Absalom Jones: Liberty to the Captives Out of Love for Christ

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 61: 1-4 (NRSV)

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and release to the prisoners;

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to provide for those who mourn in Zion--

to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

John 15:12-15 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father."

Blog Reflection

This particular commemoration is so appropriate during Black History Month.  It takes us back to the struggle of African Americans for freedom from oppression.   This feast day also takes us into the history of the Christian Church's oppression by being enslaved ourselves to prejudice.

In the progression of history we have on many occasions found that those being oppressed are often the best to lead humankind towards a renewed understanding of our sisters and brothers.   Those who have faced the greatest injustices are those who show us the path toward justice and true freedom.  It is through the devotion of those thought of and treated as second class citizens, that we come to a better understanding of our own role in making the Church and the world a better place for all. This truth in no way justifies the use of violence and oppression towards any person or group of people.  However, it does teach us that God can use any situation and bring about a transformation when we allow the Gospel to be our teacher and guide.

The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures is the same one that Jesus used at his inaugural address in Luke 4: 14-19.  When Jesus proclaims himself as the fulfillment of this prophecy from Isaiah, he suddenly finds himself as the oppressed as people who "like things the way they were" are not open to change.  Jesus is the One whom God sent to proclaim release to the captives. Yet, he himself discovers that he becomes captive to others.  All through Jesus' public ministry as he heals the sick on the Sabbath, raises the dead, gives sight to the blind in our Gospel Reading for today's Office in John 9: 1-17, Jesus is regularly scoffed at, rejected, called a liar, argued with, called a demon just for being the revelation of God.  When we finally get to the night before Jesus is about to give his life over to the passion and death of the Cross, it is Jesus, the oppressed who tells those who follow him to "love one another as I have loved  you".

Absalom Jones, who was enslaved, became a hope for freedom and democracy for others like himself.  It is quite the embarrasing thing for Absalom to have to "petition" to be recognized as a Lay minister, who eventually became a Deacon and a Priest, because there was not yet room made for African American's to be accepted into the public ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church.  Yet, he followed the requirement of the day, as unjust as it was, and from there, "he denounced slavery, and warned the oppressors to 'clean their hands of slaves.'  To him, God was the Father, who always acted "on behalf of the oppressed and distressed" (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 220).

 I would suggest that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people are in the same position as Absalom, and yet very different. Sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression is found in every religion, culture, race and people. Yet, even among diverse races, it is rejected by an ignorance that feeds fear and violence, used in the Name of Scripture, just as it was for African Americans, women, other religions and cultures.  In the past number of years, we have seen the page on discrimination against sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression changing even in the Church.  Surely as has been the case in every age, as the oppressed struggle for freedom, it is those who have been oppressed in the past, who become the oppressors.  In addition, Scriptures and religious principles are used to justify cruelty that is most vicious, even though it is totally "contrary to the heart of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Archbishop Desmond Tutu; For the Bible Tells Me So).

St. Benedict taught in his Rule to prefer nothing whatsoever to Christ.  As Christ was about freedom from oppression and the giving of ourselves out of love for those who are discriminated against, so that they may be fully included, so should the Church.   Christians who value what Jesus Christ means to us and hope to be good examples of the one who called us to love one another as Christ loves us, need to be about the work of genuine hospitality and reconciliation.


Prayers

Set us free, heavenly Father, from every bond of prejudice and fear; that, honoring the steadfast courage of your servant Absalom Jones, we may show forth in our lives the reconciling love and true freedom of the children of God, which you have given us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Absalom Jones; Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 221).


O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you:
Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness
we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your
grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please
you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.  (Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, p. 216).


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, p. 815).

The Repeal of DADT: A Victory for Cross Carriers

Scriptural Basis

Mark 8:34-38 (NRSV)

Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Blog Reflection

I am writing this blog at the end of the first day that Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been officially repealed. At the stroke of 12:01am today the policy that has resulted in over 14,000 individuals being discharged from America's Military for being LGBT has ended.  Let the Church now say Amen!

As I finally get the chance to write about this, I was met with the reality that today's commemoration is for Martyrs.  More specifically John Coleridge Patteson.  Bishop Patteson and his companions were martyred in Melanasia for attempting to protect the natives of that land from slave traders.  In their passion for justice and seeking good, they gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives.

Many LGBT service members who faced discharge because of their sexual orientation know what it is to face injustice and be on the losing side.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell gave life to witch hunts in the military to dismiss LGBT women and men from service.  Many of them bravely came out only to be discharged.  Many of them experienced discrimination from defending the freedoms of the country that was now telling them that because of who they are, they can no longer serve.

Their sacrifices and devotion to speaking out led to this day.  The determination of the women and men of our armed forces who are LGBT and wanting to serve openly with dedication to the country they love, set the movement for equality and justice so that one day this day might come.

Doing the work of justice and equality is about carrying the cross.  It is about facing injustice as it is, not as we would like it to be.  The work calls us to forsake a life of comfort, and to confront the reality of the injustice and violence of discrimination so as to create an atmosphere of change through self-giving love.

The Martyrs that we commemorate today, along with many of them faced the injustices and evils only to lose a lot of what they loved, so that they may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, teach those wanting to learn and give life where there was death.  In so doing, they often gave up being popular and/or some level of personal prestige.  The issue was to serve those less fortunate that themselves, even to the point of death, so as to dedicate their lives to the cause of serving others.

The suffering on a personal level by many discharged members of the Military under DADT helped them tell their stories to those who would listen and write them down.  Though the policy led to much oppression for so many dedicated people, the dedication of the LGBT communities along with the women and men in our Military shows that when people come together to call for justice and equality, through sacrifice of time, talent and treasure, we can all do wonderful things.

This day is a victory for the Cross.  It shows that out of death there can be life.  Out of horrible defeat, there can come a victorious success. 

