Pro-Gay Rally at UMC Conference Center- an attempt at one response to Wesley Blog

Once upon a time the Methodist Church began to be divided into various groups with various ideas, colors, beliefs and theology. Some groups thought that some should be excluded from the church while others thought that other groups should not be a part of the denomination. Some talked about splitting while others talked about withholding apportionments.

One day in heaven, John Wesley asked Jesus, "what do you think about everything that's going on in the UMC?" Jesus said it reminds me of a parable I told a long time ago and it goes like this, "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field...."

Over at the Wesley Blog, Shane has posted an article about the Reconciling Ministries Network's (an organization that exists to enable full participation of people of all sexual orientations and gender identities in the life of the United Methodist Church both in policy and practice) convocation being held this year at Lake Junaluska- the Southeast Jurisdictional retreat center. Shane is making a strong case that the ecclesial/theological liberals still hold power in our tradition and that this example is "case and point".

According to Wesley Blog, "So what do we do? We're dealing with a special interest group working against UMC teaching, yet it has still been allowed to rent a major UMC facility and is given de facto approval by seven UMC bishops. This just can't be allowed to happen. First of all, I believe there could be spiritual fallout if we allow facilities like this to be used to promote unbiblical causes."

So now I'm stuggling with the question- who get's access to our facilities- to have a voice and space to "practice their faith"? And what does it mean when we begin to exclude "United Methodist" groups from using United Methodist facilities because we disagree with their stances (and how those stance are lived out practically in the life of the church)?

So let's look at some different scenarios and stories:
1. Genesis 19: 1-29: The story of Sodom and Gomorrah. This story has been "interpreted" by most as a story of a city who's destroyed because of it's wickedness and sexual immorality. It is a favorite scripture to use to demonize homosexuality. However another "interpretation" of this passage is that God's judgement falls on the cities because of their unwillingness to show hospitality to strangers. Throughout the Bible God defends and stands for "the other" and it might not be such a stretch here. So what's the implication for the UM to deny hospitality to a group who seeks sanctuary?

2. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13
This is part of the Holiness Code which explains rules designed to maintain purity, or cleanliness. "A male lying with a male as with a woman" is considered an abomination. Why? One "interpretation" is that this was thought to "pollute" the male and wastes the "seed" which was believed to hold all of the potential life. Such behavior would leave the participants ritually impure. It had nothing to do with sexual attraction or intimacy or mutual relationships. But in this section of the code we find many other rules alongside the sexual practices such as eating pork (punishable by death), touching leather, and having sex with a menstruating woman. Other prohibited actions include sowing a field with two kinds of seed and wearing clothing made of more than one material. The concern here is more about ritual purity than our idea of morality (but in premodern hebrew thought- morality was tied to ritual purity).

3. Romans 1:26-27. One cannot deny that Paul believes that anything other than a woman in relationship with a man and a man in a relationship with a woman is how he believes things ought to be. I like the message version of this passage- Eugene Peterson says, "women didn't know how to be women, men didn't know how to be men. Sexually confused, they abused and defiled one another, women with women, men with men--all lust, no love.

I think a key issue in here is that we live in a creation that is fallen and confused and no one is outside of that confused and fallen nature. Again, one "interpretation" to this passage has been that Paul sees homosexual behavior as behavior that cannot be expressed within a committed loving monogomous relationship but as an "abandonment to relationships in exchange for lust". I'm not ready to speak for Paul from reading one passage but it's worth the thought (and I tend to think it holds a lot of water).

Paul goes on later to say that we all fall short and that nothing seperates us from the love of Christ. This passage reinforces my question- then who ought to actually be excluded from being a part of the Body of Christ? And how do we make that judgement?

4. Since I couldn't find a place in the gospels where Jesus teaches against/for/about homosexuality, I turned to a story he told-

"God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

"The farmhands came to the farmer and said, "Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?'

"He answered, "Some enemy did this.'

"The farmhands asked, "SHOULD WE WEED OUT THE THISTLES?'

"He said, "No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'"

... and so in the end Jesus looked at John Wesley and said I wish they'd quit arguing with one another and simply see themselves for who they are- my brothers and sisters and know that I'll take care of the judging when the time is right. John shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

I suppose I have to disagree with Shane on the issue of whether we ought to allow RMN to use Lake Junaluska. I'm not sure I want to be in the game of separating wheat from weeds- I'm not sure where I might end up if that were to happen.... and I imagine many others might be in that boat as well, afterall- according to Paul- we're all confused.