Matthew 15:21-28
At the Churchwide Assembly this past week in Orlando, Florida, there were several votes addressing issues of lesbian and gay people which turned out sadly but not quite as sadly as many of us expected. The church leaders failed to pass a motion to allow gay and lesbian ordained ministers to live in committed relationships. Currently there is a policy in which all those gay and straight who intend to be ministers, must sign a statement called Vision and Expectation which states that if they are not married they will remain celibate. There was a motion to reinvigorate Vision and Expectation which failed to achieve the simple majority needed to pass. This means that, although the Assembly does not know what it wants in Vision and Expectation on this subject, it does not that it does not want what is there. And that is a tremendously important and hopeful development.
A substitute motion that would have repealed the policy that denies ordination to lesbian and gay clergy in committed relationships was defeated soundly. When the assembly failed to reverse this policy, about 100 supporters, G/L/B/T and their allies walked silently to the front of the hall, stood before the stage where Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson was overseeing the meeting and the group faced the assembly.
The group stood quietly and did not disperse when asked by the Bishop. Some voting members were angered, others were supportive. The Bishop adopted a parental tone, took no action, and encouraged the assembly to continue debate. A voting member requested that ECP Pastor Anita Hill address the assembly, but the request was denied. The group stayed in place for the remainder of the session. They desired to make the point that they not be talked about as if they were not present.
The vote by which Recommendation 3 was defeated was 7 votes out of 993 from a simple majority. That outcome shows real movement. The voting delegates were closely split. On Recommendation 2, none of the damaging amendments had any success. That means that there still is no ban to the blessing of same gender committed relationships. Though we would and do want there to be a positive affirmation of blessing for same-gender committed relationships, the refusal to adopt negative positions on this is significant.
In the wake of the Assembly, have been reflecting on how decisions are made. How it is that leaders, especially church leaders clergy and lay; proceed given the opportunity to make major decisions regarding their church and its policies in the United States. I actually watched a lot of the Assembly, through the magic of whatever it is Steve has downloaded onto my computer. And it strikes me that three forces which run counter to discernment tend to pop up a lot -- especially where theology and politics intersect.
The first force is the conviction that you're already fully aware of what God wants. Give in to that, and you won't even start a process of discernment -- why bother, if you already have full access to everything God has to say on the subject?
The second force is the conviction that there's a person or group you don't need to listen to, believing that they couldn't possibly have anything valuable to contribute. Just look to the way Jesus included people who were the traditional outsiders of the community into which he was born. Gentiles, women, and public sinners such as prostitutes and tax collectors.
The third force is the conviction that if you knew what God was up to before, no further discernment is necessary. I think this last one just might be the most insidious for Christian leaders. After all, Jesus is Alpha and Omega, incarnation of the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever -- right? And furthermore, changing course implies that the first course was a mistake. God doesn't make mistakes, and if you want to be seen as a trustworthy Christian leader, you won't let anyone think that you've made a mistake either.
These temptations are particularly strong for leaders who, whether they are lay leaders or clergy, feel in their heart of hearts, that authority is both about knowing a great deal more than others in the community and knowing that they don't really know enough to justify being in a position of leadership. Parents and Pastors are prone to it; the fact is that neither giving birth nor being ordained gives a person a miraculous infusion of knowledge or maturity (except perhaps in my case). Yet congregations and families often have vastly inflated expectations for what four years of seminary or a biological miracle will do for you, and we who are placed in this position are often afraid that any course corrections will cause us to lose face, and will confirm what they probably already expect: we're not Jesus.
But how well does that picture we have of the ideal, unwavering Christian leader, the one who doesn't need to grow because s/he's already a spiritual giant, the one who treats engaging with other points of view as a sign of undesirable weakness, match the canonical picture of Jesus? Not well, if this Sunday's gospel is any indication.
In it, Jesus is confronted by a woman who calls out to him demanding his help. It's not at all surprising that Jesus doesn't answer her. Jesus is part of an honor/shame culture. In such a culture, answering someone who confronted you like that would register for all onlookers -- as an admission from the person who responded that the challenger was at least an equal. Once Jesus responds to the woman, that's what everyone watching is thinking, then Jesus is no better than she is.
Unless, that is, she's appealing to him in the proper way, as a subject to a king. So she calls out and addresses him as "Son of David," and by extension king of Israel, it might work, if it suggested to the crowd that she was a Jew he was her King, at least it was worth a try, and it would be worth it if Jesus could heal the demons which were destroying her daughter’s health. But Jesus' reply to her makes it clear that even if he's king, he knows she is not a Jew in that one instant, Jesus took away his one face-saving excuse for what's about to happen.
