Not Obeying Jesus?

A phrase from the Gospel of Mark 7:36 has always intrigued me. Jesus has just finished some of his miracles and, as he often does in Mark's Gospel, informs those around him that they shouldn't tell anyone about what they have seen. But Mark lets us know that this isn't as easy as it sounds. Mark's line is a simple statement:

Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

I point this out for two reasons. For one- how could he hope to get people to follow him if he kept it a secret? Second- and the one that strikes me this week- is how well people obeyed him.
They didn't.

The more he urged them to be quiet, the more they talked. The more miracles he did, the more he asked them to be quiet, and the more they spread the news.

That of course makes sense- if you have just met a miracle worker of the stature of Jesus you would want others to know about it. If this miracle worker had just done something amazing for you, one of your family members or one of your neighbors, everyone in town would know about it with a few days if not a few hours. Even before social media got those things posted before the hour passed.

Maybe I'm in a particular cynical mood today, but my reaction to the quote was as simple and straightforward as Mark:

The more Jesus wants us to do something, the less likely we are to do it!

Take the example of Matthew 25 where Jesus says we should feed the hungry, visit the prisoner and the sick as if we were doing these acts to Jesus. Then there's the call to treat the poor and stranger with compassion and care. When was the last time that either of us gave someone the shirt off our back when they only asked for our coat?

Me neither.

But then I got downright radical.

If Jesus didn't mention something, maybe that is what we should be taking care of!

Now I'm really meddling in things that I shouldn't. Many of you will probably guess what I'm thinking about. The great religious fervor and willingness to stand up against sin- esp. that of same-sex marriage. It is obviously something of incredibly great importance - since Jesus never mentions it. It is obviously something that we need to make sure we stand up against.

If it were something so-so, or a common every day thing- Jesus would have talked about it and told us not to talk about it. But since there is nothing anywhere in the Gospels about homosexuality, we better correct Jesus error- or really obey what he wants us to really do- condemn them.

So remember, if Jesus tells us to do something, it is okay to disobey him like they did 2000 years ago when he told them not to tell anyone.

Be bold- disobey Jesus. He's obviously forgiving to us when we do that.

And be very diligent about disobeying.

Especially when he makes such statements as:

Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone.

A New Day

Last Sunday, the church I have been a part of for over 40 years made a momentous decision. The national Synod assembly which meets every four years passed a resolution permitting persons who are in a same-sex committed relationship, to be ordained and serve as pastors. (This assembly was about 250 lay and clergy delegates from around the country.)

(Link for more information)

That 40-year number is significant for me. It was exactly 40 years ago at another of these Synod meetings that I began my journey as a pastor in this church. And it was at that Synod that a ground-breaking-for-its-day resolution was passed which did not condemn homosexuality but instead called the church to be open to pastoral ministry for all who might be gay.

This was 1974. For those too young to remember that was only five years (5 years!) after what has since been known as the "Stonewall Riots."

Early on the morning of Saturday, 28 June 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning persons rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street, New York City. This riot and further protests and rioting over the following nights were the watershed moment in modern LGBT rights movement and the impetus for organizing LGBT pride marches on a much larger public scale.
--Wikipedia

For gay rights, 1974 was almost prehistoric. Harvey Milk had barely arrived in San Francisco and was still figuring out how he would make a difference.

In 1974 many people would say they knew no gay people. That was simply because most gay people didn't let people know. It was too dangerous. Any gay clergy in our denomination were well hidden. For the church to say that it was okay to minister to them without also adding that they were sinners in need of redemption was a truly forward thinking idea, perhaps way ahead of its time for a small, mainline, every-day Protestant denomination.

In 1974 there were no women clergy in our denomination, though the first was about to finish her seminary studies and, within 6 months, be ordained. There were those at Synod that year who strongly disagreed with what was about to happen. They said it was going against God's Word and God's Will. We were starting down a very dangerous path, they insisted. Most of these did not attend the ordination of our first woman pastor a few months later. They were conspicuous in their absence.

Fifteen years later I was still getting comments from time to time about how women should not be ordained. (I even heard it again recently!)

