Thoughts Have Hands

Recently I heard the Reverend Becca Stevens use the story of the lost sheep to describe the action of Christ in the world. It is a rich metaphor for the Church. By reaching out to lost sheep, even one lonely lost lamb, the Church affirms her loving response to Christ in the world. The action of Christians should be to go, reach out, and include the lost and lonely in our love fest with God. This action brings healing, expands God’s community, and floods the world with the the light of Christ’s love and forgiveness.
She delivered this powerful homily at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church this past week. During the convention our deputies passed resolutions by huge numbers to welcome the GLBTQ community into the full participation of our marriage rites. This historic act is a dramatic outreach to many long excluded sheep. It is an act of healing and expresses a hope that our church can be a place of justice for all. 
In Middle Tennessee the blessings of the resolutions have yet to be extended to the clergy and laity as our Bishop prays and ponders his options. The resolutions give dissenting Bishops and clergy the option based on conscience to opt out but also requires some accommodation to those for whom same sex blessings have been extended. Our Bishop affirmed he would use the interim period, from now until December 2015, to discern the best way to address the action of the Episcopal Church in our diocese.  
I have no clue what the accommodation will be. I believe the Bishop is seriously concerned about his choices because he deeply believes the Church has made a mistake by approving same sex unions. He has always proclaimed his belief that marriage should be between a man and woman and tied this scriptural notion to the procreation of children where God allows. So be it. Our Bishop has a right to his position and no one should want to force him to change. I leave that to him and the work of God in his life. However our Bishop has long held that as defender of the faith he is also bound to follow the governing body of our church and enforce her canons. He has been clear that he seeks to maintain unity with the Episcopal church and promised never to take the diocese out of TEC. I know he faces a dilemma as he seeks the best way forward. I thought one dissenting Bishop put an interesting spin on the changes in our church by comparing them to the clamor from the people of Israel for a King ‘like other nations’. God relents and Samuel anoint’s Saul king, a forgiving accommodation by God to his people. Of course, one may wonder about the consequences. I would note this led to the ascendency of David and Solomon; it also led to war and a divided Kingdom.
The approach Becca Stevens offered in her sermon is helpful. She proclaims it is time for the church to go and bring the lost sheep into the fold. We should seek them out and embrace them as full members of the church. It is time to extend the blessing to the stranger. As Jesus clearly saw when the Samaritan woman begged for ‘the crumbs from the Table’, it is time to welcome these sheep as a full members because of their faith. 
I have seen many GLBTQ people offer service to this church, raise wholesome families, and live faithful lives full of grace and charity. They have lived too long in the wilderness. Another parable Jesus offered was about the King who prepared a wedding feast and invited his friends and important people only to find no one interested enough to come. So the King ordered his servants to bring everyone they could find. He offered hospitality to all who would come ready to receive. The GLBTQ community is ready and eager to be made full members of God’s church. I hope we are all ready to receive them with grace and charity here in Tennessee and elsewhere. THH 

This entry was posted on July 9, 2015 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.