Mark 14:12-25
In the community I served when I was first ordained, it was an annual custom to have a Seder. This is fully in line with our faith as a Christian community since Jesus was Jewish. I get a great kick out of the fact that there are so many Christians out there (born again, simple followers of Jesus or main line Christian denominations) who cannot grasp the fact that Jesus was really a honest to God, good practicing Jew. Such statements are met with quizzical looks and blank stares. They seem dumbfounded. When we read this passage it is presumptive by the disciples that Jesus would have a Seder and have a need to make preparations for Passover. But like I said, such news to some 'Christians' comes with shock.
That same quizzical look comes to many faces when I say I am headed off to an LGBTQ spirituality meeting as if the two are mutually exclusive. If we can learn just one simple thing from this passage however, the things that we are so sure of or make sense to us are often not correct. Why wouldn't a person who is gay be thankful to God, be faithful and want to grow in their relationship with their Creator?
Jesus was as counter cultural as they come. Jesus was a rebel, a radical of the highest order. He was a model for so many that came after, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and so many others. Perhaps even hippies and communists. Holy crap! But the thing I'd like to note most is that we should not be told we are anathema and believe it just because they say so. We can be gay, totally gay and be spiritual and religious as well. The Roman Catholic Church has a loooong way to go in that regard so I hasten to add that when I say we can be religious and spiritual that does not mean it has to be on some one else's terms. There are many open and affirming Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. You may have to look but they are there. What is terribly important is to embrace your relationship with your Creator. God constantly calls to us and wants ever so much to hear us answer back.
Yesterday I went biking in the desert and came upon a nature trail that lead to an ancient spring. I walked this trail alone but almost immediately was aware that I was very much not alone. I stopped and looked around and was very aware of God's presence. Here I was, a gay man biking in the desert, hiking on trails communing with God whom I recognized was calling to me in the rocks, the animals and the wild flowers sustained by this ancient spring, turning the desert into an oasis of sorts. Is there any greater metaphor for a journey with God that is not what others may expect or tell you is possible? And yet, would anyone be shocked to hear God calling in the desert as he did to the Israelites so long ago?
The essence of our faith and our relationship with God is not found in the "smells and bells" of religion. We are not bound by the rules and rubrics that even Jesus railed against. Let us seek God through his counter cultural, all embracing and rebel Son. This week would be an excellent week to do so.
Jesus was as counter cultural as they come. Jesus was a rebel, a radical of the highest order. He was a model for so many that came after, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and so many others. Perhaps even hippies and communists. Holy crap! But the thing I'd like to note most is that we should not be told we are anathema and believe it just because they say so. We can be gay, totally gay and be spiritual and religious as well. The Roman Catholic Church has a loooong way to go in that regard so I hasten to add that when I say we can be religious and spiritual that does not mean it has to be on some one else's terms. There are many open and affirming Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. You may have to look but they are there. What is terribly important is to embrace your relationship with your Creator. God constantly calls to us and wants ever so much to hear us answer back.
Yesterday I went biking in the desert and came upon a nature trail that lead to an ancient spring. I walked this trail alone but almost immediately was aware that I was very much not alone. I stopped and looked around and was very aware of God's presence. Here I was, a gay man biking in the desert, hiking on trails communing with God whom I recognized was calling to me in the rocks, the animals and the wild flowers sustained by this ancient spring, turning the desert into an oasis of sorts. Is there any greater metaphor for a journey with God that is not what others may expect or tell you is possible? And yet, would anyone be shocked to hear God calling in the desert as he did to the Israelites so long ago?
The essence of our faith and our relationship with God is not found in the "smells and bells" of religion. We are not bound by the rules and rubrics that even Jesus railed against. Let us seek God through his counter cultural, all embracing and rebel Son. This week would be an excellent week to do so.
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’
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