog Reflection

As the events of Holy Week get more serious in our Gospel readings, so too does the religious hypocrisy. 

I just opened my blog reader to read one story about Catholic League CEO Bill Donohue who has really been running his mouth over the past week about the issue of pedophilia, homosexuality and the victims and all that.   And now I read an LGBT news blog in JoeMyGod about Donohue who has asked why Lady Gaga doesn't pick on Muslims.

In a separate post on the same blog site is a story about a father who has been arrested for the double murder of his daughters girl friend and her mother in Texas.

During this most sacred of weeks it is a tragedy that we are being surrounded by religious based bigotry towards LGBT people and Muslims.  Religious based violence that begins because of philosophies and attitudes not unlike those that led to the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

In our Gospel reading today, Jesus knows that his time is very close.  I think he is somewhere between knowing he is about to give his life, and being absolutely terrified.    Yet, he knows that if Jesus is to draw human kind to himself, Jesus must be raised up on the cross.   Jesus accepts his vocation and gives us a glimpse of the good that is to come from his death.

Knowing the Jesus was lifted up to draw all humankind to God, makes the evil behind religious based bigotry that much more disdainful.  Religious based bigotry towards any person or group of people for any reason leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many.   The folks targeted by the bigotry.  The people witnessing the acts, but find it difficult to express their sadness and outrage.  And those who don't have an opinion one way or another, but do not understand what the blazes is going on, just have to leave it all and become empathetic.

As Jesus is talking about being lifted up to draw all to God's Self, I think it is wise to look at the ways in which we draw people to Christ or steer people away.

Is it any wonder with all the political and social maneuvering in the Christian Church, that very few are able to believe in what the Christian Faith is about? 

With all the Christians now working in our Congress against the poor and needy, the women, the LGBT, the students etc while giving huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people through their political corruption, how can Christians draw people to the Holy Week events?

One idea is to recognize that while we do not have it all together, no matter how many years we have attended worship services, read books including the Bible or sat in classes with the greatest of lecturers.   Among the ways Christians draw others to Jesus and the events of Holy Week is to admit we've been doing it wrong, and we want to make it right.  Not by doing things as we always have, but allowing those whom the Church has marginalized over the years to tell the Church how the Church can be an instrument of healing and peace.  

If churches including mainline churches are going to become good places for LGBT people and women and many others, they are going to have to begin by listening to our stories and experiences and let them become part of the story of the Church.  LGBT history is an important part of Church history as well as the history of most civilizations and countries. 

As we continue through Holy Week, may we listen to God the Holy Spirit speak to us through the Liturgies and events in new ways.  As St. Benedict writes in the Rule: "Listen with the ears of your heart."  

The United Church of Christ has a terrific slogan that all of us can put to good use during Holy Week.  "God is still speaking."  And "Don't put a period where God has placed a coma."

Prayers

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Tuesday in Holy Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 220),


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).

Monday of Holy Week: There is No Resurrection without the Cross

Scriptural Basis

John 12:1-11 (NRSV)

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me." When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Blog Reflection

To put the correct face on this Gospel I want to refer to Out in Scripture for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year C

John's unique narration of the anointing of Jesus features the trio of Lazarus, Martha and Mary (John 12:1-8). Very recently in John's story, Jesus raised Lazarus from death. Lazarus' liberation created such a stir that the religious authorities begin plotting for Jesus' murder. The Lazarus story also introduced Martha and Mary, whom we recognize from Luke 10:38-41. In both Gospels, Martha "serves." The Greek has it that she performs diakonia, or ministry. And in both Gospels, Mary adores Jesus' feet. Yet in John, Mary receives criticism not for adoring Jesus, but for doing it so lavishly.

Some have found in this Bethany family — of Lazarus, Mary and Martha — a way of understanding family that embraces the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Here is a family constructed not by the bonds of marriage or models of convention, but by alternative ties of love. Whether or not Lazarus was, as some suggest, the disciple whom Jesus loved (a suggestion strengthened by the fact that the authorities want to kill Lazarus as well), it is clear that Jesus found in this chosen family a safe haven.

