Trinity Sunday: Lead Us Into All Truth, We Aren't There Yet

Today's Scripture Readings

Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31 (NRSV)

Does not wisdom call,

and does not understanding raise her voice?

On the heights, beside the way,

at the crossroads she takes her stand;

beside the gates in front of the town,

at the entrance of the portals she cries out:

"To you, O people, I call,

and my cry is to all that live.

The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,

the first of his acts of long ago.

Ages ago I was set up,

at the first, before the beginning of the earth.

When there were no depths I was brought forth,

when there were no springs abounding with water.

Before the mountains had been shaped,

before the hills, I was brought forth--

when he had not yet made earth and fields,

or the world's first bits of soil.

When he established the heavens, I was there,

when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

when he made firm the skies above,

when he established the fountains of the deep,

when he assigned to the sea its limit,

so that the waters might not transgress his command,

when he marked out the foundations of the earth,

then I was beside him, like a master worker;

and I was daily his delight,

rejoicing before him always,

rejoicing in his inhabited world

and delighting in the human race."

Psalm 8 (BCP., p.592)


Romans 5: 1-5 (NRSV)

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

John 16: 12-15 (NRSV)

Jesus said to the disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

Blog Reflection

On this Trinity Sunday during Year C, we have a view of the mystery of God presented to us in the feminine as opposed to the masculine.   While we traditionally address God the Trinity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God is also known as Mother, Servant and Life-Giver.   God's revelation of Self is not limited to our labels, ideals, theologies, or Creeds.   God's truth is ever teaching us, moving us and calling us beyond where we are into new understandings of God.

The reading from Proverbs tells us of the Wisdom of God.   The Wisdom of God is also referred to as the Word of God.  Christians know the Incarnate Word was and is God's perfect revelation of Self in Jesus Christ.  In that Wisdom is the One through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made.   The Prologue of John's Gospel 1-18 tells of the Word through whom everything exists, and continues by God's will.  It is by way of the Wisdom of God that everything that holds itself together is what it is, and continues.  The very goodness of all things and people, is by way of God who is Wisdom and the Word made flesh.

It has been suggested by many that Jesus Christ could have been transgender.  He was the Son of God, yes, at least in His outer appearance.  Yet, His character, compassion and tenderness show a very feminine nature.  One that could suggest that He was both male and female.

St. Julian of Norwich wrote A Song of True Motherhood.

God chose to be our mother in all things
  and so made the foundation of his work,
  most humbly and most pure, in the Virgin's womb.
God, the perfect wisdom of all,
  arrayed himself in this humble place.
Christ came in our poor flesh
  to share a mother's care.
Our mothers bear us for pain and for death;
  our true mother, Jesus, bears us for joy and endless life.
Christ carried us within him in love and travail,
  until the full time of his passion.
And when all was completed and he had carried us so for joy,
  still all this could not satisfy the power of his wonderful love.
All that we owe is redeemed in truly loving God,
  for the love of Christ works in us;
  Christ is the one whom we love.  (Enriching Our Worship 1, Canticle R, p.40)

The truth of God's revelation continues as the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.  The reading from John's Gospel is my favorite for this day.  Because, we are hearing Jesus telling His disciples and us, that the work of God revealing truth is not finished.  It also suggests that truth is something that is never abstract or objective only.  Truth is in the Person of Jesus as understood in John 14: 6.   However, even the Truth is understood and grasped only so much by each generation of Christians.   As Christ, Himself was born, grew into knowledge and wisdom, so must Christians.   As the Church that was born on Pentecost which we celebrated last Sunday grew and expanded in the Truth of Christ, so it must continue to mature and become more inclusive today.

Rather than receive this news as a threat to our comfort zones, we should be looking with anticipation of what God is leading us into.   The evolutionary God is always revealing God's Self in new and amazing ways.  God is continually evolving in our midst, and as God does, so must the Church and Christians.  In the Trinity we know of God's love as unified, yet diverse in three separate and distinct Persons.  Each Person exists and loves in union with God, yet one is not the other.   It is a mystery that we cannot totally explain, nor can we understand.   At the same time, the mystery of the God-Head, one in three Persons continues to reveal God in new and awesome ways.  There are no words that can adequately describe God, nor is there art work that completely captures the image of the Trinity for us.   Only be faith and trust can we grasp the Truth, and be open to the Holy Spirit to be lead into all truth.

Among the truths that the Spirit is ever leading us into, is the erroneous interpretations of Scripture with regards to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people.  As I have read the blogs written about the Boy Scouts of America voting to allow gay scouts, marriage equality laws being passed, the removal of LGBT families from immigration reforms, the one remark that leaps out in almost every comment line is: "If you embrace homosexuality, you are not a true Christian, because God's word clearly condemns it."  What is happening in a statement like that, is not evangelism.   It is not religious fervor to win souls for Christ.  It also does not suggest an honest relationship with God through the Scriptures.   It is, however, a relationship with an idol in ideology, a lust for power, and an addiction to hate rhetoric.

An actual reading of the Scriptures using the guidance of good scholarship, and careful criticism, one will learn that in the times, traditions, customs and languages in which the Bible was written, they did not have two words called heterosexual and homosexual.   Sexuality in the time of the biblical authors was about dominance and power, by men over women.  Women as property, because they were thought to be inferior.   The idea of a man assuming the sexual position of the presumed "weaker species" was uncustomary and viewed as "unnatural."  Because many other Christian Scholars like the Rev. Gray Temple in his book Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason details much of what I have written in this paragraph.   The book is so great for Episcopalians on both sides of this important issue.

