2nd Sunday in Lent, Year A
Called Out
God calls us to follow an unpredictable path – born of the Spirit from above – and calls this a blessing.
This week's lectionary Bible passages:
Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17 or Matthew 17:1-9
Who's in the Conversation
A conversation among the following scholars and pastors
―These texts, in one way or another, describe ways that we encounter God: through other persons, through faith, through questions, through God ̳coming out‘ in Jesus." Holly Hearon
―Abraham comes out, Nicodemus stays closeted, and Jesus looks fabulous! In each of these readings, whole worlds are turned on their heads." Charles W. Allen
―The dynamics of growth involves movement beyond the established and normative -- which often undergirds what is considered normal.‖Michael Miller
―These readings affirm the power and mystery of faith. Faith is a relational category — it is about one‘s relationship with God. Faith is the human response to God‘s call. It is the human side of the divine relationship. Grace is God‘s side.‖ Helene Tallon Russell
What's Out in the Conversation
A conversation about this week's lectionary Bible passages
For those of us who push at the boundaries of ―normality,‖ Abraham‘s call in Genesis 12:1-4a sets the stage for understanding these Bible passages. Charles Allen is intrigued by the fact that, while Abraham has no Bible to authorize his calling with a few choice proof-texts, he ventures forth from the only family values he knows. He follows a voice that apparently only he has heard. But this is not a choice for private spirituality, for as Helene Russell points out, his decision is meant to bring blessing to all families everywhere. His family may not have gone with him, but they were not forgotten.
Holly Hearon is struck by two aspects of this Genesis passage: First, the passage can describe the experience of many LGBT persons – we leave behind the ―house‖ of our parents (verse 1) to go to a new land (somewhere over the rainbow?) where God shows us our identity as GLBT persons. We are taken to a new land not only in terms of our identity, but also in terms of the communities we belong to and a way of being in the world. But it is a place that God‘s own self reveals to us.
Second (echoing Helene Russell‘s point), God tells Abram that he will be blessed so that he may be a blessing. It invites LGBT people to consider the particular blessing that they bring to the world. Such blessings include qualities like hospitality, welcoming the stranger, the importance of community, and the capacity to celebrate life with joy and humor. Similarly, Michael Miller finds it important to stress that whatever might have been the familial, social and religious pressures placed upon Abram, his growth involved a new understanding of God and of self in relation to the rest of the world. With confidence in Abram‘s new understanding of God and self, he was able to stand against the status quo and set out on a risky journey of self-discovery, other- discovery and further God-discovery
When have you had to strike out on your own, without any guarantees from your family or faith community? What voice did you hear? How might this be a blessing for everybody — even those who did not go with you?
Paul‘s reflection in Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 on Abraham‘s faith has been used by later Christians to downplay the importance of Torah – Jewish Scripture and tradition. But Holly Hearon and Charles Allen both insist on remembering that Paul‘s attitude toward Torah is complex. Here he is trying to show why non-Jews are and always were included in God‘s promises.
Abraham, Holly points out, was still in a sense a Gentile when he believed God — he had not yet received the sign of circumcision. For Charles, Paul‘s point that the promise did not come through the law is another reminder that Abraham had no Bible to back up his risky decision. It doesn‘t mean that Torah, or the Bible, is unimportant, but it suggests that even they do not confine God‘s voice. Michael Miller concurs that Torah points not to a constricting orthodoxy, but to an ideal way of being that reflects God‘s common life with us. It is not meant to confine God‘s working or God‘s voice.
Like many of us today, Paul is wrestling with how to honor his own Scripture in a way that leaves room for God to speak in new, seemingly unprecedented ways. God spoke before Torah. God spoke through Torah. God spoke after Torah. And God still speaks.
How do we honor the voice of God in the Bible and still listen for God to speak in unprecedented ways? What room do we make for other voices? What room do we make for God‘s voice?
The wind blows where it chooses, says Jesus in John 3:1-17. God‘s voice is not confined. Michael Miller hears Jesus telling Nicodemus that faith creates the kind of openness to the dynamic presence of God (depicted by the notion of Spirit) that enables changes so radical that they are only adequately represented by the notion of being born again or ―from above‖ (verse 3). For Holly Hearon, the story of Nicodemus reflects the story of those of us who have not yet come out in whatever way that phrase can apply. It‘s the story of any who catch a glimpse of their identity, but can only approach it in the shadows because they fear being ―found out‖ or losing status – jobs or positions of privilege. To be born of the spirit (from above) is to embrace our status as children of God. God‘s intention is that we may have life – even if we have to approach God from the shadows: it is a beginning.
