Spiritual Maturity: The Mystical Path

“Spiritual Maturity: The Mystical Path”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

July 21, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Colossians 1:24-28

Luke 10:38-42

         When I was twelve years old, I went on a middle school retreat with my Methodist church’s youth group. I was nervous because I was a shy kid. I wasn’t very social and I didn’t know what to expect from the retreat. We went into the beautiful mountains of West Virginia for Spring Break. Wildflowers were in full bloom. We stayed in cabins, took hikes, and took paddleboats onto the lake. On the second day there, I learned that Christians are fallible… because one of the chaperones went out on a paddleboat with me and a gust of wind sent his toupee into the lake. The words that came out of his mouth after that made me giggle. He didn’t find it so funny.

         On the last night of the retreat, we all sat around the campfire and took Communion together under the stars. It was probably the first time I had ever taken Communion. Our Youth Minister Wendy told us about Jesus and how much he loves us. And while looking up at a million stars and taking that simple sacrament, I asked God if we could be friends. And it was as if God said, “Of course! Let’s go on an adventure!”

         My inner life transformed from that point on. With all the turmoil and loneliness of my childhood, I finally had an Eternal Friend. Soon after that experience, I began preaching at the age of thirteen. I preached a few times a year in the church of my upbringing until I was 17. During that time, I led prayer groups, led worship, and attended wonderful retreats and Christian work camps. My faith became my strength.

         I have always known I was attracted to the same gender. I had crushes on boys since I was 4 years old. I actually started to wear my mom’s wig and clothes since I was 4 as well. Whenever I was alone in the house, I would sneak into my parent’s room and put on lipstick and stare into the mirror for hours. I didn’t want to be a girl. I was just fascinated with gender.

         I was also fascinated with God since I was a small child. I remember teaching myself to meditate without even knowing what it was called when I was 3 or 4. I had a special hiding place under the record player where I would sit and just be with the Divine. I remember feeling like I remembered being in the womb, safe and warm, and growing with potential.

         I have always been a mystic. A mystic is someone who has a natural inclination to feel the Divine on an intuitive level. Even before I knew the word “God” or went to Sunday School, I knew who God was. God was my friend then. But until my Middle School retreat experience, I all but forgot. “Growing up” began to erase that element in me. But I did spend most of my childhood in the State Park that led up to the back of my house in Maryland. Almost like Snow White, I befriended the trees and the animals of the forest. I played “Oprah” and interviewed the squirrels and birds. I took refuge next to the stream. I dove into my imagination about what had happened among those trees over the centuries.

         This is what I know to be what Jesus called “Faith like a child.” It is a faith with an open heart. It is a vulnerable faith. It is a trust that God will guide the path, even when I feel I am lost. It is a right brain, creative faith. It doesn’t require dogma, doctrine, creeds, or fear of a Boogie Man. All it requires is a deep love for life, and that I had.

         A deep love for life is a fundamental element of adult spiritual maturity. The paradox that Jesus gives in the Gospels is that we are to be mature through being childlike. Note that there is a huge difference between being childish and being childlike. Being childish is demanding what you want without regard to the needs and desires of others. We also call this ego. There’s an annoying element to being childish. Being childlike means embracing the creativity that we were born with. It means remembering that we are co-creators of our lives with the One who gave us life. It was once said that the creative adult is that child that survived. Being childlike is wise.

         The other element of adult spiritual maturity has to do with a willingness to be a lifetime learner. Even when we graduate from one school or another, we are always learning. A diploma is not an ending; it is a new beginning. My 90 year-old grandmother is still learning. You are still learning. Don’t be ashamed of it; embrace it! Some of my seminary colleagues were in their late sixties. They hadn’t given up on their dream of becoming ordained ministers and so they took a leap of faith and attained their goals. It is never too late to learn.