Over the many centuries the Bible has been used and abused to suggest that it is okay to discriminate against African Americans.  If you have not watched the movie Lincoln, you should.  In that movie, they are trying to pass the thirteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery.  During the debate in Congress, one of the Representatives says of African Americans then, what Christians say about LGBT people today.   "We should not deem equal, those whom God has deemed as unequal."   This language is being used and has been used to denigrate the poor, those ravaged by tornadoes, storms and floods.  Those words have been used towards Muslims, Jews, Native Americans, Atheists, Buddhists and many others.   Even if the words are not spoken, the intent is all too often there in what is said in it's place.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would come to lead us into all truth.  We are definitely not there yet.   All of us have to mature in truth, so that we can better live what is true.  One of those truths the Church and society must grasp is that it is never appropriate to use the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, the Sacraments, or any other such part of our Faith to commit and/or justify violence, injustice, oppression and bias.  As God, the Holy Trinity loves each of us for who we are, we must also be open to God's grace to love others as Christ loves us.

Amen.


Prayers 

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

Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit into our hearts, to
direct and rule us according to your will, to comfort us in all
our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into
all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer from Noonday Prayer, Book of Common Prayer, p.107).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this
land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as
their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to
eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those
who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law
and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of
us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, p.826).

 

St. Patrick: Apostle to Ireland: A Liberated Slave Returns to Liberate

Today's Scripture Readings

1 Thessalonians 2:2b-12 (NRSV)

We had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Matthew 28:16-20 (NRSV)
 

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

Blog Reflection

Whenever I see something with the word Irish in it, or hear a beautifully sung Irish folk song, my heart is warmed and my mind is filled with mystery.   I think of a place of majestic and graceful beauty.  A place where a Saint such as Patrick is remembered for his work there.

Patrick was born into a Christian family somewhere on the northwest coast of Britain in about 390.  His grandfather had been a Christian priest and his father, Colpornius, a deacon.  Calpornius was an important official in the late Roman imperial government of Britain.  It was not unusual in this post-Constantinian period for such state officials to be in holy orders.  When Patrick was about sixteen, he was captured by a band of Irish slave-raiders.  He was carried off to Ireland and forced to serve as a shepherd.  When he was about twenty-one, he escaped and returned to Britain, where he was educated as a Christian.  He tells us that he took holy orders as both presbyter and bishop, although no particular see is known as his at this time.  A vision then called him to return to Ireland.  This he did about the year 431. (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 272).

Rev. Susan Russell wrote an outstanding blog on St. Patrick's Day, which you can read here.  But, the words I am copying and pasting below are too good to not include in my own blog reflection today.

On this particular St. Patrick's Day I believe asking gay and lesbian Episcopalians to hang in there and continue to take the vision of a Body of Christ that fully includes all the baptized BACK to the church that still questions their vocations and relationships is like unto asking Patrick to go evangelize the Irish who enslaved him.

And yet that's the vision we've been given – that's the call we have received.

Our witness of God's inclusive love is not just a witness to the presence of the holy in our lives and our relationships and our vocations -- but a witness to the power of God's love to transcend ANYTHING that holds us captive or enslaves us.

Many of us who are LGBT know how difficult it can be in our relationships with other Christians. Especially those who are so opposed to our being in the Church, receiving the Sacraments and so forth.  Yet, it is important to remember that Jesus never told his disciples to not try to go to the places where they would not be welcomed.  He told them to go and offer peace.  If they were not heard, then they should leave.  See Mark 6: 6b to 13.  

In Patrick's case, he had no choice as to where his captor's brought him.  Yet, after receiving Holy Orders, he returns to the land of his captivity, to spread the Good News of real freedom in Jesus Christ.

In the reading from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, we see that he had courage to preach the Gospel in spite of great opposition.  The Gospel that he preached was not one of trickery or began with some kind of bad motive.  Some times when I think about how in just about every place we can think of, there is at least one loud mouth Christianist who has to interrupt the flow of anything going on, by being a really rude Bible beater.  They will inject Bible verses into a conversation, whether or not it is warranted, just to see if they can get someone to listen.  This kind of thing, is not the courage that preached the Gospel even with great opposition, that Paul writes of.  The idea of placing oneself in a position to be a complete pest to others, totally disregarding all Christian Charity, does not quite fit the bill. 

Over these past few weeks and months there have been a lot of conversations about the issue of religious freedom.  Religious freedom in America is endangered because States and other places, pass marriage equality laws for same-sex couples.  Religious freedom is injured by President Obama's policy on contraception with regard to religious institutions that find birth control to be against their principles.  These are things that Christianists say.   Such things are not means of liberating the people of America, by the way of the Gospel. They are means of attempting to place all Americans into what Christianity means according to one group of Christians.A Christianity where there is no diversity of opinions on issues such as marriage equality, a woman's right to choose and contraception.

As progressive Christians who are concerned about equality and justice for the oppressed and the afflicted, we preach the Gospel of inclusion.   The Gospel that Patrick brought to Ireland.  The Gospel of a loving and forgiving God, who through Jesus Christ offers to all of us salvation and hope.  A salvation that is not found in dogmas or creeds, but in truths that are founded in what it means to be the Body of Christ.  A truth that makes the Trinity more than just a composition of unreadable theological treatises, but becomes a living way of uniting the human community through love and compassion.  Receiving the Holy Eucharist means that the Body and Blood of Christ is real to us, because of how we recognize our union with all Christians, even those we do not agree with.

