Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost: Proper 23: Leaving Behind, Moving Forward

Today's Scripture Reading

Mark 10:17-31 (NRSV)

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

Blog Reflection

I do beg the pardon of my readers today.  I have been away from our home for a couple days, so I am writing this blog reflection at this very last moment.  As that is the case, I am choosing only one reading and that is the Gospel.  I pray that this reflection will be meaningful and inspiriting.

How do we leave behind all that is dear and important to us?  It is a question that many have had to answer.  When a member of the military has to leave her/his family to go on duty, she/he leaves everything else behind.  Spouse, parents, children, friends, etc.  Every holiday season, there are those moments on the news of members of the military wishing their relatives a happy holiday season, often with tears in their eyes.  A person who works a career of business that makes them travel a lot, have to say good bye for the time being, to any number of people on a regular basis.

The point that Jesus is making here is not so much the leaving of one's family in the literal sense.  It is the leaving of our false sense of self that is so tied to the things around us, that we never leave them behind to follow God's will in our hearts and lives.  We always carry those relationships deep with in us.  We can also carry them around in a way that we focus on those relationships for the sake of themselves.  Somewhere in all of those relationships is our God talking through them to us, and we to them.  God calls us through others, including those possessions we use, to remember that they all came to us because of God's graciousness initiative.

St. Benedict taught that "All utensils and goods of the Monastery are be regarded as the sacred vessels of the altar." (RB:1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English, Chapter 31, p.55).  Handling anything in the mind of St. Benedict was about remembering our responsibility of stewardship for the things we handle, and the people we live in relationship with.  The challenge the Jesus gives to the wealthy person, is that riches in and of themselves are not bad, however, when we live as though it is all ours with no concern about anyone other than ourselves, we worship the thing rather than God.

We are not only attached to "things", we also tend to hold on to other things such as attitudes towards others who are different from ourselves.  We can hold wealth as if no one else should have a little of what we may have in abundance.  Those who exercise their wealth well, are those who may have a lot, but share it with those who do not.  The bottom line here is, we can hold onto our privileges at the expense of the underprivileged.  When we do that, everyone suffers.

Holding attitudes of sexism, racism, homophobia and heterosexism, religious discrimination and more, there are those losing as we gain benefits.  When we hold religious freedom for example, to applying to only one religious group, with a complete disregard to others, no persons belief system is really safeguarded.   When we safeguard those of us who are Caucasian too tightly, those who are of any other race can never find a place of equality for them, because they are the second class citizens.  When people hold too tightly to their guns, even while innocent people are being killed every second by a gun, no one is really safe in their neighborhoods, schools or homes. 

What is it that we need to leave behind?

What things are we holding so tightly to, that no one else can share in our happiness?

Where is God in our lives, also in the things we handle and the people we relate to?

May all Christians remember that all that God gives to us, is never really our own, but on loan by a loving God.  This includes our mortal bodies and those of others.  It is only by letting go, that we discover God's holiness in all that is around us.  May we all take time today, to look for, touch and listen to God in all things and people.

Amen.


Prayers

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

Gracious Father, we pray for thy 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.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 816).

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: What God Are We Serving?

Today's Scripture Readings

Amos 8:4-7 (NRSV)

Hear this, you that trample on the needy,

and bring to ruin the poor of the land,

saying, "When will the new moon be over

so that we may sell grain;

and the sabbath,

so that we may offer wheat for sale?

We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,

and practice deceit with false balances,

buying the poor for silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals,

and selling the sweepings of the wheat."

The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob:

Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Psalm 113 (BCP., p.756)


1 Timothy 2:1-7 (NRSV)

First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For

there is one God;

there is also one mediator between God and humankind,

Christ Jesus, himself human,

who gave himself a ransom for all

-- this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Luke 16:1-13 (NRSV)

Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Blog Reflection

St. Hildegard of Bingen in her Book of Life's Merits wrote:

Greed says: "I snatch all things to myself. I hug all things to my breast; the more i have gathered the more I have......  When I have whatever I need, I have no worries about needing anything from someone else."  Simple sufficiency replies: "You are harsh and devoid of mercy because you do not care for the advancement of others.  Nothing is sufficient to satisfy you.  I, however, sit above the stars, for all of God's good things are sufficient for me..... What should I desire more than I need?" 

Christians can write all the smear they want to suggest that abortion, sex outside marriage, and gay marriage are a danger to to the moral welfare of society.  Greed however, is far worse than they all are.   No social disease destroys communities in the way that the desire for millions of dollars and all the power that comes with it   Consumerism and it's drive on technology, fashion, transportation, luxury, more speed, and the suggestion that these deliver social and personal popularity is among the greatest of lies that are taken as truth.    