The alternative gospel lesson in Matthew 17:1-9 recounts the Transfiguration. It is almost too predictable that Holly Hearon and Charles Allen would see this as another story of Jesus being outed by God. Charles quips, ―And doesn‘t he look fabulous!‖ Helene Russell hears Jesus‘ ―do not be afraid‖ (verse 7) as an assurance that we do not need to fear our own transformations
Psalm 121 reminds us that God, our creator, embraces us, desires for us abundant life and honors our integrity as children of God.
Where is the wind of the Spirit blowing in your life? Can you afford to respond with openness? If not, what other responses are available to you right now? How can God transfigure your circumstances?
Prayerfully Out in Scripture
Call us out, O God, from familiar settings. Lead us into unexplored regions,
and make our lives a blessing to all whom we meet.
Give us courage to explore you and to explore ourselves openly. Amen.
Bible passages are selected based on the Revised Common Lectionary, copyright © 1992 by Consultation on Common Text (CCT). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Oak Grove Presbyterian Church's Welcome Statement
Welcome to Oak Grove! We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, LGBTQ, straight, filthy rich, dirt poor, or don’t speak “Minnesotan.” We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, broken-hearted, or in need of a safe place.
We don’t care if you are more Presbyterian than John Calvin or haven’t been to church since little Jimmy got baptized. We welcome you if you can sing like Dessa or Prince, or if you are like many of us who can’t carry a note in a bucket.
You’re welcome here if you’re just browsing, just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you believe in God or if you’ve never been to church.
We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60, but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome fourth-graders and 90-somethings. We welcome those who are liberated by wheelchairs or walkers.
We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers and Mountain Dew drinkers, vegetarians, carnivores, junk-food eaters and even Packers fans. We welcome you if you have some memory challenges. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted.
We welcome you if you’re having problems (who isn’t?) or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like organized religion. We’ve been there, too. If you blew all your offering money partying, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or are here because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.
We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. And we welcome those who could not imagine being inked or pierced. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down their throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake…We are glad YOU are here!
(We modified this from someone else’s original, but we mean every word of it!)
More Light Presbyterians
Take a look at this we site to learn more about More Light Presbyterians.
More Light Presbyterian Website
Responding in Awe by Alex Patchin McNeill
Responding in Awe
Alex Patchin McNeill
Preached at Mission Bay Community Church, September 24, 2017
Isaiah 43: 1-3:
But now, says God-- the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: Don't fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when through the rivers, they won't sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you won't be scorched and flame won't burn you. 3 I am the LORD your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior.
Isaiah 43:19-21
19 Look! I'm doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don't you recognize it? I'm making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness. 20The beasts of the field, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me, because I have put water in the desert and streams in the wilderness to give water to my people, my chosen ones, 21this people whom I formed for myself, who will recount my praise.
Romans 8:18-25:
I believe that the present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God's sons and daughters. 20Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice--it was the choice of the one who subjected it-- but in the hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from slavery to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of God's children. 22We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. 23And it's not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free. 24We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn't hope. Who hopes for what they already see? 25But if we hope for what we don't see, we wait for it with patience. Holy wisdom, holy words.
Responding in Awe
Over 40 years ago, a young Presbyterian clergy man who was about my age at the time stood on the floor of the General Assembly and held up a sign that read “Is Anyone Else Out There Gay?” Rev. David Sindt’s hand lettered sign sparked the first gathering of the Presbyterian Gay Caucus one of the original groups that formed what we now know as More Light Presbyterians. The first hopes of this group were simple, to confront the silence on the issue of homosexuality by getting together persons who identified as gay, or those who supported gay people participating in the life of the church to break through the isolation and create a sense of community which transcended mistreatment by congregations and presbyteries were gay and lesbian people were seeking to serve the church. At first the dream was simple, but revolutionary, to gather together and form community, but then the dream grew. On the day that the marriage amendment and authoritative interpretation allowing ministers to marry same sex couples passed at General Assembly, I had the chance to meet Rev. Hal Porter who had served a church that was one of the first churches to become More Light. He told me a story that in the 1980s the More Light Churches Network held a conference with all the churches that had already voted to become More Light, there were several dozen at that time. At the conference Rev. Porter told me that he spoke as part of a panel on the hopes for the budding LGBT faith movement, he remembered that at one point on the panel someone offered that perhaps the More Light group could work towards the affirmation of same-sex marriage by the denomination.
He told me that those gathered went completely silent with only a few people emitting some nervous laughter because in the mid-1980s, the idea seemed so far away from their reality that same sex marriage would not only be recognized but affirmed by the CHURCH that it almost seemed impossible. On the night that not one but TWO polity changes were passed by General Assembly by an overwhelming margin, Rev. Porter looked me in the eye and said that he truly believed during that panel that this day in the denomination would never come.
Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “if we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. who hopes for what they already see?” The hopes and dreams that founded the movement for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender welcome in the PCUSA were so far beyond what was visible at the time that in some cases they wouldn’t be realized for 30 years or more.
