What will you preach on May 22, the Sunday after General Conference?
Hoping for Mary…
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Mary [Magdalene] turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, for I haven’t yet gone up to my Father. Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them, ‘I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’
Mary Magdalene left and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord.” Then she told them what he said to her.
John 20:17-20, CEB
I want to be like Mary Magdalene on Sunday, May 22, the day after General Conference of The United Methodist Church.
I want to tell my church that I saw the Resurrection.
I want to tell my church, the denomination that they thought was dead, is alive again.
I want to tell my church that the veil has been ripped asunder and the priesthood has been opened to all people.
I want to tell my church that the Pharisees did not win.
I want to tell my church that the politics of fearmongering did not stop the Resurrection.
I want to tell my church that “I’ve seen the Lord” whose Spirit endured the spittle and spite.
I want to tell my church that I have no hesitations about baptizing their children into it.
I want to tell my church that I saw LGBTQ persons become fully included in the life of the church.
I want to tell my church that I saw the new leadership reflect the plurality of diversity, not just white American culture.
I want to tell my church that I saw the racist church die and a more just one rise in its place.
I want to be Mary Magdalene.
I want to tell of the Resurrection of the Church that I’ve just seen.
But Settling for Thomas…
Thomas, one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.”
After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:24-28
But I’m afraid we’re going to settle for Thomas.
Those first seven days when Thomas had heard the Good News from Mary and the Disciples, but chose to not believe it.
The seven days when Thomas doubted and stayed just as he was.
I worry we’ll settle for the usual speeches without conversations, and posturing instead of pondering the truth of one another.
I worry we’ll settle for kicking the big decisions four years down the road instead of deciding this year.
I worry we’ll settle for restructuring the church to keep the minority perspectives segmented and isolated.
I worry we’ll settle for keeping the old Church on a ventilator so the new Church cannot yet be born.
Because, you see, Jesus didn’t appear to Thomas at first or for those first seven days.
Jesus came to Mary because he knew she would recognize Him and believe Him.
Mary saw the Resurrection. And believed.
Resurrection wasn’t seen by Thomas who denied a new reality was possible.
Resurrection wasn’t seen by Thomas who was stuck in the “what is.”
Resurrection wasn’t seen by Thomas who settled for life as usual.
I’m afraid we’ll settle for maintaining church “as is.”
I’m afraid we’ll settle for keeping the minority people groups at arms length.
I’m afraid we’ll settle for slow sapping of mission rather than much-hyped crumbling of institutions.
I’m afraid we want to be Thomas.
I want Mary to burst through the doors and proclaim the Good News.
But I’m afraid we’ll settle for Thomas, waiting seven more days, or four more years, for the Resurrection to be fully revealed, and the current paralyzing doubt to be melted away.
Both/And
The truth is both Mary and Thomas will be present at the closing gavel of General Conference on May 20.
Some decisions will reflect the new reality of the Resurrection, the abundant life initiated by Christ.
Some decisions will be keep things the “way it was,” denying the new life present in people outside their echo chambers.
That both/and is the Methodist way of incrementalism.
The resurrection new life for women preachers waited 30 years from first light in 1924 to the full dawn of equal gender rights to ordination in 1956. African-Americans waited 30 years for full inclusion as well in 1968. And 44 years later, LGBTQ preachers are still waiting, waiting for the Thomases to stop doubting and to start believing.
But I want a full Resurrection now.
I know in my head that we are called to be like the Disciples who sat with Thomas for seven days, waiting for the Resurrection to be made real to him. And if they had to wait forty-four years, I believe they would have. Because to watch the Resurrection sunrise together? That’s the best moment to wait for.
But in my heart? I want that moment to be this year, in this place, for my Church.
Come, Resurrection, Come.
Thanks for the reflection on Mary and Thomas. I have one change to suggest to your list of hopes. Can we express our hope of overcoming fearmongering, spittle, and spite, and the exclusion of groups of people, without in the process stereotyping the Pharisees, who are in a sense the spiritual ancestors of our Jewish friends today?
Hi David. The Pharisees were the religious elites who rejected Jesus–not only as Messiah but as a spiritual leader. So they are not the equivalent to the entire Jewish tradition or friends today.
Some of the Pharisees rejected Jesus; it appears that others such as Nicodemus did not. The Gospel references to “the Pharisees” should probably be approached with the same caution we use with John’s references to “the Jews.” Taylor Burton-Edwards wrote a blog post a couple of years ago calling for caution in the way we use the word “Pharisee”(http://emergingumc.blogspot.com/2013/05/calling-out-anti-semitic-labeling-in.html).
One of your most moving entries. I believe it sums up exactly what many of us feel.
Jeremy, I have a question for you that I have thought about for a while. I believe it is fair with no assumptions in it, but please correct me if I am wrong:
IF you became convinced that the Bible prohibited any type of homosexual activity, would you then believe that gay marriage is contrary to God’s will?
In Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
Hi TEHC,
There’s a conflict between personal conviction and public policy.
I am convinced that the Bible empowers women ministers, but I’m not advocating that other denoms churches be forced to have women pastors.
I am convinced that I would never advocate for an abortion for a child of mine, but I would not legislate against a woman’s right to choose that alone.
I am convinced the Bible is strongly against wealth in the hands of too few, but I don’t advocate taking away wealth from individuals beyond appropriate levels.
But to your comment: I’ve never been strongly against same-gender relations, having grown up with LGBT persons and people with AIDS in my life from a young age. So I don’t have a parallel story of being convicted away from it. But in line with the above, if I reached that personal conviction, then I would not seek it for myself, but neither would I legislate against it for others.