As we seek to honor the ministry and life of St. Patrick, let us ask ourselves to what we are being made captive to?   How is God calling us to share the Gospel in the capacity that we are in?  How do we become liberators to those people and places that captivate us?

This Lent, may we remember that it is the Cross and Resurrection that are our hope, even in what appears to be a hopeless situation.


Prayers

Almighty God, in your providence you chose your servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you: Grant us so to walk in that light that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; 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, p. 273).

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.  (Book of Common Prayer, p. 217).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this
land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as
their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to
eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those
who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law
and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of
us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, p. 826).       

Saturday of First Week in Lent: Loving And Forgiving When It Is Difficult

Today's Scripture Reading

Matthew 5: 43-48 (NRSV)

 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

Blog Reflection

If you opened this blog post and found this Gospel reading about loving your enemies and just want to turn away, because it pisses you off, you are not alone.  This Gospel reading can really make me sick in the head.  If the Gospel itself doesn't make me angry telling me that I have to forgive my enemies, the often poor spiritual abuses that come from pulpits all over Christendom using this reading, does.  

Loving your enemies, is easy when you are a white, heterosexual, Christian male who has been privileged just because since the day you were born.  For those of us who have lost while they all gained, asking us to love our enemies is not so simple.

Often the hardest thing for children who have been abused by their parents, is that they love them very much. As they get older and the reality of how devastating the abuse was, it becomes really hard to forgive and to love those who were so cruel.  How difficult it is for us to love those whom God entrusted to love and nurture us.  Many of us, have wounds so deep, that we just cannot forgive God or those who have abused their relationships to us.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr once said:

First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. It is impossible even to begin the act of loving one's enemies without the prior acceptance of the necessity, over and over again, of forgiving those who inflict evil and injury upon us. It is also necessary to realize that the forgiving act must always be initiated by the person who has been wronged, the victim of some great hurt, the recipient of some tortuous injustice, the absorber of some terrible act of oppression. The wrongdoer may request forgiveness. He may come to himself, and, like the prodigal son, move up some dusty road, his heart palpitating with the desire for forgiveness. But only the injured neighbor, the loving father back home, can really pour out the warm waters of forgiveness.

Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning. It is the lifting of a burden or the canceling of a debt. The words "I will forgive you, but I'll never forget what you've done" never explain the real nature of forgiveness. Certainly one can never forget, if that means erasing it totally from his mind. But when we forgive, we forget in the sense that the evil deed is no longer a mental block impeding a new relationship. Likewise, we can never say, "I will forgive you, but I won't have anything further to do with you." Forgiveness means reconciliation, a coming together again.

Without this, no man can love his enemies. The degree to which we are able to forgive determines the degree to which we are able to love our enemies.

Second, we must recognize that the evil deed of the enemy-neighbor, the thing that hurts, never quite expresses all that he is. An element of goodness may be found even in our worst enemy. Each of us has something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against ourselves. A persistent civil war rages within all of our lives. Something within us causes us to lament with Ovid, the Latin poet, "I see and approve the better things, but follow worse," or to agree with Plato that human personality is like a charioteer having two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in a different direction, or to repeat with the Apostle Paul, "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

This simply means that there is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. When we look beneath the surface, beneath. the impulsive evil deed, we see within our enemy-neighbor a measure of goodness and know that the viciousness and evilness of his acts are not quite representative of all that he is. We see him in a new light. We recognize that his hate grows out of fear, pride, ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstanding, but in spite of this, we know God's image is ineffably etched in being. Then we love our enemies by realizing that they are not totally bad and that they are not beyond the reach of God's redemptive love.

Now if a man like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who faced the racists of his time can come to an understanding like this, so can all of us.  Dr. King knew death threats on a daily basis.  Eventually, he was shot and killed by an individual who demostrated the worst of us, when carrying prejudice with violence as a solution in our hearts.  

Forgiving someone does not mean that we do not continue to "speak the truth in love" (see Eph. 4: 15)..   It means we continue to speak out so as to help one understand.  Loving our enemies does not mean we sit back and allow them to spread further injustices at our expense.  It means that we continue to enlighten others by telling our stories of how we came out as LGBT people of Faith, and found Jesus Christ to be our best friend and Savior, while the rest of the Church was trying to shame us and tell us we need to change who we are.  We need to tell about how God continues to inspire us to holiness and wholeness by living in healthy and life-giving relationships with our partners, friends and families.  Even while Christianist groups continue to spread false information,and corrupt politics in the Name of their god who hates and judges.  We need to live our own lives, as in the presence of a holy and inclusive God, who in Jesus Christ redeemed us through his death and resurrection and continues to sanctify us and call us to be examples of God's hospitality and reconciliation.

Prayers

O God, by your Word you marvelously carry out the workof reconciliation:  Grant that in our Lenten fast we may be devoted to you with all our hearts, and united with one another in prayer adn holy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Saturday of the First Week in Lent. Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, p. 41).

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).

 O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love
our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth:
deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in
your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for our Enemies, Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).

 

 

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: Advice from Someone Who Loves Us

Today's Scripture Readings

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 (NRSV)

Moses said, The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: "If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die." Then the LORD replied to me: "They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak-- that prophet shall die."

