Independence Day, Gay Marriage, and the Mission of God

This morning, I preached for the first time following the gay marriage ruling by the Supreme Court. What I shared is written below. 

July 5, 2015

Mark 6: 1-13

As many of you know,

    I was on vacation last week…

We had a lovely time in Florida

    and I was so grateful to be able to spend the time

      with my family and friends

It also happened to be one of the most active news cycles

     we have seen lately…

     some commentators have reflected

     that with the shooting in Charleston

      and the supreme court rulings on the Affordable Care Act

     and gay marriage

It may have been one of the most historic two weeks of my lifetime..

   time will tell

Before vacation,

    we reflected in worship upon the shooting in Charleston

      and now that several black churches have also been burned

    we need to continue to keep this issue before us

    through prayer and action

I was out of the pulpit

   immediately following the gay marriage ruling

    and on this weekend when we celebrate and give thanks

    for our nation, it seems an appropriate time to pause

   not only to give thanks for our nation,

   but to reflect upon the happenings in our great land

“The fact of the matter is

      that we are a divided nation,

          a divided people.

 In today’s culture,

       every possible division between people

          is emphasized and expanded

        and exaggerated and exploited.

Everything is turned into an “either/or” scenario.

       Either you agree with me, or you’re a bigot.

            Either you agree with me, or you’re completely immoral.

This week, there are people who,

       in the midst of their story and their struggle

          are celebrating equality.

But this week, there are also people who disagree,

         people who have a different story

           and a different experience.

The reality is

      that there are not “two sides” on this issue.

There’s not a singular gay experience

         or a singular straight experience.

Each of us has a different story,

     unique experiences, particular struggles,

       and when we make anything a simple “either/or,”

          we miss the mark.

When we proclaim from our soapboxes

        that you’re either in favor of this decision

         or you’re a hateful bigot,

            we’re being shortsighted.

When we say you’re either against this decision

       or you’re championing immorality,

         we’re failing to understand the complex reality

            in which we find ourselves.

What I’m feeling this morning

       in such a divided time and cultural landscape,

           is a deep sense of gratefulness

            that I believe in a God who loves all people.

I’m thankful to be part of a church

           that has an open table:

             all people are invited to sit at God’s table.

Which means, by the way,

          that people with whom I strongly disagree

           are loved by God

      and invited to sit at God’s table.

 People who are and have been hurtful to me

          are loved by God and invited to sit at God’s table.

After all, Jesus died for bigots.

     Jesus died for the immoral.

Jesus died for all of us.[1]

Our gospel lesson for us this morning

   has, as always, an important word for us this morning…

It is the story of Jesus returning to his hometown

   and finding no welcome there

The social conventions of the day

    proved more powerful than the good news Jesus brought

Jesus was appalled by their unbelief

So Jesus shook the dust from his feet,

    and he set off for the surrounding villages…

     he went looking for the places that were ready to hear

     a Word from the Lord

He refocused upon the mission before him..

    and he redoubled his efforts to share the love of God’s kingdom

  He sent the disciples out in pairs

     with instructions to trust radically in God

      by taking nothing for the journey

    He charged them with sharing the gospel of healing and peace

Whether you are dismayed by this week’s ruling on gay marriage

   or heartened by it, as I am,

    I submit to you that the word from the Lord this morning is the same:

We are to go out, two by two in community,

   to proclaim the gospel of love and peace

I am so grateful for this community of faith..

As I begin my fifth year of service as your lead pastor,

    I have been thinking about

         what God has taught me through you

You have given me deeper appreciation

    for what love for God and country looks like

You, my church, have given me my most significant experiences

    with active duty and retired military service men and women

Before being sent among you,

    I was not blessed with so many experiences

      in such abundance

  You continue to witness to me about courage, duty, honor,

      respect for authority, and diversity.

What you have witnessed to me about diversity

   has been the biggest blessing…

   we are a church that knows how to tolerate differences of perspective

    and opinion

At its core,

   this is of course a fruit of the Spirit…

      because loving our sisters and brothers,

    even when they disagree with us,

     is rooted in love and commitment….

  Here, you have shown me that tolerance for difference of opinion

      is reinforced by military service…

   So long as we are all focused upon the same mission,

        we will find a way to get there together…

The gospel of Mark reminds us this morning

   of the importance of remaining focused upon our mission

 We are to shake the dust from our feet

       and share the gospel of healing and peace

   We are taught to do this together,

       in community

We are a diverse church in many ways…

    theologically, socioeconomically, racially, and in sexual orientation

 we are a beautiful mixture of perspectives

    held together by the same Lord

We have a diversity of reactions to the gay marriage ruling….

  I know that for many,

     hearing your pastor say that I am supportive of the gay marriage ruling

    are very hard words to hear…

  While others celebrate the ruling

Regardless of your reaction,

   I hope that you will hear the words from Mark

Inviting us to shake the dust from our feet

       and share the gospel of healing and peace

 and to do this together, in community

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism,

     published a sermon entitled Catholic Spirit.