Today means that there is no reason to scape goat anyone because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, language, health status, wealth status, ability to work or inability, and make them a target for bigotry and violence.  The Cross and our Baptismal Vows as Episcopalians charges us with the responsibility to "strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human person." (BCP. Page 294). This includes LGBT people including those who wish to serve openly in the United States Military. 

God calls on all of us who claim to be Christian to take up our Cross and follow Jesus, by seeking justice for the oppressed and vulnerable.  The Cross calls us to self-less self giving love, to serve those who are different from ourselves.

As Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed today, may we all Christians say "We adore you, O Christ and we bless you, because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world."  Amen.


Prayers,

Almighty God, you called your faithful servant John Coleridge Patteson and his companions to be witnesses and martyrs in the islands of Melanesia, and by their labors and sufferings raised up a people for your own possession: Pour out your Holy Spirit upon your Church in every land, that by the service and sacrifice of many, your holy Name may be glorified and your kingdom enlarged; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 595).

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Those in the Armed Forces of our Country, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).

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).

Commissioned To Labor for Peace

Luke 10:1-9 (NRSV)

The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

If only Christians could know for ourselves that Jesus commissions us to labor to bring greater peace in our world, what a different Church and world we would have.  Here is Jesus sending out seventy people and telling them to see how the harvest of opportunity is so plentiful, yet those who want to labor for community and peace are so very few.

Christianity as a religion has unfortunately for too many, become another financial enterprise with a tax exempt status.  Some of the biggest complexes in Christianity from the Vatican City State to the mega churches all over the United States.  Many of them subsidized by tax dollars, while the revenues for the guys on top turn into billion dollar profits.  Who ultimately pays the price for all of this?  The good Name that is the Person of God's Son, Jesus Christ and those for whom Jesus came to deliver not only from our personal sin.  But, also to help us see that political, social and religious marginalization of any person or group of people is just not at all the will of God.  As long as the message against the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people, women and any one else that makes conservative Christians get shivers up their spines, earns someone a billion dollars in revenue, I am afraid the real message of the Gospel will get lost in the mix.


We commemorate today Channing Moore Williams a man born in Richmond, Virginia in 1829 who after studying for the Priesthood eventually became a missionary and Bishop to the folks in China and Japan.  The message of the peace that Jesus Christ brings into a persons heart and life meant so much to Channing Moore Williams that he couldn't keep it all for himself.  He had to share it with people in a foreign land.  Bringing the peace of Jesus Christ to other people is what the Gospel is really about.  Building good communities where people can worship, pray and help others better understand the goodness of God in others around them is what being a Christian is all about.  It does not give us a monopoly on the truth so as to plunder other civilizations with no regard for a people's culture or even their own religions.   But providing a good example, should people be looking to find their way to God through Christianity is not a bad way of doing things.

As we continue on our journey of Advent we are also reminded that preparing for the coming of Christ means being a laborer to bring peace.  It means not always doing the most popular things.  Standing up for the rights and inclusion of LGBT people means that many well meaning Christians will not understand or like what we are doing.  But, we can labor as LGBT Christians by telling our stories of how we found God in spite of all of the opposition of Christianists and learned to be examples of compassion and inclusive love and service to those separated by religious, social and political corruption.  That we are individuals who care that the unemployed of our Country receive their benefits to keep from being homeless or without food, and utilities to keep them well.  That we care about people having health care, jobs, equal rights and our elderly having their medicare and social security.  We speak up for immigrants to be able to find jobs, housing and opportunities to become citizens of our great nation of immigrants of all kinds.  That we discourage violence and cruelty towards people because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender diversity, language, challenges, cultural practices and so forth.   Being a laborer for the peace of Jesus Christ means recognizing that the Bible is not God's penal code, but the story of the truths about how much God loves all of God's people.  


May we like Channing Moore Williams be among the laborers that Christ commissions to help bring peace to a violent and dark world.

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, page 211).

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Channing Moore Williams, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of China and Japan. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of you kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Channing Moore Williams, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 97).

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one God, to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever. Amen. (Prayer for Peace, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).

 

St. Clement of Rome: May We Always Be Welcoming and Inclusive

Luke 6:37-45 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

He also told them a parable: "Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, `Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks."

This Gospel contains some words that even those who may not read the Bible regularly know about.  "Judge not, lest you be judged."  Whenever a Church official fails to live up to someone's expectations it is not uncommon to hear: "The blind leading the blind."  

I think if all of us are honest with God, others and ourselves we would have to admit that we all judge and that we have visual challenges that make it difficult for us to see things clear and others that are not so clear.  Even someone who tells someone else not to judge is making a rash judgment just in the remark itself.  The old phrase that when we point one finger outward, we have three more pointing right back at ourselves.  


We have all heard the words: "Actions speak louder than words."  There is much truth to that.  However, I am of the opinion that there are actions already in progress with the words we speak.  This is most notable in politics.  As we are winding down the wire to what will hopefully be the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell we see Senator John McCain working to exploit the Military's Study for his own benefit, or even dismiss the entire thing.  Republicans telling the American Public that extending the Bush Tax Cuts on the wealthiest Americans will somehow benefit middle class Americans who have been out of work even while the Bush Tax Cuts have been in existence.   Arizona claims their immigration law is to protect America's borders when really it is to help the privatized prison system and Arizona's Governor to cash in on a huge monetary profit at the expense of helpless individuals who have nothing but violence to return home to and even more racial violence to face here in America.  

In the Anglican Communion we are debating the Anglican Covenant which seems to be more about shutting down the discussion of ordaining women and ordaining LGBT persons as Bishops and/or allowing us to create Liturgies to bless and celebrate same-sex relationships.  While trying to show what appears to be a wolf in sheeps clothing, it is women and LGBT people who could once again be considered expendable while men and heterosexuals benefit. It is easy to talk about who or what to judge when you are someone benefiting at someone else's expense.   It is easy to talk about the blind leading the blind, when it is those blinded by discrimination who get to make decisions about those with whom they discriminate.  


