St. Ambrose of Milan: Orthodoxy Supports LGBT Inclusion

Today's Scripture Readings

Luke 12:35-37,42-44 (NRSV)

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

And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions."

Blog Reflection

Let me say at the beginning of this entry that I do love orthodox theology.  I really do. The rich theology that has brought us the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Real Presence in the Eucharist and the Liturgy is a true delight of mine.  In a conversation in which orthodoxy is being unfairly ridiculed, I tend to side with orthodoxy.  On the other hand, when orthodoxy is being used as an excuse for exclusivity and that Christianity is celebrated as a religion of "triumphalism" and "supersessionism" I am still very orthodox when I respectfully disagree.

St. Ambrose of Milan was a great philosopher and theologian in the time of the great Arian controversy.  As an Oblate of St. Benedict, many of the great hymns that support belief in the Trinity that are used in Morning and Evening Prayer were composed by St. Ambrose.   One of the great Advent hymns found in the Hymnal 1982, number 55 was written by Ambrose between 340 and 397 and translated by Charles P. Price who was born in 1920. 

"A meditation attributed to him [Ambrose] includes these words: "Lord Jesus Christ, you are for me medicine when I am sick; you are my strength when I need help; you are life itself when I fear death; you are the way when I long for heaven; you are light when all is dark; you are my food when I need nourishment." (HWHM page 106).

I will not write anything here that would suggest that Ambrose defense of all that is Christian is anything less than.  Yet, even the greatest Saints in Church history had their faults.  "If anti-Semitism were not a Christian virtue, Ambrose of Milan would not be a Christian Saint" (Gray Temple, Gay Unions In the Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, page107).   Anti-Semetism as well as any notion that Christians, men, heterosexual people, Caucasian individuals are exceptional and therefore privileged is anything but a Christian virtue.

This is why I do enjoy Episcopal theologians such as Bishop John Shelby Spong who are not afraid to turn orthodoxy on its back, pick it apart and put it back together again with a renewed understanding. 

Jesus calls on those who follow him to "Be dressed for actions and keep your lights lit...  so there may be an open door for when the master returns."  This is a call for Christians to prepare that way for Jesus, by keeping our minds and hearts open for Christ to come and convert ourselves, our culture, the Church and society.   As many affirming Christians work for the inclusion of LGBT people and challenge our LGBT communities that not all Christians are anti-LGBT, it is a call and opportunity for orthodoxy to keep its lamps lit and welcome the Master in new and wonderful ways.

I find it a very poor use of orthodoxy and even the word "traditionalists" when they are used to suggest that Christianist imperialism is somehow a good thing for the Church and the world.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton gave an outstanding speech about the United States doctrine of LGBT rights on a world wide global scale.   It was a reflection of the wishes of the Obama Administration to call for universal equality for LGBT people all over the world.  It was a welcome and timely message.

Already today Christianist individuals such as Pat Robertson of the 700 Club and Peter Spriggs of the Family Research Council along with Matt Barber and Tony Perkins have been slamming Obama.   Peter Spriggs outright accused Obama of "fanatical cultural imperialism."

While the United States is not completely innocent of spreading our own imperialism, calling for a world that is more accepting of LGBT people is an effort to move away from the imperialism of heterosexism. 

The orthodoxy that makes the Christian religion is exactly why we must work for a more inclusive world and Church that seeks equality and justice for all marginalized persons.   Our faith is not about encouraging oppression, violence and prejudice.  The Christian Faith is a relationship that sets the prisoner free and gives sight to those who cannot see.  The Christian Faith and all that is terrific about it with it's prayers, creeds and sacraments, is an invitation that makes us uncomfortable in our Pandoras boxes and calls us to reach out beyond ourselves. 

Being LGBT and chosing to exercise all that is great about diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities/expressions has at it's core what being an orthodox Christian is all about.   The Christian Tradition of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, and giving a vision of God that is anything but status quo, is exactly what the orthodox Christian is all about.  It gives a vision of a God we cannot see, touch or find, suddenly very close, personal and able to be as close to us as a living cell.  

