It's Mine You Can't Have It

Text 1 Sam 2: 18-20, 26

This week we read about an annual gift Samuel’s Mom and Dad brought to him when they visited the Temple. You might recall Samuel is Hannah’s son. Forever and a day she lamented that she couldn’t have a baby. She poured out her heart to God in a song. When the time was right his parents dedicated Samuel to God.

Today, we call this baptism. It’s a forever thing. Once dedicated to God, we are never removed from sacredness or subscription. (Note: we are sacred before subscription, but baptism is our way of making it public)

You may be saddened to learn that for LGBTQ+ folks the story is sometimes very different. For years I have worked with Christian parents who rush their children to the altar of God so that they can be joined in Love to the Body of Christ.

In more recent years, I have worked with youth and parents whose faith-life has come under attack because of coming out as gay, lesbian, transgender or queer. Now, we all know that only God can remove us from The Club of God’s holy love and since God is love….well let’s just agree we humans don’t have that kind of power or authority.

ELCA Lutherans are a faith family who believe ALL God’s children have EQUAL value, worth and beauty. Imagine for a second how your life would be impacted by someone you don’t even know demanding that God no longer loves you and you can no longer come to church...and then imagine that person is part of your family. Sit with that a moment…

As we ponder the start of a new year, a new opportunity and zest for life, let us remember that ONLY GOD gives and takes away. What belongs to God is God’s. And by God’s grace, the life we have is ours. Our baptism into the mystery of Love is ours. No one can take it from us and we cannot take it from anyone else.

Learn more here about ELCA Lutheran views on human sexuality

Learn more here about becoming an Ally and friend to LGBTQ people

Word Made Flesh

The Word became flesh
and stayed for a little while among us;
we saw the Word's glory --
the favor and position a parent gives an only child --
filled with grace,
filled with truth.*
John 1: 14

I recently read an article about a parent who writes a Christmas love letter to his spouse and to each of his children every year. A nice sentiment. A wonderful gift. The letter describes the love for them and how they contribute to the beauty of their family. Each letter, no doubt, makes for an unforgettable Christmas present.

We could say that Jesus was the love letter God wrote to the world. And what a wonderfully Word-ed letter it is! In the Greek, Word is translated as logos, meaning divine mind or order that unites reality. But John, ahhh, in John’s writing it’s so much more. More than a thought, Word becomes flesh, a person.

     In Jesus we find ourselves and our relationship with our Creator. This Word is the bridge that unites us in mind, body and spirit to our Loving Parent. Parents, human and divine, are placed in our lives for a particular reason. Human parents are our first teachers and our first love relationships. LGBTQiA+ children learn to love their parents the same as all other children. However, the sad truth is that when LGBTQiA+ children come out to their parents, sometimes they are not met with the love of Jesus, but rather rejection based on twisted words describing Jesus.

As we journey through the last days of Advent, pondering this mystical Love about to break into the world, please know that these days can be very heartbreaking for some in the queer community who have been told, by well meaning Christians (and yes, some even Lutheran…) that the Word tells them they stand apart from God’s love. Not as Beloved community but rather as Other community. Actually, what the Word says is  nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:38-39).

LGBTQiA+ people would so love to be welcomed and included at a Candlelight Christmas Eve service. How do I know? Because I am one. We know the Word became flesh and dwells among us, ALL OF US. We also know that we, like all who believe the Word, are set apart by our baptism.

We are all set apart by our baptism into the love and mystery who is the Christ.

If you know of someone who would like a love letter for Christmas, invite them to a Candlelight Service.

_______________________

*The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007

**LGBTQiA+ is not complete. The acronym is used to indicate a non-cisgender-heterosexual person, but is by no means a complete description of a person, their beauty or their createdness. For more information visit PFLAG.

Up Here

Up here

Up here is a place where all God's children live.

Up here is a place where we may cause hurt or pain to our siblings.

But up here is also the place where it's not hard to say “I'm sorry please forgive me.”

Up here is where the first response is the only response -

which is, “I accept your apology and I forgive you.”

It's difficult being human and having to climb the ladder to live up here.

It seems like a hard place to get too.

It seems like it's a long way away.

And for some of us, it may feel like a long way from home.

But you know, we all have the opportunity to pick up and move anytime we please.

It is our God given right to search for love, embrace love, and give love.

Up here is the place where that happens.

It's the spiritual realm, or what some call the fourth dimension.

We all have a spirit-self -

but not all of us tap into the power that comes to us in our spirit-self.

Up here is where we have to rise to -

to access our power and shift gears to respond in love.

Up here is where we meet our Maker.

Up here is where we meet like-minded siblings.

Up here every child of God has a seat with their name on it.

Up here is a place where all God's children live.