I am proud that we are a Reconciling Congregation because of the Bible, not in spite of it.
In the United Methodist Church Reconciling Congregations are those that are open to lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered people (LGBT). We invite them to participate fully in the life of the Church. We support same sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT people.
One of my father’s professors at Yale Divinity School, Roland Bainton, used the distinction between precedence and principle in biblical interpretation. Precedence is any single event of verse which is lifted for its context and given unqualified authority. For example, one could use the words of Jesus to the rich man, “go and sell all you own and give it to the poor” as a definitive mandate for everyone to do just that. Looking at precedence the people who owned slaves have the Bible on their side. To look for principles in biblical interpretation is to see texts imbedded in a larger story – in the Old Testament it is the story of the people of Israel and their covenant with God. In the New Testament it is the story of Jesus – let us not forget that biblically Jesus is the Word of God, not the Bible.
So what do we do with the passages in the Bible that seem to be so clear about homosexuality? What we don’t do is use them as precedence. We also study the context and the larger meaning of the passage. I have been asked to give an explanation of these texts:
Leviticus 18:22
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
At face value, read as a single verse this seems pretty clear, but it isn’t. The Law, the Holiness Code in Leviticus comprises the details for living in covenant with God – 613 of them, to be exact. An important part of that covenant was for the people of Israeli to survive and prosper. To do so they needed offspring. We forget how hard it was for a child to survive into adulthood at that time. There was always a fear that the people would die out.
As a patriarchal culture women were seen primarily as the source of those offspring; women were seen essentially as incubators. Men put their seed in a woman and she gave birth to a child, preferably a male child. The seed of men was understood as the sole source of children and to use that seed for any other purpose was seen as a violation of the covenant and thus an abomination.
Onan was condemned for “spilling his seed upon the ground” rather than impregnating his brother’s widow as was demanded in the Law. This story of Onan could be used as precedence for the condemnation of masturbation – and it has; which brings up the issue of consistency. There are a lot of things in the 613 laws of the Holiness Code that we violate constantly. Eating pork is also called an abomination.
Women were considered unclean while menstruating – and they were segregated. When a woman gives birth to a boy she is considered unclean for seven days, if it is a girl it’s two weeks. One cannot pick and choose verses from Leviticus and make then universally authoritative. It is simple an abuse of the Bible.
Genesis 19:
Sodom and Gomorrah
Because the story contains a threat for men to “know” other men it is viewed as a condemnation of all homosexual activity. But the story is not about homosexuality. It is much more about hospitality. Two “angels” come into town and Lot shows them hospitality by inviting them into his home. The people of Sodom already don’t like Lot because he is an alien. They become angry and surround Lot’s house threatening to rape the visitors. Lot will not let the visitors out. Instead he offers his two virgin daughters in their place (now that would be an awful precedence!).
More important than the gender of those to be harmed is the spirit of violence and exclusion in the people; it is this spirit that leads to the condemnation of Sodom and Gomorrah. To be true to the Bible, we have to first ask, what if the Bible trying to say. In this case the more intrinsic message is that exclusion and violence toward strangers is a violation of the covenant. Ironically, and this is where the Bible can be so confounding, that includes homosexuals.
Genesis 1:27
Male and female He created them
“God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” goes the quip. That God created men and women is often seen as reason enough to support our understanding of marriage between a man and a woman. The truth is, the Bible doesn’t have a single or clear understanding of marriage. It has many things to say about marriage that would not support our understanding of it. In the Old Testament men and numerous wives and fathered children by slaves. In the New Testament Paul instructs the nascent followers of Jesus to marry only if they cannot control themselves but it is better to stay single like him It is difficult to find a passage in the Bible that addresses men and women and marriage that would be appropriate for a wedding. The issue usually is procreation, not orientation.
Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received their own persons the due penalty for their error.
Wow! That seems pretty clear. As precedence it is, in its context it is less so. I have no doubt that homosexual activity was seen in a negative way, as a part of the condemnation of any sexual activity the purpose of which was to procreate. What Paul is complaining about is people giving in to their passions. “For this reason” refers to the impurity of their hearts in general. The mention of homosexuality is an example of this impurity and giving in to passions.
If one reads on there is a longer list: they are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil covetousness, malice; full of envy, they are gossips, slanderers, heartless and ruthless. Then at the beginning of chapter two Paul says, ironically: Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. When using precedence one often doesn’t read on. What Paul is addressing is rebellion against God, in any of its forms. One way in which to rebel against God is expressed sexually. Men were in the habit of visiting temple prostitutes, many of whom were boys. This is likely the kind of behavior Paul had on his mind.
