Fifth Sunday of Easter: Love Unites Us to the Vine

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 8: 26-40 (NRSV)

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearer,

so he does not open his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Psalm 22: 24-30 (BCP, p. 612)




1 John 4: 7-21 (NRSV)

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

John 15: 1-8 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Blog Reflection

The Easter Season brings us an interesting turn of events.  Today we read about the work of Philip sharing the Gospel with a eunuch (the gay men of that time), the love of God in 1 John, and the vine and the branches in John's Gospel.  There is a lot for us to consider here.

If we as Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the prophesies of the Hebrew Scriptures, then among them would be Isaiah 56: 2-5.

Happy is the mortal who does this,
   the one who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,
   and refrains from doing any evil.

Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
   ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’;
and do not let the eunuch say,
   ‘I am just a dry tree.’
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
   who choose the things that please me
   and hold fast my covenant,
I will give, in my house and within my walls,
   a monument and a name
   better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
   that shall not be cut off.

This would mean that eunuch was someone cut off from worshiping in the House of the Lord was now to be included.  The eunuch whom Philip meets and answers the questions of, is someone who would have experienced exclusion from the worshiping communities.  When Philip proclaims Jesus to be the one that the eunuch is reading about, Philip does not ask him to renounce who he is.  He calls him to repentance and forgiveness of his sins.  Philip baptized the eunuch without requiring him to become any different than he already was, except that  his life was without a Savior.  The eunuch remained such after his baptism, only now he could live his life in the knowledge that he had been redeemed by Christ.  The eunuch received the promise that was foretold him in Isaiah 56: 2-5.  

The writer of 1 John tells us that God is love.  We are told that the love of God and love of our neighbor are inseparable.  To say we love God while hating a sister or brother makes us liars.  God's love is authenticated when we love those who are marginalized and experience oppression and deprivation.  Loving others whom we do see, is a revelation of the love of God whom we cannot see.   Love is seen with the eyes of the body, heart and soul.  As human beings, even people of faith who do not live by sight alone, we tend to believe in something when we are touched by our senses.  Even if it is something we cannot physically handle.  When we can feel love moving our hearts through someone's kind gesture or support of inclusion and equality for all people, the love of God becomes knowable, because it has been experienced.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people along with many others who are considered "unacceptable" by the Church and society are like the eunuchs of our time.  They have been separated and told that there is no place for them either in church ministry or even in civil life.  Whole lists of criteria are created to find a reason to exclude someone.  Many parts of that set of standards are based on false information that leads to negative stereotypes.  The list becomes very useful, when someone's ways of behavior, expression or appearance just doesn't quite match what we think they should be.  Excluding people like this flies in the face of what we are told in both Acts and 1 John today. 

Our Gospel reading gives another look at others, this time through the words of Jesus as written by the author of John.  Jesus describes himself as the vine, and those who follow him to be the branches.   We bear good fruit when we abide in Jesus, because apart from him we can do nothing. 

The set of discourses found from John 13-17 have become part of the "weapons of mass destruction" on the part of Christians.  Jesus' proclamation of himself as the "way, truth and life" in John 14: 6 have become the hallmark Bible passage used by evangelists working to convert individuals from other religious traditions, sexual orientations and/or gender expressions etc for centuries.  The Gospel for today about the vine and the branches are among such that are used.   It is important to note that these writings are most likely not directly from John the Apostle and Evangelist.  They are part of a collection of writings by many from the Johannine communities into which many of them would have inserted their interpretations of what they understood.  They may very well have not been word for word what John would have said or written.  Those transcribing would have been a part of the communities that were experiencing a lot of persecution by Jewish people and the Roman Empire for exercising their faith.  What has been left to us in these Gospel writings, may be insertions and not necessarily literal words from Jesus or John for that matter.

The origin of these texts means one thing, while the truths contained in them have something to say to us, then and now. 

If we understand Jesus as the vine and God as the vinegrower, then we can also comprehend that our diverse ways of being, loving, believing, etc are not barriers for God to reach out to others through us.  That is, unless we allow ourselves to become those "fruitless branches" by way of our own prejudices.   We can render ourselves blind to others who worship and live within our communities.  Even those of other faiths and philosophies.  Yet, when we witness the actions of others who are different from ourselves, while they seek the common good of others through whatever means they use, we can read the Gospel through them.  Just as we can see God working in others who are different from ourselves, so we ought to give witness to the loving redemption of God in Jesus Christ through being inclusive and sharing of ourselves with everyone regardless of our diversity.  A hand and heart that reaches out to seek justice and equality for all people, is God acting and working, even if they do not pray the same creed as we do.   The desire to do good things for the benefit of others is in and of itself, something that comes from God.  Because without God: "you can do nothing."  So it is with all of us. We too, can reach out to receive, love and reconcile others to their communities and God, only so long as we who believe and pray to Jesus remain in him as we do the work.

