Acts 11:1-18
Today in the church we remember Cornelius the Centurion, my namesake and the first gentile to be converted to Christianity. Oh what a surprise it was that the message of Christ would fall not just on the Jews but on a Gentile. Whole essays could be written on how Jesus' message went far beyond his original (stated) intent. Jesus' actions may have told a more encompassing and embracing message but his stated presence was for the lost of Israel. How things change and how surprised were the Jews if not the Apostles themselves. It's a story worth reading. But me, never one to miss a message that can be used for the good of the gay community, have come up with some different ideas.
What comes to mind first, the closest to my heart is my relationship with my husband. This was a relationship that was not meant to be anything more than a friendship. This was my stated intent. My husband also made such a statement. I think it went something like this, 'we could be friends but you really need to find a therapist'. I suppose you could take it a couple ways but it was the best advice I ever received. My husband may have had designs on me and I him but it was really not meant to be for all intents and purposes. Starting a friendship with a married man struggling with the mere idea that he might be gay is not the basis for a long term relationship. Even though the gay community has legions of relationships of gay men in deep loving relationships with (hetero) married men who claim they are not gay (they just like to ....you fill in the blanks), they almost always end in heartbreak, unfulfilled. Who would have guessed that a recently divorced married man out on his own and a single gay man would fall in love and find such bliss and yes, even get married. Such is our story. I praise God every day and am thankful beyond measure.
The second thing that comes to mind is simply looking at the gay community overall. We may be typified by six pack abs, tight asses, Andrew Christian underwear and devastating good looks but we go far beyond that and honestly we are much deeper than that on so many levels. Still, we have engendered certain stereotypes. The fact is, we come in all shapes and sizes, all kinds of predilections and yes, we encompass women, men, asexual, bisexual and a whole array of letters that have made the original LGBT into an alphabet soup. It seems God's imagination extends into territories we may been uncomfortable with at one time but we now are embracing the diversity and joy of His creation. The relationships are no longer defined by a paradigm of he and she, male and female. It would be insulting to even ask a gay couple "who's the man and who's the woman?"
Just as Cornelius broke new ground in bringing God's message to the gentiles, the gay community has broken ground showing the diversity, breadth and depth of God's created world in terms of sexuality. We are out and proud, we are here and queer, we are God's children and we may or may not be an image of Ozzie and Harriet, Ward and June or Lucy and Ricky. What really is cool today and serves as hope and recognition to the gay community are those 'gay' relationships in scripture ...and they are there. Google Jonathan and David, Ruth and Naomi or the Centurian (not the Cornelius of this passage) and his 'slave'. Read my blog entry "A dear slave" ( 9-17-12 ).
The time for the gay community may have arrived, the recognition of the sexual diversity of God's created world may becoming recognized more and more but it is a surprise to some. Still, in all of this is a reflection of God's diverse and embracing love. In a nod to the creation stories which gloss over the real depth of God's created world I have to say "it is good".
Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?’ Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ‘I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. I also heard a voice saying to me, “Get up, Peter; kill and eat.” But I replied, “By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But a second time the voice answered from heaven, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, “Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.” And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’
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