The Bible readings this weekend are calling us to be more responsible for the good things God gives us.  We are challenged to look beyond ourselves to see the needs of others beyond us.  The Scriptures are trying to tell us that having what we need is one thing.  When we take more than our share, and deprive others of the basic necessities of life we allow ourselves to worship another god, who is not our God. 

We have been so blessed in our time, yet we never have enough.   We seem to be in an endless desire for more and more. 

Benedictines do not have an issue with using the things we are given for the purpose of nourishment, shelter and even comfort.  However, Benedict makes the case that what we use, we do not own.   Everything, including our bodies are on loan to us.  We are responsible for using what we are given out of reverence and respect for God who gives us what we need.   In addition, God places on us the responsibility to share what we have with those who are in need.   We share not out of fear, but out of love.  Love for God, our neighbor and ourselves.

This past week, we saw our U.S. House of Representatives vote to decrease funding for food stamps, and to defund health care for political gain.  These issues are no longer about those who are unemployed receiving help with food, and the sick receiving health care without becoming homeless.  It is about power to control things for the benefit of the wealthy few, at the expense of the many struggling for hope and prosperity.   As Christians, it is our moral obligation to be concerned when the needy, especially when they are already on the ground wounded from life's brutality, getting kicked in the stomach by those who should be doing all they can to help them.  God is giving us the opportunity to speak up and become active on their behalf.   We have the chance to live out the meaning of our Baptismal vows.

We have had too many incidents of mass shootings.  The US Navy yard in Washington, D.C.  The shooting of 28 people, 20 of them children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT.  High School shootings. A mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Yet, the NRA and those frightening people into believing false conspiracy theories about the Government are able to convince our Congressional leaders that there is no need for universal background checks and stricter laws regulating dangerous weapons.  

We have laws being passed that make it more difficult for African Americans, Immigrants, low income people to vote for their elected officials.  Four States have refused to process benefits for legally married same-sex couples, and others have asked the National Guard in their States to not process them.   We are seeing more laws pushed that violate a woman's right to reproductive health care.  All pushed for by individuals using their billion dollars to affect the laws that benefit them, but are so destructive to others.

What God are we serving?  What God do we wish to serve?

Jesus is telling us in this parable that those who have been given responsibility for much, are accountable for what we do with what we are given.    Do we hold ourselves accountable?

We have been gathered together as the Body of Christ to worship Him and celebrate the new life given us by His death and resurrection.   We have been given God's gift of the Holy Spirit to share the good news of Jesus Christ to all the ends of the earth.   We have been united to Christ and one another through the Eucharist with a sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ.  We have every reason to serve God in the people and with those things that are given to us, so as to give God the glory that God so rightly deserves.  

Perhaps we should remember today the words we read at Vespers on Friday: "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Amen.


Prayers

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to
love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among
things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall
endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 20, Book of Common Prayer, p. 233).

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the
earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those
who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people
everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the
nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh;
and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, p.100).

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you
all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us
to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick,
and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those
who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow
into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for
our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Poor and Neglected, Book of Common Prayer, p.826).

  

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost: The Challeng of Managing our Wealth

The Scriptures for this weekend's Liturgy speak to the economic situation of our time.  We are living through some of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression.  Jobs have been lost.  People's futures are either threatened or totally destroyed.  Many individuals and families have lost their homes because of corrupt mortgage practices of financial institutions. The great debate is on in our Congress over whether or not to extend the Bush Tax Cuts to the top 2% of the wealthiest Americans.  America has the most twisted tax system.  Wealth is more important than the middle class working to own a home or put children through higher education.  Corporations now have more power than individuals to affect National elections through how much money they can donate to candidates who represent a corporations best interest.  Corporations and wealth are more important than people's safety, education and over all welfare.  The United States of America is slowly but surely becoming the Corporate States of America.

During the health care reform debate, the most important issue was not what we can do as Americans or even Christians to help benefit those who are sick and in need of health care.  The most important matter is how can the health insurance companies keep their billion dollar profits, even if they manage to refuse health care to someone who is sick and it results in someone's death.  Our nation is corrupt.  What is the answer?  How do we get to the answers?

The Bible readings for this weekend speak about God's awareness of those who are poor, oppressed and in need.  The Old Testament offers two optional readings.  The first is from Jeremiah 8:18-9:1.

