Based on Matthew 15: 21-28
This story of the Canaanite woman is very difficult to read and understand. We see a side of Jesus that we do not normally see. Jesus does not appear to be the compassionate Jesus that we witnessed with the blind man, the woman who came and wept at his feet or the woman at the well. If we read the story of Jesus' interaction with this woman, Jesus is sounding as if he is prejudiced against the Canaanite woman. Is that really what is happening? From a cultural perspective it is very possible. Though Jesus was God's perfect revelation in the human form, Jesus was human. Jesus had all human weakness. Yet, Jesus was also divine. How can the divinity of God in Jesus fail at this particular point in time when confronted by this Canaanite woman and her need? I think the answer is that the divinity of Jesus did not fail, nor did his humanity. What happened in this exchange was the culture in which Jesus existed challenged him to challenge others understanding of racial and cultural diversity. Jesus rose to the challenge and it was the woman's faith in God that persisted and ultimately gave her what she needed from God.
This is another example of how God does not want to let us be complacent about where we are. God does not want to leave us be and let us become stagnant in our relationship with God and others. We all get just a little too comfortable in our relationships and even our prejudices. Even minority groups can find themselves facing the very attitudes in themselves that they object to.
I was particularly amazed when I was coming out as a man who is gay with how many Caucasian gay men around me were affected by attitudes of racism. One in particular told me about how he protested the idea of African American people advancing in business and politics. My jaw just about broke as it hit the floor. Yet, I have to be honest, I was raised by a very prejudiced father. I would often be horrified when as a child I would go with my father on Saturday afternoons to my uncles garage and hear stories of my father and his brothers beating up African American boys after school on many days. What was equally disturbing is how much enjoyment my father and his brothers often got out of those conversations. When I first got to the Twin Cities I just could not wrap my mind around the idea of why would there need to be a separate Pride for black people. Why can't all LGBT individuals celebrate the same Pride celebration? Doesn't this idea fly in direct contradiction to the bumper sticker that reads: "Diversity is our strength?"
Our problem is we so often cannot look past our own pride and prejudice (and I know those two words are a famous book and movie, but that's not where I am going) to the point of realizing that deep within all of us, there is someone we do not accept, love or want to help. We are too wound up in ourselves and our inferiority. To compromise ourselves beyond where we are can cause us too much difficulty or inconvenience. However, God cannot leave us alone. God cannot leave us in that place were we are all too comfortable with that niche in our being that keeps us from loving God in that neighbor who is different.
As Jesus is questioning the woman she persists. The Canaanite woman can see past what Jesus is doing. I think the Canaanite woman honestly knows that he is not dismissing her for her cultural difference. All she is interested in is coming to God through Jesus and receiving from God that which she needs at that moment. She still trusts that God is going to meet her at the point of her need. The Canaanite woman answers Jesus question, but more importantly keeps saying "Lord, help me." And because of her faith in God, Jesus is able to grant her the healing of her daughter. The lesson learned for the people of God who witness this is God is able to work through our most difficult moments and both teach us new things about ourselves and our relationships with others. The question for us is, are we listening to what God wants to teach us? Or are we just waiting for what we want to hear?
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people who are so often spiritually abused by clergy and lay people, do we allow them to keep us from God? Do we still keep coming to God even though there are people in the Church who appear to want to push us further and further away? Do we keep believing that Jesus is the Son of God and he can heal us of the wounds we have? Do we still go to Jesus and receive him in the Eucharist so we can remain members of the Body of Christ which is the Church? Or do we let all of the anti-gay voices chase us away?
