Amazing Grace!

It's Canadian Thanksgiving up here this week-end.
A rainy Thanksgiving Monday here in Montreal which brings out the green in everything in the garden- reminding us of just how much life there still is in the living- inspite of the more Fall like temperatures.

Yesterday, most of my very large family were once again blessed to get together at our dear Mam's for yet another incredible meal. Four wondrous generations who might not always agree on the finer points of all things, but who know the true blessedness of being together once again. My late Father, who gave so much of his life to glorifying God through his high standards for liturgical music might no longer be with us in body, but his spouse and three generations of their off-spring all joined hands, and once more sang thanks and praise in Mam's living room and dining room and out into the hall.

Afterwards, sitting n a quiet corner with one of my two wondrous Japanese-born great-nieces on my knee, I couldn't help but think of some of the angry voices within the Communion who are working so furiously to exclude themselves from the Communion. Holding precious Kioka, I thought of ++Peter specifically, and prayed that he'd be still long enough to get over himself.

And then this morning, back home once more in the blessed early morning silence of our tiny house, with my pup curled up at my feet, I logged on to such wondrous bounty.

First, (thanks to Susan+ Russel) the courageous witness of +Thomas Clark Ely, current Bishop of Vermont and a living blessing to the Church. This man of God literally took my breath away with a couple of his paragraphs cited on Susan+'s blog:

I regret that once again we made our gay and lesbian members the object of our discussion, something that by its very nature is a form of oppression. I ask for more than patience and forbearance from those so oppressed by our words and actions: I ask for forgiveness. I also ask for their continuing faithful and steadfast commitment to the mission and ministry of The Episcopal Church. Finally, I offer my apology to those who disagree and are deeply troubled by recent actions of the Episcopal Church for whom any of my words and actions have contributed to a sense of alienation or oppression. It is never my intention to treat others as objects or to act in anyway that fails to respect the human dignity of another.

I pledge to continue working for both the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons in the life of the Episcopal Church and for the full and dynamic participation of all members of the Episcopal Church in the mission and ministry of the Anglican Communion. Either one without the other would represent to me a failure on our part to live into the fullness of God’s saving grace, glory and hope for the world. I pray that you will join me in this work

.


A Bishop of our Church asking forgiveness of LGBT people and asking for our forbearance? Who can possibly doubt that God is alive and working wondrous things in the Communion in these seemingly difficult times?
The full text to +Thomas' extraordinary letter to his diocese can be found here http://www.dioceseofvermont.org/Elyletters/ElyLetters07/ElyHoBSept07.html

And if one radiant Bishop weren't enough, there's dear +Gene New Hampshire's letter to his people.http://www.nhepiscopal.org/artman/publish/article_534.shtml +Gene is writing as he leaves on a three month sabatical after five years (already) in the Episcopate... Now in my dictionary, sabatical is supposed to be about rest and restoration, but what's this belove brother in Christ doing before he gets around to R&R? He's heading out to meet the Church in the south, to shsre in their work and ministry, to meet the street!

The Christ-filled radiance of this precious brother literally moves me to tears.

Then there's this Sunday's sermon by Cannon Elizabeth+ Kaeton, a radiant sister in Christ who never fails to bless this life and practice at least a couple of times every week. Can that sister preach! http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com/

And if that weren't wonder enough for one morning, there's the most incredible process going on at Father Jake Stops the World-another living blessing.
Start with Harry's original post (what a truly radiant brother there!) but you have to delve into the comments to get a real sense of the wonder that's unfolding... Talk about grace at work.... Starting with Harry and Wayne+ having the grace and courage to claim the blessedness of their life together within the Church... and then Harry met Richard, who shared him with ++Katherine... factor in the Great ++Katherine's passion for ministry, and now there's this wondrous work of grace taking form in a space Father Jake (a.k.a. Terry) made possible.

I won't say more- you want to read this!

Somehow 'thank-you' just doesn't quite cover it.

Amen

The Point

Yes, of course I read it (the HoB New Orleans statement) along with many of the hurt and confused responses of sisters and brothers throughout the Communion and our LGBT tribe.
But a fall cold and real life (more on that later) kept me very much occupied elsewhere.

Time and distance from engaging with post New Orleans blogdom brought an interesting insight- for me at least. An insight informed by years of dharma study and practice as much as by the work on ‘process’ by Margaret Wheatley PhD.

Yes I was hurt and dismayed, yes I shook my head over the essential impotent irrelevance of the New Orleans offering., but the longer I sat with the experience, the clearer it became. The whole thing had to be what it was because of where they started out: a place of re-acting instead of a place of acting.

