Even the hairs on your head

Luke 12:4-12

           There have been several times in my life when I have faced traumatic or life threatening events. Not counting accidents when my life flashed before me, there are two events that stand out. One is when I came out at the ripe age of 50. I had a well established life and family, a wife, children, I was an ordained minister of the Roman church. Part of the trauma was even the mere thought that I was gay. That thought and the increasing possibility and awareness seeping from my subconscious was wreaking havoc on me. No matter what choice I made I knew I would be in trouble so to speak. It seemed like a lose lose situation. In the end, with good therapy and the knowledge that God loved me, I was able to move forward with positive and life giving decisions. One thing I realized at that time was what is truly important. I often joke that I left my wife with nothing more than a Scrabble board and an Armoire of clothes.  I realized then that not even those are things are what is truly important. 

           Another more recent event was the discovery of a particularly nastily placed aneurysm on my aorta. Ripening with each passing day and at the point where it required attention, I became keenly aware that I could meet my maker at any moment. Even with the surgery, scheduled for 8 hours with the most skilled of surgeons in a major university setting, I could be meeting my maker. It makes one, again, realize what is truly important. You are not so gently reminded how fragile life is and what is really counts in life.

           In today's passage I am reminded of all of this. It is amazing what we fear, the silliest of things really. Most things, while perhaps truly practical in this world are of minimal importance in the grand schema of things. 

           What really counts is love in it's broadest terms. Did I love? Do I love? Am I loved? The resounding answer to that last question is yes, even the hairs on your head.  God so loves each one of us, each of us so purpose built so to speak.  A person who nurtures and cuts a Bonsai does so with extreme patience, each cut meticulous, specially designed, planned and executed.  Each one of us was conceived by God, specially designed, planned and executed. Our existence and who we are is no accident, it is crucial to God's plan. 

             

‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

‘And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.’

Gay love

Song of Solomon 2:10-13

            Does anyone recognize what this passage is speaking to? I mislead you you a bit. It's not about gay love, it's about love. How many people will read this passage and say, 'this is how I feel' about my beloved. Gender will have no place in it. In fact, you may be in love with God. Your relationship with God may be so profound that you could have penned this song to God.

            So how does it feel to be in love?  Whatever troubles have occurred, whatever came before, it is lost in the present, in the presence of love. Leave the past behind, what matters is the now and our future. 

            You may have lived day to day, merely surviving and all of a sudden your eyes are open to the joys of the world. You see flowers. You hear birds singing. Life seems to be bursting forth all around you with optimism and possibility. Life seems sweet. Is that a description of love? I think so.

I certainly feel that way about my life, my husband, my God.

            And if you are living in that 'mere existence' of living, this affords you a glimpse of what can be like. It holds hope that "it gets better'.  This 'song' sings to the truth of life. It does not specify love of a man and a woman. It speaks to relationship and it is not gender limited and it is not restricted to humanity but also to our relationship with God. The truth of humanity is relationship and love, t is what we are called to and it is when we are at our best. 

            Blessed are those that smell the flowers, hear the birds and love to the full.

            

My beloved speaks and says to me:

‘Arise, my love, my fair one,

   and come away; 

for now the winter is past,

   the rain is over and gone. 

The flowers appear on the earth;

   the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtle-dove

   is heard in our land. 

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

   and the vines are in blossom;

   they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

   and come away.

Martin Luther King Junior: gay icon

   








           It is said that one of last frontiers of civil rights is the liberation of the gay community and marriage equality. I find so many similarities between the struggle of the black community and that of the gay community. Of course there are also notable differences but the struggle seems remarkably similar. One example would be our own President. How long ago was it illegal in so many states for his parents to have gotten married? It was actually a crime for a black man and a white woman to get married. In similar fashion it was religion and notably narrow readings of scripture and misinterpretations of scripture that were used to bolster the policy of segregation and laws that marginalized and codified the denigration and separation of God's children.

           As I listened and thought on all that Martin Luther King Junior said and did, I know I am looking at a modern Saint. Perhaps he still would not muster enough 'votes' to pass the gauntlet of the Roman system but a holy and blessed man he was and he should be remembered and honored as such.

           A notable example of his inclusiveness was the leadership and fellowship with Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence and gay rights. Dr. King was way ahead of his time, perhaps even our time but certainly not ahead of God's time. God's love and inclusiveness is all embracing and timeless. Dr. King heard God's voice of freedom, inclusiveness, righteousness and love in his heart and carried the torch for all of us, not just blacks or whites but gays and straights, for everyone who has been marginalized and socially stigmatized.