The point is we do not have to stay away from Christ and the Church. There are churches and places for us to come to God and Jesus. There are places that will receive us warmly and openly. There are churches that now see that our being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered as a gift from God. There are churches and whole books and videos written that understands that our gift of homosexuality, bisexuality and being transgendered is the gift of sexuality and gender identity or expression that should be celebrated and affirmed. We no longer need to live in fear. We do not have to settle for the Pat Robertson's or Pope Benedict's of the world. We can instead look to leaders such as Bishop Gene Robinson or Bishop John Spong, Bishop James Jelinek, Bishop-Elect Brian Prior, the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and so many more. There are great men like Fr. Paul Bresnahan, Fr. David Norgard and Rev. Susan Russell, Dean Spenser Simrill, Canon Richard Norman, and Canon Cara Spaccarelli. There are examples of Lutheran's like Rev. Anita Hill and so many more. The negative voices of hate and prejudice do not have to be the only voices we listen to. There are opportunities to grow in our relationship with God and keep the faith that the Canaanite woman had.
What voices are we listening to? How are we tuning our ears to hearing what God really has to say to us? Are we settling for the voices of negativity? Are we willing to keep believing even if the voices we hear appear to be challenging us?
O God, help us to have the faith that this Canaanite woman had. Help us to not only listen to the negative voices, but also listen for the positive voices in the Church. Give us the grace to keep praying for an open mind and heart for those who have yet to experience conversion with regards to race, culture, sexual orientation and gender identity and/or expression. Give us the fortitude to keep believing in Jesus even when it seems difficult. May the Church continue to heal from divisions and attitudes of inequality and lead us all into a brighter future. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Showing posts with label Pat Robertson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pat Robertson. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Call to Apostleship: An Inclusive Responsibility
Today the Church celebrates Sts. Simon and Jude. These two Apostles who would have known Jesus personally were among the twelve to begin the work of the Church following the events of Pentecost. The name St. Jude is all too familiar from reading all the devotionals in the classified section of our newspapers.
The work of Apostleship is to share the good news that God's perfect revelation in Jesus Christ came so that all people may know that they are loved by God. It is so much more than preaching. In fact, preaching is only 1/3 of the responsibility. Most people, including myself have heard enough preaching. What I write may be preachy, but it is also my way of sharing my thoughts so that some dialogue can happen.
One matter of personal tragedy from my standpoint is how religion and the subject of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities have such a bad relationship. Having experienced many problems with Catholic and protestant Evangelical clergy and right winged Christians, I share the outrage of my friends in the LGBT community who are just fed up. I totally understand why so many don't like organized religion. What right winged religious folks like Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Nienstedt, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Peter La Barbera and so many more do, is downright unacceptable. It is one thing to disagree. It is another to run smear campaigns against people like Kevin Jennings, Pam Spaulding and the rest of the LGBT community. Even some of the remarks that have come from the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams have been quite discouraging to say the very least. In Paul Bresnahan's newest version of "An Invitation to An Inclusive Church II"he writes: "It is no wonder that so many people have abandoned churches of all denominations. Our squabbles seem very small-minded especially when we review all the urgent issues of the day. No wonder indeed why so many opt out of “organized religion” even at a time when spiritual hunger runs so deep."
However, during my years of being involved with the Catholic church and my days at Eastern Nazarene College as a Church Music major, I learned that belief in God is one thing that never has to go out the door just because a few religious leaders and individuals cannot get their act together. Just because they cannot exercise their Christian Faith in a charitable way, doesn't mean I have to stoop to their level. When Pope Benedict makes a call for unhappy Anglicans to join the Catholic Church, I do not have to agree with that move. I happen to agree with Paul Bresnahan that such a move is creating "a safe refuge for bigotry." However wrong these attitudes are, we do not have to give up on believing in our God who is gracious and full of compassion.
This is why my partner Jason and I are so happy to have found a good Spiritual home at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral. After the years of spiritual violence by the Catholic church and the one year I spent with the ex-gay ministry Courage, finding a welcoming and affirming environment within the Episcopal Church has been a very healing experience. Following the Vatican's announcement Jim Naughton spoke with NPR's "All Things Considered." Among his many wonderful comments he said: "I think for Episcopalians, what we need to do in the wake of this announcement is to continue going out there and saying, look, we do offer very traditional liturgy, beautiful music, a style of worship that many people like. But we are a democratically governed church. We think men and women are equal at the altar, and we respect the dignity of gay and lesbian Christians. If that makes us outcasts, I think that that's a status that we embrace happily. So if what we're talking about here are people offering alternatives, I think Episcopalians offer that alternative to their Catholic brothers and sisters."