To rebel against God is more about “hypersexuality” than it is specifically homosexuality. It is about prostitution, sexual abuse, friends with benefits, pornography, etc. It is when sexuality becomes a selfish act, regardless of love and care and outside of covenant. Speaking of precedence, there was no precedence for a loving and committed same sex covenant relationship. They simply could not have conceived of such a thing. To suggest that this passage in Romans is a blanket condemnation of this kind of relationship misses the point and becomes a judgment, which Paul more clearly condemned.
An overarching principle in the Old Testament is covenant: God’s covenant with the people of Israel. It is clear that it is in and through covenant that the Spirit of God works – the covenants we make in our communities, in marriage and with our children. To extend this covenant to all people seems to me to be biblical. In the New Testament love is an essential principle. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels but do not have love… what am I? To take the Bible seriously we have to think more broadly and deeply, and more lovingly.
Pastor Jim
Angled Light
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeWhenever new people come into a group, I always start with introductions and usually ask people to share something in addition to their name. Recently at Adult Sunday School, I asked the group, “What is your favorite part of this season?” Of course there were many things but by far that which was mentioned most was the lights. I am not a decorator… in general. I do help to put up our Christmas tree, but I refuse to take on outside lights. I enjoyed Bob Wood’s comment in the Sunday School Class that he likes his neighbor’s lights because then he doesn’t have to put them up! And, indeed our neighbor across the street puts up light every year… the day after Thanksgiving!
When it became my turn to share in the Class, I found myself saying that I liked the angle of light during this dark season. I did not think of that ahead of time; it just seemed to come out of me. I was listening to people share about light and maybe it was with my photographer’s eye that I suddenly envisioned the way light cascades across the landscape rather than shine down upon it. It illuminates partially and poignantly; it slips and slides into our lives rather than expose them. When I first said it in the Class I wondered to myself, why hadn’t I said something more religious – I am the pastor, after all. But as I consider it, I see spiritual import. In Advent and Christmas, God doesn’t expose us – doesn’t shine a light on us like the sun in the middle of summer. God’s light comes to us out of the darkness; it touches us incompletely but intensely – like a single candle in the dark.
We do not know when Jesus was born. A popular explanation for the choosing of December 25 is it replaced a mid-winter pagan festival called Saturnalia in the Third Century. That may have been technically true, but the meaning was that Christ is the Light in the Darkness. (I often wonder what Christmas is like in the Southern Hemisphere.)
I do like Christmas tree lights, but I don’t like too much light; I remember going around Anacortes and showing our boys the lights and I always felt unnerved by the houses that had lights on everything. (Remember the house in the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas?) Last year we didn’t have a Christmas tree due to my surgery and I’m looking forward to having one again. I like it most when all the other lights in the house are out.
Where do we experience Christ as light in the darkness? How do we feel Christ slipping into our lives, coming into our hearts at an angle? How do we feel Christ like a candle in the dark? P. Jim
Christianity Conflicts and Controversies Through the Centuries
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeIn our Adult Sunday School Class, we have been talking about spirituality from an historical perspective. At once we are learning some of the Story of the Church, and about a wide variety of ways people have expressed and lived out their faith through the centuries, asking, what can we use?
I believe that it is a good idea to know where we come from to understand why we are the way we are and to have greater freedom to choose who we would like to become as Christians. A couple of weeks ago the topic was Controversies! Specifically, the theological debates that occurred after Christianity became the religion of the Empire. Prior to Constantine’s conversion there were huge varieties of “Christianity” and no real organization. Constantine demanded that everyone agree – you can’t have a religion of the Empire and it not be the same for everyone. Thus started the Councils where issues were debated, votes were taken and the one’s who won were called orthodox and those that lost were called heretics. (A great deal of blood was also spilled in this process.)
At the end of these controversies there emerged Creeds. The first Creed was the Nicene Creed (Hymnal #880). When I asked one of my professors at seminary how we deal with the creeds he said that as Methodists we do not have to take them literally, nor do we have to discard them. Rather we can view than as historical documents that represent a part of the story of our faith. And, we are invited to ask the same questions they asked that formed the creeds and see where it takes us.
This is another example of why Calvinists think we are wishy-washy. But I loved it – the latitude it gives for the possibility of generating spiritual growth. So, we look back at the controversies and instead of simply trusting that the winners were right we ask the same question, and wonder about how we feel and think about it. I invited the class to do just that.