And let me be clear here- I am neither criticizing or blaming the HoB. With all the noise and acrimony of the past many months they would have had to shut themselves away for a lot longer for any other sort of outcome.
And thank God indeed there's still the rest of TEC & House of Deputies to balance the New Orleans statement!

To understand what I'm talking about, it is perhaps necessary to revisit a term I've used in this space previously, and which has earned me a certain amount of criticism. 'Bullies of the patriarchy' I believe speaks not only to the real issues at stake, but to the behaviour of many I would associate with that moniker.

Bullying is rarely ever about what it claims to be ie.
fear of the open vulnerability to both God and life which is the vocation of
every Christian.
Bullying breaches the norms and conventions of the
group ie. storming out of one of the most sacred rites of our
Communion, the Primatal Holy Eucharist at Dar Es Salam.
Bullying
resorts to a continually escalating vocabulary of threats and accusation which
is a non-stop denial of the essential humanity, experience and grace of its
target.
Bullying’s charges can never be effectively met or satisfied, as its
real agenda is never admitted (see The Chapman Memo nefariously written
back in 2003).
Bullying can never be satisfied as the essential
dishonesty of its attack requires a continual escalation and shifting of its
target.
and need I say it?
Bullying is always an expression of a lack of emotional
intelligence, spiritual maturity and experience.

But to get back to my point about The Point.

One of the most valuable gifts the dharma has brought me has been some insight into the important and essential difference between acting and re-acting. An insight I might add which came in the rawest days of our local fight against AIDS, with friends and clients sometimes dying daily.

Re-acting always

limits any subsequent discussion or peace-making to the vocabulary and context
established by the bullies.
is implicitly incapable of including the experience and understanding of the party under attack
will always fail to satisfy either party, as it is always speaking to the past ie. earlier charges rather than the current situation & fails to call forth the bullies real
agenda

Acting

disengages, while owning both the charges of the bully and the experience of
being bullied
practices prayerfully (ie be still and know that I am God) until the deeper truth, experience and understanding of the real situation are gained, at the same time disengaging from one’s own instinctual responses
speaks or acts only from that larger place ie: taking the whole
exercise outside the area of violence and accusation, addressing both the shared
humanity of all parties and once again opening the discussion to God’s grace.

Of course I wasn’t there in New Orleans, so can only read the outcome and the pain and confusion of my brothers and sisters in Christ. But the bottom line appears to be that no one was ‘satisfied’ and the essential process our Communion is going through right now wasn’t advanced a centimetre- on the contrary judging by the reaction of the patriarchy.

Yes, I shook my head, but I also felt real sadness for our brothers and sisters wearing the onerous mantle of the Episcopacy in the American Church.
By re-acting, with the best of intentions no doubt, and only after they themselves had gone through the same agonizing long months we’ve all traversed since Dar-Es-Salam, they essentially found themselves implicitly having to overlook much of what has gone on in that same period of time:

Primatal poaching from outside TEC
irregular consecrations of more bishops
than I need to see
the damning of duly consecrated primates, bishops, priests
and the lay baptized including my radiant LGBT brothers and sisters of
faith
too many of the resources of the Communion squandered on these ‘issues’
while the holocaust of AIDS continues to spread, wars wage and whole societies
unravel under the curse of poverty.

So it was inevitable that we all came away from the latest exercise shaken, sore and still hungry for the bread of heaven.

Unfortunately New Orleans couldn’t be anything more than it was, when the discussions were framed by the deadline and conditions established by the statement of Dar-Es-Salam.

So what’s the alternative model ?

Might I risk sounding simplistic (once again some might add) by suggesting it be that of our sweet Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who Himself ‘drew apart’ regularly as Scripture tells us.

One of the many dharma teachers who has nourished my practice over the years speaks ’three breathes.’ Taking time ie enough breathes to get beyond whatever might be coming at us, enabling us to respond in the larger unconditional openness of the ‘now’ rather than in the dead history which lead to the original attack or accusation.

What did I expect/pray for/hope for?

Nothing short of sheer radiance!

A statement which would have established the example and teachings of Jesus Christ as the first and only principle of the exchange.

A statement which would not have wasted time or energy trying to accommodate a problematic resolution which is already effectively dead-in-the-water.

A statement which would have admitted the need for God’s grace and patience as the HoB was not of one mind on all things.

A statement which would not have contradicted or compromised the final declarations of its communique.

