What are we supposed to do?

This week it's all Jesus and love, and pretty counter-cultural.

The texts are:
Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

WILL THE PAIN EVER END?

* Abortion legislation that leaves out any of the human beings firsthand involved – including all of the fathers
o No grace for the mother
o No grace or accountability for the father
o No concern for supporting the baby who will be a live person who needs food, clothing, housing, health care… and love.
* Eliminating recess for children and enforcing silent lunches with no recourse for a child’s pent up energy, ways of learning, or ramifications for teachers who are thrust into the role of enforcer rather than nurturer.
* Over and over and over again we see real human drama with its infinity of perspectives and particularities into issues of power and control and who-gets-to-be-in-charge rather than working together or figuring out how to agree on something… anything
* SO OFTEN turning to some section of the Bible to (apparently) say “SEE??? God wants exactly what I want! God clearly wants me to be in charge and wielding my power in whatever way I prefer.”

While white dudes are currently the ones who are set up to wield that power in ways that (apparently) allow them to have an ever tighter grip on power…

Power is a seductive thing and not fundamentally connected to a pale Y chromosome.

In her book “The Power”, Naomi Alderman gives us a deeply considered treatise on that very issue. And it’s a great read!

But I don’t want to preach Naomi Alderman (even if I do find her work to be quite insightful.)

Today I want to talk about an even more powerful read:

THE BIBLE.

In “A Year of Biblical Womanhood”, Rachel Held Evans said

“If you are looking for verses with which to support slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to abolish slavery, you will find them. If you are looking for verses with which to oppress women, you will find them. If you are looking for for verses with which to liberate or honor women, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to wage war, you will find them. If you are looking for reasons to promote peace, you will find them. If you are looking for an out-dated, irrelevant ancient text, you will find it. If you are looking for truth, believe me, you will find it. This is why there are times when the most instructive question to bring to the text is not "what does it say?", but "what am I looking for?" I suspect Jesus knew this when he said, "ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened." If you want to do violence in this world, you will always find the weapons. If you want to heal, you will always find the balm.”

Or put more briefly… perspective matters, and the Bible is for all everyone, not just for a few.

I thought of that comment in reading today’s text from Acts 11. Peter talks to “outsiders” (aka Gentiles), gets in trouble for it with the church leaders (imagine… Peter in some kind of trouble…), and then Peter tells his whole story. They talk to each other.

I can almost see Peter’s hands out, palms up, plaintively saying

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?? GOD WAS SHOWING UP FOR THEM JUST LIKE GOD SHOWED UP FOR ME!

I feel like that a lot. As a woman married to a woman who is also being called quite adamantly by God, I have often had to “explain myself” (something my white, cis-hetero brothers rarely have to do.) And I always feel like I’m standing there, arms outstretched, palms up, saying

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? GOD KEEPS SHOWING UP AND EGGING ME ON!

It makes me think, in fact, that Peter would advocate for me. That Peter would say something like “if Jesus could be Resurrected, who am I to say what other things God will say or do that don’t make sense to me… how am I supposed to know who God will call next?

Which brings us to my very favorite part of the story: the last line.

“Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

How might we say that today?

“Then God has given even to the…
* Women
* Lesbians
* Transgender people
* People with mental illness
* Sex workers
* Prisoners
* Immigrants…
* On and on and on… the repentance that leads to life.”


But just what is that repentance?

Did they repent of being Gentiles?

Did they put restrictions on them about having to act like they were Jewish?

Well, it turns out they tried.

But the fact that very few Jesus-followers are Jewish today tells us that, ultimately, the answer is NO. They did not ask the Gentiles to stop being Gentile.

Repentance was turning away from a life without God, turning to follow Jesus. It was not about being Gentile or not. Likewise, following Jesus today do not mean stopping behaviors for legalistic reasons.

Instead, we are transformed in following. The transformation comes in the following, not before we even start to follow.

So… what if… denominations and congregations, individuals and communities could look past the particular bothersome characteristic to say PRAISE GOD! Praise God that someone else has gotten to know Jesus! Praise God that another person has opened themselves up to God’s transformation rather than relying on human privilege!

And why might they have said that?

Why might we say it today?

The answer comes in today’s Gospel from John 13:

Jesus was giving a new commandment because in his like he had fulfilled the first ten. In his Resurrection the power of death was broken.

So if there is no more need to focus on being great hall monitors and making sure everyone else lives up to our standards of behavior (because Jesus already fulfilled all our behaviorally requirements)

THEN WHAT DO WE DO?

We love, that’s what we do.

We love like Jesus did when he
* Consistently honored and welcomed women
* Called out the other side of sin – the privileged accusers
* Embraced and loved in spite of demons (and in doing so sent the demons packing)
* Welcomed criminals into paradise
* Shared a meal with a man who would betray him to death – and Jesus knew what he was doing

Translated into the parlance of today, that might means that we
* Admit that queer people can love and be loved by Jesus (and called into ministry)
* Admit that women have something critically important to say in sharing the love of Jesus
* Admit that people who do not look like you can follow Jesus
* Admit that following Jesus is enough.

In fact, following Jesus is the only thing that we have to mark Christianity. Being a Christian is not about being a law-follower, or purity-keeper, or having the right skin color or body parts.

The mark of being a Christian is this:

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So go forth and love, and you won’t even have to talk about it. Everyone will know you are a Christian… because you love.

Amen.