As we continue through the Easter Season with only a week and a half to Ascension, and then ten days until Pentecost, we might want to spend some time praying and thinking about our relationship to the vine as well as other branches in our communities.  The Risen Christ is alive in our work for inclusion, equality and justice.  We have the extravagant love of God to help us to love those we see and touch within our own churches, neighborhoods and so forth.  It is a good thing to be about the ministry of hospitality and reconciliation.  Even if other branches do not share our view of the who the vine is.  All of us can bear fruit of some kind.


Prayers

Almighty god, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant
us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way,
the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his
steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ
your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Fifth Sunday of Easter, Book of Common Prayer, p. 225).


Gracious Father, we pray for they 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 thy Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).


Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so
move every human heart [and especially the hearts of the
people of this land], 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, p. 823).

 

James Theodore Holly: First African American Episcopal Bishop of Haiti

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 8:26-39 (NRSV)

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:

"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and like a lamb silent before its shearer,

so he does not open his mouth.

In his humiliation justice was denied him.

Who can describe his generation?

For his life is taken away from the earth."

The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

John 4:31-38 (NRSV)

 

The disciples were urging Jesus, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, `Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, `One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

Blog Reflection

The Psalm for today's commemoration is Psalm 86 found on page 710 in The Book of Common Prayer.  It begins with verse 11.

Teach me your way, O LORD,
and I will walk in your truth;
  knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.

When we ask God to teach us God's way, what exactly are we requesting?  Are we asking that God show us the way in which we think is the way of God?  Or, are we open to being shown a new what God's way might be?

As I read with interest the short biography of Bishop James Theodore Holly as I am also reflecting on what is going on around us with regards to racism, I think we would all do well to reflect on the question I have asked above.  Particularly during Lent. 

Over this past week, a grave injustice has taken place with the horrendous rhetoric spoken by certain mindless individuals, about the Late Professor Derrick Bell of Harvard University.   Last night on the Ed Show, his wife Janet Dewart Bell was interviewed.  She was courageous in her comments.  She defended the legacy of her husband as an American who served his country in so many ways.  She remarked that if Professor Derrick Bell were alive today, he would be standing with Sandra Fluke and women on the issue of contraception and their reproductive rights.

Bishop James Theodore Holly was an individual who faced the lions jaws of racism in the Church and society.  He was the first African American Bishop to be ordained to the office in the Episcopal Church. He was the first Bishop of Haiti.  He served as one, who in the face of prejudice and violence towards people of color, with the witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by his courage and dedication as an Apostle to the people of Haiti.  He had the privilege of participating in the Lambeth Conference as the first Black Bishop to do so.  He also preached at Westminster Abbey in the year 1878.  A difficult and dangerous time, but he accomplished these things as one open to the movement of God's grace in his heart and life.

Our reading from Acts today is a story about Philip's encounter with the eunuch in Ethiopia.  Eunuch's were the gay men of the Biblical times.  Notice here, that Philip made no attempt to convert him away from being gay.  He just baptized him and made him part of God's holy people.   The most important part of the relationship between Philip and the eunuch was how the Christian Faith came to live between these two individuals.  Looking beyond time and culture, Philip led the eunuch as he was into the community of God's family.

Jesus invites and calls on all of us to be part of the work of laboring for the reign of God.  He reminds us in today's Gospel that we often reap from what we ourselves did not sow.  We benefit from what others have done before us.  Those who took the step of Faith to challenge the status quo with regards to people's perceptions of people who were different from themselves, are those who today remind us that this is part of the Gospel call to discipleship and evangelization. 

The Gospel moves our hearts and minds to love others as Christ loved us, and gave himself for us.  We must be willing to extend our hands of friendship through hospitality and the ministry of reconciliation among those who are oppressed and violated from the stand point of who they are.  Children of God, created in God's image and likeness with the hope of God's redemption through Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.  It is by our openness to the movement of the Holy Spirit who continues to "lead us into all truth" (John 16: 13), that we will receive that grace that guides us out of the darkness of our own prejudices, into the authentic light of holy and life-giving relationships with others.   

Lent still has three weeks left as we journey towards Holy Week and Easter Day.  In our prayers, fasting and acts of self-denial, we are seeking God's movement in our hearts and minds.  With all the noise of the world around us, in politics, news, and the rush of day in and day out activities, we are asked to pause and reflect on God's will for our lives.  How are we responding to God's gracious invitation to be open to the Holy Spirit's movement with in our souls?  What are we willing to do, to show our gratitude to Almighty God as we journey towards the resurrection?  

