Pride Sunday: Second Sunday After Pentecost: Time to Get Beyond the Welcoming to Healing and Reconciliation

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 10:40-42 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

Blog Reflection

This past week has been an amazing week for marriage equality with all the support and even the controversy in New York.  We have heard all the pro's and con's of marriage equality through the media from secular news services to religious organizations and their leaders.  The LGBT communities in New York and all over the nation had our eyes fixed until late Friday night marriage equality was passed by the New York State Senate by a vote of 33-29. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law at 11:45pm EST. 



Whether we are talking about the intensity surrounding the topic of the bullying of LGBT and Questioning youth in public or private schools.  Even if we are talking about the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell or the Defense of Marriage Act.  If our conversation about sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression is around the subject of ex-gay groups or ex-gay survivors.   All of these subjects concerning being LGBTQ have one thing in common.  There are Christianist groups and arch-conservative Catholics/Anglicans, Episcopalians, Orthodox, Lutherans etc who are determined that any sexual orientation that is not straight must be opposed on all fronts.

Any individual who's body is one gender while she or he is another and seeks to change it.  Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics/Anglicans, Episcopalians, Orthodox, Lutherans etc have made it their work to stop them and their rights at no cost. Even basic Christian Charity.

This past week, in an effort to stop the passage of marriage equality the Roman Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York offered six reasons why marriage equality for LGBT people must not be recognized.  In all of his reasons, he denigrates and insults the very nature of who LGBT people are.  His reasons are baseless on facts and based on fears that are not real.  The so-called champion of "defending the dignity of all human beings" goes south when talking about LGBT people and the opportunities for us to be married.

In the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC the Parish of St. Luke in Bladensburg has decided to join the Roman Catholic church over the issue of ordaining women to the Priesthood and the ordination of LGBT Clergy and Bishops. 

In today's Gospel, Jesus is making the case that whoever welcomes others, welcomes Jesus. 

How can we think about that on this Gospel on Pride Sunday?

LGBT people all over the world are gathering to celebrate and remember that 42 years ago those first individuals at the Stonewall Inn in New York City decided they had had enough of police brutality and it is time to act and speak out against injustice and oppression.  There will be parades, festivals, dances, fireworks, lights, speeches and in many churches special services marking this event.  St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota will be one of them.

While Pride celebrates a historical event, that event in many ways has been rewritten.  Rev. Irene Monroe wrote last year about how African American's, Hispanics and many individuals of diverse races have been "bleached out" of the history books about Stonewall.   The actual history of Stonewall also tells us that the riots were started by drag queens and transgender individuals.  Gay and lesbian folks came into the picture later as the movements for equality progressed.

In the LGBTQ communities we continue to see the wounds within and outside due to religious, social, economic and political oppression.

Families torn apart by the Christianist movement over the sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression of another member of their family.  While the LGBTQ communities continue to struggle over not only our own self esteem or battles with depression and anxiety, we are also faced with the issues of racism, sexism and other kinds of biases within our own communities.

The welcome that Jesus speaks of in the Gospel for this Sunday goes beyond the welcome.  It is an opportunity for healing and reconciliation.   Jesus is calling for Christians to welcome with open arms, hearts and minds those that are different from ourselves.

The welcome goes beyond looking at our biases towards another person for physical appearances and behaviors that we may or may not understand.  It is recognizing that every person is unique.  Every individual comes with needs.  Each person has qualities that make her or him "fearfully and wonderfully made."  But one thing about every person, is that we are all thirsty in some way.

LGBT individuals of all cultures, genders, body types, races, economic class, religion or lack there of is an individual person who comes thirsting for love, acceptance, opportunity and a deep desire to not be alone in the world.  LGBT people are not interested in "recruiting children" or even molesting them or singling them out.  When an LGBTQ youth takes her or his life because of bullying and harassment from families, friends, misguided religious zeal and social bigotry, every LGBTQ person is rightfully concerned.

When LGBTQ individuals continue to experience discrimination and even violence on the basis of her/his sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, race, economic class, health status, immigration status, we like any other level minded person is concerned.  And if we aren't, we need to think carefully about our attitudes and goals in this world.

It is time for the Christian Church to get beyond welcoming and start being the agents for radical healing and reconciliation for this and many other groups of people that continue to experience the onslaught of bigotry and cruelty that is not only a sign of Christ that he did not have, but a real insult to the essence of who Jesus Christ is and was about.  It is way past time for Christians to look past doctrine, dogma and ecclesiastical authority and committees and start acting to welcome and give a drink of compassion and generosity that goes beyond the kind hello coming in, and the over used "we are glad you were here today" self given excuse for having done nothing to better an LGBT person's future.