The debates were over things that on the surface seem trivial to us but they weren’t to them. And, when we think about it a bit we find that how they decided did influence how we understand our faith. Here are some of the controversies:
The Arian Controversy: Following a Bishop named Arius, the Arians did not believe that Jesus was the same as God; they believed that he was the ideal of a human being filled with God’s Spirit more than anyone ever has been and as such he was an expression of the divine Logos (the Word of God). Those following another bishop named Athanasius believed that Jesus was fully divine – the same as God. If you read the Nicene Creed you know that the party of Athanasius won this debate. How does this affect us? When we so stridently claim that Jesus is the “Son of God” this is partly because of this decision. In the Gospels “Son of God” is not the most common named used for Jesus – that was “Son of Man” which means closer to “ideal human being.’ Thus in some ways the Arians had more biblical authority to claim that Jesus wasn’t the same as God. So what if we ask the same questions: Is Jesus God, or the Logos of God, the best expression of God but not the same as God? The result might be that we would believe less about Jesus and follow him more.
The Nestorian Controversy: Related to the Arian Controversy, a bishop named Nestorius believed it was incorrect to refer to Mary as the Mother of God – rather she was the Mother of Christ. Like Arius, Nestorius had a more human image of Jesus. Nestorius was deemed a heretic and ended up dying out in the desert somewhere. At the same time the Nestorian Church survived and spread to the east in what is now Iran and Iraq – they even made it to China. If it hadn’t been for Islam, Nestorian Christianity could be as large as the churches of the West. Would you be a Nestorian?
The Conflict with the Monophysites: Was Jesus one person or two? The Orthodox view was that Christ was one essence but two persons. The Monophysites believed Jesus had to be one person. They questioned whether Jesus was actually human at all. Think of the image of Jesus in the Gospel According to John – like God walking around two inches off the ground. This group went in the opposite direction of the Arians and Nestorians. Today the Monophysites are represented in the Coptic Church in Egypt and the Ethiopian Church.
The Filioque Clause: The what? The churches of the East and West finally separated in 1054 and the straw that broke the camel’s back was a little clause in the Creed. The issue was, does God emanate through the Holy Spirit alone or does God have to come first through Christ and then through the Holy Spirit? Splitting hairs, righty? But let’s think about it. If God can emanate from the Holy Spirit alone the focus of our relationship with God would shift from being centered on believing in Jesus to experiencing the Holy Spirit. In fact, the Eastern Orthodox Church does emphasize direct experience of the Holy Spirit while the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches have focused on believing things about Jesus. What do you think? If I had lived back then I would have chosen with the East – the Orthodox Church rather than the Western, Latin Roman Catholic Church.
Again, at face value these debates seem trivial to us. But they were decisive in forming the Christianity we inherited. Growing up one assumes that the beliefs of the church of one’s origin is all there is. Historically our home tradition is but a small sliver of all the ways people have been Christians over the centuries. I believe my professor was correct, that asking the questions again with an Open mind and heart can generate our faith in creative ways.
I thought more people would be interested to know. P. Jim
Concrete Acts of Love
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeIn our Wednesday Class we recently heard an interview of Kathleen Norris, spiritual writer and poet who became well known for her book, Dakota: a Spiritual Geography. She moved from New York City to live in her grandparent’s house in a small town in
South Dakota – can you imagine? She discusses the little Presbyterian Church she eventually joined and when I consider that church it feels like going back I time. Here in the suburbs of a big city we live in a more transitional, fast paced world. (I wonder if they have soccer in that small town… if so certainly not on Sundays!) In our world we have little time for Sabbath, as resistance or just as rest. And rather than being surrounded by vast open plains we have streets, cars, condos, fast food restaurants and Jiffy Lubes (just to name a few) – it is a highly commercialized environment. As a result people who first come to church likely have a consumerist mindset. Yet, Norris says that deep down (and I think she is including even New Yorkers in this) people yearn for connection – for community where a language is used that is different than they see in the media. I want to believe that.