Among this alternative family, Jesus sought and found camaraderie, love, support and a fitting final preparation for the events of his death. That John attributes the outrage of those who would kill Jesus to his raising of beloved Lazarus from the grave has particular resonance with LGBT people whose relationships have been the source of suffering at the hands of those outraged by them. It is also worth noting that Mary understands that Jesus' physical body must be honored and anointed in preparation for his death. It is no accident that her lavish gift is sensual and embodied, nor that it is her story that Jesus says (in Matthew's parallel account in 26:13) will be remembered wherever the good news is told in the entire world. 

The entire account in John must be grounded in an appreciation for the gravity of the events ahead of them and behind them: their experience (past and future) was grounded in the sacred convergence of life and death. Indeed, when Mary anoints Jesus we encounter the heart of the Lenten journey — a journey of faith and hope in the midst of death.  

Judas' criticism, that Mary should consider charity above worship (John 12:5), poses a false dichotomy. In this moment, we ponder the value of the life we receive in Jesus. Many churches commit a grave theological error by separating Jesus' death from his life. The story of Lazarus, Mary and Martha reminds us that Jesus' dying resulted from his life-empowering living and his boundary-crossing loving. Jesus died not as an innocent victim but as a faithful witness to the ways of God, the author of life. 

I am glad I can refer to this commentary, because I find Gospels such as this one to be very difficult to translate on my own.

The commentary is as important to Holy Week as it was the Fifth Sunday of Lent in Year C.  

As we walk through this Holy Week with Jesus, the events are getting more tense.  The reality of Jesus' betrayal and death on the Cross this Good Friday are looming in our minds.  

I don't know about you, but one thing that I tend to do with movies that I have seen over and over again, especially a movie where the death of the main character is at the end, I tend to rewrite it to a better ending as I watch it.  

For example, the movie Milk.  Wouldn't it be great if we could all rewrite the movie that when Dan White goes to ask Harvey Milk to follow Dan into Dan's office to so Dan can assassinate Harvey.  It would be great if we could rewrite the movie for Harvey to tell Dan No so that may be Harvey might still be alive.  

But the reality is, the movie played itself out.  Harvey did follow Dan into Dan's office where Dan shot and killed Harvey Milk. 

Like wise the events leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday happened as they did.  

Jesus could have stopped what was going to happen to him, but Jesus chose not to.  Jesus wanted to follow the events so that he could give his life and shed his blood for the sins of the world.  Lead us all to the victory of new and unending life, through the tragedy of his death.

Yet it is through these events such as the one in John 12: 1-11 that we are being taught about the value of friendship, the ability to give of one-self, even when the end result will be death.

One of the hardest choices for LGBT individuals as we come out, is to make the choice to live as our authentic selves in the midst of the mockery and scorn of those who insult and denigrate us for our sexual orientation and/or gender identity.   Parents may push our buttons through their own ignorance.  Every time we meet our favorite mentor, she or he will tell us to turn to Jesus and change our "behavior."   There are those who will constantly recommend an ex-gay group to us especially when a relationship does not work out, or we inform them that we have lost a job because we were railroaded.  

The challenge for an LGBT person(s) is to stay true to ourselves and who we are.  Even in the face of circumstances that test our wills.

For LGBT people of faith, it can be a challenge.  Especially when church LGBT groups are full of drama so nothing that really matters gets done.  Yet on the other side are LGBT people bashing religion and LGBT people who exercise some kind of religion or spirituality.  

The point is, regardless of what we face the harder part is remaining true to who we are as we face the challenges that may end relationships or change the dynamics of relationships that we have always known.  The facts of life tell us that we will not find our way to our true selves and who our true friendships and people are, if we are not also willing to face the cross within our relationships.  There is no resurrection without the cross.

Prayer

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; 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 the Monday of Holy Week, Book of Common Prayer, page 220).