            On "MLK day" we had an opportunity to recall a fight for freedom and  a calling to continue that fight today in marriage equality, gay rights, trans rights and freedom from oppression for all peoples.

            I picked this quote of Dr, Martin Luther King Junior because it so typifies the enemy of God's inclusive love. Read it over again. See the hand of the far right wingnuts and misguided religious zealots who use the Bible as a weapon to bash people in their misquotations and cherry picked passages.  We must be ever vigilant to fight as Christian soldiers of love with all the principles Dr. King stood for.

There's no place like home

Mark 3:7-19

          I have said several times to people that I am a boring gay. I don't do drugs, pot or otherwise, I don't drink to any significant degree, I don't sleep around and I would much rather be home with my man and our cat. I can hardly wait to get home after work. How could it get better than this? We love each others' company, we are relaxed and we are deliriously happy. Today we sat in front of a fire and hung out after a really good workout this morning. When Dorothy proclaimed "there's no place like home", we feel it is absolutely true.

          It is with interest then that I read today's passage and after it is all said and done, what does Jesus do?  He went home. Sit down, kick off the sandals, let Mom prepare a nice meal, home. Ah, there's no place like home.

          No matter what "lifestyle" a gay person may embrace ( or anyone else, gay or straight), we all come from a family that gives us the notion or holds high the image of a home and a family life. To the gay community that was always denied, dismissed or downright prohibited. Such a life some people would say, is not for us. But just like Jesus and everyone else, we long for a place to call home, hang our hat, feel comfortable and in most cases share the joys of a relationship. Just like Jesus did. What his home life later on amounted to, well that's a question for another reflection. At the time, it's home to Mom because as we know, there's no place like home.

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home;

Intent on saying thank you

Hebrews 6:17-7:10

           In yesterday's passage a man was told to give away everything he owns. Today's passage speaks of tithing, or giving 10% to God. Pretty good negotiation if that's what is. I believe it says something about how rigid ( or not ) the 'word of God' is, especially when it is translated through a human medium.    

          At a family gathering years ago I recall hearing someone say that they had been called out in their church. The preacher simply announced from the pulpit who was not meeting their tithe to God. And we know it wasn't actually God, it was the pastor. I suppose the next step would be announce other such imperfections, lack of judgement or sins committed by the faithful. Why not let everyone in the community know that Mr Jones blew through a stop sign. How about announcing from the pulpit that Mr. Smith ( or Mrs. Smith ) had been found coming out of house of ill repute or was having an affair?  Why not announce the kids who lied to their parents or any one a million possible sins. How horrible. That vision of God and his 'love' is the farthest from anything I believe or have experienced.

               I believe in the unchangeable character of His purpose which is love and that we are heirs to the kingdom as beloved children of God. Yes, even as we sin and are imperfect. So how do we handle the commandments and this quite clear concept of tithing?

              Is this where God (or some pastor) intervenes if we give a penny less than our tithe or we are weak and sin in some small fashion just once? That would seem more like a bookkeeper / vengeful God. Again, as far from what I perceive, have experienced or believe. So what makes us worthy and what are we to do?  

             How about to simply to your best? God is the only true arbiter of where your heart is and what your intent is. God is the one who forgives our failings. Is it our intent to cheat God out of a tithe?  What is the intent of the tithe?? A joyful giving back to God is how I see it. It is not an obligation so much as it is a willing thank you and there are myriad ways to say thank you. Who would be so blessed as we are and turn around and say screw you to God? Only the insane, only the deluded.

              There was a time when I could not afford two pennies. Should I have been chastised for my sin of falling into the trap of worldliness?  Now adays I have turned my life around financially and I am able to give and save. Perhaps I might want to give more than 10%. It's whatever is in your heart. You have to feel it.  You would need to grasp just how much God has given you and how many wonderful things and people has brought into your life. Then, giving becomes easy. It is a solid thank you.

            I have always noted the problems with translations and intent. Perhaps we could simply find a way to help others in a way that we feel is consistent with what we have been graced with. Just thinking about our graces is a thanksgiving prayer to God which no doubt he smiles at. The next step is something more tangible.

      

In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.