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (NRSV)

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.

Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth-- as in fact there are many gods and many lords-- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

Mark 1:21-28

Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Blog Reflection

Listen carefully, my child, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.  This is advice from one who loves you; welcome it and faithfully put it into practice.  The labor of obedience will bring you back to God from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience.  This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong, and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for Jesus, the Christ (Prologue, Rule of Benedict, vs 1-3).

A priest once said in a sermon: "I do not have a problem with the concept of obedience.  I have a problem with the practice of obedience."  As a guy who has Asperger's Syndrome, I have no problem with the concept of obedience.  I may or may not have a problem with the practice of obedience.  I have a problem with the authority figure to whom I am suppose to be obedient.

As a gay man who struggled for many years with my sexual orientation, my relationship with God and the Church.  I have a real problem with those who use their Ecclesiastical "authority" and "their understanding" of the "authority" of Scripture to judge my relationship with God as injured or even destroyed because I am gay.   Religious "authorities" have misused their so called "power" to manipulate LGBT individuals and other groups of people to believing, thinking and acting as they do.   

So, the idea of authority and what obedience is to mean for me is a counterfeit understanding.  To better understand, I need both the Rule of St. Benedict and today's readings to help me put authority and obedience in their proper places.  That is why the opening to the Prologue from the Rule is such a powerful reflection, especially in light of today's Gospel.

What does the word "authority" mean when Christians think of the Person of Jesus Christ?  The Greek word for "authority" is "exousia".  The word is literally translated as meaning: "out of being."  It comes from a full sense of self.  A realization of who I am.  When I speak with authority according to the Greek word "exousia" I am talking from the point of who I am. 

The people who were listening to God in the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures are hearing a prophecy about the future.  God is going to send someone who can say everything that God has to say to God's people.  It will be said with a sense of authority.  The authority will be a historical change that will mean a pivot from one direction to another. 

As Christians, we understand this to be a prophecy about Jesus.  The Jesus who came as a Jew like his own people.  Not as one who came to suppress the Jewish people into another religion or they would go to hell.  As Christians we recognize for ourselves that Jesus was God's perfect revelation.  Knowing that alone is not enough to convince us of what is being said in the Gospel.

The people who were listening to Jesus and witnessing him casting out the evil spirits, were amazed that he was speaking "out of his being."  Jesus was not only able to say such things, he was also a living example about that of which he spoke.  The religious authorities of his day had become so wound up with keeping the rituals and their own reputation among each other and the people, that living the meaning of their faith had lost it's focus.

Sound familiar?

We hear a lot today about how Jesus Christ is suppose to bring redemption and forgiveness for the sin of adultery.  We are all expected to just let go of the media stories of presidential candidates with a reputation of continuing to harass women and totally disregard their dignity.  Forgiveness of sins relieves us of the guilt of our past actions.  It does not excuse us from repentance and it does not mean we don't take seriously an effort to "cast out the evil spirits" of sexism, racism, class discrimination and sexually violent behavior.  It also does not give us license to act like the Pharisee in Luke 18: 9-14 who stands their exalting himself against others who are not quite as "good" as he is.  All of us are broken human beings in one way or another.  It is from these things that we are suppose to grow into mature people. None of us are any better than anyone else.  We are all still earthed. 

St. Benedict, a holy man totally aware of his own weaknesses, admits as he calls others to return from the sloth of disobedience, to embrace the call to a new way of life.  Whether inside or outside of a monastery, St. Benedict calls us to a change of heart and a "conversion of manners".  To place others before ourselves.  To be understanding and compassionate with those who are different from ourselves.  We are to take the focus off of ourselves to serve the other out of reverence for Christ.  We do this from a complete acceptance of ourselves, placing all our hope in the God who accepts and redeems everyone.  No exceptions. No exclusions.

We see religious "authorities" all around us talking about passing constitutional amendments to take away the rights of LGBT people to marry the person they love.  It would all be laughable, if they also weren't using even more violent rhetoric and basing their work on false claims about LGBT people.  All being done in the "authority" of the Scripture and some kind of ecclesiastical "right" to look down on others. Suggesting that spreading hate and division is some how "compassionate." 

Jesus is teaching out of his being as one who is a living model of generosity and mercy.  Jesus lives as one who welcomes the marginalized and seeks those injured and held back by oppression. He's got his whole person open to the call of God and is able to speak directly to evil in such a way, that it has to go.  It cannot stay in the presence of such awesome love as the Holy One of God.  People marvel at what they hear and see. Now, in front of them is one who speaks out of his being, while he lives out of his being.

Obedience to God's will is not a matter of being a wise thinker or a well spoken theologian.  It has little to do with quoting from the Bible along with the Book, verse number and version.  Obedience in the Christian context is about being willing to serve the needs of someone else ahead of our own.  We obey, not because we want to avoid punishment.  We obey because the one who calls us to serve is someone who loves us.  The last thing we would want to do is offend someone who loves us so completely and without condition or exclusion.

We cannot be obedient to God if we are trying to hide or change the very essence of who we are as LGBT people.  We cannot serve the best needs of another person, expecting to reverence Christ who is present in the other person, if we cannot first be honest with God, others and ourselves about who we are.  Because Jesus spoke and lived out of his being as the face of God among humankind.  He wore no masks.  He did not run away.  He faced who he was in the fullness of his being and lived it openly and freely.  He loved differently.  He was crucified for it. 