Only then could the meetings of TEC have stood as proof that their discussions were

outside the ‘fist’ of the bully,
a true reflection of the path that TEC has walked, and the grace they have known in their efforts to be a true embodiment of Christ’s loving vocation for humanity,
witness to glorious outcome of Christ’s Incarnation, Christ’s crucifixion and yes, Christ’s resurrection ,
only then could the current discussions have been truly taken beyond the place of accusation, acrimony and condemnation.

Once again, you have my full permission to call me simplistic, but I’d offer a parallel example.

Earlier this week, at work, I was given an opportunity to work with a colleague who was buying-into a series of continually escalating exchanges and accusation about ‘fairness’ & ‘responsibility’ with another colleague.
Both parties are basically decent human beings, each who at different times have confided in me some of their personal baggage and the resulting behaviour patterns.
‘You know you still have a choice in all of this’ I reminded Jenny, bringing her up short in her list of complaints. ‘You can still decide wether or not to buy into this game, or owning your feelings and personal history, to step outside into something larger. The choice of how you will spend your next breath is still yours.’
Of course our discussion didn’t end with my suggestion, but one thing did change, and that was Jenny. Instead of returning to her cubicle and firing off another re-active e-mail or shouting her response over their common wall, she chose to not return to her work space until we had talked the whole thing out and she was ready to get on with the real reason she turned up each day- the work awaiting her.
And when she didn’t respond?
Jenny and her colleague eventually talked about the specific work issue which had been the grounds of the latest aborted round. When her colleague tried carrying it further, turning it into a personal attack, Jenny simply disengaged- citing her ringing phone.
It may not happen next time, but it did then, and that’s some sort of a start.

And thankfully, our blessed Communion is further along than Jenny.

Personally, I’d most readily refer to all of the radiant voices of inclusiveness within the Communion which continue to nourish, bless and inform me daily. You know who you are.

I would also take great hope from the existence of the House of Deputies within TEC, the structure of our own Canadian Synod, and similar structures throughout the Communion.

Then there’s the courageous embodiment of grace in the insistence by our countless LGBT sisters and brothers in faith, of their full inclusion in that same Communion, through God’s grace and the rite of baptism.

But there’s also the unwavering assurance that ‘God so loved the world that S/He gave His only begotten son Christ Jesus’

Thankfully this is not our Church, our Truth, or even our issue that our beloved Communion is undergoing at the present time.

Unfortunately, too often in the past, too much Christian history has been one of ever- escalating action and re-action; a direct result of the dualistic-thinking necessary for the establishment of the patriarchy which for too long imposed its fears and insecurity on Christian practice.

But through God’s unfailing grace and the living contradiction to patriarchal dualism we LGBT people of faith embody at this time, Christ’s Church is once again being called out of fear, to be the radiant embodiment of God’s love which has always been it’s true vocation.

To act (embody Christ Jesus in the world)
rather than re-act in the realm and vocabulary of fear.
the choice is always ours.

A new day...

But for this to happen, the ‘listening process’ becomes more essential than ever.

Not just whatever forums and ‘public processes’ individual dioceses and provinces may offer, but every blessed life, every blessed voice within the Communion- and none more or less so than my radiant, blessed LGBT sisters and brothers- each and every one of you.

LGBT lives - LGBT grace - essential - yes essential to the life and future of the Anglican Communion.
Who would have ever imagined the day?
But that is exactly where we are now.
Dare I say it? Praise God!

All we have to do is show up- be still and know that I am God, to quote scripture.

The Communion may rend- no make that- the Communion may be rent. But it will still be the Communion, working its way back to the inclusive wholeness God has always wanted for all of Creation & the Church.

So what are we supposed to be afraid of in the long run? Nothing comes to mind... because this is not just our process of growth beyond fear, not just our growth in grace, this is not just our Communion.

It never was. Thank God.

Amen.

++Rowan, who else

Is this man for real?

I'm referring to ++Rowan aka His Grace, Archbishop of Canterbury of course, the same individual who has remained silent to all appearances during raids on American dioceses, during the consecrations of irregular 'missionary bishops,' and during the firestorm of invective raining on the American Church and two individuals in particular, whom I honour as a sister and brother in Christ Jesus.

'In response to a question about the significance of his brief visit, Archbishop Williams said it "probably would not make much difference on the whole,"" http://www.livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=3822

Duh? This is his best shot at responding to all the noise and nastiness that’s been going on?

Is this speaking hope to the regular decent human beings who faithfully turn up most Sundays to take their place in the pew, hoping for some semblance of sanity, for something which speaks to the complex reality of their every-day lives?

Is this pastoral care for the millions of LGBT Anglicans ( both known and unknown) who courageously refuse to default on Christ’s call to each of them personally, as people of faith, as baptized Anglicans?