My joy is gone, grief is upon me,

my heart is sick.

Hark, the cry of my poor people

from far and wide in the land:

"Is the LORD not in Zion?

Is her King not in her?"

("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,

with their foreign idols?")

"The harvest is past, the summer is ended,

and we are not saved."

For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,

I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of my poor people

not been restored?

O that my head were a spring of water,

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

so that I might weep day and night

for the slain of my poor people!

Out in Scripture offers some reflection for us to consider.

These are vivid images: A city ruined. Birds plucking dinner from the bodies of God's people. Blood poured out like water around the holy city. No one left, even to bury the victims.

Left with no healing ointment, finding no physicians in the holy places, a mourner longs to weep: "O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears" (Jeremiah 9:1).

These images from Psalm 79 and the prophet Jeremiah grab our attention. They press Israel's misfortune before our eyes, calling us to stop and stare. The Bible does not glide by human suffering. Usually, it names suffering and sits with it, calling us to identify our own relationship to those who suffer. Sometimes our most important choice in biblical interpretation involves deciding who we are — where we are in the passage — and where we stand in relation to the text. 

Both psalmist and prophet mourn along with their people — God's people — the Israelites. Facing their society's devastation, the overthrow of its holy city, they call out for divine intervention. Prophet and psalmist identify themselves among the survivors, when survival itself hardly seems a grace. They stand within the people of Israel.

The questions they ask also express their identification with God's suffering people. Their questions challenge God who allows, perhaps causes, Jerusalem's devastation: "How long, O God? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?" (Psalm 79:5). "Is the God not in Zion?" (Jeremiah 8:19). "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?" (Jeremiah 8:22). These questions seem as prayers of accusation to an almost silent God.

The other option for the First Reading is Amos 8: 4-7

In Amos 8:4-7, another prophet sees things differently. A Judahite, Amos is preaching to the "other" people of Israel. Standing over against – not with – them, Amos employs other images. He poses other questions. Trampling the needy, corrupting weights and measures, purchasing the poor for silver and the needy for sandals, these images accuse not God but Israel's wealthy. When Amos voices the questions of the people, they do not challenge God, rather, they indict the wealthy. "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale?" (Amos 8:5). Amos identifies over against the people.

Do we join the voice of the psalmist and Jeremiah, standing alongside the victims of violence and oppression? Do we find ourselves with Amos, condemning the agents of oppression who — pursuing wealth and power — grind the bones of the poor to make their own bread? Or are we the wealthy who pursue privilege ignoring the suffering of others? When we proclaim the word of God for today, we must discern the images and questions most appropriate to the place in which we plant our feet.

As for images drawn from our lives today, options abound: A wounded soldier trying to build a new life or, conversely, an Iraqi with several empty beds in the home. A poor woman who takes her cancer to work every day, a cancer that would have been detected had she received health care. A lonesome college student, trying to find one person she can trust with who she truly is. Standing with these victims requires engaging the myriad ways in which we victimize one another. That's a daunting decision in its own right.

Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

The Gospel reading sounds very confusing.  Is Jesus condoning dishonesty as some might suggest?  No, that is not what is here.  What is being discussed is mismanaging all of the goods that were given to the manager, and how the manager took care of things while he still had the opportunity.  

"Faced with expulsion, he knows he will get no recommendations for a similar job.  He is not physically capable of day labor, and begging would be too humiliating.  While there is time, he uses his position to make friends for the bleak future.  He reduces the debt of each of his master's debtors (only the first two instances are described), hoping they will remember.  It appears that the steward has played fast and loose with his master's property.  The charge against him was not dishonesty, however, but wastefulness and mismanagement; and in his preparations for the future he may not have been dishonest either." (Jerome Kodell, O.S.B.,The Collegeville Bible Commentary, New Testament Volume, page 965). 

Biblical literalism and the way it has been used to denigrate women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning people is an example of how Christians have misused the "wealth" that is knowledge.  Wealth is not just money or materials.  We can also have a wealth of knowledge, ability, and we can be selfish with it, or use it only for our advantage, while keeping truth from those whom it would benefit.  Such is the case with ordained Priests and Bishops with in the Roman Church who have misled people into believing that children were safe, rather than admitting that the sickness of pedophilia that is within their very own walls.  Such behaviors represent a mismanagement of spiritual and pastoral power. 