Even if it means we are risking all, we will cast out the darkness of discrimination and violence when we act and speak out of our being as LGBT people of faith. This means understanding our sexuality as a gift from God.  Using it as a means to love and receive love. Exercising it in healthy and wholesome relationships. Reverencing the Presence of Christ in our partner(s) by serving their needs ahead of our own.  It is also an opportunity to help other people know how good LGBT people are.  That we honor and love other people.  We do not use them. We regard every person as a sacred being, worthy of our respect and to treat them with care and concern. Seeking their peace and justice and respecting their dignity.  Doing all, of course, with God's help. 

How do we accept this story as advice from the God who loves us? 

How do we do the work of speaking and acting out of our being so that we can cast out the unclean spirits of oppression, injustice and prejudice from our world?

What ever our answer is, as it will be different for all of us, may we be a people who act with radical hospitality, to bring about healing and reconciliation in the Church and society.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in
heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of
your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, p. 215).

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).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this
land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as
their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to
eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those
who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law
and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of
us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (For the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, p. 824).

Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many
voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where
many listen and write what many read; that they may do their
part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and
its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Those Who Influence Public Opinion, Book of Common Prayer, p. 827)   

 

The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ: In 2012 May that Name Be Used to Heal; Not Wound.

Scripture Readings

Numbers 6:22-27 (NRSV)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them,

The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. 

Philippians 2:5-11 (NRSV)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death--

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Luke 2:15-21 (NRSV)

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Blog Reflection

The Feast of the Holy Name brings a mixed emotions for me. 

Ever since I fell in love with the Name of Jesus Christ I have never been the same.  That Name for me is comforting when I am a nervous wreck.  The Name of Jesus Christ for me means that the forces of darkness and evil in this world do not have the last word.  Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I believe that I will have everlasting life some day, because of Jesus Christ. I believe that when I receive Holy Communion I am receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in the Bread and Wine.  I believe that Jesus Christ can and does forgive me when I sin forget to put God's will before my own. 

Yet, this Holy Day also carries with it some painful memories.  Throughout my time of being a conservative Christian; I remember how that Name was and still is used by fundamentalist and evangelical Protestant Christians to rebuke people who do not conform to their ideologies.  The Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians use the Name of Jesus Christ to perform their exorcisms, based on their emotional experiences and understandings of the Holy Spirit.  I once heard about a Pentecostal evangelist who brought forward a young 10 year old girl.  He attempted to use the Name of Jesus Christ to command this girl to speak in tongues.  He eventually got pretty violent.  I also remember many of the contemporary Maranatha songs for worship that romanticize the Name of Jesus Christ and so forth.

I am sure all of us have heard the Commandment in Exodus 20: 7

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who missuses his name.

The Commandment has otherwise been referred to as "taking the LORD'S Name in vain."

The common interpretation is that if you accidentally hit your finger with a hammer while using it and you scream out the Name of Jesus Christ or better yet God dammed, that you have taken the Lord's Name in vain.  Aside from the accidental use of the words in the scenario I have just mentioned, there are those who use those words very loosely in conversations with other family members and friends.  I have heard endless complaints by many fundamentalists and conservative Christians/Catholics etc who talk about people swearing and using vulgar language.  As with most things like this, I have come to the conclusion that the people who complain most about others swearing and the like; are often doing it to avoid not having to pay attention to their own weaknesses in these and many other areas.  There is a little hypocrisy in all of us.

My husband Jason on various occasions has said that he feels that when Christianists and others use the Name of Jesus Christ to defend callous and violent attitudes and behaviors towards LGBT people and others, it is also a wrongful use of the Name.  I think Jason is on to something there.

Just think about it. 

Every time the Name of Jesus Christ is used as a reason to exclude someone from the Church or violate another person's sacred worth, we are misusing his Name. 

When ever we say that the Christian religion is why we should target Muslims, Hindus or Atheists, we are defaming the Name of Jesus Christ. 

The Name of Jesus Christ is used over and over again to defend cruelty and oppression such as the Uganda Bill that would execute or put in prison known lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender people. 

The Name of Jesus Christ is used in this country as a reason why LGBT people should be denied our rights to marriage equality, protection from discrimination in the work place, hate crime violence, financial and/or public assistance and/or housing. 

The Name of Jesus Christ is used to defend the use of ex-gay or reparative therapy to change one's sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression through the means of psychological, spiritual and social abuse.  

Jesus Christ's Name has been used to deny the rights of women, defend racism, deny health care and defend tax breaks for the wealthy, while middle class America continues to lose every hope for prosperity.. 

Our Christian Faith tells us that God perfectly revealed God's Self in the Person and Name of Jesus Christ.  The Name of Jesus actually means Joshua, which means "Savior."  Jesus came in the midst of our poverty and messiness as a helpless child.  Jesus spent his life reaching out to the marginalized, the sick, the poor, the widow and even the dead to give them a new life here on earth as well as in eternity.  Jesus praised the eunuch's, the homosexuals of this time (see Matthew 19: 10-12).  Jesus healed the Roman Centurions male sex slave (see Matthew 8: 5-13).  Jesus warned the arrogant and the self righteous.  The only time Jesus really uses the word hell is towards those who think they are above all simply because they follow the rules. 