Is this reaching out to all of the African Anglican’s ‘under the radar’ whose lives are a daily struggle with AIDS, poverty and the political realities in countries like Zimbabwe?

This isn’t even the proverbial bad parent handing out stones instead of living bread. This is positive neglect.

And unfortunately it doesn’t end there...

Quoting from the Integrity USA blog ‘Walking with Integrity’ http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com/

‘I asked +Rowan what word of hope he had for the gay and
lesbian baptized. He repeated assurances of the communion’s stated opposition to
discrimination against gay and lesbian persons. I followed up and asked whether
that opposition to discrimination applied to the world outside the church but
not within the church.
He answered it was a matter of how people perceived a
person’s "choice of a style of life" and how that affected what level of role
that person was "eligible for" within the church. (‘Choice’ of a ‘lifestyle.’
Flashback to the 70s.) He also said 'we’re concerned with the appropriate limits
of pastoral response to gay and lesbian people'.

‘Choice of style of life’?

What century is this man living in? Sorry ++Rowan you're well on the way to making yourself just about as relevant as the current incumbent of the Chair of Peter.

Has the man even heard of the word ‘science’? Of the anthropological work on the unique and essential roles LGBT men and women have played through-out human history? Of the pathology called ‘homophobia’ and of its common-cause links to misogyny, racism and violence? Of the embodiment of same-gender relationships within the creature kingdoms?

Dear brother ++Rowan, listen closely please...

My being born gay is nothing short of a gift from the hands of the one true living God.

It’s not a mistake.

It’s not a genetic error,
and yes, it is a part of God alive and working in Creation.

My baptism and confirmation within our Church is equally unblemished as yes, even yours- and like yours it is only through the grace of our Lord Christ Jesus.

And yes, I’ll say it, the presence of my LGBT brothers and sisters within the wondrous work-of-grace which our Communion is called to be is just as essential as yours, as ++Peter’s, as that of all those who have stormed from the sanctuary of the Episcopal Church in America.

Do the math ++Rowan, it is the same grace which made me a gay man in the image and likeness of God which baptized, confirmed and calls me daily to be a living wintness and embodiment of Christ's love and healing grace.

‘Style of life’?

The creation of my LGBT brothers and sisters as LGBT children of God is not one jot less wondrous, less challenging, less valuable, less joyous and less essential, than those of my straight sisters and brothers.


And one more thing brother ++Rowan aka ‘Beloved Rowan.,’ ‘The appropriate limits of pastoral response to gay and lesbian people?’

How can you even consider such an ugly homophobic concept?

Those ‘appropriate limits’ are limitless if we’re speaking of Christ’s love and yearning for humanity.
‘Appropriate limits’ for the LGBT baptized are exactly- let me say that again EXACTLY THE SAME as those for all humanity.

Christ’s ministry and Christ’s sacrifice on the cross were as EQUALLY and as UNCONDITIONALLY made for me as for you, dear brother Rowan.

And it is Christ’s words, Christ’s example which I and my LGBT sisters and brothers of faith cling to, and are nourished by daily.

It is Christ’s unconditional love ‘beyond our wildest imagining’ which has us turning up most Sundays in the pews of the same churches which historically have tried to teach us to hate our God-created selves, our bodies and the love that we yearn for.


Dear, dear ++Rowan have you ever even considered the blessed irony of the fact that it is once again the Communion’s current version of the ‘most despised’ who are calling the Communion to live a more real & vital embodiment of Christ’s unconditional love? Just as it was when the Church struggled with its fear of racial and cultural differences, with its objectification and exploitation of women, and with its demonization of our Jewish sisters and brothers.

Dear, dear brother ++Rowan, the sad truth is indeed that if we’re speaking healing, if we’re speaking the larger embodiment of Christ’s living, passionate love and grace working in our Communion, your visit to New Orleans ‘probably would not make much difference on the whole.’

In closing, I’d remind you of the words of another brother in faith, +Jack, Newark retired- words which must be haunting your sleep these nights, but words which also inform the prayers of many of us these days

"You were appointed to lead, Rowan, not to capitulate to the hysterical anger of
those who are locked in the past. For the sake of God and this Church, the time
has come for you to do so. I hope you still have that capability."

Dear brother Rowan, no one ever said it was going to be easy, but if you’re needing the comfort of solidarity in prayer, you’re always welcome in the pews of my LGBT sisters and brothers. There’s always room with so many people working so hard and acrimoniously to make sure they never fill up. There’s always room, ++Rowan, and through the living grace of Christ Jesus we’ll always welcome you as a beloved brother striving for God’s Greatest Blessing for God’s Greater Glory- always & unconditionally.