God is challenging us to do more than adjust our attitudes and thinking.  The Holy Spirit of God is moving upon us to reach out beyond ourselves, beyond our fears and issues, to become instruments of God's healing and mercy in a world where violence and hate are all too much of a reality of life. We are being inspired to be the change that we so often pray for. By going to the Cross and dying to our selfishness and sinfulness, and rising anew on Easter Day as people who have not only read about the resurrection, but are actively living it's meaning in our every day lives.


Prayers

Most gracious God, by the calling of your servant James Theodore Holly you gave us our first bishop of African American heritage. In his quest for life and freedom, he led your people from bondage into a new land and established the Church in Haiti. Grant that, inspired by his testimony, we may overcome our prejudice and honor those whom you call from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for James Theodore Holly. Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 271).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have
made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and
make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily
lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission
and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen. (Collect for Ash Wednesday.  Book of Common Prayer, p. 217)


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).

Holy Cross Day: Jesus Includes Lifting LGBT People To Himself

Scriptural Basis

John 12:31-36a (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."

Blog Reflection

As Christians we know the Cross as the universal symbol of our religion.  Of all the subjects written about in the history of the Christian Church the mystery of what the Cross means is the subject of books, prayers and whole cultures for centuries.

One such image of the Cross that has come to mean a lot for many Americans, is this image of the Cross made out of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
 
What does the Cross mean that Jesus gave his life on it?  What does the Cross teach us about the real world we live in?  What should our response be to what the Cross has come to mean in our own lives?   These and many questions continue to be asked among Christians.

However, the question that really needs to be asked in our time is what the Cross does not mean.

The Cross does not mean that Christianity supercedes all other religions in the world.

The Cross does not mean that all Christians must conform to one understanding only of the Christian faith.

The Cross really is not a peace symbol.  A tremendous act of violence took place there. Not only for Jesus, but for many people who were oppressed by the Roman Empire.  Crucifixion was an act of capital punishment, but does not make capital punishment an acceptable measure for dealing with crime.

The Cross is not an excuse for violence, prejudice and the dehumanization of other peoples, races, classes, religions, philosophies, cultures, sexual orientations, genders, gender identities and/or expressions.

The Cross does not condone the denial of health care to millions of sick and suffering people all across America.  Nor does the Cross condone people shouting: "Yeah, let them die" when asked if it is okay to tell a 30 year man that he will have no health care while in a coma, because he did not buy his own during a Presidential debate.

Nor does the Cross compliment an outrageous Texas Judicial ruling that the husband of a same-sex couple may not leave his children with his husband because he is "not related."

In the Gospel narrative chosen for this holy day in our Church Tradition, Jesus is talking about throwing down the evil powers of this world, by drawing all to himself.  Jesus draws all to himself in his total act of self-giving love that he exercised not only by the act of allowing himself to die on the Cross. Jesus also demonstrated a life of selfless and sacrificial love by what he did through out his life.   Jesus healed the sick.  Raised the dead.  Welcomed strangers from places outside of his own community, who had been marginalized.  Jesus made deep friendships with women and honored their faith and courage.   Jesus healed the servant and the same sex partner of the Roman Centurion (see Mt. 8:5-13) who would later stand by the Cross and acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God.  Jesus fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah 56: 3-5 by recognizing the eunuchs (the gay men) of his time. (See Mt. 19: 10-12).

God desires to draw all people to God's Self, not as others would like them to be, but as they are.  Different ways of living and/or behaving do not prevent God from drawing such people to God's Self.  Sexual orientation does not prohibit God from drawing a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or questioning person to God's Self unless they change.  The decision of two people of the same-gender joining their hearts and lives together in marriage does not keep God from gathering them to God's heart and celebrating their love and the holiness of their life together.


All too often the Cross has been the weapon of choice along with the Bible, to become agents of division among diverse people.  Church leaders, vestries, conferences and ministers can find every use of the Cross to exclude people, but we do not see them using the Cross as the reason every person must be included.

In our Gospel today, Jesus sees his work and mission as one of drawing all to himself.  To do something that changes cultures of hostility, oppression and darkness.  Jesus wants to draw all to himself so that all may know that God loves everyone unconditionally and all-inclusively.


Prayers

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Collect for Holy Cross Day, Book of Common Prayer, page 244).

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


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. (Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Welcoming LGBTQ People: A Part of Apostolic History that Church Tradition has Forgotten.

Acts 8: 26- 40 (NRSV)

Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it."  So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
 
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth."
 
