Before the vote: He simply said, "Love"

Our congregational vote takes place this coming Sunday. I want to share some thoughts in advance of the vote.

As we all know, one and a half years ago, ELCA voted in the churchwide assembly to allow for the ordination of gay clergy in committed, long-term relationships.  Since that time the Presbyterian Church, in which I was raised, has also grappled with this issue. The resulting firestorm has created serious problems for churches within the denominations and their leadership and congregations, as well as the denomination itself and its leadership.

It's important to consider what the assembly DID and what it DID NOT do. That they voted for the decisions in question is a demonstration of inclusion by the church body to allow those congregations wishing to do so to hire clergy who are gay and in committed relationships.  What they DID NOT vote for was an edict to all ELCA churches that they would all follow the decisions. No one is forcing anything on our church family, nor is anyone telling us who or what our hiring policies must include.  That is for US to decide, not ELCA!  This is the policy of the church body.

We are being asked to make a decision on partial information, just as we interpret scripture in part, only to understand more fully later. 

For the past 90 days, I have put my thoughts on a blog, answered questions, and made statements of what I believe.  In that time, I have received 400-plus emails to my personal site; another 400-plus to my private email site; numerous phone calls; and a few comments made to me in passing.  The blog has been viewed more than 4,000 times. Apparently I have struck a nerve. I have indeed become “That Guy,” the face of the opposition to this move, which I consider to be a move away from the Christ that I love and worship.

I have attended forums; studied the issues; stepped outside the confines of La Casa and spoken with more than 200 lay and clergy people from around the country all conflicted by this and the underlying issues.  I have read countless pages of documentation, some provided by ELCA; some provided by members of other churches conflicted by these issues; and some gathered from a lifetime of studying the human condition. 

Sunday, I will come to vote my conscience on this issue.  I hope you will come to do the same.  But it troubles me greatly that amidst all the angst, we as brothers and sisters in Christ miss the point of what it comes down to in this meeting. 

God so certainly created you and me.  To say, as some are prone to do, that the living creature created of color is inferior because he or she is not white; to say the living creature created female is inferior because she is not created male; and to say that the living creature created homosexual is inferior because he or she is not created heterosexual, is not something that the Lord and Savior I worship would say, do, or perpetuate.  I cannot subscribe to the man-driven thesis that anyone is lesser than another for anthropological reasons. 

Some have asked why it is now that a little-known, little-cared-about in the grand scheme of things, long-haired old man would take up such a cause.

My answer to them and to you is:  “IT IS TIME”. 

My Lord and Savior is a patient Lord.  His time came only after the Father deemed humankind to have matured sufficiently from the trials in the deserts of Israel to understand the reason for His coming.  The first admonishments from GOD were in the form of “DON’Ts," the list of “shall not’s” or the 10 canonized commandments as it were.  This list was to guide the early tribes in their existence.  A barely sustainable Hebrew nation was in need of rules and codes to conduct their lives and survive the hardships of the desert. So it was several thousand years before our Lord and Savior was born.

“IT IS TIME,” said the Lord your God, and just as He created Adam and Eve, HE sent his only begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, to teach us what it means to be of Christ and to live a life like his, however imperfectly we may do so.

“IT IS TIME,” HE declared, that the concept of perfect love be presented to humankind by HIS own spirit made flesh, so that we could all see, feel, and experience what Love fully means.    And then what did we do:  We condemned that flesh to death.  And even then, in the ultimate gift of Love, he resurrected Our Lord and Savior,  and death was defeated that we all may believe in Him. 

“IT IS TIME,” says the Lord your God, to put aside the petty differences of humankind, and begin the process that would reconcile that which is commanded in law and in THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT, “that we love one another as HE loved us.” To do so, I will argue, is not by exclusion and excuse, but rather by inclusion and love for all humankind. 

This Sunday, we will decide a course for US: our families, our church for the future.  It will serve as a statement of what WE believe.  I will vote against the resolution to leave the ELCA because I believe it sends a bad message to our community ... that we are going out of our way to be exclusive, not inclusive. I will vote with what I see to be the greatest commandment, that we love one another.

My words and thoughts have now been heard.  It is not my place to tell you how to vote on this or any other issue or how to live your lives.  That is between you and Your Lord and Savior.  I stand by the commandment contained in the 2,026 words attributed to our Lord and Savior in the Bible: Love one another as He loved us.  He gave us no latitude to love some and not others. He said simply “LOVE”. 

 May the Lord bless and keep you in this hour of decision, and may His love dwell in your hearts forever and ever.