Beauty in the eye of the beholder

Acts 7:55-60

        You may have heard of the occasional kerfuffle over an artist who creates a piece of work that shocks the senses. Invariably some will say, that is not art. I may or not agree with them as to how good it is or if I 'get it' but I would be hard pressed to make a pronouncement about whether or not it is actually art. I t seems to me that art is something that you see and perhaps others do not. Art is an expression in some form (painting, sculpture,writing) that comes deep from within a person.  On that basis I will not argue whether something is or is not art. I might say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

           In today's passage, Stephen is stoned to death. This happened after the crowd was apparently incensed at his vision, what he saw and proclaimed. It was so disturbing to them they dragged him out and stoned him.

           I was thinking of some of the other things we see and hear that stirs up strong emotions in us. I think very often this is because it does touch something deep inside us. Last weekend my husband and I were having dinner in one of our favorite restaurants, a real treat. It had a huge TV and the NFL draft was playing on ESPN. We watched live as Michael Sam got the news and shared the joy with his sweetheart. The tension in the restaurant seemed palpable and the reactions all this week seem to bear that out. Some people were very uncomfortable seeing two men hug and kiss. To me this is a monumental moment in so many ways and I 'get' this. I am cheering for the NFL, Michael Sam, Vito Cammisano and for the gay community. The truth is though, had this been in Brunei, they would have been dragged both of them out like St. Stephen and stoned them - to death.

            I completely understand not appreciating or understanding same sex relationships or being gay. I do.  I can understand it in terms that I don't always understand the emotion and expression of an artist in what they may present as art. I may not get it. But I do get being gay because that is who I am, that is what I am. That is how I love. 

             Unless we want to be barbarians and change our constitution and abandon the teaching of our savior Jesus Christ, we are called to love and to try our hardest to understand. We are challenged to leave no stone unturned, not to throw, but to shake up our thoughts and brains to elevate ourselves in knowledge and love as Christ would have us do. We cannot go ignorantly around stoning people physically or verbally for things we do not understand or worse, for things we are convinced we do understand. This is a truth for everyone. It applies to everyone.

           In trying to understand and appreciating everything in God's created world we will be filled with appreciation and we will be saying thank you to God for all the gifts we are blessed with. And yes, diversity is a gift.

But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

"Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.

Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.