Yet I would consider the progress made in the past forty years of the LGBT movement and broader social justice movement to be what Paul calls in his letter the “first fruits of the spirit,” the beginning signs of what is yet to come, but not the fullness of what God is calling for us to experience, which is for “our bodies to be set free.”
Friends, I believe that we are in a moment where the whole of creation is audibly groaning for further revelation about who God’s children are, and adoption into who God is. While we celebrate both the tangible and symbolic progress made towards LGBT welcome in our churches and in our communities, we know that the reality of physical and emotional abuse experienced by LGBT people is on going.
The continuing act of revelation of God’s children at the beginning of this movement was towards further recognition of who was included in the umbrella of God’s welcome. However I believe the Holy Spirit is calling the LGBTQ faith movement into a new understanding.
As I’ve traveled to More Light churches over the past four years since I stepped into the role of executive director, doing so as an openly transgender man called to serve the Presbyterian Church, I’ve come to see some of the challenges with focusing solely on welcome as the locus for change in the denomination. I remember a conversation with a member of a More Light church that was one of the early churches to declare that there was ‘yet More Light to break forth on the scriptures around homosexuality’ and as such they were not going to exclude anyone from membership or leadership in the church.
He recounted the history of the congregation’s welcome and said, “well first we welcomed gay people, then lesbians, and then we learned about bisexual people and now transgender people?!” He threw up his hands in semi-exasperation and said “what’s next?!”
With a sigh almost too deep for words, I suddenly saw how the founding hope of this movement had run its course. Allowing one identity at a time into who was included in the kin-dom of God could lead to this frustrated exasperation of who is next, what DON’T we know yet? I believe that the hope beyond our horizon requires us to refocus on who God is as a way to understand the fullness of what God is calling us to.
So who or what do we say God is? Naming and describing God has perhaps been the project of religion since the beginning. We as a people called to follow God have attempted for 5,000 years to describe who God is. In Barbara Brown Taylor’s sermon “Three Hands Clapping” she quotes a colleague who says when “when human beings try to describe God we are like oysters trying to describe a ballerina, we simply do not have the equipment to understand something so utterly beyond us, but that has never stopped us from trying.”
I was raised in a church that did its best to try and not limit who God was but still called God “He and Him” without much variation. While we are God’s creation, and therefore by our virtue of being alive know something of who God is, the temptation we have to avoid is making God in the image of us, to assume that because we have legs, arms and a beating heart that God does as well. I was watching the show called “The Cosmos” with Neal Degrass Tyson when it hit me.
In the very first episode of the show, which if you haven’t seen it was a science documentary on the nature of the universe, Neal Degrass Tyson demonstrates just how vast our universe truly is. He starts us on Earth and then zooms into our solar system, and then out into our galaxy, and then beyond our galaxy to other galaxies and then talks about how even with all this vastness the universe is STILL expanding even further. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of hope beyond our understanding, a hope that points towards just how vast, our universe yes, but how vast God, the creator of the universe is. My tiny oyster brain saw for a moment a twirling ballerina and my jaw dropped. It had never really hit me like this that God is much, much bigger than we can ever imagine. We are created in the image of a God of abundance, of limitless possibilities and expansion. Faced with this brief glimpse at semi-comprehension I saw what such an understanding of God might mean for the work towards LGBT inclusion in the church and world.
While one possible response to seeing a glimpse of an abundant God might cause some people to batten down the hatches in fear of the vastness. The other response, which I believe we are called towards is to confront a God of abundance with awe and wonder, not just at who God is, but also who we are as God’s creation. We are so much more than we can ever hope to name, that we only have symbols to describe who we are.
In the beginning of the welcoming church movement we only knew how to welcome one identity in at a time when we were just beginning to say out loud for the first time the words gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. The trouble is, welcome started to be expressed as a series of “ORs” bisexual OR transgender, straight OR gay and not the fullness of “AND.”
We are so much more than any one identity could possibly describe. We are abundant because our creator is abundant. We are waiting with hope for “our bodies to be set free.” This doesn’t just apply to LGBT people, this freedom is for all bodies. What we hope for then is not just a world where all are welcome, but for a world where all respond in awe and wonder to the fullness of God's abundance, and in turn welcome the abundance of who we are created to be. This is the hope that calls us forward towards more light. Amen.
Alex Patchin McNeill
Preached at Mission Bay Community Church, September 24, 2017
Isaiah 43: 1-3:
But now, says God-- the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: Don't fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. 2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when through the rivers, they won't sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you won't be scorched and flame won't burn you. 3 I am the LORD your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior.
Isaiah 43:19-21
19 Look! I'm doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don't you recognize it? I'm making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness. 20The beasts of the field, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me, because I have put water in the desert and streams in the wilderness to give water to my people, my chosen ones, 21this people whom I formed for myself, who will recount my praise.