In 1974 clergy were expected to get permission from their Board of Elders if they were going to perform a wedding where one of the persons was divorced. (Many ignored it, or with the general acceptance of their Board just went ahead without that permission.) A few years later when a divorced pastor was elected to a major office, several people commented to me that this was just wrong.

I mention these two issues because they are gender and marriage-related as well as to show how times have changed. To me this seems like a very short period of time- yet it was so long ago!

Over these past 40 years the church has wrestled long and often with the questions and theology surrounding gay pastors, gay care, gay acceptance. The international church even called on all Provinces around the world to have a moratorium on the issue and associated resolutions, which we in the Northern Province followed. But the questions remained. The biggest was the "internal" church-related question- what about gay men and women in relationships or, where allowed, married?

The church accepted non-practicing (i.e. celibate) gay persons as pastors. Sort of. Some ordained pastors left the church to go into a committed relationship or to get out of the congregational spotlight. Other gay people had their faith strained to the breaking point by not being allowed to become pastors become of their sexual orientation.

Some pastors with gay children were left wondering what they could- or should- do about it. Some were left in anguish. Others became activists.

Even during the first decade of the AIDS/HIV epidemic the church talked about- and cared for- many HIV-positive individuals. But they often avoided the underlying difficulties of homosexuality. During those years I worked with the Wisconsin Conference of Churches AIDS Task Force and wrote our denomination's social issues study guide on HIV. Even then, in conferences and workshops, it was often difficult to keep the issues from impacting each other when talked about out in the churches. Someone always wanted to shift the topic from caring for persons with AIDS/HIV to sin and homosexuality.

Slowly things changed. We learned of more gay persons in our congregations; we saw shifts in public perceptions; a younger generation which has grown up in these past 40 years often wondered what the big deal was.

Four years ago our Province started, again, down the road of discussion and decision-making on the ordination issue. With great leadership and tact on the part of our Provincial boards, listening and discussion meetings were held. People were given many opportunities to hear and speak. It was not easy. They handled it, I believe, superbly, always insisting on our motto: "In all things love."

Last Sunday the resolution was passed, 181 - 62- not an insignificant margin. While the votes were being counted the delegates stood in a circle, holding hands, singing. People on different sides of the issue were moved by the "unity in non-essentials" that this showed. One of the bishops commented that it was the witness of unity that was the big message of the day.

The problems and issue haven't gone away. More questions were raised. More will be discovered. The feelings of the rank-and-file have yet to be heard and considered. The move was made, aware of the potential for divisiveness, but with many prayers that sometimes it is more important to do the right thing.

Several personal reflections have come to me in the past week.
1) It is humbling to see the whole arc of this story from my first Synod 40 years ago. While I was not physically at this one, there was a spiritual connection I felt (and others as well) through Facebook and other social media. My prayer presence was powerful. I have yet to absorb THAT aspect of it. It is also exciting to see the fruits of labor begun 40 years ago begin to become reality.

2) I am reminded of kairos (God's time) vs. chronos (linear time.) In the proper time things happen, not on my time schedule. That does make it very frustrating and even painful to those waiting in linear time. Why didn't this happen sooner? What about those who have been disenfranchised in the past 40 years? We can, of course, ask their forgiveness and then move on together. But to have pushed this on our time schedule and agenda would perhaps have been even more devastating. Plus, all we have is today to do what is right. The past is gone.

3) This is not the first (or last) time that the church has had to deal with difficult issues that are quite divisive. People have left the church, calling it heretical and dead wrong, over many issues. To name a few:

• baptism of infants vs believer's baptism
• slavery and civil rights
• ordination of women
• abortion
• liturgy in the common language of the people
• wine or grape juice in communion
• music in church
• the type of music in church
• and on and on and on

The same will happen over this issue and then another and so on. It was the awareness of this that helped me move through this issue. I remember the Civil Rights divisiveness, I have had to say goodbye to church members who left over our more liberal-middle of the road stance on abortion, at least one family left the church when I went into treatment for alcoholism and history very clearly reminded me that it was an unshakeable, inerrant biblical truth that slavery was just. If every time a potentially divisive issue comes up we hold to the old ways, the status quo or the way we have always done things, we will never go anywhere or do anything. We will allow the church to be held hostage by narrow minorities. No specific church has all the answers; no specific church or denomination has The Truth; no church or denomination can be all things to all people. The Church Universal might, but not any one of us.