I am jealous of the big churches that have a program for everything. How attractive in our world; groups for young parents and empty nesters, singles too. How can we compete? Our last module in Beta Vitality was on “Connecting: Helping People Participate in Your Church.” The first thing said is that connecting is not about programs but relationships. Programs may encourage relationships, but they also may not. If one is a consumer one may not be looking for relationships so that when the service changes one leaves. If people are really looking for a community of relationships, even if they don’t know it, then the important thing is to connect with people personally no matter the circumstance. I was asked at the meeting how people connect at Cedar Cross. We don’t have a specific program for connecting people – it’s more of a collection of possibilities. The Adult Sunday School connects people as does the Wednesday study. Saints and Sinners, potlucks, game nights, musical groups, the UMW and the Men’s Group, and even committees all serve as places to connect. It seems, according to the module that more important than the type of event or group it is the spirit of that group. The module says that one of the most important things in getting people to come back to our church is observing how we interact with each other. There are many strategies that a church can use – and we will be looking into those, but what really matters in getting people connected is being sincerely interested in the people who come to Church. And nothing works better in involving someone than personally inviting them.
We have been blessed with many new people at Cedar Cross recently. We have to remember how hard it is to come into a church where you don’t know anyone. It is our job on Sundays to be connectors – to understand our role and responsibility by being a part of this Church is to connect with people – ask about people, and maybe even invite them to one of these groups and events that make up our Church. That is the heart of the matter. That is who we are called to be. One of the definitions for “sin” that Kathleen Norris offered comes from a Benedictine monk she is acquainted with: “failure to do concrete acts of love.” One thing about a Church, there is ample opportunity for concrete acts of love. See you in worship, in Sunday School, and elsewhere. P.Jim
Sabbath Resistance
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeSome will remember the movie, “Chariots of Fire” about the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. One of the runners for Great Britain, Eric Liddell was a devote Presbyterian from Scotland and when he was informed that his first heat for the 100 yard dash was on Sunday he refused to run. At the time I thought he was foolish, even selfish; he let down his team. Now we have soccer on Sunday mornings and I wonder, is anything sacred?
At times strange coincidences occur that leave me scratching my head, wondering whether this involves the Holy Spirit. A few weeks ago in our Wednesday Study we viewed an interview of Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann. Subsequently I mentioned part of that interview in my sermon on October 19th. Then I was casing the new books at the library and I ran into a small volume that Brueggemann wrote recently (less than 100 pages) entitled, Sabbath as Resistance: Saying NO to the Culture of Now. The title caught my attention because I usually think of Sabbath as rest and I admonish people that we all need rest. Sabbath is also time to spend alone with God. But Sabbath as resistance? When is comes to soccer on Sunday mornings I feel it!
Sabbath is not only resistance. It is alternative. It is an alternative to the demanding, chattering, pervasive presence of advertising and its great liturgical claim of professional sports that devour all our “rest” time.
The alternative on offer is the awareness and practice of the claim that we are situated on the receiving end of the gifts of God.
For Brueggamann taking time for Sabbath is not just a healthy choice, it has an ethical component; it is saying NO to what he calls the Culture of Now. He identifies four ways that this NO happens: resistance to anxiety, coercion, exclusion and multitasking. My favorite of these is multitasking. I am one of those who believe that multitasking is impossible; the mind cannot focus on more than one thing at a time and switches back and forth. When this happens quickly we call it multitasking. For Brueggeman, Sabbath would mean resisting the temptation to be doing many things at once even if we are taking the day off on Sunday. And this is where it gets rough – I believe Brueggaman would say that because Sabbath as resistance means to disengage from any activity that it connected to advertising, competition, shopping or entertainment. This is more than resisting soccer on Sundays. I think he would say that to really have a Sabbath that is rest we would need to put away our cell phones for a day – for the rest, but also as a way to disengage from the whole world of commercialism. It is to say NO to this world in order to reconnect to God’s world.
The departure from (this) system in our time is not geographical. It is rather emotional, liturgical, and economic. It is not an idea but a practical act… (it is) an act of submission to the restful God… divestment so that neighborly engagement, rather than production and consumption, defines our lives.
There are times when I wish I lived in the world of Eric Liddell. On the one hand it feels strict and oppressive, but on the other hand when I imagine a whole day disconnected from the world of winning and losing, of production and commerce, of information and to do lists, I feel like it would be very healing. It will not happen… easily, at least, but maybe in baby steps? And not just for myself but also for the world. P.Jim
Stewardship: Why Give to Cedar Cross?
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeWe have begun our annual Stewardship program. Each year at this time we focus on our giving, and we ask all to fill out a pledge card (estimation of giving in the coming year) so we can formulate a budget and plan for the future. That’s the practical side of it but it is much more than that.
