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Sermons at Saint Mary's

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
July 19, 2009

“So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In Christ the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” 
- Ephesians 2: 20-22

In the first century of our common era, there were many incentives to be a Christian.  If you were jaded and cynical, Jesus gave you faith and affirmation.  If you were desolate and frightened, Jesus gave you comfort and peace.  If you were one of the millions who woke up every morning to abject poverty and crushing despair, Jesus gave you a reason to live.

It comes as no surprise, then, that these sublime words from the Epistle to the Ephesians have such a timeless resonance to them.  For the Church, in every time and place, is made of up of people who yearn for faith and affirmation and peace and a reason to live.  The Church, in every time and place, is called anew into a fellowship where there are no strangers, and there are no aliens, but only citizens and saints and members of the household of God.

And, friends, this is most certainly true for us latter day Christians. We, who are gathered this morning in the name of Jesus, are this holy temple of which our Epistle speaks. We are this dwelling place for God, joined together, growing as one structure into the household of the Lord.

For this very reason, what our General Convention of the Episcopal Church has endorsed this past week in the full inclusion of gays and lesbians into the ordained ministry of the church is a defining moment for us all.

I say this, because we cannot be the church without fully including our homosexual brothers and sisters in our fellowship.  They have been our colleagues and friends from the beginning.  They have been our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers, our siblings, our mentors and guides.  They have been in the pews beside us, they have shared with us in Christ’s body and blood, celebrated our triumphs, and grieved our defeats.  They have tolerated our brittle moralisms over the years, and forgiven our historical prejudices.

The fact of the matter is the Episcopal Church has always had gay priests and bishops. Our longstanding “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, however, has severely diminished us as a communion.  It has made hypocrites of us all.  Now the time comes to put all of this behind us.  Yes, it will mean going our own way in the worldwide Anglican Communion.  Yes, it will cause pain to those who believe that homosexuality, ipso facto, is a biblical sin.  We know what it cost our own parish in the wake of the 2003 General Convention, when several of our parishioners at left St. Mary’s over the endorsement of Gene Robinson as Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire.

But there is no room for first class members and second class members in the household of God.  We are either one household or we are no household.  As our Epistle proclaims, there are no second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God.  This radical equality and freedom is what animated the first century church, and it the one thing that will animate the church of the 21st century.

For the issue of homosexuality in the church, particularly the Episcopal Church, has always been a pastoral issue, and not a doctrinal or political issue.  It has always been a matter of whether or not we are willing to grant the same love and acceptance to our gay brothers and sisters as we would wish for ourselves.  The holy temple of the Lord is a structure which grows and expands.  It is not static, it does shut out or deny access.  The Great Shepherd of the Sheep we extol in our Psalm and Gospel today does not withhold compassion.  He leads all of us to still pastures and streams of living water.  He restores all of our souls.  He leads all of us in the ways of righteousness for his name’s sake.

No valley, no shadow of death will keep our Great Shepherd from pursuing us and welcoming us home.  No enemy will stand between us and the guardian of our souls.  If this is not true for those of you here today who happen to be gay, then it is not true for me, and I dare say, it is not true for any of us.  I must tell you that among the very best priests and bishops in the Episcopal Church I have known these past three decades have been many who are gay.   They have modeled grace and integrity and goodness, they have been my friends, they have been my partners and comrades in Christ.

And this, finally, is what makes the action of our General Convention this week one, to me, which is long past due.  In 1979, when Jeannette and I were married in Colorado, the General Convention of our Church was meeting in Denver.  On the agenda was the issue of whether to include homosexuals in ordained ministry.  A full ten General Conventions later, we have finally reached a decision.  In the meantime, the moral capital that has been expended on this issue is nothing short of scandalous.  While we have been debating sexual issues for thirty years as the be all and end all of our ecclesiastical existence, we have neglected a host of issues that demand our attention now.

So, then, let us take to heart these words of Ephesians, as a clarion call to who we are called to be in Christ.  Let us get on, at long last, to the mission and ministry God intends for us.  And let us all, gay and straight, male and female, old and young, rich and poor, claim our destiny as the holy place of acceptance and belonging, where truly, we are no longer strangers and aliens, but we are, each and all of us, citizens and saints and members of the household of God.

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