Finding room for the outcast and those thought to be unlovable is all that orthodox Christianity is about.  St. Ambrose may not have said that or written that in his time, but it is the ideal of what his work was suppose to produce.

May we as Christians be found faithful in all that we believe, by making our Faith live in our work towards equality, inclusion and justice for all marginalized persons.  Including, but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people. 


Prayers

O God, you gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 107).

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Second Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, page 211).


O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).

Be a Social and Religious Reformer: Society and the Church Need Both

Luke 12:35-37,42-44 (NRSV)

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

And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions."

There are those who think that crazy progressive Christians are all "anti-orthodox" because we are pushing for so much social and religious reform.  Our challenges to make society and the Church more inclusive of all people including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people, suggests to many that we also want all of those orthodox things that make Christianity what it is are things we want to forever change.  There are those on the progressive left side of the isle who believe those things need to change if we are to attract people to the Church.  Then there are folks like me, who believe that those things that make Christianity what it is with the Bible, the Trinity, the Incarnation, Salvation the Sacraments, the Apostolic Succession and all that are made more of what they were meant to be when society and the Church accepts the need for social and religious reform.

St. Ambrose was a defender of the orthodox Christian Faith.   Some of Christianity's greatest hymns referring to the Trinity come from St. Ambrose.  Through the words he wrote and the sermons he gave he was a social and religious reformer of his time.  Ambrose gave the Church much of it's meaning of what we celebrate as Christians.  One of the meditations attributed to Ambrose was: "Lord Jesus Christ, you are for me medicine when I am sick; you are my strength when I need help; you are life itself when I fear death; you are the way when I long for heaven; you are the light when all is dark; you are my food when I need nourishment." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 106).

If all of these awesome realities of who Jesus is to Christians is to live and survive within the human experience, then the social and religious reforms called for by progressive Christians is most crucial.  Our Gospel for today calls for "being ready with our lamps lit" for the Savior to come.  The lamps that must be lit is the light of radical hospitality and the ministry of reconciliation.  We cannot be the Church or a free modern society with the darkness of discrimination, violence and cruel behavior, attitudes and rhetoric.  When the people who call themselves Christians take behaviors that were just previously mentioned, all of the things we pray and believe about Jesus and the Christian Faith become another bunch of legendary ideas that are contained within the beauty of ancient writers only.  The Christian Faith that believes that God is one in three persons lives when we extend our hands in friendship and welcome people wounded by prejudice and violence with the open arms of love, as we offer them a kneeling place at the Altar of God.  The healing stations of our churches become places of tearful compassion as we pray together for our world wounded by corporate capitalism, to place the poorest of the poor first, and help those who have no unemployment benefits.    Our Liturgies at our churches becomes a wonderful celebration of the God who has created, redeemed and now continues to sanctify us all when we embrace all of God's people as God's beloved.

We need to be willing to be social and religious reformers in our time as our President makes a deal to give a tax bailout for billionaires while the lower and middle class, in particular the 99ers get thrown under the bus.  We must continue to call for the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the enactment of the DREAM Act and for hate groups like the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family and many others to be reformed to stop their violent rhetoric towards LGBTQ people.  The laws and systems that allows heterosexuals to benefit at the expense of those who are not, as well as those who are white, male, US born citizens, can read and write in English, are healthy, wealthy and socially secure, need to make room for those who are none of the above so that they can live in peace and prosper.  


As Christians, we are waiting and watching for the return of Christ as our Advent celebrations suggest, when we call society and the Church to social and religious reform that reflects the very Christian Faith we proclaim and pray in our Book of Common Prayer.   Like Ambrose, we need to be willing to state the truth and defend it, even if we are labeled as "social deviants" to do the right thing.  After all the Savior for which we spend this Advent watching and waiting for was treated and labeled as a social deviant, and even gave his life for all social deviants in all times and places.  May we never stop speaking up on behalf of those who need a voice, and to call society and the church to more social and religious reform.  We do so, not to change orthodoxy, but to fulfill its very meaning and destiny.  To be a Church and society where everyone has a place and knows that they are loved.

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent, Book of Common Prayer, page 211).

O God, you gave your servant Ambrose grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Ambrose, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 107).