The work of Apostleship is about finding room in God's Church for EVERYONE. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus made it very clear who were the people to be called to join and serve in Christ's Church. It wasn't the one's who have it all together. The call to experience God's saving work in Jesus Christ is to be shared with and for everyone with no exceptions. This has been the message of the Gospels through out the 2000 years of it's existence, spoken or written. And the Apostles that were sent out on that day of Pentecost were called to share God's love with everyone and to add more Apostles to their numbers. One of those who has answered that call within the past 6 years is Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church. And ever since his being ordained, he continues to be a great Apostle of God and experiences a great deal of persecution within the Church. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has gone forth from this Bishop and has been doing the work of Christ by "releasing the captives" to the point of the Episcopal Church making the decision to allow gay and lesbian Priests to discern a call to be a Bishop. The good work of God has had a ripple effect.
As we continue to work through the very important issue of inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the Church, we must be reminded of our mission as Christians to pray and work for the liberation of all God's people throughout the world. In the Daily EpiscopalianThe Rev. Lauren R. Stanley who is an Appointed Missionary of the Episcopal Church serving in the Diocese of Haiti has reminded us that there are more important things going on in the world while Rome is making it's invitation for "disaffected" Anglican's to their table. "Last Tuesday, four people living in slums in Haiti – forced to live there because they could not afford anything else – were killed in mudslides, and four others were reported missing after heavy rains … and there was almost no coverage of that at all." "On Saturday, 32 people were reported killed in three separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan, pushing the number of those killed there in October well past the 100 mark. Are we praying for peace in Pakistan?" "In Uganda, there is a bill that is threatening gay people with jail, at the very least, and the death penalty, if certain people get their way, simply for being gay. Are we speaking out on this, demanding that God’s justice be done?"
How are we carrying out the mission of Apostleship? Are we praying for peace and justice for those who are without health care? Are we concerned for all peoples not only here in the United States but elsewhere who do not have their equal rights?
The call to be an Apostle is not limited to those ordained. It is a ministry given all of us in our respective places. Our work places, families, communities, churches and even in places where God's name cannot be mentioned due to the hurt people have suffered due to spiritual abuses, those are places where the work of Apostleship is needed, and where there is inclusive responsibility.
"O God, we thank you for the glorious company of apostles and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." (Collect for Sts. Simon and Jude, Book of Common Prayer, Page 245).
The work of Apostleship is to share the good news that God's perfect revelation in Jesus Christ came so that all people may know that they are loved by God. It is so much more than preaching. In fact, preaching is only 1/3 of the responsibility. Most people, including myself have heard enough preaching. What I write may be preachy, but it is also my way of sharing my thoughts so that some dialogue can happen.
One matter of personal tragedy from my standpoint is how religion and the subject of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities have such a bad relationship. Having experienced many problems with Catholic and protestant Evangelical clergy and right winged Christians, I share the outrage of my friends in the LGBT community who are just fed up. I totally understand why so many don't like organized religion. What right winged religious folks like Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Nienstedt, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Peter La Barbera and so many more do, is downright unacceptable. It is one thing to disagree. It is another to run smear campaigns against people like Kevin Jennings, Pam Spaulding and the rest of the LGBT community. Even some of the remarks that have come from the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams have been quite discouraging to say the very least. In Paul Bresnahan's newest version of "An Invitation to An Inclusive Church II"he writes: "It is no wonder that so many people have abandoned churches of all denominations. Our squabbles seem very small-minded especially when we review all the urgent issues of the day. No wonder indeed why so many opt out of “organized religion” even at a time when spiritual hunger runs so deep."