This year we will be using a program entitled “Treasure” which is based on the sixth chapter of Matthew, the root verse being v.21: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. It is also a special time (kairos time) spiritually too. In my sermons I will not talk about giving money; I will talk about money but in the context of our relationship to God. Jesus talked about money, but always in the context of our relationship with God. Asking about our “treasure” invokes mention of money but in a spiritual sense – what is ultimately important to us. For stewardship to be meaningful and also successful it must connect to that question. If we ask, why give to CCUMC it too must be asked as a spiritual question.
Being a part of a church is different than belonging to any other group or institution in our world. Instead of simply participating, we belong. As we belong the congregation becomes our spiritual home. Ideally, in addition to the family, the church becomes a part of our identity and purpose. As such, it is where we grow and develop our selves, ask the deepest questions of our lives, and nurture our souls. John Wesley’s famous question given to the early leaders of bands and societies (small groups) was, “How is your heart today?” I believe we do this in many ways at Cedar Cross UMC. I also believe that there are many people in our surrounding community who need a place like this in their lives – and often they don’t know it. A fundamental part of our mission is to reach out to people, not to convince them to believe as we do, but to invite them into this community of faithful people so that their lives may be transformed and as we come to know them our lives will be transformed as well. As long as I have been involved in the church I cannot imagine life without it.
Being a part of a United Methodist Church means that we are connected with other UM churches all over the world. We are known as a “connectional” church – at the opposite end would be an independent, non-denominational, sometimes called “community” churches. Connection is at the heart of who we are – in our families, within the fellowship at Cedar Cross, and then with other churches. It is as a connectional church that we are able to be in ministry all over the world. Our aim is to be larger than ourselves – to be in mission in our immediate community, and then as we work together in communities outside our immediate area. Locally, we participate in Teen Feed and the local VOA Food Bank. Regionally, we are connected to the ministry of institutions like the Atlantic Street Center in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle which provides services to disadvantaged children and youth. Through our Annual Conference, our youth are able to attend events (retreats, camps, Convocation) that become a valuable part of their spiritual development. And we are connected to ministries all over the world. We are in Haiti and Nepal, Congo and the Philippines. And through the United Methodist Committee on Relief when a disaster occurs in the world we are there – sometimes faster than the government! I feel proud of the missional focus of our denomination and Cedar Cross.
Finally, and more specifically regarding Cedar Cross, this is simply a great church! It is full of amazing people who exude a spirit of acceptance and grace. The Spirit is surely alive here! We have become a Reconciling Congregation, fully accepting LGBT persons into the life of our Church, thus truly living out our denomination’s motto, Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors. We are growing, both spiritually and numerically (the District Superintendent and Bishop are particularly happy about this). Being a part of this Church nurtures our souls and our families, provides a platform for global ministry in the world, and it’s fun to be here.
What more could anyone want? P.Jim
The Bible Tells Me So
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeI am proud that we are a Reconciling Congregation because of the Bible, not in spite of it.
In the United Methodist Church Reconciling Congregations are those that are open to lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgendered people (LGBT). We invite them to participate fully in the life of the Church. We support same sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT people.
One of my father’s professors at Yale Divinity School, Roland Bainton, used the distinction between precedence and principle in biblical interpretation. Precedence is any single event of verse which is lifted for its context and given unqualified authority. For example, one could use the words of Jesus to the rich man, “go and sell all you own and give it to the poor” as a definitive mandate for everyone to do just that. Looking at precedence the people who owned slaves have the Bible on their side. To look for principles in biblical interpretation is to see texts imbedded in a larger story – in the Old Testament it is the story of the people of Israel and their covenant with God. In the New Testament it is the story of Jesus – let us not forget that biblically Jesus is the Word of God, not the Bible.
So what do we do with the passages in the Bible that seem to be so clear about homosexuality? What we don’t do is use them as precedence. We also study the context and the larger meaning of the passage. I have been asked to give an explanation of these texts:
Leviticus 18:22
You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
At face value, read as a single verse this seems pretty clear, but it isn’t. The Law, the Holiness Code in Leviticus comprises the details for living in covenant with God – 613 of them, to be exact. An important part of that covenant was for the people of Israeli to survive and prosper. To do so they needed offspring. We forget how hard it was for a child to survive into adulthood at that time. There was always a fear that the people would die out.
As a patriarchal culture women were seen primarily as the source of those offspring; women were seen essentially as incubators. Men put their seed in a woman and she gave birth to a child, preferably a male child. The seed of men was understood as the sole source of children and to use that seed for any other purpose was seen as a violation of the covenant and thus an abomination.
