Onward!

Today's readings show two road blocks in Jesus's ministry.  The first is when the pharisees question Jesus for forgiving sins.  The second is when Paul is shown a prophesy against him, where a prophet said that he would be bound by his own belt, to which he replied: "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Luke 21:13)
Sometimes we face persecution from our own kind.  Rather than receiving encouragement from our own advocates for our rights, many times they question us LGBT Christians, saying, "why are you a part of an organization that's against us?" It is these "authorities" that can and have proliferated a negative image of Jesus Christ.  In response, let us go onward, serving in the church, preaching the good news.  Sing a hymn, such as "He Touched Me," or "Total Praise." Just as how Jesus and Paul continued on their ways by preaching as radicals to those who didn't want to believe, we must go onwards living our lives as a prayer answered, a breathing gospel.

He Touched Me:
http://youtu.be/5m--ptwd_iI

Total Praise:
http://youtu.be/Vv9-WlymKg0

The Lord is Good

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are they who trust in Him." (Psalm 34:8)
This message is simple.  God is all around us.  God is there when we run away.  God is there when we retreat to our closet of deceiving ourselves, our closet of our own arrogance.  Open the door.  Reach out your hands for God.  Know that God is ready to take all of our issues into God's arms.
Today, we commemorate all of the angels.  I like to remember that God has us covered in all sorts of ways.  God sends us the Holy Spirit to move in us. God sends us the angels to speak to us.  God sends out the prophets to teach us.  God sends us Jesus so that we can be one with Him.  God is ready for you.  Are you ready for God?

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is a lengthy word that bears a bit of weight.  It is a coming back.  It is a return to a better time when people agreed with each other.  It is a gift to us by means of God's grace.  How does this work?
God is always present in our lives, whether we like it or not.  God is there looking over our shoulders as we browse a mobile "dating" app.  God is there sitting at the chair in a motel, waiting patiently for you to come back.  God is right outside the door of our proverbial closet, ready to show us God's love and God's goodness: the promise.  Indeed, God is ready to accept us as God's own creation without masks made by our own failing hands.  Jesus explains the essence of this reconciliation by grace in the gospel today: "the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you [the Jews]."  Jesus says that the epitomes of the two worst people in society—traitors on the one hand and the most sexually immoral, damning images of Israel on the other—would enter the kingdom of heaven.  Now, that is true reconciliation.  We could go even further with the story of Paul, but we don't have to.  God is there to pick us back up when we fall and to bring us close to God when we stray away.

God with Us

"I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43)
Everybody needs the good news in order to live their lives day by day.  Despite the fact that Jesus did have to leave a crowd despite their request for Him to stay with them, did He really leave?
Jesus left them with many teachings.  Even now, we have a massive volume called the Bible that has a lot of what God wants for us.  We have the Holy Spirit working through us and the entire Church to teach and understand what God teaches us.
Jesus is here with us at all times.  He speaks to us in many ways.  We just need to open our eyes to the Bible and our ears to the teachings of Jesus.

God's Authority

"For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and out they come."  (Luke 4:36)
To whom do we give the authority in our lives?  Do we give it to money? To our boss? To the stars on the top 40 list? To Ru Paul?
Sometimes we can forget the simplicity of God's message.  God's love for us is manifested in Jesus Christ.  And yet, we like to complicate things by putting other things before God in our lives.  Why do we give more power to a song on iTunes than to the One who can save us from all of our sin, our sadness, or our loneliness?  When we take a step back, just as the Jews did before Jesus, we can witness the grandeur of God and all that God does for us.

They Will Know We Are Christians

Today's gospel reading applies very well to our community today.  Recently, I have read an article talking about how it was difficult for one gay Christian to find communities of gay Christians all over the United States.  Mikah Meyer said that, "when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian."  A fellow member of the LGBT family was condemned among his own distant relatives (figuratively speaking) was rejected for being Christian.  In the same way, Jesus was also not accepted in His own hometown.  He says, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown." (Luke 4:24)  It was then that He was driven out of the city by a crowd so large that they did not even notice when He had fled from them.
So, what is there to do?  Sure, we can gather in secluded communities and praise God.  However, that is contrary to Jesus's command to go out and preach the Gospel, the Good News of God's Kingdom and love for all of us.  What we can do is to live our lives in a Christian way.  Show love to all of your friends, enemies, and strangers.  Be a good host.  Live kindly.  Share with the less fortunate.  In this way, we can find our own divine joy, and, as a result, we can be radiate the grace of God.  Then, when the "why are you always happy?" or "why are you always so lucky?" or "why are you so positive?" questions come, explain the goodness of Jesus Christ living in each of our lives.