Romans 8:18-25:
I believe that the present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God's sons and daughters. 20Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice--it was the choice of the one who subjected it-- but in the hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from slavery to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of God's children. 22We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. 23And it's not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free. 24We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn't hope. Who hopes for what they already see? 25But if we hope for what we don't see, we wait for it with patience. Holy wisdom, holy words.
Responding in Awe
Over 40 years ago, a young Presbyterian clergy man who was about my age at the time stood on the floor of the General Assembly and held up a sign that read “Is Anyone Else Out There Gay?” Rev. David Sindt’s hand lettered sign sparked the first gathering of the Presbyterian Gay Caucus one of the original groups that formed what we now know as More Light Presbyterians. The first hopes of this group were simple, to confront the silence on the issue of homosexuality by getting together persons who identified as gay, or those who supported gay people participating in the life of the church to break through the isolation and create a sense of community which transcended mistreatment by congregations and presbyteries were gay and lesbian people were seeking to serve the church. At first the dream was simple, but revolutionary, to gather together and form community, but then the dream grew. On the day that the marriage amendment and authoritative interpretation allowing ministers to marry same sex couples passed at General Assembly, I had the chance to meet Rev. Hal Porter who had served a church that was one of the first churches to become More Light. He told me a story that in the 1980s the More Light Churches Network held a conference with all the churches that had already voted to become More Light, there were several dozen at that time. At the conference Rev. Porter told me that he spoke as part of a panel on the hopes for the budding LGBT faith movement, he remembered that at one point on the panel someone offered that perhaps the More Light group could work towards the affirmation of same-sex marriage by the denomination.
He told me that those gathered went completely silent with only a few people emitting some nervous laughter because in the mid-1980s, the idea seemed so far away from their reality that same sex marriage would not only be recognized but affirmed by the CHURCH that it almost seemed impossible. On the night that not one but TWO polity changes were passed by General Assembly by an overwhelming margin, Rev. Porter looked me in the eye and said that he truly believed during that panel that this day in the denomination would never come.
Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “if we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. who hopes for what they already see?” The hopes and dreams that founded the movement for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender welcome in the PCUSA were so far beyond what was visible at the time that in some cases they wouldn’t be realized for 30 years or more.
Yet I would consider the progress made in the past forty years of the LGBT movement and broader social justice movement to be what Paul calls in his letter the “first fruits of the spirit,” the beginning signs of what is yet to come, but not the fullness of what God is calling for us to experience, which is for “our bodies to be set free.”
Friends, I believe that we are in a moment where the whole of creation is audibly groaning for further revelation about who God’s children are, and adoption into who God is. While we celebrate both the tangible and symbolic progress made towards LGBT welcome in our churches and in our communities, we know that the reality of physical and emotional abuse experienced by LGBT people is on going.
The continuing act of revelation of God’s children at the beginning of this movement was towards further recognition of who was included in the umbrella of God’s welcome. However I believe the Holy Spirit is calling the LGBTQ faith movement into a new understanding.
As I’ve traveled to More Light churches over the past four years since I stepped into the role of executive director, doing so as an openly transgender man called to serve the Presbyterian Church, I’ve come to see some of the challenges with focusing solely on welcome as the locus for change in the denomination. I remember a conversation with a member of a More Light church that was one of the early churches to declare that there was ‘yet More Light to break forth on the scriptures around homosexuality’ and as such they were not going to exclude anyone from membership or leadership in the church.
He recounted the history of the congregation’s welcome and said, “well first we welcomed gay people, then lesbians, and then we learned about bisexual people and now transgender people?!” He threw up his hands in semi-exasperation and said “what’s next?!”
With a sigh almost too deep for words, I suddenly saw how the founding hope of this movement had run its course. Allowing one identity at a time into who was included in the kin-dom of God could lead to this frustrated exasperation of who is next, what DON’T we know yet? I believe that the hope beyond our horizon requires us to refocus on who God is as a way to understand the fullness of what God is calling us to.
So who or what do we say God is? Naming and describing God has perhaps been the project of religion since the beginning. We as a people called to follow God have attempted for 5,000 years to describe who God is. In Barbara Brown Taylor’s sermon “Three Hands Clapping” she quotes a colleague who says when “when human beings try to describe God we are like oysters trying to describe a ballerina, we simply do not have the equipment to understand something so utterly beyond us, but that has never stopped us from trying.”
I was raised in a church that did its best to try and not limit who God was but still called God “He and Him” without much variation. While we are God’s creation, and therefore by our virtue of being alive know something of who God is, the temptation we have to avoid is making God in the image of us, to assume that because we have legs, arms and a beating heart that God does as well. I was watching the show called “The Cosmos” with Neal Degrass Tyson when it hit me.