However, during my years of being involved with the Catholic church and my days at Eastern Nazarene College as a Church Music major, I learned that belief in God is one thing that never has to go out the door just because a few religious leaders and individuals cannot get their act together. Just because they cannot exercise their Christian Faith in a charitable way, doesn't mean I have to stoop to their level. When Pope Benedict makes a call for unhappy Anglicans to join the Catholic Church, I do not have to agree with that move. I happen to agree with Paul Bresnahan that such a move is creating "a safe refuge for bigotry." However wrong these attitudes are, we do not have to give up on believing in our God who is gracious and full of compassion.
This is why my partner Jason and I are so happy to have found a good Spiritual home at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral. After the years of spiritual violence by the Catholic church and the one year I spent with the ex-gay ministry Courage, finding a welcoming and affirming environment within the Episcopal Church has been a very healing experience. Following the Vatican's announcement Jim Naughton spoke with NPR's "All Things Considered." Among his many wonderful comments he said: "I think for Episcopalians, what we need to do in the wake of this announcement is to continue going out there and saying, look, we do offer very traditional liturgy, beautiful music, a style of worship that many people like. But we are a democratically governed church. We think men and women are equal at the altar, and we respect the dignity of gay and lesbian Christians. If that makes us outcasts, I think that that's a status that we embrace happily. So if what we're talking about here are people offering alternatives, I think Episcopalians offer that alternative to their Catholic brothers and sisters."
The work of Apostleship is about finding room in God's Church for EVERYONE. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus made it very clear who were the people to be called to join and serve in Christ's Church. It wasn't the one's who have it all together. The call to experience God's saving work in Jesus Christ is to be shared with and for everyone with no exceptions. This has been the message of the Gospels through out the 2000 years of it's existence, spoken or written. And the Apostles that were sent out on that day of Pentecost were called to share God's love with everyone and to add more Apostles to their numbers. One of those who has answered that call within the past 6 years is Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church. And ever since his being ordained, he continues to be a great Apostle of God and experiences a great deal of persecution within the Church. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has gone forth from this Bishop and has been doing the work of Christ by "releasing the captives" to the point of the Episcopal Church making the decision to allow gay and lesbian Priests to discern a call to be a Bishop. The good work of God has had a ripple effect.
As we continue to work through the very important issue of inclusion of gay and lesbian people in the Church, we must be reminded of our mission as Christians to pray and work for the liberation of all God's people throughout the world. In the Daily EpiscopalianThe Rev. Lauren R. Stanley who is an Appointed Missionary of the Episcopal Church serving in the Diocese of Haiti has reminded us that there are more important things going on in the world while Rome is making it's invitation for "disaffected" Anglican's to their table. "Last Tuesday, four people living in slums in Haiti – forced to live there because they could not afford anything else – were killed in mudslides, and four others were reported missing after heavy rains … and there was almost no coverage of that at all." "On Saturday, 32 people were reported killed in three separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan, pushing the number of those killed there in October well past the 100 mark. Are we praying for peace in Pakistan?" "In Uganda, there is a bill that is threatening gay people with jail, at the very least, and the death penalty, if certain people get their way, simply for being gay. Are we speaking out on this, demanding that God’s justice be done?"
How are we carrying out the mission of Apostleship? Are we praying for peace and justice for those who are without health care? Are we concerned for all peoples not only here in the United States but elsewhere who do not have their equal rights?
The call to be an Apostle is not limited to those ordained. It is a ministry given all of us in our respective places. Our work places, families, communities, churches and even in places where God's name cannot be mentioned due to the hurt people have suffered due to spiritual abuses, those are places where the work of Apostleship is needed, and where there is inclusive responsibility.
"O God, we thank you for the glorious company of apostles and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." (Collect for Sts. Simon and Jude, Book of Common Prayer, Page 245).
Thursday, October 22, 2009
My Beloved, With Whom I Am Pleased
Based on Matthew 12: 15-21
It can be hard to admit that we live in a world where evil sometimes wins. As we read the newspapers about crime, politics, war and inequality, we see how evil is all about us. We can blame it all on Satan which for some is the easy way out, or we can blame it on ourselves for being tolerant of it. In the end, the blame game is not really what is at issue. Some people have more choices at their disposal than others. People plagued by addiction may have the choice over how or whether they treat their addiction, but they do not always have power over what their addictions cause them to do. As long as people are addicted to control, there will be conflicts, racism,sexism,hetero-sexism and all the other "isms" of life.