This Gospel is not totally sold to all of the negatives that we can derive.  Jesus is telling us that we all have the potential for the greater good of all of God's people.  Jesus talks about the relation of fruit from the tree.   The tree that Christians are most associated is the tree of the cross.  At the cross where Jesus died for all of us, there is no excuse for scapegoating people.  At the cross, prejudice and violence find their match as God shows God's mysterious and unconditional love for all of humankind.  This world with it's evil of judgments based on race, skin color, cultural background, sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, religion/spirituality, gender and so on is met and called to account for all its cruelties by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In the Paschal Mystery (the death, resurrection, ascension and Pentecost) God has sought out the lost, broken, wounded, marginalized and discriminated and named all of God's people as God's beloved with whom God is well-pleased.   When Christ established the Church through the Holy Spirit, it was called to be the message of God's salvation for all the world out of God's extravagant love.  Not God's most fearful condemnation.   A good reading of Romans 8 will explain what I mean here.

Today the Episcopal Church commemorates the third Bishop of Rome, Clement.   Clement was a disciple of the Apostles who carried on their work.  Through the work of Clement the work that was begun by the Apostles began to bear fruit as the celebration of the Sacraments along with the ordination of Bishops and Deacons was begun.  Unfortunately the first and second letters to Corinth that Clement wrote were lost and did not reappear until 1628 long after the Canon of Scriptures was established.


Quoting from Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints on page 698 Clement wrote: 

"The apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus the Christ was sent from God.  Thus Christ is from God and the apostles from Christ.  In both instances, the orderly procedure depends on God's will.  So thereafter, when the apostles had been given their instructions, and all their doubts had been set at rest by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, they went forth in the confidence of the Holy Spirit to preach the good news of the coming of God's kingdom.  They preached in country and city, and appointed their first converts, after testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers."

As Episcopalians we understand from pages 855-856 of the Book of Common Prayer in the Outline of the Faith, that Laity, Bishops, Priests and Deacons all represent Christ and the Church.  How we represent Christ and the Church differs by what order of ministry we are in. But, we are all an order of ministry nonetheless.  By virtue of our Baptism and the vows we made and reaffirm every Easter and moment at which Baptisms are celebrated, we state the importance of our work as representing Christ and the Church.   Among the many vows of our Baptism is to "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human person." (BCP. Page 305).


If the Church today is to continue the ministry of those first Apostles, then we need to meditate perhaps on how serious we are about that.   Just as the Apostles were individuals who sometimes missed the mark, so do we.  That is why we continue to pray as we did yesterday that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth, including those things about others who are different from ourselves and how we might reach out to them with that same Spirit of love and compassion.  May we continue to pray and be open to the Holy Spirit without ceasing.

Almighty God, you chose your servant Clement of Rome to recall the Church in Corinth to obedience and stability; Grant that your Church may be grounded and settled in your truth by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; reveal to it what is not yet known; fill up what is lacking; confirm what has already been revealed; and keep it blameless in your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 699).


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)

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).

Commemoration of All Faithful Departed: All Souls. What Does Death Mean?

"In the New Testament, the word "saints" is used to describe the entire membership of the Christian community, and in the Collects for All Saints' Day the word "elect" is used in a similar sense. From very early times, however, the word "saint" came to be applied primarily to persons of heroic sanctity, whose deeds were recalled with gratitude by later generations.

Beginning in the tenth century, it became customary to set aside another day--as a sort of extension of All Saints--on which the Church remembered remembered that vast body of the faithful who, though no less members of the company of the redeemed, are unknown in the wider fellowship of the Church.  It was also a day for particular remembrance of family members and friends.

Though the observance of the day was abolished at the Reformation because of abuses connected with Masses for the dead, a renewed understanding of its meaning has led to a widespread acceptance of this commemoration among Anglicans, and to its inclusion as an optional observance in the calendar of the Episcopal Church."  (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 664).

One day as I was meditating upon the Gospel narrative of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (see John 11), I came to a new understanding about the work of Jesus.  Jesus put a name and face on those who have died.  When someone passes away, we grieve and work through the loss. But to some extent we all sort of forget about the person who died.  We may remember all of the great things (or not so great things) she or he did, but the individual is gone.  When Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb in a sense, Jesus put a name and face on those who are often forgotten as a result of death. 

We commemorate today all those who have gone before us.  We remember with love those who cared for and nurtured us.  We might remember with pain even those who died not loving us as we might have wished they did.  There are those whom we love who have died.  Others we really did not love, but who are also dead.  Whether we loved them or not, or they loved us or not their memory still lingers in our minds.  They are not so forgotten. 

Many of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer remember today those who have died as a result of HIV/AIDS.  Many partners loved their loved ones right up to their deaths.  Caring for them night and day, with every nickel and dime until they breathed their last.  Many of those people died without last rites.  Still others did. 

This year we can commemorate those young people who took their own lives because of bullying.  In their memories we strive to do all that we can to end bullying. 

Every one we remember or have forgotten is someone that God loves very much.  God loves all of us, including those who have died.  These three days of All Hallows Eve, All Saints and now All Souls are a kind of "triduum" for all of those whom God has redeemed because of God's precious love. 

We are given today an opportunity to thank God for all that the Faithful Departed that we remember have given to us as part of God's love that surrounds us on every side.  We are given a chance today to remember them with love and hope and to trust them into the loving hands of God once again.

Today is a great day to read and meditate on Wisdom 3: 1-9.

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.


In the Gospel of John 5: 24-27 we read:

Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.

"Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. "

If there is one thing we can know and believe in our Christian Faith is that death never has the last word.  Jesus does.  Because we believe that Jesus is God's perfect revelation, we trust in God to be merciful and compassionate, understanding and all loving.  Because we believe in a loving and merciful God, we also believe that God has more compassion for all God's people, than we are capable of comprehending.  We can therefore trust our faithful departed as well as ourselves into God's care.

O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for All Souls, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 665).

20th Sunday After Pentecost: National Coming Out Week. Let Us Be Thankful

Have you ever had the experience of having a problem that needs to be solved and the answer comes from the most unlikely place or person?  In the movie The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring, the Ring was picked up by "the most unlikely creature.  Bilbo Baggins of the Shire."  Later it is Frodo Baggins that takes the Ring and goes on the long journey with his friend Samwise Gamgee to destroy the Ring in the sea of fire.  Attitudes such as someone is too small, too feminine, too gay, too manly or too anything in said movies and events happen in life because of preconceived notions and stereotypes.

This upcoming weekend the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer communities celebrate National Coming Out Day.  This weeks blog writings from me will be about coming out and how we can relate coming out with our call as disciples and followers of Jesus Christ.  LGBTQ people have been experiencing some real tragedies over these past weeks.  It is time for us to begin to look at ourselves and our communities in positive ways.  We need to see the many positive ways that God views our sexual and gender diversity.

The readings for this Sunday detail for us the experiences of people that have been stereotyped and pushed aside by the communities they are in.  In the case of 2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c Naaman is told by the Prophet Elisha to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan to be cleansed of his leprosy.  Interestingly enough, the Jordan is the same river that Jesus was baptized in through which he claimed water as the means through which we would share in Christ's death and resurrection.  Naaman was cut off from his community because he was a foreigner and because he had leprosy.  How many gay and bisexual men are cut off from their home communities because of their sexual orientation, and cut off from the LGBTQ communities because they live with HIV/AIDS or any other STD for that matter?  It is a double-edged sword of stigmatization and rejection.  It really does not matter how they got the diseases or what they did or did not do.  They are still human beings with fragile hearts.   The guilt that often comes with any STD including HIV/AIDS is bad enough.  The isolation and rejection is another layer of bad icing for the cake.

As LGBTQ people, we have a blessed gift to be able to love uniquely.  Our sexual and gender diversity is our gift, not our condemnation.  Not only do our communities need to work to establish equality through the laws of our Nation, State and local Governments and churches, but also among ourselves and each other.  We all know how difficult yet wonderful coming out is.  But we also know how scary it can be.  We do the greatest damage to our communities and to ourselves when we behave carelessly without concern for those with whom we come into contact.

In the Gospel of Luke 17: 11-19, we read.

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

Here Jesus does a miraculous cure for every one.  Yet it is the foreigner who comes back to give thanks to God.  A "foreigner" can be translated in many ways.  There are those who think that LGBTQ people are the "foreigners" to the Christian Church.  Yet, when we come out and embrace the life that God has created for us to live, to love openly and freely as we are, our excitement is so great it is quite contagious.  So it is no wonder that we might find someone from some Christianist or arch-conservative Catholic group who has to be the party popper.  Yet, what is so interesting about the response of Christianists and conservative Catholics to the issue of homosexuality and transgender people, is how obsessed they are with the subject of sex.

Last March, Jason and I were in the Minnesota Senate Hearing Room for a hearing on a Marriage Equality bill.  All of the Christianists and Catholics who came forward to oppose the bill, spoke only and mostly about homosexuality.  The Senate Hearing Chairperson called them out and reminded them that the bill we were there to talk about was about marriage and giving same-sex couples the opportunity to share in that institution and that the opposition made the bill mostly about sex.

Coming out as LGBTQ people is about so much more than our sexuality.  It is about how we love other people and about who we love. Our ability to love other's in platonic and physically active ways is an expression of our thanksgiving to God for the awesome opportunity and responsibility to love another person.  Our lives and our love is an expression of God through us for every person in wonderful, holy and wholesome ways.

The healing of the lepers and the one who came back to say thank you is all of us who are LGBTQ.  When we return with the gift of our sexual and/or gender diversity to love other people, we are giving thanks and glory to God.  When through the gift of our sexuality and gender identity/expression we express sorrow and anger about the terrible events of these last two weeks and call upon churches, school boards, our Governments and all to help create safe environments we are giving thanks to God.

Our thanks expressed to God needs to be shown as we help LGBTQ youth and all within our communities know that the sacred place that is the place of intimacy,  is one that we must challenge everyone including ourselves to respect and protect from all any and all predators.  Bishop Beckwith called our attention to such in the blog I posted yesterday.   

We want to call attention to another, potentially deeper, issue here. It is the invasion of intimacy. Intimacy is a holy place within every human being; an innermost sanctuary where we develop our ultimate beliefs and values, nurture our closest relationships and maintain our deepest commitments. No one has the right to disclose that intimacy for someone else without consent. Such a violation is tantamount to the desecration of a sacred space. It is, in fact, a sacred space. It is the territory of the soul.

Technology, however, now provides tools to record, seize and disclose the most intimate matters of our lives without our consent. Identities can be stolen, hearts broken and lives shattered. Technology has placed powerful tools in human hands. Will they be used for building-up or for breaking down our neighbor? Tyler Clementi’s death certainly poses some important legal issues, but it also raises some critical moral concerns. Hubris has outstripped humility. And that is a serious problem. We can do better. We must do better, with God’s help.

In our Episcopal tradition, whenever we reaffirm our faith in worship, we are given a challenging question: “will you respect the dignity of every human being?” And we answer, “I will, with God’s help.” It is an important commitment. Whatever our religious tradition, we can agree on the need to respect one another’s dignity. With God’s help, we can stand together and stand up against bullies who would damage and destroy the lives of LGBT persons, their partners and families and friends. With God’s help, we can offer safety, support and sanctuary to all LGBT persons who are at risk. With God’s help, we can remind our society that every LGBT person is made in the image of God. The world needs our witness.