My prayer for 2012 is that Christians will make a heartfelt effort to use of the Name of Jesus Christ to heal; not to wound.  I pray that Christians may understand that the Name of Jesus Christ is not a supercession of all other religions and philosophies, but that the life of the Name of Jesus Christ is about love and inclusion.  I pray that the Name of Jesus Christ will give us every reason to embrace others who are different; instead of being every excuse to exclude.  I pray that in 2012 Christians will proclaim that Jesus Christ is alive by our desire to be authentic in our relationships with God, others and ourselves.

St. Benedict wrote his Rule for beginners.  It means that every day; even after a day where we failed miserably to proclaim the Name of Jesus Christ; we get up and we begin again.  This is also why year after year, God gives us the 1st of January.  A New Year to begin again.

Amen.


Prayers

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name
of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart,
we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our
Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  (Collect for the Feast of the Holy Name, Book of Common Prayer, page 213).

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully
restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may
share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our
humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer of the Incarnation, Book of Common Prayer, page 252).

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, page 816).

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).    

Finding the Greatest Among the Rejected: Thoughts About The Archbishops Prayerful Abuse of LGBT People

Today's Scripture Reading

Isaiah 54: 1-10 (NRSV)

Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
   burst into song and shout,
   you who have not been in labour!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
   than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.
Enlarge the site of your tent,
   and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;
do not hold back; lengthen your cords
   and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
   and your descendants will possess the nations
   and will settle the desolate towns.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
   do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
   and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband,
   the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
   the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you
   like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
like the wife of a man’s youth when she is cast off,
   says your God.
For a brief moment I abandoned you,
   but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment
   I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
   says the Lord, your Redeemer.

This is like the days of Noah to me:
   Just as I swore that the waters of Noah
   would never again go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
   and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart
   and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
   and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
   says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Luke 7: 24-30 (NRSV)

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way before you.”

I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’ (And all the people who heard this, including the tax-collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves.) 

Blog Reflection

I am writing this blog post after having literally been shot in the heart by some news I have just read.  The local Catholic Archbishop has published a prayer to be used at Masses and other parish church functions that the Holy Spirit will help Minnesota pass a constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality for LGBT people on November 6, 2012.  The betrayal that I am experiencing is very deep as a result of the use of public prayer as a means of promoting religious and spiritually based violence on myself and others who seek to have our relationships recognized by the civil Government.

In my anger and sadness, I decided it was time to write my blog today.  So, I turned to the Lectionary for Thursday in the Third Week of Advent and I find this Gospel about Jesus praising the person and work of John the Baptist.  The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures from Isaiah also had something positive to say to me in the midst of my emotional response to the spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse of the Catholic Archbishop's prayer.

John the Baptist was not what we would call the usual and typical guy.  He lived outside of what was considered to be "normal".   He wore the clothing of camel's hair and ate bugs and honey.  He probably was not a very clean man.  Yet, the words of this unusual man and his call to repentance of a people who were experiencing political, social and religious oppression was so great that many people went to him to be Baptized.

Jesus is challenging those who are listening to him to look at their motives when going to see this John the Baptist that was so different.  They did not find someone who could both talk eloquently and look like the drop dead gorgeous guy that looks clean and wears a $300.00 suit and a $95.00 tie.  Perhaps they were looking for someone to say "your religious and political leaders are doing such noble and holy work.  Trust in God and be polite to them.  Everything will work out just fine."  But, that is not what they found.

Instead they found someone who was preparing the way for God to come to them, by calling everyone from the person in the highest political and religious position to those looking for a reason to hold on another day, to repent of their sins and recreate a place where everyone can find hope in God.  Not only in their communities, but in their hearts.

Jesus said: "I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’  Jesus recognized the power of God in one who was so different, and the greatness of God's work through someone who was so rejected.

I think that Jesus would say the same about women and men who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and/or queer (LGBTQ) today.

The LGBT people who served in secret in the United States Military while Don't Ask, Don't Tell was the law, and now can serve openly since the law's repeal are the greatest among those rejected.  It was assumed that if they are open about their sexuality that they were not qualified to serve and defend our freedoms.  Because they and other LGBT and allied Americans would not accept that answer, we worked together to repeal the law.  And thank God for all our women and men in uniform, including our LGBT soldiers. Even with Rick Perry's shameful ad suggesting that there is something wrong in America with gays being allowed to serve openly, while falsely stating that children in school cannot pray or celebrate Christmas.  Please see my blog post with Bishop Gene Robinson's articulate response to Rick Perry from this past Monday.  It is a response that is both just and holy.

Many of us LGBT people often feel like we are among those that God abandoned for a brief time like in Isaiah 54: 7, because of religious based bigotry and oppression.  Regardless of what religious tradition we come from, or even if we are not religious at all.  It can seem like Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics/Episcopalians/Anglicans/Orthodox/Lutherans etc are given God's authority to continue pastoral and religious based violence towards LGBT people.   No wonder so many LGBT people just can't be part of any kind of organized religion.  Many good hearted LGBT people prefer to be considered as spiritual, but not religious.  Many say they are Christian, but just won't attend a church service or listen to a preacher for fear of what they might hear or experience.  They may say like Bishop Robinson only with different words.  If this is Christianity count me out.

Let us confront two major problems in light of the person of Jesus and John the Baptist.