It is too bad that human beings cannot become more addicted to good things. What a different world it would be if instead of fighting over world resources and who owns them, if they were seen as gifts to be shared with others. It is too bad that people hang on to their prejudices over color, nationality, challenge, religion, sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression, and class. This big gigantic world that we are all on for a very short time, could be a much better place if we could all see ourselves and others as being equally created by a loving God, and that's why we should cherish each other too.
You see, God does not look upon us in the way we often see ourselves. God sees us through the eyes of God's Beloved in Jesus Christ. When God revealed God's self in Jesus Christ, the Word, God told us how much God loves us. In Jesus Christ, God's value of us was perfect. And it didn't matter what we came to Jesus with, even with our arrogance and ass like attitudes. God loved us even when we made choices that hurt God very much. Even to the point of Jesus dying on the cross. And God did all of this, because in Jesus God told us: "You are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 12: 18) And what the author of Matthew's Gospel is telling us is borrowed from Isaiah 42:1 where God says: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights."
But instead of valuing ourselves and each other as daughters and sons of God, we do everything we can to put ourselves and one another down. We are never satisfied with knowing that God has given us everything. In Bishop Gene Robinson's book: "In the Eye of the Storm; Swept to the Center by God" Robinson talks in chapter 6 of "Daily Resurrection" and how God has already rolled away the stone of our tombs, closets, boxes and addictions. All we need to do is trust in God and let God lead the way. Because God delights so very much in us, God is so pleased with us that in Jesus God has pulled back the curtain that separated us from God and given us new life in the death and resurrection of Christ. We have new opportunities and goals to encounter God not on our terms, but on God's terms. And God sees us as beloved and cherished. We are at the heart of God's desire.
When we see evil flourish, and equality laws taken away it is heart breaking. Not just for us, but also for God. Because, God having given us all free will made God's self very vulnerable. And no matter how much we hurt God with our choices, God still loves us and sees us as God's beloved with whom God is well pleased. Is God happy with our choices? No. But, God loves us just the same. It is God's love that we should be concerned about offending, not whether or not God will send us to hell for the choices we make. Because when we offend God who is all deserving of our love, we've already put ourselves in hell.
We must continue to do our part to alleviate evil in our world. It is so appropriate when we write or call our legislators to pass health care reform, equal rights protections for LGBT individuals and speak up when Pat Robertson says that "Homosexuals do not want marriage, but to "destroy marriage." But we also do not need to fret over their own wickedness. "Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, offer those who carry out evil devices.. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret--it only leads to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." (Psalm 37: 7,8). I have to say that I have a hard time with those three words: "Refrain from anger." As a gay man myself, when people like Robertson make statements like he did, it angers me. It can be difficult for me to wait on the Lord, because I want God to do things my way, in my time and for me. And aren't we all just a little too self-centered in that way?
Perhaps all of us need to take a cue from Bishop John Shelby Spong's manifesto where he says: "I will dismiss as unworthy of any more of my attention the wild, false and uninformed opinions of such would-be religious leaders as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Albert Mohler, and Robert Duncan. My country and my church have both already spent too much time, energy and money trying to accommodate these backward points of view when they are no longer even tolerable." After all, if it is so untrue, then why do we give it so much energy? Should we speak up and say it's wrong? I think so. But should we give them our energy and anger to the degree that we allow what they say to allow it to affect our relationship with God? I think not. For LGBT individuals are like all others, created and loved by the Holy Trinity, who is God. And the Scriptures I read tell me, tell us, that we are God's beloved, with whom God is well pleased.
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, #27. Page 823).