         Mary (of Mary and Martha) embraced the opportunity to learn when she could. She sat down at the feet of Jesus and listened intently. In Jesus’ time, that was not proper for a woman to do. Women were not supposed to listen to the wisdom of prophets. They were only supposed to serve them politely. So Mary’s sister Martha did as society told her. She worked away in the kitchen to entertain Rabbi Jesus. The Scripture tells us that she was “distracted”. Martha notices that her sister Mary is transgressing gender norms by placing herself as a student of Jesus and angrily asks Jesus, “Don’t you care that she left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

         Instead of catching himself off guard with the rules of society, Jesus tells busy Martha, “You are so distracted! Only one thing is important. Learn from Mary; what she has chosen is eternal.” This must have shocked Martha. “Who is this Rabbi to make women equal to men??”

         Jesus, a mystic himself, had taught Mary to be a mystic. Jesus empowered women throughout his ministry to embrace the Spirit of God within them. When Mary did this, it absolutely shocked Martha. This may have happened to you too. People who knew you for a long time learned of your spirituality and were intrigued. Could you be a mystic too?

         Christian mysticism has been condemned for a long time by the institutional Church. Why? Because being a mystic means subverting oppressive power. When we are truly connected with God with an unsurpassable vulnerable trust, God takes precedence over the powers of this world. And that scares those in power; especially those who claim to speak on behalf of God.

         If you didn’t know, in the fourth century after Jesus, the Roman Empire chose to become Christian. It had long embraced the Roman pantheon of gods and goddesses, but decided to embrace Christianity. This was a blessing and a curse at once. On the side of blessing, the Roman Empire would stop killing those pesky Christians who challenged the empire’s oppressive ways. On the other side, Christianity itself would be changed for the worse for the rest of history.

         When any group becomes the dominant group, it is destined to become tainted by power. As feminism teaches, only shared power is truly good. We know by historical record that for 1600 years, the Christian Church has used to name of God and Christ to oppress peoples around the earth. It has killed those who refuse to convert, such as during the Inquisition. It has embraced anti-Semitism (also known as the hatred of the Jewish people). It has officially damned all non-Christians to eternal torture. And remember, the Nazis claimed to be Christians.

         This kind of history alone is enough for millions of people to stay far away from anything bearing the name of “Christian.” But there is hope! Though the institutional church has carried this oppressive power for 1600 years, there has always been descent within the church from a minority that disagrees. Over the centuries, these folks have been identified as mystics. They were not necessarily ascetics, hiding away from the rest of society to just think about God. No, there have been many bold saints who stood up in the face of abused power and bad theology to say instead that ALL people are born with Original Blessing and are sacred children of God.

         Among that cloud of positive-thinking, loving, creative witnesses as living theologian Rev. Matthew Fox lists are Hildegard of Bingen of the 10^th century, Francis of Assisi (whom the current Pope of the Roman Catholic Church took his name), Francis’ close friend Clare, Mechtild of Magdeburg from the century, and Thomas Aquinas all in the 11^th century. And then there is Meister Eckhart, a German Christian theologian in the 13^th to 14^th centuries, who was declared a heretic by the institutional church, but has been revered by Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus alike for centuries. Teresa of Avila of the 16^th century reminded humanity that we are the hands and feet of Christ and that Christ is indeed our Mother. We never forget astronomer Galileo of the 16^th century who insisted that the world is spherical and revolves around the Sun. Then George Fox of the 17^th century who recognized the Divine Spark in every human being and founded the Society of Friends that we know as the Quakers.

         More recent on the list include African American spiritual leader Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, lesbian feminist Audre Lorde, and the list goes on.

         Are you in the list of mystics? Do you with your whole being embrace a trust in the Divine Mystery that created the Universe? Do you believe that the whole Human Family has been created good? Do you believe that human potential is always greater that human downfall? Do you value the Earth that God has given us as the most beautiful gift for our use and not our abuse? Do you recognize God in the world every day? Then you are on the list. You, my friend, are a mystic.

         Mysticism is not witchcraft. It is not a silly celebrity fad. It’s not confined to the category of “New Age” that fundamentalists warn people about over the airways. No, mysticism is looking into the sky as I did as a young adolescent and just standing in perfect awe of creation. It is saying, “Wow, I must be special to be alive in this Universe.” And it’s also saying, “Wow, this whole Universe also lives within me.”