In the very first episode of the show, which if you haven’t seen it was a science documentary on the nature of the universe, Neal Degrass Tyson demonstrates just how vast our universe truly is. He starts us on Earth and then zooms into our solar system, and then out into our galaxy, and then beyond our galaxy to other galaxies and then talks about how even with all this vastness the universe is STILL expanding even further. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of hope beyond our understanding, a hope that points towards just how vast, our universe yes, but how vast God, the creator of the universe is. My tiny oyster brain saw for a moment a twirling ballerina and my jaw dropped. It had never really hit me like this that God is much, much bigger than we can ever imagine. We are created in the image of a God of abundance, of limitless possibilities and expansion. Faced with this brief glimpse at semi-comprehension I saw what such an understanding of God might mean for the work towards LGBT inclusion in the church and world.
While one possible response to seeing a glimpse of an abundant God might cause some people to batten down the hatches in fear of the vastness. The other response, which I believe we are called towards is to confront a God of abundance with awe and wonder, not just at who God is, but also who we are as God’s creation. We are so much more than we can ever hope to name, that we only have symbols to describe who we are.
In the beginning of the welcoming church movement we only knew how to welcome one identity in at a time when we were just beginning to say out loud for the first time the words gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. The trouble is, welcome started to be expressed as a series of “ORs” bisexual OR transgender, straight OR gay and not the fullness of “AND.”
We are so much more than any one identity could possibly describe. We are abundant because our creator is abundant. We are waiting with hope for “our bodies to be set free.” This doesn’t just apply to LGBT people, this freedom is for all bodies. What we hope for then is not just a world where all are welcome, but for a world where all respond in awe and wonder to the fullness of God's abundance, and in turn welcome the abundance of who we are created to be. This is the hope that calls us forward towards more light. Amen.
Standing on the Side of Love by Bill Chadwick
“Standing on the Side of Love”
Oak Grove Presbyterian Church
Galatians 3:26-28
Bill Chadwick
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Oak Grove Presbyterian Church
Galatians 3:26-28
Bill Chadwick
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Today I invite us to think together about the amendment that is before the voters of Minnesota this fall that would place into the state constitution the requirement that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman.
I have a pastor friend, now retired, who loved to rile people up. If I might play amateur psychologist, my theory is that as the child of an alcoholic he was uncomfortable when things were calm. Well, my parents were teetotallers. As am I. I love calm. I hateconflict. I would much rather not talk about the amendment. I do so only because of the ordination vows I took almost 35 years ago. I am preaching today about the Marriage Amendment only because I am attempting to follow faithfully my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I might be mistaken. I once again remind you, that in the Presbyterian way of doing things, “Just because the preacher says it, doesn’t mean you have to buy it.”
I believe that to be faithful the Church always needs to take a stand, just like it did against slavery, just like it did in favor of human rights for women, for people of color. The Church ALWAYS needs to take a stand on behalf of human rights for all of God’s children. And especially so when it comes to fair treatment of LGBT folk, since the church has consistently led the way in their persecution.
When my grandchildren ask, “What did you do when the issue of human rights for gaypeople was still being debated?” I don’t want to have to say to them, “Well, as you know, Grandpa doesn’t like conflict, and I didn’t want to offend people, and I was afraid it might affect contributions, so I kept my mouth shut.” I especially don’t want to say that if the questioning grandchild happened to have been born gay.
There is so much to say that I couldn’t do it in one sermon, so I put a bunch of stuff in the bulletin handout. What I would like to do primarily in the sermon is to tell stories, most of them personal.
My story. It has been a long journey for me to get to where I am today. The Presbyterian Church was just starting to talk about the ordination of gay people when I graduated from seminary 35 years ago. The following year was the first vote at General Assembly, when the proposal was roundly defeated. In the leadup to that vote I preached a sermon using Acts 10 and 11 as my basis. That is the story of Peter praying at midday on the rooftop in the city of Joppa. He has a vision in which a sheet comes down from heaven laden with all kinds of animals, clean and unclean (according to Jewish dietary laws), and Peter hears a voice saying, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” And Peter protests, “Surely not, Lord. Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” The voice spoke from heaven a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” This happened three times. Immediately following, he encounters Cornelius, a Roman centurion who has had his own vision. Long story short, Peter realizes what the vision was trying to tell him: It’s time to change his mind! The gospel is not just for Jews, God’s love is for uncircumcised Gentiles as well. That is absolutely mind-blowing for Peter! It’s against the scriptures. It’s against tradition. But God was doing a new thing and commanding Peter to get on board.
So the gist of my 1978 sermon was this: I am still not quite ready to ordain homosexual individuals, but I am open to the possibility that the Spirit might someday change my mind.
Over the next few years I continued reading the latest Biblical scholarship and scientific research. I met and became friends with several very committed Christian people whohappened to be gay. They had undergone extensive therapy and prayer for years and still couldn’t change who they were. I finally came to the conclusion that people simply are born who they are; gay people clearly have God-given gifts for ministry and that we should welcome all God’s children to use their gifts in ministry in ordained positions.