This ‘King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him’; and to him Abraham apportioned ‘one-tenth of everything’. His name, in the first place, means ‘king of righteousness’; next he is also king of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest for ever.

See how great he is! Even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Divesting

Mark 10:17-21

            I am feeling absolutely gluey this morning, like I was dipped in Elmer's glue and it's drying. I am struggling to get going. I will resist the desire to crawl back into bed and head off to the gym. I always feel better after exercise. Always. 

             But let me return my focus to the word of God. "sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me" That's pretty strong. Perhaps I should be glad I am not at the point where I have mastered all the commandments yet! Yet I cannot help but think if Jesus was speaking literally. Today the church recalls Antony who had become wealthy by inheriting a large estate. He heard these same words and came to the conclusion that he should divest himself of all his worldly goods and follow The Way which Antony did. I found even the little snippet of his life's history quite inspiring. Am I to give away whatever monies I have accumulated? Right now I am feverishly trying to accumulate money for retirement and have no desire to be a pauper in my old age. Perhaps I can do as God has also commanded, that is to tithe - or perhaps attempt to tithe. Will that suffice? Or perhaps I can simply make an earnest attempt to be less worldly? I am keenly aware of how possessions often wind up owning you. I have preached and written about resisting the Madison Avenue paradigm of having the latest and greatest of anything. I know first hand that it is none of the worldly things or possessions that make us happy. I have been truly blessed and it has nothing at all to do with cars, clothes, money or sex, all of which I actually have been blessed with.

               So I am sitting there at the gym, totally bothered by these darn ear plugs that either won't stay in my ear or won't stay in a position that allows me to hear the music which is driving my exercise routine. I am sure many would love to have such a simple problem, eh? This is the intersection of 'selling what you own and following Christ' and  following what Madison Avenue or other people find happiness in. I actually looked for a pair of 'on the ear' earphones, they seem to be quite popular now. I was amazed at the variety and I was stunned that they have a popularity rivalling the latest and greatest pair of 'kicks'. Not only can the cost mega bucks, you can spend even more accessorizing these ear phones. Uh-mazing. Do I really need any earphones at all to work out at the gym? I mean, the rhythm of the music may be helpful but could I spend that time (already set aside) to meditate, couldn't I?  Is the gym actually a place I can make the decision to follow the world vs. follow Christ? In a small way I think the answer is yes. Do I think we must divest ourselves of earplugs and earphones to follow Jesus? No, don't be ridiculous. That kind of thought leads to preachers who might say earphones are from the devil! But at the same time, let us not discount the fact that wherever we are we can choose to follow Jesus. We may not have to get rid of our ear buds but we can make wherever we are a place to listen to God, love others and make the decision NOT to follow what everyone else is doing or what everyone else is buying into. 

           The notion of going to the beat of your own drummer is key in a world that is so materialistic. Perhaps for some of us, until we master all the commandments, the goal is to divest ourselves of the notion that we must buy into material goods for happiness. Let us not let our 'things' own us for it is God who truly owns us and no one else.  

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’

The power of love

1 John 4:7-12

          I recall as a young man saying to someone that I loved them but I was not in love with them. Such a fine distinction I was able to come up with. I find it a little comical now though the nature of love is so broad and expansive it really isn't a funny subject except in how we deal with love. God may very well view as infants  (no matter what our age) as we try so immaturely to love and divine the ways of love, to divine the ways of His love.

           Love is such a nebulous and fascinating subject. Love is perhaps the essence of our existence and it is perhaps our one try goal in life. That is, to love ourselves (accept whom God made us to be) and to love others. In trying to comprehend the ways and depth of love though we can make in seem incredibly complex and make novice mistakes as only we humans perhaps can do.

           One of my most memorable labyrinth walks was a regression of my life to the point before I was conceived by my parents to when I was conceived in the mind of God. The center of the labyrinth then became an immensely powerful place where I met the mind and creative love of God. Perhaps that's redundant. I was overwhelmed, shaking and crying.  

            Love is overwhelming. Love is all encompassing and simply more than we can take in and understand and yet we know it and it is palpable. I cannot adequately explain the number of times I am overwhelmed by the love of my husband and the love God showed me in gracing me with his presence and love. There are many times I feel so loved in our relationship that I could cry tears of happiness and joy. 

            If only for today, it may be a treasure to try to be cognizant of the love around us and the fantastic array that God places around us and in our lives. It makes for humbling thankfulness, great joy and a zest for life. 

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.