For Christians, we feel that the verses in Isaiah 53 have something to say about the suffering and death of Jesus.   "He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hid their faces...." (Isaiah 53:3).   Jesus was a man who experience rejection.  The rejection came from those who held religious authority & political authority in his time.  Yet, his rejection and even his horrible death on the Cross brought about the redemption of those who respond to God through the Christian message of salvation.  

Just as John the Baptist, Jesus is an example of someone who was rejected, yet was the greatest among people.  Rather than accept his rejection, but use it to feel sorry for himself and just isolated and inactive in the lives of others who were rejected, Jesus chose to do just the opposite.  Jesus identified with others who were marginalized and rejected.  Jesus healed the sick, saw the beauty and holiness of the eunuchs (the gay men of his time) and affirmed God's creative and redemptive possibilities for everyone. Jesus even put a face on the dead and gave them new hope for eternal life.

I have written before and will continue to write that if Jesus had harsh words for anyone, it was said to those who felt that God owed them something. Just because they were in a place of high prestige and were so deserving of God's graciousness for being so damned wonderful.  Jesus' harsh reminder of who they were not, was probably what got him in so much trouble.  But, that did not stop Jesus from doing God's will in bringing the hope of salvation to all who sought God's grace through him.

The message of the Christian Faith and the Gospel is not meant to be the weapon of mass destruction in a prayer by Archbishop Neinstedt or a political attack ad by Gov. Rick Perry.  They do not speak for all Christians, nor do their words and behaviors represent the best of what Christianity is or is to be.

The Christianity that I chose to be part of asks of people being to be Baptized: "Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself ?"   They also ask: "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being ?"  To both questions, the response is: "I will, with God's help."  Not only does the Episcopal Church ask that of those preparing for Baptism, but also those who are already Baptized to recommit ourselves to those vows.

The response of Bishop Brian Prior of the Episcopal Church of Minnesota is as follows:

From its very origins, the Episcopal Church in Minnesota has always stood with the marginalized. Race, ethnicity, gender, gender orientation or immigrant we have embraced both the Gospel mandate of love of neighbor and the Baptismal Covenant imperative to respect the dignity of every human being. Any actions, whether sacred or secular — such as the proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit our LGBT brothers and sisters from the rights and privileges that the rest of Minnesotans enjoy - are considered to be marginalizing and contrary to the Gospel, the Baptismal Covenant and our history.

The Rt. Rev. Brian N. Prior
IX Bishop, Episcopal Church of Minnesota

The Statement by the Episcopal Church of Minnesota concerning the Minnesota Marriage Amendment vote is as follows:

Resolved, the Episcopal Church in Minnesota opposes the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota banning same-sex marriage. Furthermore the Church will join other denominations and non-profit organizations in signing the “Resolution against the Constitutional Amendment to Ban Marriage for Same-Sex Couples” as prepared and presented by Minnesotans United for All Families:

‘We oppose the amendment to the Minnesota Constitution banning same-sex marriage. Minnesotans United for All Families may use my organization’s name in opposition to the constitutional amendment banning the legal recognition of same-sex couples.’

I believe that the Sacred Heart of Jesus that was wounded by our sins, is even more grieved when someone who claims to represent Jesus in an authoritative position misuses his place to promote spiritual and pastoral violence towards LGBT people who would like the opportunity to be married in the State of Minnesota.

In our anger and grief, God in Jesus by the Holy Spirit draws ever closer to us to console us.  (See 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7).  God tells us that we have every right and cause to be angry, feel sadness and rejection. and to mourn what we feel.  God comes to help us to tell God how angry and sad we are.  But God comes like a mother in the Holy Spirit to say that God does not reject us because we are LGBT.  God comes as our Savior in Jesus to identify with our experience of rejection, to offer healing and inspire us to be part of sharing the inclusive and loving message the God rejects no one. 

Then we can say with the Psalmist: "I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up and have not let my enemies triumph over me.  O Lord my God, I cried to you, and you restored me to health." (Psalm 30, Book of Common Prayer, page 621).

May we know that God finds the greatest among those who have been rejected.


Prayers

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come
among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver
us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and
the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, page 212).

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.(Book of Common Prayer, page 816)

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. (BCP. Page 823).

Seventh Sunday after The Epiphany: Without Love Whatever We Do is Meaningless

This Sunday's Gospel is one of those that I have a lot of trouble with.  I have more trouble with not the Gospel itself as much as I do with most of the preachers who preach about it.  It seems to me that so often the folks who preach about forgiving those who have hurt us, often come from white, wealthy, healthy, heterosexual, Christian, English speaking men.  The Gospel that I am about to present for this Sunday, is very difficult for me to do.  But, with in it is some things for all of us to consider.  Especially those of us who are working towards justice, equality and inclusion of all marginalized person's including LGBTQ people in the Church and society.

 Scriptural Basis

Matthew 5:38-48 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, `An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

"You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Once again, this is not a Gospel text that I enjoy reading.  I never have.  This is one of those Gospels that is so often used by people promoting religious and spiritual abuse.  I am very sorry to say, that is exactly what happened during the Sermon at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral this morning.   It was preached by a white, English speaking, heterosexual, wealthy and healthy male.  There were comments made about what a great thing it is that both the tea party and the unions had showed up in protest in Madison, Wisconsin.  There was a comment that the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's was so that white people could take their proper place in society.  This in and of itself suggests racism and white supremacy, from the pulpit.  This is not a good use of pastoral and religious privilege.  What was said, was very dangerous.  It in fact, helps to insight violence and prejudice and appears to egg it on, when what we really need to do is promote peace, justice, inclusion and equality.  This is what happens when sermons and messages are badly framed and delivered.