And we should encourage people to form committed relationships. I was happy to bless civil unions.
But marriage?... It somehow didn’t seem right to me to call a same-sex commitment “marriage.” Why? Just pure emotion, tradition, inertia. Nothing logical about it. I am embarrassed to say that it was only a few years ago that I moved to the point of fully supporting marriage equality.
Another story. My younger brother, John, and I were extremely close growing up. I was so excited when he and his wife started having children. I didn’t have any of my own yet. I loved being an uncle. Many of you had the joy of watching Claire and Jim grow up here at Oak Grove. A couple of GREAT kids! Claire grew up, fell in love with a wonderful man, and married him two years ago. Jim grew up, but when he falls in love he will not be able to marry that one he loves. By the time Jim was three or four years old, I was very sure that he was gay. Jim didn’t choose to be gay. Why shouldn’t Jim be able to share the same right to marriage as his sister does? Jim has told me that a lot of his relatives got married at Oak Grove and it would mean a lot to him to someday be married here.
One comic has said, “Let gays marry. Why shouldn’t they be as miserable as the rest of us?” That may be kind of a funny line. But I’m not miserable. My marriage means the world to me. On Tuesday Kris and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. My marriage is a place of safety, welcome, commitment, companionship, intimacy, trust. That can all happen without marriage. But our relationship is acknowledged, encouraged and celebrated by the world and by the church. Why should Jim be excluded from that acknowledgement, encouragement and celebration because of an accident of birth?
Marriage says “We are family” in a way that no other word does.
About two months ago while flipping through the TV channels one evening I came across a presentation of the Broadway play, Memphis, which won the Tony Award for best musical in 2010. Have any of you seen it? I wasn’t familiar with it, but the TV program was just starting. I was quickly captivated and I watched the entire thing. And then a few weeks ago a touring production came to the Ordway in St. Paul and Kris and I wentto it and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Unlike most straight men I love musical theater.) The play is set in the 1950s and is loosely based on the career of a Memphis radio disc jockey. In the musical the lead character is called Huey Calhoun and through the course of the play Huey meets a wonderful singer named Felicia, and eventually they fall in love. Huey asks her to marry him and she says, “Yes. Yes, I love you with all of my heart and I would marry you, Huey, …if I could.” She means, if it were legal. But he is white, and she is black. In Memphis in the 1950s it was against the law for a white person and a black person to marry.
Doesn’t that just make you shake your head in sadness? In amazement? I am utterly confident that fifty years from now—or probably less, maybe half that—almost everyonewill be shaking their heads about the current ban on gay marriage in the same way that almost everyone shakes their heads at the ban on interracial marriage of a half-century ago.
Even if this amendment passes, it is just a temporary bump in the road on the way to the inevitable. According to the Gallup Poll (May, 2011) 70% of young people in America favor gay marriage. When the loudest voices opposing gay marriage come from the Church, it’s one more nail in the coffin…of the Church. The Church is brushed aside by the younger generation as being narrow-minded, judgmental and irrelevant.
You sometimes hear the statement, “Gay marriage is a threat to heterosexual marriage.” How so? Two of our very good friends, Suzanne and Diane, were legally married in Massachusetts eight years ago. My wife, Kris, flew out to be in the wedding. We see them socially on a regular basis. Eight years. Their marriage has not affected my marriage one bit. Any more than your marriage (pointing to congregation) or your marriage affects my marriage. Whom you choose to love does not affect whom I choose to love.
Another story. About a woman named Ruth. (I’m indebted to St. Paul theologian David Weiss for this insight.) You (probably) know Ruth’s words, even if you don’t know her story: “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.” (Where do we so often hear these words?) This is one of the most often quoted texts at straight marriages. But these words were spoken by Ruth to her mother-in-law, Naomi. These words were spoken by a woman whose people, the Moabites, were condemned in the Bible – forever. She has no business pledging – and fulfilling – a vow of faithfulness like God’s own promised faithfulness. But while her love for Naomi was ethnically and culturally odd and her (later) marriage to Boaz (a Hebrew) was religiously dubious, thanks to her odd love and dubious marriage she became the great-grandmother of King David. Her off-limits love became a blessing.
I could give other germane Biblical stories: The stories of Rahab, Hosea, the parable of the Good Samaritan, several women in Jesus’ life, and others. As Weiss notes, “The Bible is full of stories about a God who welcomes surprising people into God’s family. Stories about heroes and heroines whose praiseworthiness lies in their promisedfaithfulness to another person.” (See Weiss’s book, To the Tune of a Welcoming God: Lyrical reflections on Sexuality, Spirituality and the Wideness of God's Welcome (2008, Langdon Street Press).