When we come out we affirm the sacred space that is in each of us where God and our souls communicate through our intimacy with God and our partner whom we love most deeply.  As Bishop Beckwith has stated, we must work towards LGBT equality so that the sacred space of LGBTQ people may be regarded as just that: sacred space.  It is the place where we and God commune, and it is there that God communes with us through committed loving relationships.  It really is not the business of any Christianist person or group or any Catholic hierarchy to be doing all they can to vandalize the sacred space that is the place of intimacy for LGBTQ people.  If we can just take seriously the opportunity and necessity of working toward that goal, we will be returning to Jesus to give thanks to God for the mighty and powerful witness of God's Holy Spirit in our lives, the Church and the world.  Amen.

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 23, Book of Common Prayer, pages 234 and 235.)

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).

O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we will be saved, in quietness and confidence will be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Quiet Confidence, Book of Common Prayer, page 832).

Our Creator beyond us,
    Yet you dwell among us,
    We praise you.
    We pray for the home of promise
        (which we've never fully known)
        as we work to be your welcome in the world.
    Grant us this day abundant life.
    And forgive us our exiling
        as we pray for the peace
        to forgive those who exile us.
    Lead us out of our need to create boundaries,
        and delight us in the diversity of life!
    For you are the Keeper of Community,
        the Source behind our deepest longing,
        and the One who provides an eternal Home.
    Amen. (Prayerfully Out in Scripture). 

The Gay Relationship Jesus Recognized and the Dead Boy He Raised Up

 Luke 7: 1-17 (NRSV)

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. ²A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. ³When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ ⁶And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave does it.’ ⁹When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.’ ¹⁰When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
11
Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. ¹²As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ ¹⁴Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ ¹⁵The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ ¹⁷This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. 

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain

Today, we see a very different picture of Jesus than the Christianists are presenting.  The Catholic church which claims to be Christ's Church from the Apostolic age does not even speak the language that Jesus is talking today.  The message of Jesus is one of acceptance, healing, reconciliation and the giving of life.   The message of the Christianists is one of rejection, wounding, injuring and killing.  

Yesterday in the Star Tribune it was reported that Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis refused Holy Communion to gay rights activists present at a Student Mass.  In today's Gospel we read the story of the Centurion with his male lover slave asking Jesus to heal the man he loves.  If Jesus had a moral problem with homosexual relationships, this would have been the moment when Jesus would have addressed it.  The Biblical writers did not have a concept known as heterosexuality and homosexuality according to the Rev. Canon Gray Temple in his book: Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason.  Given that Jesus is God's perfect revelation, he would have known about the relationship between the Centurion and his sex slave.  But Jesus did not address the relationship.  Instead, Jesus healed the boy and said that the Centurion showed more faith than almost anyone else he had known. This is the same Centurion that stood at the foot of the cross while Jesus was dying for the sins of the world.

This past weekend the Mormons, the Minnesota Family Council and Maggie Gallagher have all responded to the recent news of five LGBTQ teen suicides by denying their role in creating anti-LGBTQ environments.  Yet all three of them including Peter LaBarbera are suggesting that: "Enough is enough...No shame: HRC and other homosexual groups are exploiting the tragic suicides of sexually confused kids to attack religion."  Yet those who organize the Christianists against sexual and gender diversity have no shame in the messages they send to LGBTQ individuals who are struggling to accept who they are.


Jesus in the other part of today's Gospel gives life to a woman's son.  Jesus is reaching beyond the boundaries of his cultural norms.  According to his culture, one is not to lay hands on someone who is dead.  Jesus steps beyond the requirements of his culture to restore a life with a new sense of purpose and to give both the boy and the mother a hope that is made new again.  Jesus put a face and a name on a boy who was believed to be dead.  Even the dead are important to God.  In raising the boy from the dead, Jesus shows that God is always looking out for the outcast of society and the Church.  In God's reign there is room for everyone to find their place.  No one is asked to become someone or something that they are not in the reign of God.  The repentance that Jesus speaks of in the Gospels includes repenting of our need to exclude those different from ourselves from the house hold of faith. 


Jesus calls all of us today to see ourselves and others through God's eyes.  We are asked to listen to the Holy Spirit and she confirms for all of us that we are loved by God and that with all of God's Children God is well-pleased.  In Jesus Christ we have been redeemed because whether we are white, male, straight, employed, healthy, wealthy, able to read, speak or write in English,  or if we are none among the privileged, we have been redeemed because God first loved us. (See 1 John 4:10).  In that same fourth chapter of the first letter of John verse 16 b we read: "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and god abides in them."  Therefore because God has loved all of us, we are asked to love others, including those who are different from ourselves.  It is a difficult task. It means letting go of our comfort zones, our preconceived notions and allowing God's Holy Spirit to teach us something new about others and ourselves.

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 22, Book of Common Prayer, page 234).  

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).

What Are We Not Seeing?

John 9:1-17 (NRSV)

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.' When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some were saying, 'It is he.' Others were saying, 'No, but it is someone like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' But they kept asking him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash." Then I went and washed and received my sight.' They said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.' 

The inability to see is probably one of the most frightening challenges.  Those of us who can see with our eyes often take for granted what a great ability it is.  We can see the beauty of a clear blue sky or snow fall.   We can see the leaves changing color during the Fall.   We can see rain.  We can read blogs, newspapers, magazines, books.  No wonder a person who tragically and suddenly looses their sight experiences such hysteria.  