That is probably the most important reminder I have gotten out of the struggle on this over the past 40 years. It is important and I think we need to take ourselves a little less seriously on many of these concerns. Let go of our grandiosity, our human tendency to want or think we have all the answers. to be open and listen and continue in fellowship with others.

At the end of the day I am honored to have been a small part of this movement over these 40 years. I am excited by what happened last week and pray that we can all find the joy of our Lord's presence in this work. I am sure he is with us and will continue to be so as we work out the wrinkles and concerns that still exist.

And once more, to the leadership of our Province- thank you for a job very well done!

A 45-year Memory

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is the 45th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. It is also, as has been the tradition, Gay Pride Weekend. The Stonewall is a National Historic Landmark. Rightly so. A great deal has changed in the last couple years  Same-sex marriage is becoming a right in many states. A number of churches have okayed gay marriage and acceptance of gay pastors. These incredibly rapid changes in the surrounding culture have had an impact on the church. Some have used it to condemn the society as "godless" or worse. Others have allowed themselves to review the theological views that have often underpinned anti-gay positions and found them wanting.

Overall, though, what began on that June night 45 years ago has been significant and incredibly important.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Times Keep Changing- Thankfully!

Two scenes from the last week for me have shown how great a change continues to be happening in our society.

Scene One: Saturday evening, "Independent Lens" on PBS, the Academy-Award nominated documentary, How to Survive a Plague. It took me back to a time over 25 years ago when AIDS was a terrifying plague, when my friend Donald was dying, his partner already gone. Political inaction was the word in Washington; judgement and fear were the words in many parts of the country. Homosexuality was still ghetto-ized and many Americans could claim they knew no gay people. The documentary gave a painful, in-depth view of what was a painful, paranoid, even hate-filled time.

Scene Two: Four days earlier, Mall of America, Minneapolis, MN. As we walked along the east entrance two young men walk by us and, moving together, held hands as they walked into the main mall area. If they hadn't walked right in front of us, we would never have noticed. They were just another couple, showing caring for each other by simply holding hands. What a joyous sight for someone who would never have believed that would be possible in my lifetime.

Much has been written about the incredibly quick change in perspective and acceptance of same-sex marriage in the past several years. The difference between the story of the movie and a couple in Minneapolis 25 years later speaks the same seismic shift. There are still those who are arguing for Old Testament-style handling of gay people in general. There are those who believe that this is a sign of how low and sinful the society of the 21st Century has become.

But perhaps it is more a sign of how compassion and love can win the hearts and minds of a nation.

Never in Service of Discrimination

Came across this on Facebook. With the veto of the anti-gay law in Arizona, there is still more going on. I gather there is a bill in Mississippi ready to do the same thing.

Here, in a petition is a short, impassioned plea for sanity, is a way to take a stand that does not mix religion and discrimination. As it says these arguments are far too similar to justifications for Jim Crow laws that kept African Americans from dignity and equality.

Clergy can sign the petition at this link.

Clergy Against Discrimination

As evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Catholics we are alarmed by the pending Mississippi bill that would allow virtually anyone, including businesses, to discriminate against customers in the name of religious liberty. We call on Mississippi and all states to abandon legislation that threatens democracy, civil rights and religious freedom itself.

These misguided efforts eerily echo Jim Crow laws that robbed African Americans of their basic human dignity. Businesses once barred not only blacks, but Jews and Asians from buying homes in certain neighborhoods or eating in restaurants even after Supreme Court rulings overturned segregation laws.

We must not allow faith to be used in the service of discrimination.