Onan was condemned for “spilling his seed upon the ground” rather than impregnating his brother’s widow as was demanded in the Law. This story of Onan could be used as precedence for the condemnation of masturbation – and it has; which brings up the issue of consistency. There are a lot of things in the 613 laws of the Holiness Code that we violate constantly. Eating pork is also called an abomination.
Women were considered unclean while menstruating – and they were segregated. When a woman gives birth to a boy she is considered unclean for seven days, if it is a girl it’s two weeks. One cannot pick and choose verses from Leviticus and make then universally authoritative. It is simple an abuse of the Bible.
Genesis 19:
Sodom and Gomorrah
Because the story contains a threat for men to “know” other men it is viewed as a condemnation of all homosexual activity. But the story is not about homosexuality. It is much more about hospitality. Two “angels” come into town and Lot shows them hospitality by inviting them into his home. The people of Sodom already don’t like Lot because he is an alien. They become angry and surround Lot’s house threatening to rape the visitors. Lot will not let the visitors out. Instead he offers his two virgin daughters in their place (now that would be an awful precedence!).
More important than the gender of those to be harmed is the spirit of violence and exclusion in the people; it is this spirit that leads to the condemnation of Sodom and Gomorrah. To be true to the Bible, we have to first ask, what if the Bible trying to say. In this case the more intrinsic message is that exclusion and violence toward strangers is a violation of the covenant. Ironically, and this is where the Bible can be so confounding, that includes homosexuals.
Genesis 1:27
Male and female He created them
“God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” goes the quip. That God created men and women is often seen as reason enough to support our understanding of marriage between a man and a woman. The truth is, the Bible doesn’t have a single or clear understanding of marriage. It has many things to say about marriage that would not support our understanding of it. In the Old Testament men and numerous wives and fathered children by slaves. In the New Testament Paul instructs the nascent followers of Jesus to marry only if they cannot control themselves but it is better to stay single like him It is difficult to find a passage in the Bible that addresses men and women and marriage that would be appropriate for a wedding. The issue usually is procreation, not orientation.
Romans 1:26-27
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received their own persons the due penalty for their error.
Wow! That seems pretty clear. As precedence it is, in its context it is less so. I have no doubt that homosexual activity was seen in a negative way, as a part of the condemnation of any sexual activity the purpose of which was to procreate. What Paul is complaining about is people giving in to their passions. “For this reason” refers to the impurity of their hearts in general. The mention of homosexuality is an example of this impurity and giving in to passions.
If one reads on there is a longer list: they are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil covetousness, malice; full of envy, they are gossips, slanderers, heartless and ruthless. Then at the beginning of chapter two Paul says, ironically: Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things. When using precedence one often doesn’t read on. What Paul is addressing is rebellion against God, in any of its forms. One way in which to rebel against God is expressed sexually. Men were in the habit of visiting temple prostitutes, many of whom were boys. This is likely the kind of behavior Paul had on his mind.
To rebel against God is more about “hypersexuality” than it is specifically homosexuality. It is about prostitution, sexual abuse, friends with benefits, pornography, etc. It is when sexuality becomes a selfish act, regardless of love and care and outside of covenant. Speaking of precedence, there was no precedence for a loving and committed same sex covenant relationship. They simply could not have conceived of such a thing. To suggest that this passage in Romans is a blanket condemnation of this kind of relationship misses the point and becomes a judgment, which Paul more clearly condemned.
An overarching principle in the Old Testament is covenant: God’s covenant with the people of Israel. It is clear that it is in and through covenant that the Spirit of God works – the covenants we make in our communities, in marriage and with our children. To extend this covenant to all people seems to me to be biblical. In the New Testament love is an essential principle. If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels but do not have love… what am I? To take the Bible seriously we have to think more broadly and deeply, and more lovingly.
Pastor Jim
What’s Next For Cedar Cross?
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeOne of the questions for Questions Sunday was, “We’ve become a Reconciling Congregation, what’s next?” I love this question because it’s one I ask myself, and I want to ask all of you.
Becoming a Reconciling Congregation has energized our Church. It has honed our sense of identity and purpose, excited us about our ministry in the world and given us a message to share with others in our community. There are people who have come to our Church because of our becoming Reconciling. I am very proud of Cedar Cross UMC; special thanks to the members of the Open Hearts committee who helped us to be transformed. But that cannot be the end of it.