Rather than use the gift of Reason to better understand the Scriptures and our historical Christian Tradition, many use it's misfortunes and misinformation to suppress immigrants, people of different races, nationalities, cultures and abilities.  People who are LGBTQ are treated as individuals who are intrinsically disordered (Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 566).  People who experience sexual orientations that are not heterosexual are suppose to "pray" or "cure the gay" through ex-gay ministries.  The Christians Church has been charged as stewards of the truth of the Gospel that all individuals are created as good human beings by God, totally loved to the point of being redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, God's only Son.  Every person is loved and sanctified by God the Holy Spirit as she moves in and through the hearts and lives of every human person. Is this not a good example of mismanaging the goods of the Gospel?  Might not the Church have some serious penance to do and make right before God and all of humankind?  


And for LGBTQ people who have been so richly blessed with the ability to love people of the same sex or be transgendered.  We cannot live good and holy lives if we live them in hate of those who have and continue to oppress us.  We will not find wholeness of life if we live with hate and anger with every person who harms us.  We can and should approach God and ask the Holy Spirit to help us heal and forgive.   We are not good stewards of God's gift of love when we live our sexuality promiscuously and carelessly.  When we use individuals for our own personal pleasure with no concern for the common good of those we are sexually active with, we are mismanaging God's gift of human sexuality as lesbian, gay or bisexual people.  Heterosexual people also have such a responsibility with their sexual partners. There are holy ways to manage our lives and there are ways we can be destructive.  God's ways are always to be loving, holy and to engage in activity that is life-giving and preserves the dignity of every human person.  Yes, people who are LGBTQ can live holy lives as we are, but that does not excuse us from holy and healthy responsibilities.

We are challenged in our Bible Readings today to be concerned about those less fortunate than ourselves.  When we cast our votes this upcoming November 2nd.  May we be most concerned that those who lead our country forward over the next several months and years, take to heart our concern for those who are struggling to get up off of ground 1.  May we show corporations that people are more important, and that it is the welfare of all people that people and Government must serve.  The Church must also be challenged and held accountable for seeing to the good of every human person, and that includes those who misuse their power to suggest that God's will just might encourage violence and cruelty.   Christians should know better than that.  We have every business challenging ourselves, our Government and the Church to do much better.  For the sake of the Name of Jesus Christ, who's Name suffers when God's people are suppressed, we must challenge ourselves and our Government and the Church to do better. 

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 20, Book of Common Prayer, page 234).

Holy One,
    It is so easy to name the sufferings of life – my pain,
        my neighbors' pain, the pain of the world.
    Do you see our suffering? Do you feel our pain?
    Help us to identify the suffering, to name the pain
        and to turn towards you.
    We ask you to do miracles – heal the pain and take away suffering,
        And yet even if you don't, come to us.
        Hear the world cry. Come to us.
    Amen. (Prayerfully Out in Scripture).

Tenth Sunday After Pentecost: In Who or What Do We Find Our Riches?

When ever I hear the reading from Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2: 18-23 that begins with "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity" that begins our Liturgy today I get kind of a "oh here we go" smirk on my face. I think: "Oh, here we go, we are basically being taught: "Why in the world do we bother?"  In my mind that is more or less what the writer of Ecclesiastes is saying. 

I remember beginning to think that way shortly after my father died.  I thought: "If we are only going to die at some point, why put in so much effort to getting an education, a job, make money?  After we die, it's all gone."  The writer of Ecclesiastes as well as Psalm 49 would appear to agree.  Everything we gain we will eventually lose.  So why bother? 

Contrary to what I might have sounded like I was thinking after my father died and what this weekend's Bible readings are about, Christianity has nothing against acquiring those things we need to live, work and provide a life for ourselves that is as comfortable as possible until we die.  What the Scripture readings are telling us this weekend is when we put so much of our lives into storing up for ourselves those treasures that we cannot take with us when we leave this earth, we run the risk of squeezing out God whom we do need not only in this life, but in the life to come.

It is real easy to discuss not becoming greedy when as privileged members of society and the Church we can comfortably make that choice.  If you are a white, heterosexual, healthy, wealthy, English speaking and writing male, employed etc., you might never have the issue of having someone tell you how to avoid greed by finding God.  Those who are not the privileged of society, in particular but certainly not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning/queer people will have a bit more difficultly coming to terms with "seeking God alone." So many LGBTQ people are driven away from God and the Christian Church by those determined to hold on to politically oppression disguised as "orthodoxy."  The Christian tradition is so full of abuses namely sexism, heterosexism, anti-Semitism, racism and the like all in the name of "orthodoxy." The one thing we fail to see is how much the Church drives people away from God by such political and social oppression into lives of greed and the like.

