A Little R&R

I'm away on vacation for a little R&R.  Don't give up on me.  I'll be posting again soon!!!

A Recipe For Revolution

Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher, once said "To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right."

Now there's a recipe for revolution!  Confucius reminds us that if we want to change the world, this change must first start with us.  The LGBT community wants the world to to be more accepting and tolerant of us, and yet, we are sometimes guilty of being as judgmental and intolerant of those we would like to change.  If we really want to change the world, I am convinced that all of us need to do the kind of deep soul work that sows the seeds of revolution.  We need to be more God-centered, more peace-filled, and more compassionate.  We need to fortify our spiritual resources so that when we go out into the world God's light will shine through us so brightly that every dark corner of our world will be illuminated.

The time has come for the LGBT community to get serious about it's spirituality.  It is the one thing that is in short supply as we go about our work of equality and justice-making.  However, it is the one thing we really need if we are serious about changing the world.

God and Mr. Magoo

This is a funny and insightful passage I came across in Dan Savage's book "The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marraige and My Family." Hope you enjoy it!

"Sitting in a hotel room in Portland, Oregon, I listened to a 'Christian leader' on a cable news shoutfest describe the December 26, 2004, earthquake and tsunami that killed a quarter of a million people in Asia as evidence of God's displeasure. With Asians? No, with same-sex marriage. 'We can't allow things that offend God to flourish without expecting to incur the wrath of God,' she said. She cited gay and lesbian marriages in Canada, San Francisco, and Massachusetts. 'Gay marriage offends God deeply,' hence the killer wave."

God may be all-knowing and all-powerful, but He is, it seems, a lousy shot, the Mr. Magoo of higher powers. Same-sex couples get married in Boston, Toronto and San Francisco, and a vengeful, near-sighted God triggers an earthquake that slams a killer wave into Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, killing a quarter of a million people who weren't even invited to the wedding.

But perhaps I'm being unfair to God. Sometimes He does manage to score a direct hit. The 1993 Northridge Earthquake, measuring a 6.7 on the Richter scale, scored a direct hit to the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. Christian conservative leader Pat Robertson was quick to blame the multi-billion dollar porn industry, which is based in the San Fernando Valley, for an earthquake that took fifty-seven lives and caused billions of dollars in damage. God doesn't like pornography, you see, and while not one of the people who died that day was a porn star, a porn director, or a porn producer, God's message was clear: Stop making dirty movies in the San Fernando Valley or I'll drop some more houses on innocent bystanders."

Gone Fishing...Or Does Jesus Have Something Else in Mind?

"While walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw the brothers Simon and Andrew casting their nets into the sea, since they fished by trade.  Jesus said to them, 'Follow me; I will make you fishers of humankind.'  They immediately abandoned their nets and followed Jesus." [Mk 1:16-18, The Inclusive Bible]

One of the most well known images for evangelism comes from last Sunday's gospel lesson.  This same invitation is also found in Matthew 4:18-20. The image of fishing for people is well known in Christian circles.  However, is fishing for people really the best analogy for evangelism in our day and age?

Imagine yourself as a fish in a quiet, tranquil lake.  You're blissfully swimming along with all the other little fishies.  You're happy and content, when all of a sudden you see what you thought was a tasty snack.  You swim up to it and swallow it whole only to discover that you now have a hook snagged in your jaw.  The pain is unbelievable.

Before you know it, you're snatched from the lake and are flopping desperately on the shore, trying to breathe.  Then you're gutted, cleaned, dusted with flour and cornmeal and end up in a frying pan.  Is this really the image we want to use for evangelism in our day and age?

It may well be that we are so fixed on the image of being fishers of people that we are missing the deeper meaning of what Jesus was trying say.  Perhaps Jesus invited Simon and Andrew to "fish for people" because that's who they were...fishermen.  If Simon and Andrew had been farmers, would Jesus have invited them to "fish for people" or would he have issued an invitation to become "Kingdom seed planters"?

Perhaps Jesus invited Simon and Andrew to "fish for people" because it fit who they were.  It was a metaphor they could understand.  It took advantage of their unique abilities.  If this is the case, then it only makes sense that Jesus calls us to follow him in a way that fits who we are, too.