And what's about to happen is that Jesus is going to give in to her. She challenges him, and by answering, Jesus made her his equal in the eyes of the crowd. But then, after acknowledging that she is not an Israelite, Jesus engages her in more argument ... 25But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
... and Jesus gives in. He loses the argument. He changes course at a woman's word, a Caanite woman at that…and commends her for challenging him.
To those who wrote up this story it looked as if Jesus, the Jewish teacher, was changed in that encounter. He chose to listen to someone whom others would have ignored, and he chose to act in compassion in a situation in which no one would have faulted him for moving on. His choosing to listen and to heal, to change his mind when doing so would cost him honor in the sight of others, demonstrated for us how a true leader makes good decisions and discerns mission.
The kind of decision making we're called to exercise is not about certainty -- especially not when certainty threatens to trump compassion. As Rabbi Sheila Peltz said of her visit to Auschwitz, "As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place."
Discernment isn't about knowing who not to listen to. Conventional wisdom would hold that someone who took counsel from a strange woman, a Canaanite woman, a woman who shouted out in the marketplace when she should have been home caring for her daughter, was not a good person from whom to take advice. And yet, Jesus, opens himself to hear the Canaanite woman.
Last Friday at the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during the voting on resolutions pertaining to the ELCA Sexuality Study 97 members of a GLBT Lutheran group called Goodsoil left the Visitors Gallery and entered the Voting Members' space, proceeded across in front of the dais, taking up position centered on the hall and turned to face the Voting Members in silence. They did this because it was apparent that the Assembly was having a discussion about GLBT persons as if they weren't in the room, talking about but not to them. By moving to face them at least the Voting Members would be forced to see the people they were talking about. A Voting Member, Rev Paul Tidemann of St Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church asked if the Rev Anita Hill, a lesbian minister called to St Paul-Reformation, but not on the ELCA roster, could speak to the Assembly. That request was denied.
Had the Church still had the conviction of the courage it showed by welcoming GLBT people in 1991, the courage of Christ to listen, this is the speech that Anita would have given to the Assembly:
The people you see before you are baptized people of faith, here to give witness that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, their families, friends are part of this church and are here to stay. Look into our eyes and faces so we will no longer be merely an "issue." We are human being enfleshed before you, Children of God marked with the cross of Christ together.
The church has just made expendable the faithful lives and God-given calls of persons in same-gender relationship for the sake of the unity of this church. The ELCA has again sacrificed the calls of its own faithful children for the sake of market share. It is sad that as this church has been making ecumenical agreements with denominations which take more progressive stands on gay people, such as the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church, we cannot extend the same offer of full communion and participation to our own pastors and congregations who take similar stands.
As you have heard in this assembly hall, we already have gay and lesbian pastors living in covenanted relationship and serving ELCA congregations. These congregations open the doors wide, not only to welcome those who walk in, but also to walk out into the world to preach the good news to those who may believe the church is their enemy.
The witnesses before you stand in silent vigil – calm and unafraid. They know that the decision you have made is not about them. It's not really about gay and lesbian people. It's really about you, and about this church. These witnesses are not going away. Their faith is sure. The ultimate outcome is assured. We are already one in Christ. But our Church is not living faithfully together with us yet. Time is the question. How long must we wait? And at what cost?
While the church waits, lives of gay and lesbian people are ruined and faith is destroyed. We are marked with the Christ forever and are called by God and community to serve this church through Word and Sacrament ministry. We are held in the steadfastness of God. Here we will continue to stand, for we also can do no other.
For those of us here at St. Matthew’s, we will keep our feet firmly planted, strong in the faith which has been given us. And I believe we will force ourselves to stay in conversation with the larger church as many of us must force ourselves to stay in conversation with family and friends, though no doubt it drains us of our energy. . My best friend, Sue, from Colorado called me and said why aren’t you in Orlando, and I told her the truth, the real truth, the one I hadn’t told anyone. I am tired. If they had held a support group for menopausal mothers with teenage sons in Orlando this month, I would have been there. But I am convinced some of us, G/L/B/T or straight allies must stay in conversation at every level, whether in church or society. We must not stop listening and hole ourselves up in a cave for the saved – declaring we will forget about everyone who does not believe the way we do. The message is too important. It is the Gospel we witness to. The Gospel which affects us all, the message that life-crippling rejection can be miraculously healed and triumphed over by God's love.