Yet, those who are visually challenged are inspire those of us who can see.  What visually challenged people cannot see through their eyes, they can feel through their hearts.  Some of the greatest painters are those who cannot even see the canvass in front of them, but they paint the most beautiful artwork.  One of the most beautiful stories from Little House On the Prairie was that of the visually challenged painter who struggled because her mother left her when she was about 4 years old. When her own mother sent for her, she would not go because of the anger she felt. She had not forgiven her mother.  But finally, the young daughter and her mother were left alone in the church, they told each other their stories. Suddenly as the mother felt her daughter's hair and face, the daughter realized that her mother was blind just like she was.  The tears the fell from their faces also fell from the audience that witnessed such loving forgiveness and reconciliation.  


In today's Gospel narrative the visually challenged man is believed to be blind because of something he or his parents did.  When asked: 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him." (Jn 9: 2,3).  Jesus saw in this man, not his sin, but the beauty with which God created him and that God created him for the moment when Jesus would restore his sight and God would reveal God's works through the now formerly visually challenged man.  


What are the preconceived notions we have of people who are different from us?  Can we begin to perhaps understand that our prejudices towards others are based on ignorance that gives rise to our fears, and therefore blinds us to the truth?    Can we understand that Biblical literalism is a spiritual blindness that challenges our ability to look past an individuals race,age, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression/identity, culture, class, challenge, ability to speak or write in English, employment status?  Is it possible for us to envision that each person's uniqueness is a way in which God reveals God's Self?


Because of Arizona's "Papers please" immigration law the issue of immigration has been blown up in our political and religious conversations.  People who worship in the religion of Islam want to build an Islamic Center just a few blocks from the site of the formerly standing World Trade Center.  This issue has ignited a firestorm of debate between conservative Christians and progressive Christians.  Just today it was decided by a California Appeals Court that Prop 8 supporters cannot force California's Governor or Attorney General to support Prop 8 in court.  What is really happening here?  We are not seeing that people who are not white, of a youthful age, male, heterosexual, able to speak or write in English, born in America, or Christian as individuals who are created in the image of God just as anyone else is.   We are not seeing that each person's dignity and integrity comes from God who has made each person as they are, with a purpose and a destiny that is different from every other person that God has made.  We are failing to see God's goodness in all people who are not just like us, or are what we think they should be.  When we do this kind of thing we are visually impaired to the point that we do not see that we are playing God with the quality of life for other people.  We are not loving our neighbors as ourselves.


A great Priest I know of suggests that we learn to look at ourselves and others around us through God's eyes.  Very often our difficulty in seeing others is the result of how we think God sees each one of us.  God does not look upon us as worthless sinners.  Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ all of us have been redeemed by God who loves us.  Through God's eyes each person regardless of those things that we think are different and therefore not worthy of dignity and respect, is seen and known as a wonderful and beautiful person to God.  An old hymn written by Adelaide A. Pollard contains these words.


Have thine own way, Lord!  Have thine own way!
Thou art the Potter; I am the clay!
Mould me and make me after thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.


Have thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in thy presence humbly I bow.


Now here is the irony of a hymn like this.  When we sing hymns we are praying to God.   St. Augustine said: "When we sing, we pray twice."  Yet if we are going to sing and pray twice "Have thine own way, Lord!" Then we must also be prepared that God's way and our way are most often not in tune.  That is one way to see it.  Another way to understand it, is to see that God can mold and create and redeem us however and to whatever God wishes.  Therefore a person who's skin is not white, who's gender is not male, who's age is above 50, who's sexual orientation is not heterosexual, who's gender expression/identity is not a male born and a male therefore he must be, or a woman born therefore a woman she must be,  or unable to speak or write in English, or unable to see, walk, talk, think, behave, socialize, work can very well be molded and fashioned to reveal God just as they are.  Do we ever understand that when we ask God to "wash me just now" that can also include washing away the spiritual, visual challenge of seeing that God reveals God's Self through other people who are different from ourselves?   Can we also be washed of the idea that people who are different than what the status quo says they should be, should not have their equal rights and opportunities to work, get married, live in peace with their families, themselves, their own cultures, church communities, live in their own homes, vote and have their vote matter?   When we learn to see other people as God sees them and us, then our own visual challenge can also be healed, and we can finally seek to live in a community, world and Church of loving compassion and sharing.

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 17, Book of Common Prayer, Page 233).

O God, the King eternal, who divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Renewal of Life, Book of Common Prayer, Page 99).


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).

Florence Nightingale: Nurse and Social Reformer. How are we doing Social Reform?

Matthew 25:31-46 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

"Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820.  She was trained as a nurse at Kaiserwerth (1851) and Paris in 1853 became superintendent of a hospital for invalid women in London.  In response to God's call and animated by a spirit of service, in 1854 she volunteered for duty during the Crimean War and recruited 38 nurses to join her.  With them she organized the first modern nursing service in the British field hospitals of Scutari and Balaclava.  By imposing strict discipline and high standards of sanitation she radically reduced the drastic death toll and rampart infection then typical in field hospitals.  She returned to England in 1856 and a fund of 50,000 pounds was subscribed to enable her to form an institution for the training of nurses at St. Thomas Hospital and at King's College Hospital. Her school at St. Thomas Hospital became significant in helping to elevate nursing into a profession. She devoted many years to the question of army sanitary reform, to the improvement of nursing and to public health in India.  Her main work, Notes on Nursing, 1859, went through many editions.

An Anglican, she remained committed to a personal mystical religion which sustained her through many years of poor health until her death in 1910." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 522).

Wow, what a story!  A woman who lived from 1820 to 1910 who took the bull by the horn and made reform happen.  Florence Nightingale saw important needs in front of her, and she went after those needs because it was the right thing to do.  Her faith in God and her understanding of who she was enabled her to not just be one who followed the crowd of what was popular, but made the decision to infuse society around her to make changes that would ultimately affect those who are sick or wounded in the war.  She used the talents that were given to her, invested them and returned them one hundred fold and everyone with whom she came into contact benefited in ways that could only be imagined by some. 

