Wow, what an incredible day June 26th, 2015 was. Just wow!
On the day of the crucifixion as Jesus died on the cross it is noted in the gospels that the earth shook and the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. The point of the story is that what happened that day on Golgotha changed everything. There was no going back.
As the Supreme Court opened in the morning thousands upon thousands of Americans gained the right to have access to the public office of marriage. This is the second great civil rights event in my lifetime. Wow.
In a country where interracial marriage was once against the law in my lifetime as of 6/26 marriage is now recognized as a Constitutional Right for all couples in the United States regardless of race or gender. Wow!
In this struggle there has been copious amounts of sin to go around. Hate speech and lies have been promoted by politicians and pastors often on each side of the issue. There has been ample evidence of broken saints. My own intolerance is exposed in that I am really tiring of the bellicose blatherings of Justice Scalia every time a decision doesn't go his way.
Let us not be foolish, however. The real struggle is not over, backlash is to be expected. In fact, the diatribe against the court decision is just starting to ramp up. Sour grapes do not make for good wine.
For gay couples the struggle to deal with the reality of married life is just beginning. Marriage may indeed be a sacred institution but it is lived out in the brokenness of the flesh by real human beings. There will be great joys and great disappointments. There will be joyous unions and anguished dissolutions. With the possibility of marriage comes the probability of divorce for some. Humans are the same, gay or straight. Sin is a reality in every relationship involving people. The scrutiny on gays and their marriages will be tremendous. There will be those waiting for them to fail to shout from the roof tops, "I told you so!"
I encourage my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ to throw open our doors and arms to all our brothers and sisters in Christ who will need the community of faith and the grace of Christ in their lives as much as any of us. They need to know they are welcome. They like every couple in every age need to know the power and the benefit of community as support for every marriage. They need to hear, receive and practice forgiveness in Word and sacrament in their lives regularly because without grace life is just too hard and the way too rough.
Jesus never said a single word about homosexuality. All of scripture says very little and what is often thought to be words against homosexuality are frequently misunderstood and misapplied. As broken saints, straight and gay, we need to repent and focus on God's grace. Grace born out in the struggle of faith to love our neighbor, all of our neighbors. Grace visible in risking and learning to trust. We need to move from being broken saints to healing sinners transformed by God's grace into the one Body of Christ. We must stand with arms wide open to all because we need each other and this world today needs to see people reach out across the dark valleys of fear and animosity building a bridge to the future and to strengthen every child in God's family.
Read the words of Justice Kennedy.
"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed."
Those are words anchored in grace; words of hope and promise.
Whether you are for or against the decision on 6/26. I invite you to join us at Messiah Lutheran in Mifflintown, PA we all need God's grace
Peace be with you.
Monday, 6/26 part 2, Dang, that Guy Can Preach.