Thanks for the conversation. I had not thought of my question as it relates to the public square, but rather to the christian church in general and the UMC in particular. So did your answer that you would not “legislate it for others” refer to government legislation or UMC legislation? If the former, I might agree, perhaps from a libertarian standpoint. If the latter, not to put words in your mouth, but wouldn’t you then be saying “the Bible prohibits homosexual behavior, but nonetheless UMC pastors should be allowed to enter into homosexual marriages and to bless homosexual marriages”?
By the way, I agree with you on female pastors. As to abortion, I would legislate, both in the church and in our country, against the intentional killing of innocent human beings from conception to natural death. I think in the abortion debate, “choice” means “choice for the woman but not for the baby.” On the issue of wealth, appropriate taxation levels are open to debate, and I love John Wesley’s statement “work all you can, to earn all you can, to give all you can.”
In Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
To you: if you became convinced that the Bible did not refer to homosexuality as an orientation, but rather prohibited straight people from acting against their nature, would you believe gay marriage is in line with God’s will?
The quick answer is “yes”, but I think I would say then that it is not contrary to God’s will; and I am assuming your question would be that I was convinced that that applied to All biblical references to homosexuality.
In Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
If I may weigh in on this question; “If you became convinced that the Bible prohibited any type of homosexual activity, would you then believe that gay marriage is contrary to God’s will?” I do think that the Bible does prohibit certain homosexual behavior. In the context of the time; other peoples’ use of sex in their temple worship, of both heterosexual and homosexual nature, was banned for the Jews. I believe, and it’s held by others is that the ban on homosexual activity in the New Testament dealt with unequal non-consensual homosexual relationships, such as between master and slave and adult males and minors. These would not be equal and loving relationships, but ones where one in power was taking advantage of the powerless. So my belief is that certain types of homosexual activity can be prohibited in the Bible but does not negate gay marriage. I don’t know what Jeremy thinks in this regard, but that would be my answer to the question.
I do appreciate that that is your belief, Laura, and I suspect it is Jeremy’s belief as well. However, my question is IF you came to believe that the Bible prohibits ALL homosexual activity, would that change your mind about what you believe about homosexuality, and (if you are a United Methodist), whether or not pastors should be allowed to be married to someone of the same sex, or to perform same sex weddings?
In Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
Okay, now you’re asking that if the Bible prohibits ALL homosexual activity as opposed to your original question of Any homosexual activity. You have changed the question. Is that just because you don’t like the answer? Anyway, I don’t see that my view, that the Bible does not prohibit all homosexual activity, will change. Yes I am a United Methodist, straight and gay marriage, pastors performing gay marriage rites, and openly gay pastors being free to be themselves.
My first question may not have been clear, and for that I apologize. I was curious as to how Jeremy would react if he became convinced the Bible prohibits All homosexual activity whatsoever. I do understand that you don’t believe the Bible does so prohibit that, but if it did, should the UM church continue its ban on same sex marriages? If your answer is still no (that the same sex marriage ban should not be continued even if homosexual activity is completely proscribed by Scripture), than what is the basis for that opinion?
In Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
Thanks for responding again. Since I don’t believe that the Bible prohibits all homosexual activity, reasons given in earlier post, I don’t see how I would ever come to the belief that it did, and as such would always support the end of the ban on same sex marriage. I don’t understand how God would create people then deny them the ability to have a full life. That is in effect what a ban on same sex marriage does. Why do you think God would do that?
I cannot answer your question because it assumes God created homosexuality. I don’t think that is true. I realize we differ on that. More importantly, there is no biblical support for the position that God created people with homosexual desires. Do you disagree with that last statement?
In Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
If we are made in God’s image yes. As to biblical support, sure I’ll give you that it’s not obviously there. But since the Bible is written by man, though inspired by God, in an attempt to understand God and record their history and place within God’s creation, everything of God cannot be contained in the Bible. We cannot put God in a box. He is greater than scripture.
Thank you for the conversation.
in Christ,
The enemy hates clarity
Jeremy,
I hear the past pain in this post as well as the desire to not be hurt based on outcomes of this GC. I am not even sure if I should interject myself into this conversation as I have not struggled for as long or as strongly as you, but as your friend I feel called to offer this reflection on your post.
As I read this post and reflect on your metaphor, I am struck by the fact that Christ is alive whether we are Mary or Thomas. Whether or not unjust and hateful legislation gets repealed or added, Christ is alive. Whether or not we see more people expelled (martyred), Christ is alive.
The truth of God’s love and hope, the power of the Holy Spirit, is at work in this world, and sometimes the church is right there with it, and sometimes we, the church, need a kick in the pants, and sometimes we, the church, fail utterly.
But whether or not the church is directly on board with the work of God in the world, Christ is alive. This is especially apparent to me as I prepare for worship centered on Acts 11:1-18 this Sunday, where the Spirit directs Peter to acknowledge that God is already at work in people thought to be outside the bounds.
For me the good news is in the life and love of God in the past, now, and for evermore. Fortunately, this good news is not contingent upon the church (or even just our part of the body of Christ). I hold on to the story that love wins even when it is not accepted by all, even when it seems that darkness overwhelms.
I hope that I have been able to share the words of love and support that I feel in my heart.
Christ is alive!
I love it, Dan. Thanks!
Jeremy, Thomas did come to believe AFTER he spent a week locked up with folks who had seen the risen Lord! I suspect their passion and excitement rubbed off on him. I hope they didn’t ridicule him for not believing. We will be spending ten days essentially locked up together with people who see these things differently than you and I do. What will they see in us? Will our witness move them to love or to be defensive? What will they go away from GC saying about our passion and our compassion? Have any Good News friends in Houston, experiencing the flood? Maybe a call…
See you in a few weeks.