When those first folks at Stonewall Inn began their riot in 1969 did they ever think that we would get to a time when many States would have enacted gay rights ordinances?  Would the folks in 1969 have ever guessed we would be here in 2010 hearing Judge Walker from California last Wednesday saying that Prop 8 that banned same-sex marriages in California was "unconstitutional"?   Did they ever think we would hear today that next Wednesday, August 18th the stay against same-sex marriages in California would be lifted, and same-sex couples who love each other can become married citizens in California? 

Social reform begins with a willingness to go up against the status quo.  Being a social reformer means seeing a problem, an issue for what it is, when it is down right wrong.  Social reform starts when one person begins pulling together all kinds of people with the same concerns and begins a movement to tell the Church and society that what they are doing is wrong.  It took those first folks at Stonewall to finally say enough is enough and Harvey Milk to say enough is enough in California to begin helping to change what had been accepted at the time, to become what we see today that discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity is wrong.   We are not at the finish line by any means.  The work towards full equal protection has many more lumps and bumps before every person is truly free to pursue "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" without race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, immigration status, gender, country of origin being a "reason" to be treated as second class citizens.  This is as much the case in the Church as it is American society. 

As we see in Florence Nightingale, as in the Person of Jesus Christ, reform begins and carries on when people's hearts are moved.  Jesus Christ saw in his own time people who were going without, while others who had more than enough were ignoring God's presence in those who were of need.  In Florence Nightingale just providing good nursing care was not enough.  Florence Nightingale had to see to it that good sanitation and adequate care was given to those who were sick.  Are we satisfied with giving the poor and those on the margins of society what they need to "just get by" or does Jesus Christ in the face of the stigmatized deserve a greater quality of care?    Do we see that a Department of Defense study full of degrading questions to heterosexual soldiers about their LGBT comrades is like throwing "scraps" at those who want to serve in the US Military openly, but cannot because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell?   When Jesus Christ comes wanting to serve in the Military to fight for our freedoms, are we telling him no, because of his sexual orientation or gender identity/expression?  Do we see the face of Jesus Christ in the soldiers who are being dismissed under Don't Ask, Don't Tell?  Are we willing to fight so that Jesus Christ can serve regardless of his sexual orientation and/or gender identity? 

Your answer might come by asking the question: "we do not know Jesus' sexual orientation and/or gender identity, so when did we dismiss him under Don't Ask, Don't Tell?"   Jesus said: "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Mt 25:40). The LGBTQ person is among the members of Christ's family as much as anyone else. The immigrant that could be harmed if Congress is allowed to overturn the 14th amendment is part of Christ's family.  Those who would be harmed if Congress privatizes Social Security are members of Christ's family.  Are we concerned about members of Christ's family?  If we are concerned, what are we doing about it? 

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 14, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).

Life-giving God, you alone have power over life and death, over health and sickness: Give power, wisdom, and gentleness to those who follow the lead of Florence Nightingale, that they, bearing with them your presence, may not only heal but bless, and shine as lanterns of hope in the darkest hours of pain and fear; through Jesus Christ, the healer of body and soul, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Florence Nightingale, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 523).


Look with mercy, O God our Father, on all persons who have become ill, weak, distressed, or isolated. Provide for them homes of dignity and peace; give them understanding helpers, and the willingness to accept help; and increase their faith and their assurance of your love. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for those who need continual care, Evening Prayer, Missions of St. Claire Website).

11th Sunday After Pentecost: The Treasure of the Heart

Luke 12:32-40 (NRSV)

Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

 I remember when I used to be part of the Evangelical and more conservative side of Christianity.  I was a student at Eastern Nazarene College for six years. Almost every major sermon given in Chapel by the nationally known evangelists contained the plea for students to "give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ and make him your Lord and Savior."   From the time that I had my own conversion experience while at the Advent Christian Church in the Pines in W. Wareham, Ma all through till my Junior year of college, I had thought that was suppose to be the theme of my existence as a Christian.   One does not need to profess a Creed or believe in the basics of the Christian Faith, if one knew in their hearts and mind that Jesus died for our sins and said the sinner's prayer, Jesus was the "treasure" of the heart.  It was our solemn duty to preach the Gospel through our lives so that others would be saved.  It was like a resounding broken record.

I am very thankful for my many years in the Evangelical movement.  It did teach me a love of the Bible, hymnody.  Through the good professors at ENC I learned to play the organ well and was able to look towards a future.  As I hinted in the last paragraph, much of that started to change during my Junior year of College.  After seeing quite a bit of political corruption in a few evangelistic style churches I worked in and how damaging the Pastor was, I began to think very carefully about what the whole "Evangelical" thing really meant.  It was not until my Senior year when I took my Church History that it finally started coming to light for me.  The Evangelical message is really not the priority of all that the Christian Church is about.  It is an important part, but it is not the whole of what is imperative.  When the Christian Church fails to live out it's mission as the Community of the Holy Spirit, all of the Evangelistic preaching and sinners prayers are just hollering speeches. Among the other things I realized is that the Evangelistic message in a College atmosphere had become a coercion of young College students to personal and spiritual practices that in and of themselves can be very damaging.   Self esteem among students in that College were often very low.  There were at least six suicide attempts, one of them was sadly successful.  At one of the memorial services for the one student who committed suicide, the Chaplain actually said; "He must have been really disappointed when he saw the Lord's face."  It is very interesting to me, how some preachers think they know the heart of God better than God does. After that Memorial Service, there was one very disturbed girl who not long after made an attempt to take her own life.  Thank God, her life was spared. 