It can be hard to admit that we live in a world where evil sometimes wins. As we read the newspapers about crime, politics, war and inequality, we see how evil is all about us. We can blame it all on Satan which for some is the easy way out, or we can blame it on ourselves for being tolerant of it. In the end, the blame game is not really what is at issue. Some people have more choices at their disposal than others. People plagued by addiction may have the choice over how or whether they treat their addiction, but they do not always have power over what their addictions cause them to do. As long as people are addicted to control, there will be conflicts, racism,sexism,hetero-sexism and all the other "isms" of life.
It is too bad that human beings cannot become more addicted to good things. What a different world it would be if instead of fighting over world resources and who owns them, if they were seen as gifts to be shared with others. It is too bad that people hang on to their prejudices over color, nationality, challenge, religion, sexual orientation and/or gender identity or expression, and class. This big gigantic world that we are all on for a very short time, could be a much better place if we could all see ourselves and others as being equally created by a loving God, and that's why we should cherish each other too.
You see, God does not look upon us in the way we often see ourselves. God sees us through the eyes of God's Beloved in Jesus Christ. When God revealed God's self in Jesus Christ, the Word, God told us how much God loves us. In Jesus Christ, God's value of us was perfect. And it didn't matter what we came to Jesus with, even with our arrogance and ass like attitudes. God loved us even when we made choices that hurt God very much. Even to the point of Jesus dying on the cross. And God did all of this, because in Jesus God told us: "You are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 12: 18) And what the author of Matthew's Gospel is telling us is borrowed from Isaiah 42:1 where God says: "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights."
But instead of valuing ourselves and each other as daughters and sons of God, we do everything we can to put ourselves and one another down. We are never satisfied with knowing that God has given us everything. In Bishop Gene Robinson's book: "In the Eye of the Storm; Swept to the Center by God" Robinson talks in chapter 6 of "Daily Resurrection" and how God has already rolled away the stone of our tombs, closets, boxes and addictions. All we need to do is trust in God and let God lead the way. Because God delights so very much in us, God is so pleased with us that in Jesus God has pulled back the curtain that separated us from God and given us new life in the death and resurrection of Christ. We have new opportunities and goals to encounter God not on our terms, but on God's terms. And God sees us as beloved and cherished. We are at the heart of God's desire.
When we see evil flourish, and equality laws taken away it is heart breaking. Not just for us, but also for God. Because, God having given us all free will made God's self very vulnerable. And no matter how much we hurt God with our choices, God still loves us and sees us as God's beloved with whom God is well pleased. Is God happy with our choices? No. But, God loves us just the same. It is God's love that we should be concerned about offending, not whether or not God will send us to hell for the choices we make. Because when we offend God who is all deserving of our love, we've already put ourselves in hell.
We must continue to do our part to alleviate evil in our world. It is so appropriate when we write or call our legislators to pass health care reform, equal rights protections for LGBT individuals and speak up when Pat Robertson says that "Homosexuals do not want marriage, but to "destroy marriage." But we also do not need to fret over their own wickedness. "Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in their way, offer those who carry out evil devices.. Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret--it only leads to evil. For the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land." (Psalm 37: 7,8). I have to say that I have a hard time with those three words: "Refrain from anger." As a gay man myself, when people like Robertson make statements like he did, it angers me. It can be difficult for me to wait on the Lord, because I want God to do things my way, in my time and for me. And aren't we all just a little too self-centered in that way?
Perhaps all of us need to take a cue from Bishop John Shelby Spong's manifesto where he says: "I will dismiss as unworthy of any more of my attention the wild, false and uninformed opinions of such would-be religious leaders as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Albert Mohler, and Robert Duncan. My country and my church have both already spent too much time, energy and money trying to accommodate these backward points of view when they are no longer even tolerable." After all, if it is so untrue, then why do we give it so much energy? Should we speak up and say it's wrong? I think so. But should we give them our energy and anger to the degree that we allow what they say to allow it to affect our relationship with God? I think not. For LGBT individuals are like all others, created and loved by the Holy Trinity, who is God. And the Scriptures I read tell me, tell us, that we are God's beloved, with whom God is well pleased.
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, #27. Page 823).
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