If you support marriage equality, what can you do? Outfront Minnesota is an organization working to defeat the Amendment. The Outfront folks expect that there will be an onslaught of misleading advertising this summer financed by the Mormon Church and others. An Outfront trainer noted, “We believe that the way forward is not to be found in loud and angry debate with the opposition. We think this only entrenches people. Rather, our research finds that the single most effective way to advance our position is through one to one conversations. So, our strategy over the next months is to facilitate a million conversations. And, we have scheduled numerous trainings to help people plan those conversations, and feel comfortable having them.” You can find information on the Outfront website. Please hold gentle conversations with your friends and neighbors.
Final story. Tuesday afternoon I was toiling away in my study when our receptionist came and knocked on my door to inform me that there was a man here who has just moved from another town and he is looking for a new church and wanted to know about Oak Grove. I’m always eager to tell folks about Oak Grove so I bounded out to greet him. We introduced one another and then walked out into the hall where I started to give him a little tour and tell him about the church. But he stopped just outside the office and interrupted me, “You have a flag out front,” referring to the rainbow flag.
“Yes,” I said. And I was thinking “Hmm. This could go either way.” (I remind you that in 2008 a man came into a church in Tennessee with anger in his heart at what he called “liberal gay-lovers” and he opened fire, wounding seven and killing two.) This was not in the back of my mind; this was in the front of my mind. Was this man in front of me happy that we had the flag or was he here to set me straight, so to speak?
He continued. “Does the flag mean you welcome everyone?”
“Yes, that’s what it means.”
A big grin spread across his face and he pumped my hand again. “That’s what I’m looking for!” And for the next twenty minutes he told me about his spiritual journey and how he had been hurt by some of his previous church experiences. He said he was looking for a church that would preach positive messages and where everyone was welcome. At the conclusion of our conversation he shook my hand again and said, “I’ll see you Sunday at 8:15.” (And he was here. And he received a very warm welcome from you Oak Grovers.)
We are in the season of Eastertide. The essence of Easter is the message that Love wins. Why take the temporary detour of this amendment?
Love will win.
***
(See attached bulletin insert below)
THOUGHTS TO PONDER
IN REGARD TO THE MARRIAGE AMENDMENT
WHAT ABOUT THE BIBLICAL TEXTS REGARDING HOMOSEXUALITY? In the narthex are copies of a helpful pamphlet by Walter Wink, entitled Homosexuality and the Bible. Other good sources include a booklet by the Reverend Mel White, co-founder of SoulForce, which is available as a free download at www.soulforce.org/pdf/whatthebiblesays.pdf An excellent book written by a conservative Presbyterian pastor and scholar outlining why he changed his mind on this topic is Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality by Jack Rogers (rev. 2009)
In addition, in a recent talk to the St. Paul chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), St. Paul theologian and poet David Weiss offered some very helpful and thought-provoking points. He notes that too often the Bible is pulled into this conversation just to condemn homosexuality. “I’m reluctant to let the conversation be framed by a handful of texts that have nothing to do with committed same-sex relationships. The biblical writers knew about things like military rape, territorial rape, pederasty (men abusing boys), and temple prostitution. In the ancient world—as still today—sex could be misused to terrorize others, to establish a pecking order, or to “sell” everything from a temple sacrifice to blue jeans, lite beer, or shampoo. It shouldn’t surprise or disappoint us that the Bible takes a dim view of the misuse of sex as raw power or false promise. But marriage—whether between a straight couple or a same-sex couple—is not about using sex as raw power or false promise. Those texts really don’t belong in this conversation.”
(I, Pastor Bill, would say that the Bible simply doesn’t say anything about the subject we are addressing today—lifelong, monogamous commitments between two people of same-sex orientation. The Bible doesn’t say whether it’s okay or not, for the same reason the Bible doesn’t say whether air travel is okay or not: it’s simply not known in the Bible.)
ISN’T “ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN” THE BIBLICAL MODEL? Weiss again notes that that is a very problematic assumption. Here are SOME of the models we find in scripture:
• Two slaves assigned to marry each other by their owner (Ex. 21:4)
• The woman as a spoil of war, claimed by a soldier (Num 31:1-18 & Deut 21:1-14)
• The wife forced to marry a man because he raped her (Deut 22:28-29)
• The woman now married to her dead husband’s brother because the original husband died without fathering a son (Genesis 38:6-10)
• Husband with multiple wives and/or concubines—common throughout biblical era.
• Husband has sex with both his wife and her slave girl (Genesis 16)
• Or the best remembered form of biblical marriage: where a man marries a woman who must be subservient to him, is typically chosen for him, cannot have a different faith from him, and who before the wedding must prove her virginity or be stoned.
Weiss concludes that ALL are “approved” biblical models. NONE (is) very attractive to us today.
