Faith of Action

Imagine this:
A fire drill goes off in a fifteen-story building, and it is raining outside.  Everybody rushes down the stairwell, shielding their ears from an alarm that reverberates very strongly due to the architecture of the building.  There is only one covered passageway outside of the building, and everybody is jam packed in that one area, waiting for the "all clear" announcement in order to go back inside.
Jesus was in that situation in today's gospel.  The key difference is that Jesus, our Lord, was running with the crowd, and a woman touched His robe.  She took the only chance that she had to touch His robe, and Jesus blessed her right then and there.
There is so much motion in this gospel, and it makes me think about how our own faith should be: active, running, with motion.  We are all in desperate need of Jesus.  Instead of sitting and waiting for a miracle to happen amidst a moment of distress, why don't we seize that moment, that fleeting moment down the fifteen flights of stairs, to hold onto our Savior?

New Life

Today's gospel is about Jesus healing a man from being possessed by demons.  However, the story does not end just there.  The demons plea to be put into some pigs, and Jesus sends them there, and then the pigs run off a cliff and die.  This upset the herders, and, therefore, the people told Jesus to leave.
Mind you, the demon possessed man who was famous for being demon possessed just got healed.  He had clean clothes on.  He was a new person.  But, the town cared more about the pigs and the status quo than for the miracle.  They asked for the miracle worker to leave.
Faith in Jesus requires us to live a life that may feel uncomfortable at times.  We have to love that neighbor, or we have to donate that money.  Instead of letting Jesus work miracles in our lives, we tell Jesus what to do.  Let's take a step back from our own habits and let Jesus take control, for He is the Almighty; He is Lord.

The Few

Today, the gospel is a little peculiar, for it sounds as if Jesus judges people based off of their clothing.  Sure, maybe not everybody has the best clothes to win a contest at every dinner party he attends.  However, Jesus gives us a good hint: Many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).
Look at us today.  Many men and women have given up their lives so that we, the LGBT community, may have rights, and that we may walk, and that we may hold hands.  Many are working today in all facets of society, from government lobbyists, to priests, to soup kitchen workers, to teachers, and everybody in between.  Yet, we still go about and curse our neighbors.  We go out of our way to discriminate and divide our family.  We say, "bears over there, and queens over here; femmes here, twinks there."  How many of our LGBT martyrs have called on us to be united? How many of them have died for our cause?  Did they want us to hate ourselves as much as, supposedly, everybody else hates us already?  Did they want us to hurt each other?  Did they want us to separate ourselves into a niche where only the rich, the modelesque, and the outspoken can be?
All of our great LGBT figures have set up a banquet for us.  They have cooked us the bread of brother/sisterhood.  They have set for us a tablecloth of values.  They have given us seats of rights.  They have poured out the wine of joy.  And, yet, we go in and trash the table.  We tear the cloth.  We spit on the bread.  We spill the wine.
In the same way, God calls us to love.  God gave us Jesus, and God gives Him to us as a grand feast.  Do we welcome Him with the best that we have?

Coming Out

"For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light." (Luke 8:17)
On National Coming Out Day, I would like to encourage all of those who are questioning their sexuality to remember that God already knows.  God already has a great plan for you.  Give everything to God.  Don't let others push you around because of who you are.
Also, as an LGBT community, let us welcome all of those who are accepting us as a family.  Let us not put down others for looking the wrong way or for not acting a certain way.  We, as a family, need to show God's love for each one of us, and the best way is by accepting every member.

Appearance

"As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature." (Luke 8:14)
Money is a typical issue here, but I feel that social stature is something that we like to go after.  We choke the gospel of love by saying things like, "this brand is the only way I'll be accepted," or, "this is how much I need to weigh to be accepted."  We place other humans before God.  God loves us.  God has been telling this since day one.  There has never been a day without God's love.  It is only we who have added ceremonies upon ceremonies, rituals, and customs to make this love become convoluted.  We care more about our public appearance rather than in our own duties as Christians.  Instead of planting thorns around our lives, let us be receptive to all of God.  Let's receive God's love without a concern.

Weep

Today's gospel is one of my favorites for two reasons.  The lesser reason is because Jesus uses a lovely passive aggressive technique in front of the Pharisees, which makes me think that Jesus had quite the sense of humor and a wit about Him.  The greater reason is because Jesus did not hesitate about the woman who came to Him.  Now, many other times in the gospel we see that Jesus forgives people's sins and then they're off on their merry way.  This instance, however, shows us an example of what we are to be.  Aside from the row between the Pharisees and Jesus, the woman comes to Jesus, weeping (Luke 7:38).
Weeping!
She took off her stern mask and began to give herself completely to Jesus.  She broke a jar of ointment on His feet.  She gave Him her all.
Let's take our time to take off our wig, wipe down our glitter and eye shadow, and surrender ourselves to God.  For when the situation gets tough, and you face persecution from the highest religious leaders, Jesus will fight for you.  Jesus will exalt you and send you off on your way, for He forgives sins and blesses you!

Simon Says

~God loves us.
~Except for the conservative.
~Except for the liberal.
~Except for the drag queen.
~Except for the butch.

Why do we add these issues into the most basic statement about our God?  Why do we judge against others, let alone our own community?  Today's gospel has a very interesting metaphor.  "The people of this generation are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
We wailed,
and you did not weep.'" (Luke 7:32)
This image was a game that worked in the exact opposite way of Simon Says.  When the children pretended to be musicians, some other children were supposed to react differently to what kind of music they were playing.
It is just a game.
How, then, can we be compared to a children's game?  How can we be called mindless?
How about when we turn away from the gospel, a song of worship and praise? How about when we condemn others while God is reaching out for us with God's mercy?
You see, we play with God as if we were the other children refusing to follow the lead, whereas God is very serious about love and mercy.
Let's cut the games and give God our undivided attention.