Today the Episcopal Church remembers holy man, Martin Luther. A bit of irony here, Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic Priest. It may be viewed as even funnier that he had no intent to start a new religion. While he tried to address and combat a legion of abuses in the Roman Church he tried to work within that framework of Ecclesial authority. A "Lutheran" church was not on his mind or agenda. Today it is generally acknowledged and accepted that much of which Martin Luther railed against was in fact true and righteous. Not so good though for Martin. In the end, Martin Luther suffered from a several serious maladies and eventually succumbed. I am sure that like today, his ailments were viewed at the time as punishment from God for the problems he addressed and being at odds so often with the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
While I am no Martin Luther, I do speak to inherent problems in the Roman Church. Their view of sexuality is antiquated and becoming more irrelevant by the day. The Roman moral authority has been eroded enormously ( almost to the point of extinction ) by the consistent sexual abuses, erroneous teachings on sexuality and the scandals from associated cover ups. So, when I announced with all sincerity, honesty and without guilt that I am gay, it raised a furor and the wires to the Diocesan hierarchy burned like molten phosphorous. And then, to ask for a release from my marriage vows was the epitome of insult, heresy and scandal. The letters soon arrived announcing suspension of license to preach and practice. The best letter, of which we still joke and laugh enormously, is the one that stated that I had "attempted to marry another gentleman". That always invokes a belly laugh. The marriage was legal, spiritual, graced by God and, ugh-hm, consummated with proper authority as well. The Roman Church proper is rather slow to move in any direction except quick to rule, judge and exercise arrogance and cover scandal. In that light it is terribly so like the church Martin Luther wrote an spoke of.
Thankfully, my retreat from Catholicism and movement to the Episcopal Church will not cause another schism as has so often happened with others. I have no doubt that it will be eons before their official position and dogma about 'divorce' and sexuality will be modified ( and surely codified, again ). I may never have my life reviewed by humans to see how far ahead of my time I am. And let it be clear, I am not ahead of myself in love for surely there have been countless same sex couples before us in history, in Scripture and within the church proper as well.
While I profess to stand up and step forward in faith and love, not everyone has the strength, the ducation or has been blessed like I have. I step forward not in arrogance or self righteousness. I stand up in humility and surety of foot. I am confident and consoled by God and am as Michael Jackson would say, " I am a lover, not a fighter".
Kudos to Martin Luther and his ilk who challenge the wrongs and stand for right, however unpopular and however at odds they are with authority. All we are called to do is love, it is sad that love is so often at odds with the rules, rubrics and teachings.
1 Timothy 1:1-17
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope,
To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine, and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith. But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.
Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately. This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,fornicators, sodomites, slave-traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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