Then, asks Weiss, “Do we just tell the Bible to ‘sit this one out?’ Not likely. Here’s how he imagines the Bible might be used in this conversation:
“To remind people that throughout the Bible we hear the story of a God who loves us and who promises to be there for us, for always. And that this notion of the holiness of a loving commitment to be there for another person through thick and thin is what we know makes a marriage. It’s what we who are straight treasure about our marriages when they are healthy … and what we ache for when our marriages fail. It’s this model of love and commitment, of promised faithfulness that offers us an ideal by which we might measure the best of our own relationships.
(See Weiss’s book, To the Tune of a Welcoming God: Lyrical reflections on Sexuality, Spirituality and the Wideness of God's Welcome (2008, Langdon Street Press).
SHOULDN’T THE CHURCH BE TRYING TO ‘HEAL’ HOMOSEXUALS?
Through “conversion therapy” and prayer, can homosexuals “change” and become heterosexuals? Sexual orientation is commonly measured using the Kinsey scale, with 0 representing exclusive heterosexuality and 6 representing exclusive homosexuality. Perhaps those who fall in the middle could have success in limiting their behavior to opposite gender, but the vast majority of scientific research shows that people near the far end of the scale (5 or 6) cannot have their feelings “changed.” Attempts to do so cause great harm. Robert L. Spitze summarized the positions of various medical professionals in the introduction to his study, “Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation?...Archives of Sexual Behavior. 32.5 (2003a): The Surgeon General (2001), the American Academy of Pediatrics (1983), and all of the major mental health associations in the United States, representing psychiatry (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), psychology (American Psychological Association, 1997), social work (National Association of Social Work,1997), and counseling (American Counseling Association, 1998) have each issued position statements warning of possible harm from such therapy and asserting that there is no evidence that such therapy can change one’s sexual orientation.
SUICIDES AMONG GAY YOUTH The recent rash of suicides in the Anoka-Hennepin School District has been blamed on the bullying of youth perceived to be homosexuals. Experts do not completely agree about the best way to measure reports of adolescent suicide reports, but gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth are considered to be a “special population at risk” in the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
EFFECTS FOLLOWING PROPOSITION 8 IN CALIFORNIA
Proposition 8 was a California ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in November of 2008. After the November 2008 elections, Marriage Equality USA conducted a survey to determine the impact of the campaign and the passage of Proposition 8 on the LGBT community. According to the survey:
• LGBT people experienced increased verbal abuse, homophobia, physical harm and other discrimination associated with or resulting from the Prop 8 campaign.
• Children of same-sex couples expressed fear due to direct exposure to homophobia and hate and concerns that the passage of Prop 8 means they could be taken from their families and targeted for further violence.
• LGBT youth and their supporters experienced increased bullying at schools as Prop 8's passage fosters a supportive environment for homophobic acts of physical and emotional violence.
http://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/e-Research/article/view/88/308
HOMOSEXUALITY IN NATURE People sometimes say, “Homosexuality is simply unnatural. Look at nature.” In fact, homosexuality in its myriad forms has been scientifically documented in more than 450 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and other animals worldwide. It is found in every major geographic region and every major animal group. Animals engage in all types of non-reproductive sexual behavior. Same-sex sexual expression includes courtship, pair-bonding, sex, and co-parenting—even instances of lifelong homosexual bonding in species that do not have lifelong heterosexual bonding (Bruce Bagemihl, Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity, p. 12).
IF THERE ARE LAWS GUARANTEEING MARRIAGE EQUALITY WON’T CHURCHES AND MINISTERS BE REQUIRED TO OFFICIATE AT MARRIAGES FOR GAY AND LESBIAN COUPLES? “This is one of the most damaging and misleading arguments set forth by opponents of marriage equality. Churches, synagogues, temples, and other houses of worship are protected by the first Amendment of the US Constitution. They are not required to perform activities contrary to their faith…Marriage equality would allow congregations and clergy that do wish to perform religious marriage ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples to more freely exercise their religious beliefs.” (Speaking from Faith for Marriage Equality from Outfront Minnesota, p.4.)
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IS ALREADY ILLEGAL IN MINNESOTA. Voting “No” on the amendment doesn’t say Yes to gay marriage. It just prevents the ban from being put into the Minnesota Constitution.
WHY MARRIAGE? CAN’T WE ACCOMPLISH THE SAME THING WITH CIVIL UNIONS? It is estimated that there are about 1100 federal laws and 515 Minnesota laws that offer rights and protections to spouses, but not to partners in civil unions. Health care directives granting a same sex partner decision-making power have been successfully challenged in court! See www.project515.org to learn more. But beyond the issue of rights, why is marriage important to anyone? It’s a public declaration of the personal commitment people make to one another, heart to heart, soul to soul. Nothing says “We are family” like the word marriage.
Ephesians 4: 4-5: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as we were called to the one hope of our calling: one Lord, one faith, one baptism." We Are One.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)