I have begun reading an excellent book called: Gay Unions: In the Light of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason by Gray Temple.  You can find and purchase the book through Church Publishing.  Much of what I wrote in my last paragraph comes from Fr. Temple's magnificent chapter on Tradition that begins on page 101.  As with Fr. Temple, I too must say that I am love with all of the great teachings that "orthodoxy" affords us as Episcopalians and/or Anglicans.  However, it is so easy for us to forget that our tradition that is wrapped up in "orthodoxy" has with it a history that is filled with political maneuvering that benefits someone in power. What is happening in the Church and even in society today is not unlike where we have come from.  We just now have technology to fast forward things, including our own corruption.  If the Church is going to call upon LGBTQ people to seek after God so as to find satisfaction in God alone so as to ward off greed, substance abuses, domestic abuses and the like, then the heterosexism that currently blocks LGBTQ people from discovering that will need to be wiped out of our church communities.  Falsely claiming that the Bible condemns homosexuality and marriage equality and that Church Tradition must continue to uphold it because of "orthodoxy" does the work of evangelizing LGBTQ Christians absolutely no good.  We might as well not believe in the Trinity or the Virgin Birth at all if holding onto "orthodoxy" is our only excuse for not including LGBTQ people equally in the life of the Church's life, Sacraments and mission.. To the LGBTQ people who are rejected by the Church in the name of "orthodoxy" they could care less.  And Christians have placed that burden upon the shoulders of LGBTQ people in the name of "orthodoxy."

Nevertheless, those of us who are LGBTQ need not wait for those who lead the Church to discover for ourselves that finding our riches in God is the best way to find true happiness in our lives.  As difficult as the spiritual and religious abuses of LGBTQ people by Christians are, we cannot keep making them our excuse for not finding peace with God.  In this way, we give the conservative Christians the ammunition they so terribly use to suggest that LGBTQ people cannot find happiness in our lives, because we do not seek God.  We can make every excuse available including blaming the Church for our choice to attempt to find happiness in money, careers, fancy lofts and expensive clothing, not to mention promiscuous sexuality. However, as long as we harbor the feelings of anger and fail to deal with those emotions in a healthy way, we will turn to things and make them "gods" when God is really who we need  We can store up for ourselves all of the sex parties, bar hops, sex tricks and internet cruising sites to find happiness.  Unless we are willing to try to seek happiness and holiness in God first and foremost than everything else we might look to will only leave us feeling empty and alone. 

Could such be why ex-gay ministries are one of the places sad and lonely LGBTQ people go thinking that if they get rid of the gay thing they will be happier?  Guess what, I have been there.  Yup!  I did that too.  However ex-gay ministries are actually counterproductive in what they are hoping to do.  Rather than help us to see that God needs to be the God of our lives who wants to love us as we are and help us find healthy and happy lives and relationships, ex-gay ministries instead cause us to make our sexual orientations our "god."  Ex-gay ministries talk LGBTQ people into treating our God given and blessed sexual orientation and/or gender identities/expressions as our enemy.  In so doing, ex-gay ministries turn healthy sexual orientation for a distressed LGBTQ person in to her or his new idolatry.  When we suppress who we are making working on "that" being "changing our sexual orientation" when God gave it to us to find love in God, others and ourselves, then suddenly that which God created, becomes "god."  And every time we obey our "god" and disappoint ourselves because we masturbated or whatever, suddenly "god" is that something we can no longer run from .  Only when we surrender to God's will that being LGBTQ is how God created us and place our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression at the service of the one God, will we be richly rewarded because God is the center of our lives, not our gayness or whatever else we happen to be. 

The Preacher Roger L. Franzen at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral this morning was correct.  What LGBTQ people and quite frankly every person needs to be spiritually and personally healthy and happy is the fruits of the Holy Spirit that are found in Galatians 5: 22 to 23.  "By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against such things."  If all Christians including LGBTQ Christians could invest more of ourselves into the fruits and gifts of God the Holy Spirit, then we will find true riches, happiness, holiness and wholeness.

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 13, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).

Holy One, who satisfies our souls with good things,
    Empower us to set our minds on you,
        not on things only of the earth.
    Fill any emptiness and fear with your grace.
    Give us the courage to set aside that which perishes,
        and to live in freedom —
        speaking truth,
        offering bread, shelter and comfort to others,
        trusting in you, our Freedom, our Truth, our Bread.
    In the name of Jesus, giver all good gifts,
    Amen. (Out in Scripture, Proper 13, Year C).