While a good welcome is a start, it should be a step past the door of genuine or even not so genuine greeters to asking "how can we serve you who come to us thirsty, so you leave here knowing you have had a drink that has quenched your thirst and given you new reason to embrace Jesus and our community with life and love again?"

As we reflect on this Pride Sunday, let us also recognize that we all have a part to play in the ministry of welcome and radical healing and reconciliation.  Not only of LGBT people, but of all who are still looking for someone, some where who sees them not as a label or description or a classification.  But understands that it is Jesus who comes asking to be welcomed, healed, reconciled and given the opportunity to change our lives as well as those we welcome for the better of all.

Prayers

Loving God, bless us as we gather to celebrate LGBTQ Pride.  We are, each of us, created in your image, lesbian, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer a like.  Hasten the coming of your kingdom when all are welcome and all are equal.  Anoint us with the balm of hope and send us your healing Spirit, that we may be known as a just and unified community.  We ask in your Name, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.


Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 8, Book of Common Prayer, page 230).

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).

 

St. Alban: Martyr and His Contribution to Inclusion

Scriptural Basis

1 John 3:13-16 (NRSV)

 

Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

Now contrast 1 John with the Gospel chosen for today's commemoration


 Matthew 10:34-42 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

Blog Reflection

Well, which is it?  The reading from 1 John tells us to not be surprised if we are hated by others, and that anyone who hate's their sister or brother is a murderer.  In Matthew we have Jesus telling us that because of him family will reject family members and whoever loves their family more than him is not worthy of Jesus.  Is it any more shocking to find even Biblical writers suggesting such hypocrisy?

St. Alban was not martyred by other Christians.  Alban was killed by a judge who did not share his faith, and thought he was a threat to his own way of life.  Does this sound familiar?

Today our world and Christian faith is so fractured by people who hate each other. Many Christianists and other arch-conservatives have been using hate language towards any church body that decides to ordain openly gay or lesbian clergy.  

Just a few weeks ago 70 United Methodist Ministers in Minnesota signed a statement that they will perform the blessings of same-sex couples in marriage, even against the wishes of their denomination.

As the marriage equality debate unfolds in New York, Christian groups for and against it's passage have spoken out.  Yet, the group of individuals who get the most media coverage are those who are against marriage equality. 

Truth is very unpopular in the world of the news media.  Sensationalism caused by scandal and prejudice.  Now that is a money, uh news maker. 

LGBT and marriage equality are not the only issues that separate Christian groups.  The issues of health care reform, keeping Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, immigration reform, workers rights and what a government should or should not do to help and protect the most vulnerable of persons. A woman's access to quality reproductive health care, education, job training and safety from sex discrimination in the workplace etc.  All of these issues now divide Christians, and other political and social groups.

In our Scripture readings today, we are called to recognize within one another the very existence and importance of God's transformative presence.  There is no individual who is here on this earth who is a throw away in God's mind.  Many Christians and others have become way too comfortable and empathetic to regarding people who are different from ourselves as being expendable. 

Wars are started faster than they are finished.  We can rush to place troops and whole communities in the path of harm and destruction.  But, it takes over a thousand lives lost and billions of tax payer dollars spent on weapons and politics to end the war and bring the veterans home. 

Veterans who come home, come only to face a nation with political leaders who are trying to crush their benefit programs.  A government funded health care program that is also broken and in need of oversight and additional support.  Yes, I am talking about Veteran's Administration hospitals.   As wonderful as these institutions are, there is so much work to be done to make them a better place for those who come home with post traumatic stress disorder and other illnesses and injuries.

We can spend billions of dollars in big oil subsidies and tax breaks for people making more money for one person than a low income family of four can afford a place to live. 

Do we not see how our corruption in politics is destroying and murdering our sisters and brothers around us?

Do we not see how religious discrimination is destructive to the Christian faith as well as to Muslims, Jews, Buddhists etc?

Can we not see how we are no better than the judge who saw St. Alban a newly converted Christian as a threat to the "established way of life" and killed him, out of ignorance and fear?

Can families not see that rejecting their daughters or sons because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression is not living up to Christ's statement about loving him more than family? 

To love Christ more than family, is to see that there are no outcasts in the eyes of God and that all are welcome into the company of God's Church to receive the ministry of reconciliation and healing.  And, become a symbol of that reconciliation and healing with the world around them.  