We don't have to become someone we aren't in order to follow Jesus.  We don't have to have a special skill set in order to be used by God to build the Kingdom.  Instead, Jesus frees us to simply be ourselves; to use our unique abilities in service of him.

Whether we are a doctor or an artist, a factory worker or a stay-at-home parent, a teacher or a supervisor, an engineer or a waitress, Jesus calls us to use the talents and strengths we have to make a contribution to the God’s Kingdom that we alone can make.  

Imagine the freedom and excitement Jesus offers each of us by inviting us to be ourselves, and use our unique abilities to bless others!  We don't need to be anybody other than who we already are.  We simply need to trust that God can and will use us to build the Kingdom and bless others in the name of Christ.

Therefore, we can stop worrying about what we don't have or who we aren't as an excuse for not ministering to others.  Instead, we can celebrate our uniqueness, as individuals and as churches, and begin to ask the exciting question "What metaphor does Jesus intend for us as we answer the call to follow him?"  Think about it.

Rainbow Jesus

The other day, while searching the internet for images of Jesus, I came across one that is known in Eastern Orthodox circles as "Christ Pantocrator."  The most common translation of "Pantocrator" is "Almighty" or "All-powerful".  Another, more literal translation is "Ruler of All" or, less literally, "Sustainer of the World". 

I have always been a fan of icons and have a number of them in my home.  The ones of 

Christ Pantocrator I'm especially fond of include the image of a rainbow as well.  Now I know the original artist never intended this icon to be a symbol of Jesus' love for his "queer" children.  But, that's how Christ Pantocrator speaks to this post-modern believer.  It tells me that Jesus is the strength of all his children, no matter what color of the rainbow we attach to ourselves.  Jesus sustains our lives and is our rock when times get tough. 

So let's take something old and make it new again.  Enjoy this image.  Let it speak to you as it may.  Hopefully, it will stand as a visual reminder of the deep and steadfast love Jesus has for all of us.  Blessings!

A Video on Gay Marriage

This video was sent to me over the past few days and I thought it was done with a lot of love and care.  If you can use it, pass it on to others.  We ARE all in this together.  We need to begin healing our nation and our world and stop of the needless bickering that's killing us all.

All Are Welcome?

Have you noticed lately that everyone is using the phrase "all are welcome" as a part of their Christian witness?  But do they really meant it?  One church in my hometown attached this phrase to a small yard sign next to their invitation for Christmas Eve Worship.  However, I know for a fact that while everyone will be welcomed on Christmas Eve, a gay or lesbian couple would not be received so warmly if they continued to worship there after the holiday season was over.

Far too many churches have adopted this saying without really thinking about the implications of what it means.  To extend a radical, hospitable welcome is not an easy thing.    Jesus was criticized for it several times in the scriptures.  He was called a drunkard and a friend of sinners [Mt 11:19, Lk 7:34].  The church-going folk of his day looked down on him because of the company he kept.   But this did not deter Jesus from teaching about God's gracious invitation for everyone to come and dine [Lk 14:21-24].

My church is in the final steps of the Reconciling in Christ process through which we aim to define our congregation as a church where all are truly welcome.  During this process, we've come to the conclusion that the phrase "All Are Welcome" has lost its power and doesn't have the same meaning it once did.  We are writing a "Welcome Statement" that clearly defines our mission as a congregation and names names in the list of who is truly welcome at Abiding Savior.  We're also working with a graphic designer to help us convey this radical welcome with a new church logo.  I'll unveil it to you once it's adopted by the congregation.

The reason why I bring this up is that I believe the phrase "All Are Welcome" is dead.  It has lost its meaning because it has been relegated to an overused catch phrase.  The challenge is for progressive congregations to talk about what it truly means to live out this phrase.  Then, when we're ready to embrace the meaning of these words, we need to tell our story to the community at large with clarity and power.

The world is waiting to find churches where "all means all."  Do we have the courage and conviction to embody this phrase in the life and ministry of our churches?  I hope so.