Dear NUMC,
On the last Sunday in May 2012 we celebrate
the Feast of Pentecost, which recalls the coming of the
Holy Spirit on Christ’s followers who remained in Jerusalem after his ascension to heaven (where God dwells).
This visitation of the Holy Spirit brought a mighty power
to the Body of Christ that enables them to continue the
marvelous work that they had experienced during Jesus’
ministry on earth. This past April the United Methodist
Church’s nine hundred plus delegates from around the
world met in Tampa Florida to discuss and make decisions about the mission and business of the church for
the next four years and beyond. It was a Spirit-filled
time, most of the time.
I quote Bishop Peter Weaver, our bishop, who
delivered the Episcopal address on behalf of the Council
of Bishops to the Conference, on the naming of Tampa
Bay. Tampa Bay was first named by the Spanish who
visited in the 15th Century, “Bahia Del Espiritu Santo”
or The Bay of the Holy Spirit. While not everything was
accomplished in Tampa that many of us had hoped, we
nevertheless had some Holy Spirit moments—times
when we felt that the Holy Spirit was present. My constant prayer is that we open up our hearts so that the
Holy Spirit can do its powerful work in us and through
us. When we realize and begin to live the truth that we
cannot live this life to ourselves and that we need God,
the Triune God in our lives, then wonderful, powerful
things happen. We need God as Creator, Redeemer
and Sustainer in our lives, as Parent, Sibling and Holy
Spirit.
When I decided to share with this congregation the fact that I was one of nearly two hundred clergy
in the New England Annual Conference to have signed
a declaration that we would minister to Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer and Other persons
(LGBTQO) in our congregations including offering a
blessing for their relationships, and in states where
these members are allowed to marry, performing such
ceremonies, it was a part of my commentary on the
reality that the church is divided on this issue. It
seemed like an appropriate time to let the congregation know where I stood and that my stance is an open
stance, not a closed one; meaning that I am willing to discuss the issue with anyone in a respectful and dignified manner, in
a Christian manner, with love. What concerns me about this issue is
that it has threatened to divide the church for the past thirty years. But
whereas discussion of the issue started in an extreme manner, with
persons on both sides digging in their heels and not budging an inch
and being extremely disparaging and dismissive of each other, I have
seen some progress in terms of people at least being willing to listen
to each other and to speak to each other in love. It does not mean
necessarily that individuals have changed their minds, but it does
mean that people on both sides are willing to listen to each other. That
is a first step.
I do not believe that this issue will cause a split in the
church. Some people will leave, yes, but the stakes are too high for the
church to disintegrate and God’s church will go on anyway, with or
without us. We make the decision about whether we will be a part of
the unfolding of God’s creation or not. The choice is ours. We can walk
away in anger about this or any other issue, or we can stay and with
faith in God and the power of the Holy Spirit to move among us, see
what God is calling us to do now. At this time. We are called for just
such a time as this.
God who does not change, but who is far beyond anything
that we can ever imagine, is always surprising us and nothing in creation is static. If it is, it is dead. Life means change. Can you think of a
time when you were convinced that you were right about something,
later to find out that you were wrong? That has happened to me so
much that I got tired of being wrong and limited, and decided instead
to open my mind to the intricate number of possibilities that exist. God
is infinity and our words to describe God are really feeble attempts to
describe the indescribable.
Recall that at one time the world was thought to be flat and
those who suggested otherwise were punished, some as severely as
having to give up their lives for their beliefs. Then some brave sailors
sailed and did not fall off the face of the earth. At one time, space travel
was thought to be impossible, yet in the sixteenth century there were
those who were already imagining space flight. Now space flight is a
reality. Or think of the time when communication with someone in another country meant waiting for a letter to take weeks to reach its destination and its reader. Today, we pick up a telephone no longer tied to a
line and speak to someone in another country with only a few seconds’
delay, the time it takes for a signal to go from our instrument to a satellite and then to another instrument.
Truth is, we don’t know everything there is to know—about
anything. God is constantly revealing Godself and we are constantly
gaining knowledge, each and every moment about all the things there
are in this complex universe, including what there is to know about human sexuality. We know some things. We do not know everything. Let us
remain open to expanding knowledge of God and God’s creation.
So since we do not know everything, the sensible response to
what we do not know is not to hate it or condemn it, but to be open to
learning about it; to accept that we are ourselves limited and to ask the
Holy Spirit which knows everything to reveal to us what we do not know.
To approach life any other way is to be arrogant. That does not work
because we are by definition, limited. The way to approach our differences and our problems is to ask the Holy Spirit for the power of wisdom
and discernment and then proceed with care and with love. It is the only
way, or as Paul said, the more excellent way. Love casts out fear.
Blessings,
Pastor Laurel