Amen

A couple of finer points

I should have known it would get me into 'trouble'..... trouble of sorts at least.

Referring to Canon Elizabeth+ Kaeton as 'Sistah Liz' in an earlier blog, brought an e-mail from a fellow Anglican in the Northern U.S. The gentleman in question had been referred to me months ago for what I'll call fraternal support in a very personal question, and I'd mentioned this blog in passing.

Responding to my 'Sistah Liz' in this space he inquired about my skin pigmentation- 'black men are so-' he went on to reveal more than I needed to know about his personal fantasy life.
Needless to say he didn't get an answer to his question, though we have since both e-mailed and spoken on the phone.

For the record -though it shouldn't be an issue in this forum-my mother is Welsh born and my late father of blessed memory though English born, had Welsh origins- thus accounting for our rather unique family name. (Which should still leave unanswered the question of pigmentation if you know anything about contemporary Wales).

Likewise, for that same record, Canon Kaeton and I have never met. My affection and my deep appreciation for Elizabeth+'s articulate grace and on-line presence are purely that- on-line. My only claim to kinship with Elizabeth+, +Gene, Susan+, ++Katherine or ++Peter ( all previously cited as brothers or sisters in this space) is Christ Jesus and the seal of the baptism we share.

And if that's not enough I'd better be finding myself an editor for this space!

Which brings to mind, an earlier criticism of an earlier post in which I admitted that in our household Presiding Bishop ++Katherine Jefferts Schori is remembered as the Great ++Katherine.

My respondant suggested that perhaps as a Canadian writing from Montreal I shouldn't be commenting on events within the Church 'south of the border.' And once again, my only defense- the only one I need, is detailed above.

The Canadian/U.S. border doesn't even register on Christ's heart!

And as to the Great ++Katherine, I stand by my understanding that she and +Gene continue to be great & wondrous blessings to the Church and to the world in these dark and troubling times. One has to look no further than the report of ++Katherine's sermon at the opening Holy Eucharist in New Orleans to see God at work.

“Beloved is the word before each of our names” she reminds us before also speaking to much of the “judgmental language” and how it cuts off the chance for conversation. “None of us is wholly free of blame for we have all sought to judge those who oppose us.” She spoke of “outcasts among us who have not felt beloved,” and suggested that “we need to suspend judgment…and see God’s beloved before us.” Her closing words? “May we be peace for all who are gathered here and all those who await our actions.” (All of this reported in the Integrity U.S.A. blog 'Walking with Integrity')

Where do I see ++Katherine leading us? Towards the same radical grace Christ embodied in His earthly ministry and in His long-suffering passion for all of God's Creation.

Which brings me back to another radiant sister- Canon Elizabeth Kaeton who attached to a recent powerful post what I believe could serve as a personal standard in our individual practice:

Lord, plunge me deep into a sense of sadness
at the pain of my sisters &
brothers
inflicted by war
prejudice
injustice
indifference

that I may learn to cry as a child
until my tears baptize me
into a person who touches with care
those I now touch in prayer.

Believing as I do, that among other things, what the Holy Spirit is working in the Church and humanity at this time is a call to a non-dualistic place the other side of each and every fear, where there is only 'we' and 'other' and 'difference' are only archaic artifacts of a primitive, fearful, doubting of God's love, I can only be profoundly grateful for this call to God not to give up on us. Thank-you Elizabeth+.

For God's Greatest Blessing to God's Greater Glory- Always Unconditionally !

Amen

Sometimes.....

Yes, I know it's a big week, when more than a few of us wish we could be spending it in uninterrupted prayer for +Katherine, the Episcopal Bishops and +Rowman meeting in New Orleans.
And yes, there's still the horror of Iraq, the insanity of Afghanistan, and the bullies of the patriarchy continue with their anoying 'threats,' but then...... then there's the radiant grace and articulate faith of some of our LGBT sisters and brothers that just about make me bust with wonder, joy. and thankfulness.

Two specific instances of God's grace speaking through wondrous LGBT lives in the last ten days (in chronological ordrer).

The Living Church Foundation http://www.livingchurch.org/news.asp Sept 11, 2007 reported on an incredible address +Gene Robinson delivered at the General Theological Seminary on Sept 10 2007. And I quote:

''I'm going to do my best to be at the table.
More than anything I wish I could be in the same room with Archbishop [Peter]
Akinola [of Nigeria] so he could hear from my own lips how God has transformed
me through scripture. The miracle is that I heard God's voice in scriptrue. I am
fiercely committed to it. It literally saved my life."