John Wesley has an important word for us to hear…

The sermon is based on Jehu’s question to Jehonadab in 2 Kings 10;

       ‘Is thine heart right,

             as my heart is with thy heart?’

And Jehonadab answered:

          ‘It is. If it be, give me thine hand.’

 While acknowledging that Jehu was not exactly a model saint,

        Wesley urges that his example here

            is one that every Christian should imitate.

Jehu’s question is not about Jehonadab’s opinions

        but about his spirit,

              his attitude and his affections.

How does he regard his neighbour?

         In a word, is there love in his heart?

 And then Wesley writes a glorious sentence,

        pleading that even allowing our differences of opinions,

             we must not let this stand in the way of brotherly affection.

 ‘Though we can’t think alike,

       may we not love alike?’

John Wesley wrote much in defense

         of that understanding of Christian sanctification

              that he understood as love perfected,

                and this sentence is as good a practical summary

       of it as anything he argued elsewhere.

Wesley taught and preached the essentials of the Christian faith..

   and yet in a time when people being executed for their faith

    as a part of recent history in England,

    he urged unity across a diversity of theological perspectives..

   focusing upon unity in the love offered to us

    from the Cross of Christ

‘Though we can’t think alike,

       may we not love alike?’

The Supreme Court ruling

          does not directly address how pastors, churches,  

              and individual Christians must or should view

           the issue of same-sex marriage. 

Pastors and churches are still permitted

         to refuse to marry same-sex couples,

   and indeed in the United Methodist Church,

    I continue to be barred from performing these marriages

As an ordained elder,

     I have vowed to follow the Discipline of our Church

         and the Discipline specifically prohibits clergy

    from performing these ceremonies

And yet, even as I grieve that I cannot provide

    this kind of pastoral care

    to members and family of Wesley Church

     (and yes, I have been asked)

  I trust that God is at work in all of us…

       and that we see through a mirror dimly

    as the Apostle Paul reminds us

I trust that even though we may not think alike

    we can love alike…

Even as we struggle with knowing God’s will concerning same- sex marriage

    I trust that if we are faithful,

     Jesus will not be amazed at our unbelief

      as he was in his hometown,

    but that he will send us out,

      two by two,

     to love, and teach, and heal…

Even as I find it persuasive

    to understand scripture as complicated and sometimes contradictory

  I hold Scripture as the normative Word for my life

    and for our lives together

“Within its pages we learn of the heart, character, and will of God,

         but we also find on its pages things that we might question. 

Things that seem to reflect the culture and times

         the biblical authors lived in

                 more than the timeless will of God.

We find that women were often seen as second class

           in much of the Bible.

Concubinage and polygamy

       and the use of slave girls as surrogates in childbirth

         were all acceptable family values in the Old Testament.

 Slavery was found to be morally acceptable

      in the Old Testament

          and slave-owning Christians in the early church

           were not asked by the apostles to set their slaves free.

Priests were commanded

        to burn their daughters alive if they became prostitutes,

         and rebellious children were to be stoned to death.

Women who were raped were required to marry their rapist.

 And when Israel went off to war

       she believed God called her to destroy

       every man, woman, and child among the nations she conquered—

         what today we call genocide. 

The writer of some of the Epistles teaches

        that women are to pray

           with their heads covered

               and to not wear their hair in braids. 

They are not permitted to teach a man,

          and Corinthians notes that it was “shameful”

             for a woman to even speak in church.

 The Bible, in its writing, content, and canonization,

          is wonderfully complex

            and we do not do it justice,

              nor are we always able to discern God’s will,

                simply by quoting a handful of verses. 

If it worked this way we’d still embrace

        slavery, polygamy, and concubinage. 

Victims of rape would still be forced to wed their rapists.”[2]

        

Yet, even as I find this persuasive,

    I respect and admire many faithful Christians and staff members

     who feel very very differently about gay marriage..

   and I say to our whole community

    even

And so to all of us

  Though we can’t think alike,

       may we not love alike?’

  We agree on the main points of Christian teaching

       we are all sinners saved by grace

       we are all dependent on God’s healing love

and we are all sent out by the same Lord

   to shake the dust from our feet

       and share the gospel of healing and peace

 and to do this together, in community

On this weekend of celebration our nation’s independence

    let us not only focus upon the overarching truth that

      we are all loved by the same Lord…

Let us also remember

    that we are blessed to live in this nation

      which enables us to live peacefully

   among a diversity of opinions and perspectives

     united by the truth that we are all Americans

For truly, though we may not think alike,

    surely we can love alike

To this truth we must hold fast..

    for God has work for us to do

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[1] Travis Garner, UMC Pastor

[2] Adam Hamilton, UMC Pastor