Here is Mikah Meyer's article:
http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians

when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian. - See more at: http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians#sthash.ofc650AB.dpuf

when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian. - See more at: http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians#sthash.ofc650AB.dpuf

when I interacted with local LGBT communities, they often mocked me for being Christian. - See more at: http://www.believeoutloud.com/latest/journey-find-lgbt-christians#sthash.ofc650AB.dpuf

God's Word

This morning's readings bring the power of and the necessity for God's word to mind.  The resounding theme is the text of David's grand psalm, particularly, "Your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path." (Psalm 119:105)
Sometimes we forget about what a gift light is for us.  It shows us the way, especially in the midst of darkness.  How many times are we in the darkness?
Jesus was tempted in the deserts by the devil, an event I can only imagine as a dark scene with the evil attempting to quench the burning light of God.  However, Jesus, being the Word in flesh, the embodiment of God's Word, shuts the devil up with great quotes from scripture.  In another instance in the book of Esther, we see how Mordecai, the devout Jew, is not remembered for his good deeds and is even being conspired against—another moment of darkness.  But, through his own respect and life in God, the king finally praises him, and, in the reading for tomorrow, punishes the advisor who had conspired against Mordecai.
And what about us? What kinds of darkness are we going through?  On the surface, sometimes we prefer to retreat from the light of God into the darkness of bars and clubs and motel rooms.  Sometimes we like to retreat into the darkness of closing our eyes to the radiance of Jesus.  Even more so, we face persecution from many out there who wish to exterminate the LGBT community.  They like to throw bible verses and shout and shoot and stone and beat.  But, remembering the psalm, we too can rest assured that God's love is here for us.  In God's word we can find all the comfort we need.  The Bible is a testament to God's love for each and every one of us.  There is darkness, but the light of reconciliation and, ultimately, salvation outshines and extinguishes the darkness.

To God be the Glory

The gospel reading for today is about John preparing his followers for Jesus.  Even though many suspected and believed in some sort of divinity in John, he made sure to explain that, "One who is more powerful than I is coming." (Luke 3:16) John's humility is a message for us today.  It teaches us to give God the glory. Does someone compliment you on being happy all the time? On being very talented? On having a good life? Tell that person about God.  Faith in God brings joy to our lives.  That joy is what we need to live through every day, regardless of any threat or persecution.

God's Calling

Today's readings are about God's calling to each of us.  We commemorate when Jesus called Matthew to join Him in His ministry today.  Jesus called the traitor, a Jew working for the enemy Roman state, and told him to follow Him.  That may seem like a very odd thing for the King of the Jews to do.  However, the lesson is that Matthew followed Jesus.  He left his old ways and ministered.  Jesus also calls each one of us.  He comes to the gay bars and asks us to follow Him.  He waits for us during our one night stands.  He wakes us up in the morning after a hard night of drinking.  Are we ready to give up our old ways to follow him?
Paul also writes that God's calling is to each one of us, for there are no divisions in this church of God.  In the same way, there are no divisions among us, the assembled members of God's church.  We all have heads, we have brains, we have blood, we have hearts.  We all have souls, and we all have emotions.  There is no bear or twink; no butch or femme; no cis or trans; no male or female.  There are just sheep waiting for a shepherd.
Accompanying these, we hear one of my favorite series of parables, the ones where people find great treasures and give their lives to keep them.  What do we do all day? We look for things to sustain us.  We work to have money; we plan so we can enjoy our time; we read so we can know.  What would we do if we found the one thing that sustains us today, tomorrow, and after death?  Surely we would rejoice over that discovery.  And that is what we have.  We must celebrate that Jesus sustains us throughout our lives on earth and past our deaths into His eternal kingdom.  We must go out and share that we are all saved!
God calls us to be unified in God, and we must be ready to push the answer button and listen to the voice of God telling us what we must do in our lives.

God's Grace

So, today's readings are all about God's grace.  The parable for today can seem difficult to understand, for it exhibits what seems to be inequality among the workers.  However, as Jesus says, "Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?" (Matthew 20:15, NKJV)  This passage reminds me of another parable, where a servant is forgiven of all of his debts, but then that same servant goes out to demand the debts of his workers.  After remembering that, I remember what I did yesterday.
I had decided to wear a new shirt that my mom had gotten me two weeks ago.  The thing about the shirt is that it was a tank top, a shirt style I had never worn before (gasp! I know).  Moreover, it had the word "proud" written in rainbow letters on the front. So, when I was walking about, I felt a little bare and nervous, but that did not stop me entirely from going about my normal day.  When I walked to the pizza joint just outside of my house, I hesitated to walk any farther, for a man was walking in before me: baggy, long sleeved shirt reading "Born Fly" on the back, pants sagging lower than the knees, basketball shorts breathing in the wind, and tattoos on either cheekbone and forehead.  He placed his order.  I placed mine.  He got his food and took a seat.  I got my food to go.  There was no interaction between the two of us, and there was no harm done.  No harm.
I judged.  I projected my own prejudices towards that man.  I accused him of planning and conspiring things against me and all of my fabulous family that had never crossed his mind.  In fact, it crossed my mind before his.  Who am I to determine what he is going to do? Who am I to judge him for his outward appearance? Who am I to take out my own fears and angers on him?
In the same way, who are we to judge who gets God's grace? Who are we to call ourselves saints and everybody else sinners?  God has the last say.  God has the grace and the punishments.  I, like Jonah, must eat my hateful thoughts.  I, like Christ, must prepare myself as a worthy sacrifice to the living God, the God of abounding grace and reluctant punishment.