"The process of reconciliation begins when someone comes from the margins, challenges 'empire' and causes it to re-examine how it functions. Reconcilliation is not turning the tables. "

'I think we are at a moment in the Anglican Communion and the world where there is a lot of oppression going on, but it cuts both ways. The reason I am desperate to stay connected to the Global south and the Anglican Communion is that I need them for my salvation. I don't know how else I am going to understand the injustice I participate in and benefit from that is perpetuated on the rest of the world by the United States.
That is also why we need to stick together as an Episcopal Church. The worst sin
of all is to walk away from the table."

O.K. I know I'm repeating myself, but Thank God for +Gene Robinson and his witness to God's love ('beyond our wildest imagening' to quote the dear man) and for +Gene's graceful part in the wondrous growth, healing and renewal I truly believe Christ is working in His Church at this time.

I can only pray and wish that +Rowan and the other Episcopal Bishops meeting in New Orleans this week- to say nothing of whoever might end up attending Lambeth- might all be capable of such grace, generosity of spirit and love for Christ's Church.


And then we come to Canon Elizabeth+ Kaeton, or 'Sistah Liz+' as I remember her in my thankful prayers. Again, I'm repeating myself, but can that sister preach... And she's not afraid of taking on some of the more prickly sections of scripture either.

The most recent example of Canon Kaeton's grace and articulate intelligence is her sermon last Sunday available at http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com/ and it's well worth the couple of minutes to read it. Elizabeth+ is preaching on the day's Gospel Luke 15: 1-10

And again I quote

You’ll miss the message if you misjudge the intended audience. Jesus tells these two parables because “the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”You see, the story is not so much about the sinner as the religious people of the organized religion of his day.

Jesus was telling these parables not only as an example of God’s never-ending, unconditional love, but as a model of the responsibility of being a Christian.We who profess to be followers of Christ are to be like the shepherd who had 100 sheep, and one was lost. We, like God-in-Christ, are to search out the one lost sheep until it is found. We, like God-in-Christ, are to be like the woman who had ten coins and turn the household upside-down until the lost one coin is found.Most importantly we, like God-in-Christ, are to forgive. We are to be unrelenting in pursuing those who have sinned until they are brought back into the fold and returned to the household of God.Now, that’s a difficult enough message for some to hear when we need to forgive our sister who ‘borrows’ our baseball glove and gets it all out of shape or our son who takes
the car, gets into an accident and messes up the car.But, what about the hard
stuff? What about the really major mess ups in life? What about, for example,
when someone betrays a trust? What about when someone crosses a boundary? A
sacred, albeit cultural boundary? What if that sacred, cultural boundary
involves the safety of our children?

Elizabeth+ goes on to relate the gospel to a tragic local situation:

Some of us are content to think that, if this man repents, he will be forgiven. Others of us are not. Some would like to believe that the betrayal of a child’s trust – especially in sexual matters – is an unforgivable sin. That this man should burn in hell forever.

Well, ready or not, here’s what this gospel tells us.

Jesus says that God, like the shepherd who has lost one of
his 100 sheep, is now, even now, pursuing that man.

Now, even now, God, like the woman who lost one of her 10 coins, is turning over the household of God, searching out that man who lost his way in the midst of his boredom or his loneliness or his perversion or his temporary insanity, or whatever it was that led this father of three boys to have a sexually explicit conversation with someone he thought was a 13 year old girl.

That, my friends is not just grace.That’s what some have called ‘radical grace’.And, radical grace is radical because it doesn’t stop there.

Now, even now, God is pursuing the lost among us – you and me and those whose hearts are hardened by harsh judgment and fear. But, that’s not the only message Jesus has in this gospel.

There is more than a well intentioned collect writer giving us the message that without God we can not please God.

There is more than Jesus, like Bono, standing at the microphone, telling us that every time he claps his hand, another soul is being pursued by God – another soul has repented, another angel rejoicing in heaven.Listen to that and you have missed the fullness of the message of this gospel.

Jesus told these parables to the religious people of his day – the Pharisees and the scribes – who were criticizing Jesus for welcoming sinners and eating with them.

Jesus was saying to them by way of these two parables that the church exists not so much for those who are found but rather for people who are lost.Jesus is saying to us, by way of these parables that the church exists for people like this Chatham Township man, who needs to be here in this place, or places like it, as much as sinners like you and me.

For some of us, this is decidedly NOT good news. Some of us hope this man is locked up in a dark cell and that someone throws away the key.

Jesus comes to us this morning and says that no one is so
lost that s/he can’t be found. Jesus says that no one is so far from sight, that
s/he can’t be seen.Not you.Not me.Not any one of us.