The person and ministry of Jesus Christ is not rooted in bigotry, violence and leaving the marginalized of society and the Church with no way out. 

Government is not God, but God loves it when Government serves people first and corporate interests last. 

St. Alban's martyrdom is a contribution to inclusion because it reminds us all that there will always be surprises in life.  Things in life whether a Christian or not,  straight or not, white or not, male or female are certainly not without challenges.  As long as we are willing to face our future being true to who we are and committed to doing God's work, even the greatest dangers before us, are something we can face.  Because God is there to help us and see us through.

People are cruel and stupid.  People will always let us down.  Sometimes it can seem as if God does not care when anti-equality activists get their way.  But God is there with us.  Experiencing our emotional trials with us and strengthening us to keep going in the struggle.  Never give up.  Never give in.  In Jesus, God has given us every reason to hang on and win the prize.

Prayers

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Alban, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 435).



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).

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Trinity Sunday: It Is About Diversity and Equality in Relationships

Trinity Sunday brings with it theological and social problems.

I think very highly of the history of what we call "orthodoxy" within the Christian Church.  Many of those doctrines and dogmas are important.  They tell us a lot about the development of thought and belief within Christianity.

If theology was the only issue facing the Church historically and in our present day age, even then the idea of the Trinity presents problems.  In the twenty first Century the Church like it did in the centuries of the Arian controversy, faces political challenges as well as social and theological.

The Trinity is the most fundamental belief of Christians.  I believe in the Trinity and it's importance. I also believe that lthe Trinity like all things believed, they evolve just like human beings do so that they may have relevance from one time to the next.

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The Gospel for this Trinity Sunday is the basis of Christian Baptism.  As Christians are baptized they are sealed with the sign of the cross in the Name of the three persons of the Trinity.

As Episcopalians our Baptism in the Name of the Trinity is preceded by our Baptismal vows.  One of those vows is in the description of Philip's Many Thoughts.   Our Baptism into the Trinity by itself is not a life insurance policy.   It makes us part of the Body of Christ we call the Church.  As part of belonging to that Body, there are responsibilities within our relationships with each other.  In our Baptismal vows we pledge seek the justice and dignity of every human person.  Why?  Because our relationship to one another is a transparent reflection of God's relationship with all humankind in all of our diversity.

This is why heterosexism that gives life to homophobia, along with racism, sexism and class discrimination of all kinds is so destructive to the heart of the Christian Church.

When Christians support the idea of racism by the endless attacks on President Obama, immigrants, Native Americans, Muslims and so forth, the relationship between God and humankind appears to be a smudged reflection.

God as the Creator of all things according to our reading today from Genesis  gives life and meaning to all that God creates.  Notice that in the creation narrative God does not say: "Let me create humankind in my image." Instead it reads: "Let us create humankind in our image."  The plural is there for a reason.  It is an indication that God created all of humankind through an intimate relationship with each person that makes up who God is.  God is in relationship with the diversity within God's Self in a way that is equal and respectful of that diversity. 

It has been often debated that while Jesus has been known as the Son of God, the term "Word of God" is another term for "Wisdom" of God.  Wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures is spoken of in the feminine.  Many scholars over the years have interpreted that within the person of Jesus, the Son, Redeemer, Servant is both a masculine and feminine nature of God.  While the Holy Spirit represents the feminine nature of God.

One of the historical abuses theologians and historians have placed upon the Trinity, is the thinking that God is totally masculine.  Therefore, men and the masculine must represent a dominant nature.  While women or the feminine is some how a subordinate nature.   Those who have imposed this thinking upon civilizations dominated by Christian orthodoxy and now fundamentalism (through which many conservatives politicians and religious types have taken their cues), have created a world view that seeks to justify discrimination and violence in the name of this understanding. Thus creating an image of God and Christianity that is damaging to humankind.

How can Christians become a source of healing and transformation instead of being so destructive?

First, we can be open to understanding what the late Paul Wellstone said: "When we all do better, we all do better."  

If the Church is going to be part of the healing of itself and society then we need to understand that we are all connected to each other through the relationship of God with all of us.  When one group of people experience marginalization and their dignity is so violated, all humankind is hurt and unhealthy. 

It is not a good thing for Christians to be supporting gun violence and racist comments.  Christians do not serve the common good of humanity by opposing marriage equality in New York State as Archbishop Timothy Dolan did this week. 

Second, Christians must become part of the solution, not the problem.

