Gay hope, a prophets vision of God's expanding love

Joel 2:26-29

          Perhaps everyone looks forward to better times. If not, there is a political pundit or politician around who will explain why life was so good (and who's responsible for it going bad). The idea of looking forward to better times dates back millennia. This passage from scripture speaks of better times and is a vision of a prophet. The Bible is full of prophets and in many cases they speak in general terms otherwise they would not be called prophets they would be soothsayers and today they'd be called fortunetellers or card readers. 

           There's always some honest and true information in what the prophet has to say. This prophet is speaking about Israel but it carries truths about Jesus and a variety of other situations.  For example it says that the Spirit will fall even on male and female slaves. Practically unheard of before and into much of the common era, perhaps many hundreds of years before Christ, when Joel was written. This one prophet was giving hope to the Israelites but he could not help but also convey what the Spirit was telling him, that slaves are people too and are welcome and worthy in God's sight. Again, practically unheard of. I dare say such prophesy was not welcome words to the people of Israel. They felt their God was solely for them.

             Even as recent as a few hundred years ago, the Roman Catholic church felt that indigenous peoples did not have souls and were not worthy of salvation.  Things do change. The all embracing and expansiveness of God's love cannot be contained. The movement of the Holy Spirit helps us to see things that we once thought impossible. 

             There are a few religions and some churches that see this idea of hope and inclusiveness extending to the gay community. Once viewed as sinners and outside the mainstream, the gay community is being seen as people not unlike any other who only want to live, love and serve God. Sinfulness it seems is not inherent to the gay community any more than the straight community or the black community or any other group including Muslims. We may stereotype and wish to pigeonhole people but God does not. As I said, God's love is all embracing and expansive.  If we were permitted to judge anyone (and we are not), it would have to be on an individual basis. Otherwise we would condemn the 'straight lifestyle' people because of the adultery, divorce and numerous other infidelities and sins.  Sins are prevalent in all of humanity because we are humans and we are not perfect, we are not God.  We all sin and it is not up to us to judge or condemn.

           What God gives us, besides endless love and constant invitations to enter into a relationship with him/her is a sense of hope. That our lives will be better. We will be able to see the error of our ways and we too can expand the rings of love and equality because we realize God's love is not limited.

          We need to take the idea of forgiveness, relationship and the fact that God loves each and every one of us on our own level into our hearts for ourselves and so that God's love can expand outward. This especially true within the gay community who have often been given no reason to hope.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
   and praise the name of the Lord your God,
   who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
   and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
   be put to shame. 

 Then afterwards
   I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
   your old men shall dream dreams,
   and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
   in those days, I will pour out my spirit.