Here’s the amazing thing about radical grace: it transforms
not only the one who is being pursued, it transforms the purser.The one who once
was lost and now is found is not only changed and transformed by God’s justice,
but the one who pursues the lost is changed and transformed to administer God’s
justice with God’s mercy and compassion.

Radical grace is transformative grace and God pursues us all
with this grace relentlessly until we are all brought back into the fold, back
into the household, once again.

Here’s the gospel truth:

(Clap. Clap. Clap) Every time I clap my hands, another
person is pursued by God to bring about God’s justice.

(Clap. Clap. Clap) Every time I clap my hands, another
person is found by God to bring about God’s mercy.

(Clap. Clap. Clap) Every time I clap my hands, another angel
rejoices that God’s radical grace has triumphed over sin.

(Clap. Clap. Clap) Every time I clap my hands, you and I are
charged to seek out and find those who are lost and help them find their way
back home again.

This is what it means to be church. This is what it means to
be community. To be the Body of Christ. To be the shepherd who seeks out the
lost sheep. To be the woman who finds the lost coin.

My friends, the good news is that we are neither wretched
nor weak. We are, however, occasionally lost and need to be found.

From time to time, we all fall short and miss that mark, and
we all need to seek repentance and forgiveness, no matter how small or how great
our sins and offenses.

Our God is a God of abundant mercy and the source of amazing
grace, freely given. We do not have to earn it or work for it – indeed, we can
not. That’s the most amazing part of this amazing gift of radical
grace.

We are not wretched, miserable sinners. We are, in fact,
marvelously made by a most marvelous Creator who has made us God’s eyes and
ears, God’s arms and legs in this world.

We have been given a sacred trust and a sacred task. We are
co-creators with God, charged with helping to bring about the salvation of the
world through Christ Jesus, being led by the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s
gift of radical grace.

This . . . this . . . is what pleases God, without whom,
nothing in this world makes much sense, nor provides much pleasure

As I said earlier, Elizabeth+ relates Sunday's gospel to a local tragic situation which had unfolded during the previous week, but I think Elizabeth+'s powerful witness also speaks to the path ahead for our Church.

First we have dear +Gene, a much-loved brother in Christ who has been cursed, damned, lived under death threats, and who knows what else- emboding Christ's unconditional love and patience with his Creation- that same radiant brother extending a hand to the very brother who is working day and night to break the Communion over the awesome (and very legitimate) call by the Holy Spirit of +Gene to the Episcopate.

And then radiant Sistah Liz+ reminding us... reminding us to make it real.

With two such awesome radiant beings as +Gene and Elizabeth+ in the same post we don't even have to connect the dots.

Either Christ Jesus makes a difference or we're 'post-it Christians' -our fath little more than another costume or label we wear- something we 'consume' to avoid the real grit and grime- but also the larger grace, joy and healing to be found in these very lives we've been given.

The funny thing is, the closer we get to New Orleans, and yes Lambeth, the less fearful I am about either the outcome or 'the bigger picture.'Because the bottom line is, no matter how damaged the Communion might be by all of the acrimonious threats, the schismatic defiance, the Episcopal poaching and just plain ugliness, we're still talking- still 'in process-' even if one party insists on shouting across a divide of their making. And of course, their version of reality is neither the whole picture nor the end of the process.

And of course each time the voices of inclusion who embody the spirit of God's love incarnate take the conversation back to Christ Jesus and His vision for the Church.

After the two radiant examples I cite above it would almost be reduntant to quote St. Paul - you all know the passage- the one about nothing prevailing against the church, about nothing separting us from the love of Christ Jesus.... Well that's my faith- that's the truth I'm walking with these days, and to have such radiant examples as +Gene and Elizabeth+ to affirm that understanding- well I'm nothing short of blessed.

Thank-you +Gene. Thank-you Elizabeth+.

Thank-you and Thank God for all the other radiant brothers and sisters- you make all the difference in the world- and to countless more lives than just this one blessed in Montreal.

God's Greatest Blessing to God's Greatest Glory- Always Unconditionally

Amen

PS: You guessed it- reading Elizabeth+s sermon, I clapped too

Sheer, Awesome Radiance

I know this has been around for a while- among other places on Susan+ Russell's 'An Inch at a Time' under the 2006 General Convention Archive. I however, only had the great joy of reading this mighty sermon for the first, second and third times this week and believe Bishop Charleston's insightful witness bears repeating in these trying times.

Of course, what I am referring to is the sermon Bishop Steven Charleston preached at the 2006 General Convention of the Episcopal Church of America, 'What Witness Will We Make?' http://www.eds.edu/CURRENT/PDF/Witness.pdf.