If we are going to be a good reflection of the diversity and equality of the relationship of God the Trinity, then we must be committed to the full inclusion and justice of all who are marginalized. 

Christians do not make a very good name for the religion by supporting programs for the poor, sick and disabled, while Catholic Charities in Illinois and Washington, DC shut down their adoption services because of civil unions and marriage equality.

We also do not give a good reflection of our faith when Christians support Arizona's immigration law, or Alabama's or any other states laws that are based on fear and prejudice.

Christians do not help people feel drawn to a relationship with the Trinity by demanding the defunding of Planned Parenthood and reproductive health services for women, while at the same time taking away health care, education, jobs, job training programs and so forth.

Christians do not give a good vision of God by taking away the rights of workers to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and retirement pensions, while giving first place consideration to corporate interests.  

Christians do not reflect the Trinity in scapegoating Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and so forth.

Our Baptismal vows as Christians call us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to work for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human person. (See Book of Common Prayer, pages 293-294).  If we are going to be good examples of the Trinity, then we would do well to take those seriously and to apply them in our relationships with all who remain on the sidelines of society and the Church.

Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Trinity Sunday, Book of Common Prayer, page 228).

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).


Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).

Pentecost: The Spirit of Many Languages, Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities/Expressions

Scriptural Basis

Acts 2:1-13 (NRSV)

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

Blog Reflection

According to the account of Acts, when the Holy Spirit came upon those first apostles they spoke the saving mysteries of God in many languages.  People who heard them thought they were drunk.  Yet those who thought the apostles were intoxicated recognized it was too early in the day.  Something had happened to the apostles.  Suddenly they were not afraid to speak the truth about God's transforming grace in the person of Jesus.  They found a new energy to do things that they did not think they could do previously.

In Bishop Gene Robinson's book "In the Eye of the Storm" he writes about the Holy Spirit.

"It's that part of God that refuses to be contained in the little boxes we create for God to live in, safely confined to the careful boundaries we set for God's Spirit.  The problem is--and the miracle is--God just won't stay put.  And God won't let you and me stay put, content to believe in what we've always assumed.  Change isn't just something to be wished on our enemies--but something God requires of us as well." Pages 9,10).

In many ways languages spoken, heard and written tend to unsettle us.  When someone talks with an accent unlike our own it makes us listen a bit more to what someone is saying. We often have to ask for a clarification.  Learning how another person communicates tends to stretch out our understanding of others around us. Even when we would rather be left alone in our cozy way of doing things.

Many Christians through the centuries have interpreted the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as that defining moment when Christianity became the religion to rule all other religions.  So was born the movement that led to institutionalization of doctrines, dogmas, moral statements and decisions that would for centuries define the laws and ways in which people were suppose to think, behave, love and exist.

These very philosophies have led to the movement against individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer.  A movement that has and continues to be destructive to LGBT people, families, couples and those who love and support us.  Based on what the account of Pentecost suggests, any form or discrimination or marginalization is against the very nature of the Mother, God the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit represents the feminine nature of God's nature and being.  She nurtures us to grown in God's grace.  The Spirit is the Advocate of justice, inclusion and seeking to enter into every nature, culture, religion, sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression so to call humankind to the understanding that we are all one people though we are many.  What affects one group of people in another part of the world, affects all  humanity.  When one world religion comes under heavy scrutiny as the Muslims have over this past year, every religion is open to the possibility of chastisement.   When LGBT individuals do not have our equal rights to marry, be employed, granted citizenship through immigration and face the violence of Uganda's "kill the gays" bill, it is not long before any person of any gender or sexual orientation can be scapegoated or be the subject of  a severe witch hunt.  If there is anything that seriously grieves the Holy Spirit at the core of her heart, it is indifference and exploitation.

Out in Scripture gives us some more to think on this Pentecost Sunday.

Acts 2:1-21 recounts the amazing day of Pentecost. The gift of this text to marginal communities is the phrase in verse 11: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”  This is not simply a statement about the intolerance of people who don’t want to learn another’s language.  Rather the statement recognizes that we all want to know the wonders of God in our own culture and context – whether we are foreign nationals in the U.S. or LGBT people in heterosexual-dominant situations.

In the passage, the Spirit lights upon a particular people in the upper room, but is not confined to that closed-door experience. Those who have had a fiery, blustery experience with God, that shakes their very foundations, must share it with others.  They must also be pleased that God translates their experience into a language that works for those who also want to know God’s wonders in their lives.