When we seek to codify legislation that discriminates against any class of people—no matter our diverse theological beliefs about marriage—we tarnish the treasure of religious freedom and the highest ideals of our democracy. Most of all, we are complicit in violating the Golden Rule that unites us as Christians—to love God and our neighbor as we love ourselves.
-Link

Faith in Public Life:
Advancing faith as a powerful
force for justice, compassion
and the common good.

Looking for News In All the Wrong Places?

I went looking for "religious" news on Yahoo! this morning. There were a lot of little things about what Pope Francis did or said. There were some analysis pieces about the waning impact of the Catholic Church in state legislatures on the issue of gay marriage.

I decided to do some more surfing and was able to find the average and the not so average. I discovered that the news is pretty much the same in religion as  in politics. The stories can be irrelevant outside of a small circle of friends or potentially dramatic. Sometimes it may even be in the same story.

Over at the Huffington Post there were some opinion pieces and such. One headline was both a surprise and an "Of Course!"

Muslim and Jewish Leaders Unite to Combat Hatred

Religion New Service had it's headline story:

Cancer diagnosis gives second life to Carman’s music career
(RNS)-Once one of the biggest names in Christian music, Carman had been rejected by every Christian music label in the last 12 or 13 years. It was only after he went public about his terminal illness that the 57-year-old singer-songwriter discovered he still had an audience.

Worldwide Religious News had the following headline links on their homepage. They are perhaps the best example of the important, the disturbing and the "who cares!":

• Americans see religion in decline yet want more of it. What's up with that?
• Southern Baptists Move To Cut Ties With Boy Scouts Of America Over Inclusion Of Gay Scouts
• Myanmar Mosque, Muslim Orphanage Burned After Alleged Immolation Of Buddhist Woman
• 'Japanese Jesus' Legend: Christ Escaped Jerusalem, Lived In Japan With Family As Rice Farmer
• Italian professor says has found world’s oldest complete Torah in Bologna

A number of places, of course, had the news of author Fr. Andrew Greeley's death.

But arguably the biggest piece I found anywhere was this one:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America [ELCA] elected its first openly gay bishop to a six-year term on Friday at an annual assembly in Southern California, officials said.

The election of Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin comes after the church's controversial rule change in 2009 that allowed gays and lesbians to be ordained in the nation's largest Lutheran denomination.

From a very basic, cultural perspective this barely ranks a note when compared to state legislatures (Way to go, Minnesota!) and their advancement of Gay marriage. It will be ten years next week since the Episcopal Church elected Bishop Gene Robinson in New Hampshire. As most religion news headlines show, the "news" of religion is not all that high on the exciting scale. This one seems like news that only the family would care about.

While I don't think it is earth-shattering, I do believe it shows the direction of our society toward more openness and a shift among at least some religiously-inclined individuals in the same direction.

My small denomination is wrestling with the ordination of gay individuals prior to the next national meetings in a year. The connection with this story is also that my denomination has "full communion" with both the Episcopal Church and the ELCA. So for our leadership the question is on the agenda: What if a "legally" ordained gay person from either of these other churches wanted to become a pastor in our denomination?

[Side note disclaimer: In retirement my wife and I are now members of an Episcopal Church.]

No, that is not tsunami-generating movement, either. But I think it illustrates how some of these issues move forward like they do- a little bit at a time- with a lot more connections than we realize. In the great scheme of the Christian timeline the approval of the ordination of women is more like a few moments ago- the early- to mid-70s in the mainline denominations. I graduated with, and was ordained only a few months before our first ordained woman pastor. Forty years is only 2% of Christian history. Yet it was in that movement that the movement to accept and ordain Gay individuals took root.

Each start as small movements. Not the kind that at first make news. But that is how change works. While there re the "black swans" that shatter all preconceptions and make us shift, long-term social change works much more slowly than that. Christianity itself was not a legal religion for 300 years. That's 15% of its history. But it was the slow movement, the incrementally small changes that brought about significant, cultural shifts.

That's why it is important not to be blinded by the big stories. They may tell us a lot about where we are, but it isn't very often they can tell us with any certainty about where we are going.

