Marriage Equality.

My political views are not particularly opaque. I'm pretty liberal, and although I would never preach my political views from the pulpit, I do think that my theology impacts my discipleship, which is lived out through certain political stances in my own life. I respect people's rights to disagree, and even invite dialogue on the subject as long as we can be respectful. I don't like confrontation, but some of my closest relationships are with those who lean both further left and right than myself and we do talk about these things. I considered whether or not it was wise to lay all my cards out on the table too quickly in this new setting, but ultimately I feel like I need to write a response to a letter my supervisor received on behalf of our congregation, which touches on the issue of marriage equality. The letter begins:

Dear Pastor,

We  are writing as fellow pastors to ask you and your church to engage in a truly historic struggle for the soul of our culture--the battle to protect God's design for marriage from efforts to redefine marriage in our state.

If the Marriage Protection Amendment is passed, the amendment will secure the definition of marriage between one man and one woman in our state's constitution. There it will be protected from imminent threat of being redefined by the courts or by politicians promising to repeal our current law and legalize same-sex "marriage" at the first opportunity.

We didn't ask for this battle but believe bold, Christ-like leadership is urgently needed by our churches now more than ever: for the sake of the gospel, for the glory of the Lord Jesus, and for the good of our state.

The letter goes on to ask for financial support to this organization in order to match funds with organizations lobbying to vote down the proposed legislation. There are a variety of viewpoints on this matter within the ELCA, particularly in this town, but to send this type of letter to a church in a denomination which ordains gay men and women in committed relationships strikes me as a little funny. I actually find the entire letter somewhat funny, mostly because of the dramatic words such as the "historic struggle for the soul of our culture" and the "imminent threat" of redefining marriage, as if this amendment somehow invalidates or affects marriages between men and women. Unfortunately, when it comes down to it, this isn't a very funny topic because it bears directly on the lives of actual human beings, including some very lovely human beings that I am privileged to call friends. To them, this is not funny. To them, this legislation seeks to curtail a basic freedom: the right to marry who they love. I would call this "the pursuit of happiness." However, the thing that is most problematic to me as a Christian and a future pastor is the statement that this stance which limits the freedom of another is "for the sake of the gospel, for the glory of the Lord Jesus."

I will spare you the intense exegetical and historical exploration of homosexuality (or the words that we translate as homosexuality, anyway), and simply say that I don't think the Bible is talking about what these people think it's talking about in this regard. We can agree to disagree here. But aside from that, I want to break down the gospel of Jesus a little. The gospel lessons in the lectionary texts for this season have come from Mark. For those who aren't aware, the synoptic gospels cover much of the same material (the life of Jesus and his journey to the cross), but because they were written or compiled by different people from different sources, each offers a unique perspective that speaks to the concerns of the time. The gospel of Mark has a few noteworthy foci, including a sense of urgency about Christ's mission (it's jam-packed into 16 chapters!), but what has been jumping out to me in the recent lessons is the way that Christ is constantly kicking down barriers where humans put them up.

Read that again. We put up barriers between ourselves, based on social class, gender, age, status, race, sexual orientation, and more, but Christ kicks them down. In chapter nine, the disciples argue about who is the greatest. Jesus says that their ideas of greatness are backward, and he instead blesses children, whose value is seen as questionable at best. Later, the disciples chastise somebody for casting out demons in Jesus' name, and Jesus asks them why they think they need to stop somebody from performing acts of good in his name. In chapter 10, the pharisees ask Jesus about divorce and he again defies their social order by speaking in a way that protects women. Jesus blesses children again. Jesus tells a rich man to sell all his things. The disciples try to shut up a blind beggar--one who is not only physically handicapped, considered to be a sign of divine disfavor, but who also has no family who will care for him, and Jesus heals him. Jesus as he is portrayed here is not one who needs protecting, but is one that instead protects the weak, the sick, the marginalized, the hurting, the helpless, and those that society deems sinful or unworthy. And although he went to the cross as a criminal instead of a king, it was in his weakness, in his being humbled and suffering that he became strong. To quote Hebrews, "It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Heb. 2:10)

I was talking to my supervisor about last week's text and his sermon on it, and he said "the gospel starts in Gehenna." In other words, it's in the places of weakness, darkness, sin, despair, or lack of perfection that God moves us from our brokenness into salvation, and that is something that he does by breaking through all the things that we put between God and us. The letter my supervisor received was baffling because it assumes that Jesus needs a defender; an army of pastors wielding heavily proof-texted Bibles and collection plates raising funds to fight against a cause which, face it, only erects another barrier. I think the thing I find most offensive is that these pastors seem to think their God-given calling is to put up walls. I don't think that's ever the calling of a Christian. God didn't wait for us to build a tower to heaven; God was incarnate and came to us, crashing through all the crap and evil and sin that had separated us from God for so long. The Spirit went among the apostles, and among us, and because of that we are to go out and be an active part of this world, transforming it by loving others through their brokenness, sharing the good news which is that all people are important, all people are created in the image of God, all people are equally broken and most importantly, all people are worthy of redemption.

It doesn't matter how you feel about gay marriage. I mean, it does. I think when you try to put up barriers to keep people from loving in consensual, committed relationships you are doing evil, because the world is a dark place and we need as much love as we can get. But it's not about politics and it's not about fighting a battle. Jesus doesn't need you to fight his battles. Jesus fought the ultimate battle and won. Being a person of integrity in whatever political arena you inhabit is about acting with justice, compassion, respect, and love for your brothers and sisters; it is not about waging war. So my suggestion is that, regardless of how you plan to vote in the coming election, make it a point to treat your fellow human beings with the dignity that Jesus would offer them. Rather than the kind of confrontation these men have in mind, I invite you, in your efforts to enact "bold, Christ-like leadership," to take a peek over your barriers now and then, and maybe poke them a little, and kick a little hole, and maybe eventually they'll fall over.