In response to people who wanted to understand the spilling out of the upper room and the strange testimony, Peter stands up and says it fulfills God’s promise to pour out God’s spirit on all peoples (verses 14-21). This outpouring allows those who align themselves with Jesus (those who call upon God’s name), experience a saving presence.
 
The experience of the Holy Spirit always enlarges our mission far beyond anything we might earlier have envisioned.  And always calls us to include people within our mission who we might earlier have regarded as "not quite worthy" of God's grace.  But, in God's eyes, no person can ever be not worthy.  The Spirit includes everyone!

Eric Law in the May/June 2004 issue of The Other Side magazine asserted that the “miracle of the tongue” is only half the miracle of Pentecost.  There is also the “miracle of the ear” and that both the speaking and the listening are needed to make Pentecost happen.  For a true community animated by the Holy Spirit to exist we must be about listening as well as speaking.  We need to take the time not only to tell our stories of what it is like to be LGBT and Christian, to tell stories of what it is like to be an ally, but we need also to take the time and create space to listen to others stories.  In addition to talking across our differences, we need to listen across our differences.

This Pentecost falls on the date of a particular anniversary that makes it so appropriate to call our attention to.  44 years ago today, the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage in all 50 states. In a statement made just a few years ago before her death, Mildred Loving passed the torch to the next fight, saying "I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about."

Love is a language that God has given all of God's people to be able to experience and express.  Different people speak the language of love in different ways. LGBT people express love through same sex or bisexual orientation, transgender people can be of either sexual orientation and express their love through whatever their gender identity or expression is.  The language of physical, romantic and emotional love for someone special is a gift of God the Holy Spirit.  That gift should be respected, treasured and protected by all individuals and the laws of our nation.  That gift should also be recognized by the entire Christian Church for what it is.  There should not be any ex-gay group or anti-equality group with the name Christian on it, that seeks to ban marriage equality, encourage bullying in America's public or private school systems, or to insist on heterosexism as an appropriate way of life.   


May the Holy Spirit lead us all into better days so that all people may be embraced, cherished and guarded.  May the Spirit guide the entire Christian Church to be more inclusive, less power driven and much more about justice and equality for all people.


Prayers

Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer for Pentecost, Book of Common Prayer, page 227).

May the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
bring fire to the earth
so that the presence of God
may be seen
in a new light,
in new places,
in new ways.

May our own hearts
burst into flame
so that no obstacle,
no matter how great,
ever obstructs the message
of the God within each of us.

May we come to trust
the Word of God in our heart,
to speak it with courage,
to follow it faithfully
and to fan it to flame in others.

May the Jesus
who filled women
with his Holy Spirit
fill the world and the church
with new respect
for women's power and presence.

Give me, Great God,
a sense of the Breath of Spirit
within me as I . . .
(State the intention
in your own life at this time
for which you are praying.)

Amen.

(Prayer of Sr. Joan Chittester, OSB, the Wild Reed).

 

 

 

Seventh Sunday of Easter: What Does It Mean to Be One?

Scriptural Basis

John 17:1-11 (NRSV)

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. "

Blog Reflection

All of us knows the experience of talking with a loved one just before she/he dies.  My last conversation with my grandmother before she died was one of the best times I had with her. There are stories of the last words shared between the partners in a gay relationship, before one of them dies of AIDS. Elton John's historic hit "The Last Song" features a video of a father and son as the son lies dying in the hospital from AIDS. The father is probably learning for the first time about being gay. The most important thing the father wants to communicate to his son is how much he loves his son.  To relieve his son's sense of loneliness and rejection so that he may die with some sense of dignity and knowing how loved he was.

Today's Gospel is part of a last conversation the disciples would have witnessed.  Jesus is praying to God about the future of the ministry of Jesus' followers.  As part of his prayer Jesus proclaims his oneness with God and the glory of that relationship. This prayer is being said in the company of the disciples the night before Jesus' crucifixion. As part of that prayer, Jesus prays for those whom God has given to be in relationship with him and that there would be a oneness among those who believe in Jesus and pray to God in his Name.

We are between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost. We recall the story of how the risen Christ had left the physical sight of those who loved him during his earthly ministry. The disciples are experiencing a sense of sadness and fear about the future. It is that same fear many of us experience after someone has died and we pick up the pieces of our lives and try to move on. There is a remaining sense of grief and uncertainty with what comes next. 