         As we come closer to the time when we will define ourselves as a community in the future, I challenge you to “try on” the title of “mystic.” See how it fits. If it gives you joy unspeakable, if it feels right in your gut, and if it helps you to feel whole, then I encourage you to embrace it and move into the future. God bless our sacred, mystical journey together. Amen.

You also heard from the Book of Colossians today. The institutional Church has said for centuries that the Apostle Paul wrote it, but we now know that is not true. But we can still find truth within it, like we can in any text. We heard that the author felt a call to “Make the word of God fully known.” The author also says that the word of God is the “mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages, but now has been revealed.” Though God has probably been put in a box for you throughout your life, it is never too late to open your whole life and embrace that God is the Mystery Beyond Our Naming. We know that fireflies exist and that they are beautiful. We don’t need to keep them in a jar to light up until they die. We can observe creation and take in the beauty that fills our souls. In that experience, Colossians tells us that WE are the “hope of glory.” The word “glory” means “prosperity.” Think of that. WE are the hope of prosperity in the world. Hear and believe today.

Radical Liberation: Exodus International's Death vs the Gospel Truth

“Radical Liberation”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

June 23, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Galatians 3:23-28

Luke 8:26-39

         Four days from now is the 44^th anniversary of a very important event in the LGBT Liberation movement. Do you know what it is? On June 27^th 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar in New York City, and though that was a common event in those days, the patrons of the bar decided to finally fight back. So the raid turned into a riot. Drag queens were the fiercest fighters against the police. Legend says that they were mourning the loss of gay icon Judy Garland, who had died just five days earlier at the young age of 47. Whether or not this legend is true, we know that time simply could no longer hold us back from that point forward.

         National news of the Stonewall rebellion set the rest of the nation’s gay community on fire. Together, the queer communities of large cities around the country said in solidarity, “We won’t take this anymore!” Homophobia, heterosexism, homo-hatred, homo-supremacy, and transphobia did not end that day. But that day is marked as the beginning of the fight to end such evils.

         We in MCC remember that only 9 months earlier in October of 1968, Rev. Troy Perry held the first service of Metropolitan Community Church in the living room of his home in Los Angeles, California. We might say that the queer liberation movement was conceived there and was born 9 months later in New York! Some people ask why MCC has to talk about sexuality and gender identity so much. After all, we’re primarily a church, right? Of course. First and foremost, our identity is as sacred children of God, made in God’s image and likeness, filled with God’s Spirit. But we can also testify with our very lives that we have been gifted with a special calling through our queer sexualities and gender identities. God has called us to show the world that the categories, boundaries, and labels that man has made (and I do mean man), are not God’s boundaries. God transcends all boundaries and boxes, calling us to do the same.

         We can affirm this through our scripture reading we heard today from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. It is certainly one of my favorite passages from scripture and I will quote it again and again. It happens to be our reading from the lectionary today. I repeat the line that is most important for us to understand today: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” There it is! The scripture preaches for itself. I can sit down now; that’s all you need to know!

         Paul recognized that when people live in beloved community that is led by the power of Spirit, man’s categories don’t matter anymore. No matter what the world calls you: Black, White, Brown, Asian, Latina, Native, Indigenous, Male, Female, Intersex, Transgender, Cisgender, same-gender-loving, other-gender-loving, younger, older, more-abled, less-abled, wealthy, low-income, etc. We are ALL God’s children; end of story.

         I used to hear a member of MCC in Washington DC say, “Call me anything you want; just don’t call me anything less than a child of God.” I believe with all my heart that claiming any human being is less than a child of God is a sin. Doing so is claiming that what God has created is not worth loving. If you call yourself a person of faith, your call is to love to the best of your ability the way God loves. The book of Genesis tells us that everything God created is good. God smiled on each of us with motherly pride as She birthed each one of us. So who are we to claim anything less?