Yet, I want to be very clear.  I still love St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.  I still love the preacher who delivered it.  I sincerely cannot condone what was said, and how it was said.  When I attempt to confront the individual with the understanding of how critically dangerous his religious and spiritual abuse is, he may very well disagree.  He probably won't apologize.  He will defend what he said.  But do I still love him and appreciate who he is?  Yes I do.

What he said that was true, is that this gospel is about our human relationships.  It is about the love of God for each and every one of us.  And yes, it is about the love of God for those, yes, even those with whom we are debating and disagreeing with.  It is about loving those who hate people of different races, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions, economic status, health status, immigration status and so on and so forth.  While it may be about loving them, as angry as their actions make us, and as unjust as what they do to us, it is so not about condoning what they do.  It is so not about letting them off the hook.  It is so not about us doing everything we can do to make it right.  That is where the preacher this morning, got it wrong.

The rise of the unions in Madison, WI and all over the country is about politics.  But it is about so much more. This effort in Madison, WI is about the further marginalization of the middle-class at the hands of wealthy corporate America.   It is about the suppression of the diversity of ideas, and how those ideas are expressed. It is about recognizing that every person who goes to work in this country is a person of dignity, and that their dignity should be upheld and respected.  Those individuals who work day in and day out to sweep our streets, teach the children, police our neighborhoods, put out the fires, take us to the hospitals, nurse our wounds, receive visitors at public offices, they are individual people with dreams and hopes.  They are the suffering heart of our country and our Church.  Within those workers are women and men.  Represented among all those union workers are individuals who are lesbian, gay, straight, a sexual, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people.   Some where in those rallying crowds there are illegal immigrants and people of a vast diversity of races, cultures, religions.   In those unions there are individuals who cannot speak the English language.  Yet, among those people are real people.  Rich and poor a like.  And yes, liberal/progressive, independent and conservative.

It is quite the theological matter to ask those being marginalized by their own Governor to "forgive" and "be perfect" while their futures hang in the balance of what is happening.

It is unthinkable for Jesus to be asking those of us who are LGBTQ to offer the other cheek when the conservative Christianists are slapping us around every single day, with their hate rhetoric.  Their anti-gay politics are constantly eating away at the very core of who we are.  They are determined to annihilate us, until we no longer exist.

If you find it difficult to forgive these people, you are not alone.

If you find yourself unable to just let them slap us around and not respond, you are not alone.

In the past, I have said that there is a huge difference between forgiveness and trust.  I still believe that to be the case.   

The place where most preachers pastorally, spiritually and religiously abuse minorities, is they assume that they are addressing a grudge that keeps people from forgiving, when in fact it is not a forgiveness issue.  It is a trust issue.  When some preachers go full steam ahead to address what they perceive is an issue of forgiveness, they do more damage to a soul already wounded. 

It is absolutely proper to not trust a preacher, teacher, police officer, judge, vandal etc.  It is a wise thing to not admit them into your home so they can further use their authority to ruin your life. 

What is not a good and noble thing to do is place them and their hateful behavior, words, or attitudes and our feelings and emotions about them between our relationship with God, others or ourselves.   That is where many of us need the healing and mercy of God.  Help with healing those wounds of hurt and psychological hate (not moral hate, there is a difference) can come from our Mother, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit can help us to dig down and deal with that hurt and resentment.  Not run from it.  Not pretend that it is not there.  What hurts us deeply is as much a part of who we are, as who we are and who we love.  If we are going to be free of it. We have to face it with the Holy Spirit, deal with it as it is, experience all the emotions that are there and finally move on, and live our lives as free people.

One more thing that I must comment on that was said by the preacher this morning: "There is a lot of energy in resentment."  That is true.  However, I think it is way past time for preachers, especially those who make such statements as poorly as that last one, learn to become people who do not make use of their pastoral or religious authority to become the energy source for that resentment.  The pulpit needs to become a permanent place where the justice, integrity, inclusion and equality of all marginalized persons are defended, upheld and promoted.    When preachers and bishops use their pastoral privilege to misuse and abuse others, they become vehicles for new wounds and new resentment that in some cases may never heal. 

Yes, this Gospel is about loving others.   But it is as much about confronting our enemies in love, as it is with dealing with our own personal insecurities about ourselves and others.  It is about recognizing God's unconditional and all-inclusive love. It is also about the fact that unless within our forgiveness is that love that seeks the common good of even the person with whom we are at enmity with, what we do and do not do is meaningless.  The kind of love I am speaking of is not the kind by which we must totally fall in love with that person.  The love I am speaking of is the kind that we seek their common good, and do not desire for them the most evil of actions.   Even when we think the girl or guy who ruined our lives is a complete butt head.  It is okay to disagree.  It is our place to tell them, that what they did was wrong.  But it is also our place to take care of ourselves, by not placing ourselves in the path of that person so that they can further hurt and harm us. 

Let us also realize that knowing and doing what we must do, is not something that we can do without God's help.  We need God the Holy Spirit to enlighten us with her power and grace.  We need to pray for trust in Jesus to know and act as we should.  To be forgiven for when we have done wrong.  But also to pray for the grace to forgive them, and to seek God's will in their lives as well as ours.

Prayers

O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Prayer for the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, page 216).


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, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Our Enemies, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).