In the sermon I preached on the day we celebrated becoming Reconciling I said that I do not see this as an end, but as a beginning. It is about making sure a certain group of people are loved, accepted and invited to fully participate in the life of the church, but underneath that is the spirit of love and acceptance for all. Where does that spirit lead us now? What shall we do with the spiritual momentum we have acquired? We are growing in all ways – spiritually, as a community, with new faces and stories. What do we do with this energy? I really mean to ask everyone these questions and welcome feedback.
The Beta-Vitality Task Force is working on these questions – we have met now for one year and have one year to go. We have talked about small groups, hospitality and spiritual disciplines; our last module was on marketing. The motivation for my choosing the book I did for Adult Sunday School (Thirsty for God a Brief History of Christian Spirituality) is because of our focus on small groups and spiritual disciplines. (When we started this last fall we took a number of tests/surveys which indicated that this was an area in which we need to grow.) We have had at least 30 in class each Sunday and over 50 participating! This is one place where we must continue to give our spiritual energy. To continue to develop relationships and grow as a community is vital to our future.
And then I think about reaching out. Becoming Reconciling drew us together as a community but it also was reaching out – it was a political statement to our Church and to the culture at large. We have also been spiritually invigorated because we were doing something that was larger than ourselves, that we felt was a witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need this too. Where will that underlying spirit, that value of love and acceptance take us outside of our community? Are there other issues in our society that we feel passionate about? The plight of the poor, healthcare, the environment, etc? At Fairwood UMC we became a Greening Congregation, a designation that is offered by Earth Ministry here in Seattle. In addition to highlighting environmental issues the Greening Committee took out all the ivy and blackberries from their small patch of wetland and planted native plants – they made bat houses, sold trees and worked on trails.
Another group that we could enter into relationship with is Faith Action Network which is doing the same kind of work that used to be done by the Washington Association of Churches – mostly political lobbying. Currently they are working for the passage of Initiative 594 which would close the loophole allowing for guns to be sold without a background check. Is this a path we would like to take?
I feel the Spirit alive at Cedar Cross UMC. But where will it take us now? I would love to hear from you. Pastor Jim
Opportunities to Serve
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeHere are some of the opportunities to participate or serve in the Cedar Cross community:
Caring Committee
The Caring Committee meets every Monday at 10:00 am. We review the joys and concerns voiced on Sunday; we manage the Prayer Chain; we send cards; we provide meals to people in our congregation who are in need; and we pray. Anyone who would like to give energy to the care of our Church family is welcome to attend. Contact Pastor Jim (pastorjimc@frontier.com).
Children’s Council
The Children’s Council is responsible for Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and family events throughout the year. They usually meet on Sunday evenings at the same time as Youth Group because a number of the members are parents of youth. They always have coffee and something to eat. They also claim to have the most fun. If you would like to support the children of the Church please join us. Contact Jen Hoerber (jenrenee1209@gmail.com).
Youth Council
As one would figure, this group supports the youth ministry. They plan youth events and support our Youth Leaders, Geoff and Katie Albright. The Council is made up of youth and youth parents, but it would be nice to have people who don’t have youth children but are committed to supporting our youth. Contact Diane Cunningham Diane (206-799-9339).
Stewardship
The Stewardship Committee runs the Stewardship campaign every fall, but they do more than that. They work on making the congregation aware of the needs of the Church and our obligations to support it. Obviously, stewardship is a vital ministry of the Church and it needs some committed people to join them. Contact Larry States (larstates@comcast.net).
Finance
The work of the Finance Committee is the nuts and blots of the finances of our Church. It is important and necessary work and they always need new people to join them. Contact Larry States (larstates@comcast.net).
Missions Committee
The Missions Committee organizes and supports the various outreach programs of our Church including Teen Feed, the Food Bank, and the Interfaith Shelter. It you are interested in outreach ministry please join this committee. Contact Dianne Bjorn with questions (425) 501-0155.
Worship Committee
The Worship Committee has six members: Charlotte Cordner, Linda Irving, Diane Van Dorn, Jennifer Hobson, Linda States and Elaine Salisbury. The strive to provide a sacred space for worship. In addition, we work closely with Pastor Jim to enhance worship each week and throughout the liturgical year. All are welcome to provide us with ideas and suggestions, or join us on the Committee.
Welcoming Committee
This Committee’s focus is visitors and reaching out to new people (used to be called evangelism). By whatever name, it works at both extending our visibility and being hospitable to new people. If you are interested in making our church more welcoming please join us. Contact Camille Williams camille.williams@frontier.com.