Today's Gospel is about where our treasure is, there also is our hearts.  The Christian Church is suppose to be about sharing the treasure that is the love of God in Jesus Christ.  The treasure of the Church is suppose to be shared through radical hospitality and participating in the ministry of reconciliation.  Not only reconciliation with God, but also with other parts of humankind. 

The Christian Church is about the mission of hospitality and reconciliation.  Many church communities do demonstrate hospitality and the desire to be about the work of reconciliation.  Sometimes though the Church needs to be reminded by Jesus that "no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25)  The Church continues to be divided in the depth of it's heart over the full inclusion of all individuals regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, nationality, cultural background, religion, ability/challenge, and the like.  The treasure of the Church has yet to find it's fulfillment in being a totally open and inclusive community of the Holy Spirit, and welcoming Jesus Christ in whatever way he comes to us. 

Abraham Lincoln gave his incredible House Divided Speech on June 16, 1858.  In that speech he said:

If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.

 

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

 

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.

 

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

The United States as well as the Church even today remains "a house divided against itself."  We are a nation that tolerates racial violence, rhetoric and race based political and social oppression.  Arizona's "Paper's please" immigration law is  just such an example. Now we have Republican members of the House and Senate who want to amend the 14th Amendment of our Constitution to exclude the children of citizens who were born outside our Nation, making their children ineligible for citizenship in the USA.  The United States is engaged in a war that we still today really are not winning, yet, we are still sacrificing so many of our soldiers in uniform.  While we are fighting a war in Afghanistan and the protection of our own homeland remains in question, we are still kicking out of the United States Military, open LGBT women and men through Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  In our efforts to repeal this unjust and highly prejudicial policy, the best we are able to accomplish is a "compromise" based on a study with questions that are phrased to sound as if LGBT individuals are not even human beings.  You might as well be asking the soldiers to bunk and shower with rodents or even pigs, because that is how the questions in the Military's "survey" sound.  We have yet to pass an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). 


When all is said and done, the issues and the people those issues affect are not even that important.  What matters most is a President or, US Representative or Senators political party.  Our nation needs to have a serious conversation about where the issue of racism, sexism, heterosexism, class discrimination is.  However, as long as what goes on in our Government is mostly about politics and satisfying the lobbyists and corporate interests, the discrimination and prejudice that is destroying the heart of America will continue it's relentless destruction.  People and what we need most will continue to be at the bottom of the priority list.

In the Church we are still debating the issue of whether being LGBT is a choice or it is innate.  I can speak as someone who is gay and fought myself for years over my attraction to men, even to the point of being part of an ex-gay ministry for seventeen months, that it is far from successful.  The old Evangelical and Catholic bias against homosexuality lived in me for many years.  The more I attempted to suppress it, the worse I became.  Ex-gay ministries do not change a person's sexual orientation.  The only thing ex-gay ministries succeed at is creating shame, guilt and interior hell for the person who is LGBTQ.  When that happens to someone who is LGBTQ, the worst thing happens. The individuals "treasure" becomes the LGBTQ person's despair thinking that God will never love the individual so long as one is LGBTQ or part of a loving, committed relationship.  If an individual is suppressing the deepest part of oneself to the point where despair becomes one's "treasure" because one cannot get past it, the consequences are very serious.  When the Church supports ministries that cause an individual to do that much violence to oneself, we have to ask, where is the heart and treasure of the Church? 

Over the past week since the victorious Prop 8 decision by Judge Walker in California, the violent anti-gay rhetoric coming from the Directors of Concerned Women for America, the American Family Association, the Family Research Council and the National Organization for marriage, has been nothing short of violent and cruel.   "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."   Is the hatred for LGBTQ people so bad, that violent rhetoric towards LGBTQ people who want marriage equality, has become the treasure of where the heart of Christianity is?  


When an individual who is questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression finally comes out, and in our relationship to God is honest and seeks God's help to be healed and find healthy and affirming relationships, then God the Holy Spirit actually has the opportunity to become the treasure of an LGBTQ Christian's heart.  When a questioning individual is all locked up, afraid of their family, friends, and church communities, that person is not free to find the treasure of their heart.  When the Church encourages self perpetuated violence towards an individual who is questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, the Church is driving an individual away from their treasure, where their heart can also be.  In that way, the Church is definitely not participating in the ministry of reconciliation.


There are a lot of people in this world including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and queer people who so very badly want to know that there is a God.  However, so many LGBTQ people have been discouraged to pursue a relationship with God because of how erroneously many Evangelical Christians have used the Bible to suggest that an LGBTQ person is not loved by God, unless they change their orientation or expression/identity.  And when so many LGBTQ individuals, especially youth get the message that they are just not right with God unless they become a list of acceptable criteria, it can lead to a lot of self destruction.   Again, it leads to a place where there is no treasure, and a lonely and fragile heart, cannot find it's way to God and becomes lost in despair.


The Good News is that God loves every person, including the LGBTQ person.   All honest, loving and committed relationships are honored and celebrated by God, whether the relationships are between people of the same sex or opposite sex.  When an individual finds true freedom to know themselves as LGBTQ and knows that they are loved by God, then God the Holy Spirit really does become that treasure where the heart is.  It is a place where there is no self violence or self destruction.  It is also a place where there is no prejudice towards ourselves and where prejudice towards others becomes unacceptable.  It is a place that longs to live with God forever, to thank God for the wonderful gift of being able to love in the way we were created.  It is the place where we understand that we are "God's Beloved" in whom God is well-pleased.  It is a treasure that no one can take the heart away from.  The individual will work hard so that when the Master finally comes, God will find us loving one another as the Community of the Spirit that God intended us to be.   The Paschal Mystery that we share in when we attend Mass, becomes the living reality it is meant to be.  And that is a treasure where the heart also wants to be.

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 14, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).

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).

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).