First the Episcopalians, Now the Lutherans

Last Friday the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) became the second BIG church in the US to take a supportive yet controversial stand on gay clergy. In many ways for mainline denominations this issue outranks even abortion as a dividing line in our internal politics. Passions and opinions and arguments abound on both sides. It is not an easy one to work on. In fact, some people (like myself) have strong opinions but find ourselves torn between our support and love for the church's future and strength and a need to be faithful. Even that need to be faithful gets divided on both sides of the issue.

(Note: My own denomination, the Moravian Church in America, Northern Province has been on a 7-year moratorium on the issue. That may come to an end next June when our every four year Synod meets in Bethlehem, PA. Considering that we are in full communion with both these denominations may have an impact on our deliberations. Nothing said here should be construed in any way, shape or form as a position of the Moravian Church. It is all mine! And I will not be voting delegate next June.)

On one side is the issue of Biblical authority, interpretation and faithfulness to that ancient and powerful witness. I put this first since it truly is the heart of the matter for many. Even with my "liberal" opinions on the issue I still have that troubling place in the corner of my soul that says, "What if....." It is hard to go against 2000+ years of a Biblical witness on an issue that is so emotional.

On the other side is the awareness of the cultural boundaries and issues that are deeply embedded in the Biblical witness. Many of these we regularly ignore or interpret in ways that ease our felt need to "obey" the Bible word for word. Neither the fundamentalists nor the liberals are innocent of this. Each side just picks different passages and issues on which to be willing to be bound. In the end most of us in this area are not consistent. Why don't I have the same troubling place in the corner of my soul when I eat pork or lobster or get a tattoo?

Those two sides are not easily reconciled. Even when we know we ignore some of these ancient stands on a regular basis-

• we do not justify slavery through Biblical passages
• we do not justify a ban against interracial marriage
• we do not insist that if someone steals your coat you should give him your shirt too
• we are willing to accept divorce
• we justify the wealth we put away while ignoring many who are poor and suffering
  
• and on and on and on.

But this is about one of those SEX issues which always have a lot of baggage. It is almost as if we have to hang on so tightly to the Biblical "commands" as a way of attempting to keep ourselves in control. What's more, we often look on sex as "dirty" thanks to Augustine and others who developed the theology that Original Sin is passed on through sexual relations. To cheat on your income tax or ignore the homeless- that's okay.

I have heard preachers go to great lengths to justify why their overwhelming reaction to sexual issues is the right way. It becomes a greater sin- and they will even use that phrase- than other sins. It's like- well, here are Ten equal Commandments, but one is more equal than the others. Then add the homosexual word to it and you have the abominable sinner.

Then on another side is the issue of ministry to all people who need it. Very few, of course, will say that a gay person cannot join their church or that they don't deserve being ministered to. There are some who take that stand but they are not in the mainstream at all. The problem becomes in judging the behaviors and persons- and they become outcasts.

But we also have the issue of "Calling." It's been almost 35 years now that my denomination has ordained women. The same Biblical issues were raised then as now. Some denominations still feel that women should not be in any position of authority. Even with a deep awareness of the cultural baggage of patriarchal bias some cannot accept that change. Who can truly say that God has not called a particular person?

Another issue for me is that in many ways the incredible rift that happens over this issue has had a sad impact on the overall life of the church. It has divided us into warring camps at times. It has led to name-calling and angry words. It has taken energy away from our tasks of witness and ministry. It would be easy to point at the "other side" from which you are on to blame. But in truth we have not been able to find a good and healthy way to deal with the conflict. It is tough when both sides can be as "convicted" of their opinion.

In the end I come to that trite but difficult question-

What would Jesus do? [or]
What would Jesus want us to do?

Easier asked than answered. For me, though, it starts with the idea of grace and is filled with the promise of love as Jesus showed in His own ministry.

But that's for another time and place, but I have a hunch that is the place where these decisions have come from. At the least, I am impressed by the move of both the Lutherans and Episcopalians. I have a hunch they have made a brave move in an uncertain time. I know it will cause them problems in other parts of the world as well as here at home. But it may be that they are taking a step into an unknown future with faith and trust in God and Jesus as their Lord.