The words Jesus prays in this Gospel is a prayer that no matter what happens, that his followers would be one in purpose, faith and mission.  Or at least, that is what many have interpreted that to mean. How it has been applied throughout the centuries of Christian history and tradition leaves a lot to be desired. The prayer that Jesus' followers would be one was not a statement that the Church would become one gigantic, conservative, political super power. Yet, that is one of the many implications of Roman Catholicism and other Christian denominations, including the Anglican Communion. That oneness somehow suggests Christianity to be a religion of supercessionism so that all other religions, sexual orientations, races, genders, gender identities/expressions, languages, codes of behavior/thinking and communicating must all be determined by the Christian Church. 

In his book: Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, Rev. Gray Temple wrote these words:

I can't end (* that is the chapter on Scripture), without lodging a final plea in connection with the Bible.  If we love the Bible and read it faithfully and respectfully, we should consider taking an interest in the matters that interested the biblical writers. For many centuries the church and the world have asked of the Bible questions in which it takes little apparent interest.  There are many lesser examples that any of us could readily supply. Most of us would think of the attempt by Fundamentalists to extract cosmological and geological data from Genesis as comically futile--if it did not infiltrate our school curricula.

But that's minor compared to the really big wrong turn the church took with the Bible in the period beginning with Constantine and peaking in the Reformation. The church turned away from the topics the Bible treats so passionately in order to press the Bible into service answering a question nobody in the Bible apparently ever thought of. That new, nonbiblical question is, "How shall a soul hopelessly mired in sin dare to stand before a righteously angry God?"  And the standard reply, strung together from verses originally devoted to other subjects, has been, "Christ shed his blood for me."  Interest in that question has diverted our attention from two related topics about which the Old and New Testaments are centrally concerned.  The first and deepest is is nothing less that the utter transformation of persons, communities, and whole societies here and now.  And the related interest, reaching its peak expression in the career and teaching of our Lord and the writings of St. Paul is the categorical rejection of dominance, endured or exercised in any human transaction whatever.

What the Bible covets for each and all of us is the breath-taking inrush of God's very presence when we find ourselves in a new unity with persons we had previously feared, resented, or despised.  But when the Holy Spirit empowers us to embrace our Lord's counsel about not pushing others around, we find ourselves with tear-filled eyes surveying a roomful of people we realize we want to live to serve and whom we'd gladly die to preserve.  That was the exhilaration of the Selma Bridge for all its danger and the Lincoln Memorial for all its crowding as Dr. King spoke of his dream.  Even Gandhi the pacifist recognized that as the enviable grace available to soldiers in arms. It is the impact Jesus had on thousands on grassy hillsides. It is the quality of community life that Paul talks about so much more than he mentioned justification by grace through faith. (Pages 96-97).

What Canon Temple writes is about how Christians have sold the soul of the Church by being concerned about doctrine and using fear and intimidation to build not the Body of Christ, but a socialistic, political super power.  Christianity is not a religion of dictatorship or of doctrinal certainty.  It is a oneness in the life of Jesus who loved the homeless, the outcast, those who are sick, lonely and without someone to love them.  The oneness that Jesus prays for is a oneness that will look past theological and dogmatic differences and see the people in the here and now who need God's message of love, forgiveness, inclusion and justice for all people. A oneness that is not based on racism, sexism, heterosexism, or cultural, religious and politically based bigotry. A oneness where corporate greed for the purpose of dominating the middle class and poor into non-existence is universally condemned, because the lives of individual people are more important that billions of dollars in profits. A oneness that is prepared to reach out to LGBT individuals to achieve equality in marriage, employment, personal and public safety, and some kind of stability of life.

As we prepare to celebrate our Mother the Holy Spirit's empowerment of the Church next Sunday at Pentecost, perhaps we can spend some time in prayer and discernment about what role she might be calling Christians to play in the missionary work of justice in our world.  It would be so stunning if Christians would begin taking an interest in tearing down the walls that have been built up by centuries of prejudice, violence and document writing all for the purpose of seeing who the Church should exclude from the Body of Christ.  Christians could spark a fire of compassion and transformation if we would cooperate with the Holy Spirit, by allowing her grace and beauty to help us learn to work in community with other religions, cultures, sexual and gender diversity to heal the world.  The tongues of the fire of the Spirit are looking to ignite with in us a concern for those marginalized by the Church and society so that all are valued and respected.

That I do believe is the oneness that Jesus prayed then and prays even now for all of us to share with the world around us.

Prayers

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Collect for the Seventh Sunday of Easter, Book of Common Prayer, page 226).

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).


God 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).