United Methodist Women
There are two groups of the United Methodist Women, a daytime group and an evening group. The UMW has focused on mission since its inception. It is also an opportunity for fellowship with other women in the Church. Join us. For morning UMW contact Elise Makemson (425-210-5021). For evening UMW Elaine Salisbury (es.dance@frontier.com).
Men’s Club
The Men’s Club meets on the first Saturday morning of each month for breakfast and fellowship. They also work on and support various projects around the Church. Join us.! Contact George Hobson (ghobson04@frontier.com).
The Church Has a Story, Too
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeI have a memory of a seminary professor making a comment, after a long discussion about a book in the Bible, considering it’s context, literary style, form and structure he said, “well, in the end we have stories.”
We all have stories; I would also say that our lives are stories, stories that carry meaning. The lives of each of us tells a faith story, are a kind of “word of God.” And each time we are able to share some of our story the Holy Spirit is with us. I have often said that when a new person comes to our community we are blessed with a new story, and new “word of God.” An important part of being the church is sharing those stories. We create smaller groups for people to be able to share. Please think about joining Saints and Sinners, the Adult Sunday School class, the Wednesday study, the Men’s group, UMW, choir, even in committees we spend time sharing. We ask, “How is your heart today?” Each time we meet is an opportunity to share our stories.
The Church has a story too. In our Adult Sunday School class we will be using a book by Bradley Holt entitled, Thirsty for God: A Brief History of Christian Spirituality. It tells the story of Christianity – in brief, as the title implies. I have found that most people don’t know this story. To be frank, not that many people are interested in history – who wants their child to be a history major? But much of who we are is inherited – and I’m not talking about genetics. I believe that in a spiritual sense, stories are also inherited. Family stories – think of how much of whom we are comes from our families! I think faith stories live in us too, and whether we are aware of it or not, the story of the Church is our story and it lives in us.
At first glance this book may seem academic. There are lists of famous theologians, church and spiritual leaders, and we may be reminded of high school history where we had to memorize the presidents (just kidding, I know they don’t do that anymore). But the point of becoming acquainted with historical figures is not to memorize but to imagine how they experienced God – and to further imagine how that way of experiencing God relates to how we experience God. The book is not the text, in the end, we are the text. Our understanding of the story of the Church is quite limited – we see only a narrow spectrum of it; what we see in the churches around us represents just a little of the story. To see the larger story of God’s work in the world provides an opportunity for us to see our own lives with God differently, more expansively.
In the end we have stories. Come and share with us on Sunday mornings.
Pastor Jim
Now What?
/in Pastor Jim’s Blog/by Pastor Jim ClarkeA number of people have approached me to ask, “Now that we are a Reconciling Congregation what happens next?” The first thing is for us to be officially recognized as a new Reconciling Congregation by the Reconciling Ministries Network at our Annual Conference on June 21st. With that we will be on the list of UM Churches that are open to LGBT people. The value of this is, people who are concerned about this issue and are looking for a church often refer to this list. After these two things the next steps are largely up to us.
In my mind, in the simplest terms, being a Reconciling Congregation allows us to live out fully our motto, Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors; wherever that takes us. We are now able to include this in ever way we interact with our community and the world – on the website, in our services, in our new member classes, Through the Preschool and most importantly, by word of mouth. I believe there are many people out there who are not attending church because they assume that all churches would be on the other side of this issue. In that sense, what happens next is for us to become excited about who we are and share it with the world!
In a more pastoral sense it means that we are able to care for people who are hurting. In each other presentations during worship people shared about people they knew who were affected by this – often the stories included some pain and suffering. We are now fully able and called to reach out to people who are excluded – and as I said in a recent sermon, I believe this will inspire us to reach out to all people who are left out. In the 26 years I have been in ministry I have always had to look over my shoulder when I have talked about how I feel about this – now I intend to look straight ahead.
I was also asked if there would be any cost or punishment for doing this. The answer it no. The Reconciling Ministries Network is, for obvious reasons, not an official part of the UMC. In taking this action we are not following or accountable to the Discipline. The only way we would be face some sort of sanction is if we were to perform a same sex marriage in our Church. That discussion may arise, but there are no consequences for becoming a Reconciling Church.
Once again, what happens next is up to all of us. I would encourage everyone, youth and adults to share with others about what we have done. Let the Word go out. Amen. Pastor Jim