The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?" He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.  When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

What is this?  A story about an Apostle of the early Church associating with a eunuch?  A (gulp) homosexual? Not only a gay person, but a gay person from Ethiopia.  This just cannot be!  There it is right in the Acts of the Apostles.  A narrative about Philip the Apostle sharing the Gospel with a eunuch who would have been someone who is gay in Biblical times.  Keep in mind that the age in which the Bible was written the words heterosexual and homosexual were not part of the vocabulary of the day.  Sexuality was about the strong vs the weak.  Gray Temple addresses this at length in his book Gay Unions In Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason.  The Bible does tell us a lot about what sexuality was like in the time in which it was written.  

Jesus spoke of the eunuch in Matthew chapter 19.  "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given.  For there are eunuchs who have been made so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.  Let anyone accept this who can." (Mt. 19: 11-12).   The raising up of the eunuchs was prophesied about in Isaiah 56: 4-5 in verse 5 the Prophet says:  "I (the LORD) will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off."    Such implies that a homosexual individual in Biblical times who may have been cut off from the community at one point, when the Messiah comes will be given an everlasting name and place within the reign of God.  


Our conservative Christian relatives within Catholicism, Protestantism and even some in our own Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion continue to work to say that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and queer people should be excluded from receiving Holy Communion, not allowed to participate in ordained ministry, local church service, and not allowed to have marriage equality in the Church or through the Government or Court system.  They continue to base their arguments on the Bible as they try to promote it as the "infallible Word of God."  Episcopalians believe in the importance of Scripture, but we also cling to Tradition and Reason within which is our human experience.  Archbishop Tutu so correctly stated in the movie For the Bible Tells Me So: "The Bible is the word of God through the words of human beings speaking in the idiom of their time.  The richness of the Bible comes from the fact that we don't take it literally so, as if it were dictated from God."  Bishop Gene Robinson in his book In the Eye of the Storm reminds us that the Word of God is Jesus Christ.  "To elevate the words of Scripture to a place higher than the revealed Word of God in Jesus Christ is an act of idolatry." (Page 22).  Our Church Tradition while it has yielded so many rich treasures is also full of political gains for some and complete losses for others.  It is out of Tradition that Christianity developed the attitude of Supersessionism that is part of the debate over the creation of an Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City. 


Our human reason has been teaching us that LGBTQ people are not diseased nor intrinsically disordered folks just because of our sexual orientation and/or gender expression/identity.  We are individuals seeking our way through this world just as those who are heterosexual or of one gender expression/identity.  We come with our sinfulness, yes, but our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expressions are morally neutral.  When we exercise our sexual orientation within loving, committed and meaningful relationships we are honoring the gifts that God has so wonderfully bestowed on us.  God also honors our loving relationships.  


Notice in today's reading from Acts that Philip the Apostle does not tell the eunuch that he must stop being a eunuch in order to be baptized and become part of the early Church.  Had there been a commandment or moral problem with homosexuality in the time of the early Church, Philip the Apostle would have most certainly addressed the issue and we would be reading about it.  Just as Jesus most certainly would have addressed the homosexual relationship between the Centurion and his slave whom Jesus healed. However as we read through Matthew 8: 5-13 and Luke 7: 1-10 we do not read that Jesus even mentions or is concerned about the relationship between the Centurion and his sexual slave.  Those who attempt to suggest that the Centurion not be given room with Israel's Messiah are told that everyone is welcome to the Father's table.   In the Acts of the Apostles, Philip wants to tell this questioning eunuch about Jesus and baptize him so he can participate in the Christian faith.  It often seems that those who are trying to use the Bible and the Christian Tradition to say that LGBTQ people should be excluded from equality in the Church and society are not paying attention to what our history has really taught us.


Why are Christians so wound up about who should be part of the Church and who should not because of our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression because of erroneous interpretations of the Bible?  A great writer in the Huffington Post writes in detail about what sexuality is and is not in the Bible.  The author Rita Nakashima wrote the article in response to what many right wing Christians are writing about Judge Walker's ruling on the Prop 8 case.  


Instead of using the Bible, Tradition and not paying attention to reason in order to attempt to exclude people from the Church, why are we not rushing to find ways to include everyone?  If we truly believe in the unconditional and all inclusive love of God, why are Christians misusing the Bible, Church Tradition and ill mannered reason to deceive people into thinking that LGBTQ people and many races, genders, classes etc are not wanted or desired by God?  It seems that the energy of the Christian Church that is so needed to help people know God's wonderful and extravagant love, is being spent on hate, division, violence and cruelty.  Even the Apostles of the early church had to learn to accept diversity.  When will the Church of today catch up with the lessons of our history?

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of this redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 15, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).

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

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