Among other things, this living blessing to the Church said

... the most important question before us is not about
schism or sexuality. It is about wirness. What witness will we
make?

Christian witness is the publiic affirmation of faith. It
is how we let the world see that we practice what we preach. Today those of us
in the Episcopal Church are being called on to make our witness. We have the
opportunity to be what we say we are. The world is watching. What will we
do?

In the Episcopal Church, we believe in Jesus Christ. We
believe in the Bible. We believe in the Good News. In fact, we believe so
strongly in all of these essential parts of our shared faith that we are not
afraid to disagree with one another about what they mean to us.

We welcome difference as the active presence of God's Holy
Spirit moving amongst us. Our witness is not to conformity but to community. As
the Episcopal Church we are not concerned that everyone in the pews
believes exactly the same thing, in the same way, at the same time. Instead, we
are concerned that no one is left out of those pews because of what they
believe, who they are, or where they come from.

Our witness is to the unconditional love of God through
the grace of Christ Jesus. Therefore we accept the risk of grace by not setting
limits to love with our own judgements of others. There are no border guards at
the doors of the Episcopal Church. We respect the dignity of every human being
and are never ashamed of who sits next to us in worship. We are all children of
God just as we are all sinners in need of mercy.

There are no walls around the Episcopal Church. We believe
that God is at work in the world. We are not concerned that this world sees us
as perfect, pure or powerful. Instead, we are concerned that people see us
practicing justice, doing mercy, and walking humbly with the God we believe
loves us all equally.

Our witness is to hope, not fear. We believe that men and
women, no matter how separated they may think they are by religious conviction,
cultural value, or social location are never truly apart unless they choose to
be. We have nothing to fear from one another unless we allow fear to be our
witness...

... Our witness is to the reconcilliation of God in a time
of fear. In the Episcopal Church, we stand together not even if we
disagree, but precisely because we disagree. We practice the radical hope of
God.

...You and I need one another now more than ever because
there are so many others who need us both in this hurting world... For them, our
witness is not a matter of church politics. It is a matter of life and
death.

My spirit literally soared when I read Bishop Charleston's sermon, as you might have guessed from how much of it I have transcribed here. This radiant brother in Christ is President and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge Ma. and all I can say is Thank God for this living blessing in these trying times!

This is a Christianity, with God's grace, I can live for!

I can only imagine the joy and wonder the delegates experienced while listening to this man preach at the General Convention. Probably something akin to my experience on July 27, 2006 when I was truly blessed to hear another precious brother +Gene Robinson preach twice in one day, here in Montreal.

God's Greatest Blessing for God's Greatest Glory- always, unconditionally

Amen

Noticeable by their shameful silence

Though I have not been counting the days, it seems to me it's been at least a week since the press release from the Ven. Akintunde A. Popoola, Communications Officer for the Church of Nigeria, speaking on behalf of Bishop Orama to denouce the story posted and published by UPI.

At that time Ven Popoola promised a retraction both from the reporter and from Bishop Orama- something even now we have yet to see, and their silence makes me very sad.

Mindful of the incredible non-violent track record of my radiant LGBT sisters and brothers and our allies in these trying times, I refuse to either repeat the original story or to attribute motives to this uncharacteristc silence. It is however decideably strange, when so often in the past the schismatics have been so very quick to access the media for what I have trouble calling anything less than their problematic rants.

As a Communication Officer for a national church, the Ven. Akintunde A. Popoola HAS to know that by not delivering on either the retraction or the promised explanation of the reporter's motives and what was actually said, they are effectively by their actions endorsing the gist of the original story.

The bottom line is, until they do deal with the story in a professional manner, it's out there in all sorts of secondary sources, and in the minds of those who may have read it in its original luridness. Unless they deliver the Ven Akintunde A. Popoola stands guilty not only of mis-handling a dangerous story, but perhaps of having intentionaly plotted this scenario. If this is not the case, then let the gentleman keep his word.

For background on the Ven. Akintunde A. Popoola's credibility track record I'd refer you to an earlier post by Father Jake Stops the World.

And while on the topic of tactics, manipulation and mis-representation, I'd also refer you to the current post http://telling-secrets.blogspot.com/ of Canon Elizabeth+ Kaeton, writing on internet trolls. Unfortunately this current discussion attracted more than one of these characters.

Yes, Elizabeth+ is one of the radiant sisters who continues to bless the current discussions with her insightful grace and articulate intelligence.

more later....

but for now and always....... God's Greatest Blessing for God's Greatest Glory

Amen