         A wonderful and yet complicated thing happened this past week. The 37-year-old organization called Exodus International decided to close. Exodus has attempted for almost four decades to convert same-gender-loving people to be heterosexuals through a particular brand of fundamentalist faith. They invented the terms “ex-gay” and “reparative therapy.” I think they had good intentions all along, but their good intentions paved the road to a living hell for thousands of SGL and GV people who struggled to deny their God-given identities. Only eight years after MCC started, Exodus preached their harmful motto around the world: “Change is possible.”

         Two of the founders of Exodus were Michael Bussee and Gary Cooper. After a few short years of leading the organization, these two left it and their wives and married each other in 1982. Unfortunately, nine years later in 1991, Gary died of AIDS. But for those nine precious years, Michael and Gary were able to live in freedom from the ex-gay movement they had helped to create. Since then, Michael has fought to expose Exodus for its false message and incorrect result statistics. To this day, not a single person can be said to be so-called “cured of homosexuality.” You know why? Because same-gender love and attraction are not things to be cured.

Decades ago, then vice-moderator of MCC Rev. Elder Don Eastman wrote a pamphlet that has been distributed widely since: Homosexuality: Not a Sin, Not a Sickness. MCC has unapologetically preached for 45 years that we are not sinful and the American Psychiatric Association has held for 40 years (since 1973) that we are not sick. None of the verses in the Bible that have been used against us are valid. There is no scientific evidence that same-gender-love is mentally harmful. So for the rational human being, there is no further argument.

Unfortunately, groups like Exodus continued to oppress our people full-force regardless of logic. They instead chose the path of fear and Ego in order to keep power over those they viewed as deviant. The sensationalism of the Moral Majority of the 1980s including Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and many others fed the fires of unchristian hatred toward God’s queer children. They have said countless times that we deserve hell, they have labeled us as “satanic,” and they said AIDS was God’s punishment. But MCC never stopped fighting back with the Light of God given to us. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 4:5 that all that is in darkness will eventually come to light. That is what happened this past week.

The most recent president of Exodus, Alan Chambers made a very public apology to the LGBT community, admitting that their efforts were misled all along. That is a good start to healing, but so much more needs to be done for reparative justice to happen. In response to Exodus announcing its close, MCC’s Moderator Rev. Elder Dr. Nancy Wilson issued this statement:

Exodus 'Ex-Gay' movement needs 'conversion to truth-telling'

"We will not be satisfied until we see Evangelicals bring the same fervor to saving our lives as they have to trying to separate our souls from our God-given sexual orientations and gender identities."

                                   

The Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson is the moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches, which has ministries in over 40 countries.  Dr. Wilson was part of the first LGBT faith delegation to meet with a sitting president in 1979.  She is currently a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

"For decades, Exodus International has been synonymous with the idea that people need to be 'cured' or 'healed' of homosexuality. This week's historic apology from Exodus leader, Alan Chambers, for the harm done to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people by Exodus is encouraging," said the Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson.  "Sadly, nothing will bring back the lives lost to suicide based on pseudo-psychology and corrupt theology. Any apology for past suicides, lost years and damage to families is only as good as real actions to counter the lies spread throughout the world by past Exodus action.

"What is needed is true repentance and a conversion to truth telling. The theology of condemnation must be replaced with a theology of grace in the service of God's good creation-including LGBT people.  The trail of emotional, psychological and spiritual damage must be mitigated by evangelistic outreach around the world where the lives of LGBT people hang in the balance at the hands of religious and political leaders who would shed their blood, rape their bodies, and crucify their spirits for their own careers.

"We will not be satisfied until we see Evangelicals bring the same fervor to saving our lives as they have to trying to separate our souls from our God-given sexual orientations and gender identities.

"Around the world, MCC is known as 'The Human Rights Church' because we are sometimes the only faith tradition standing up for the lives of LGBT people.  Exodus has the opportunity to join us.

"In just days, MCC will celebrate 45 years of ministry and advocacy as we gather in Chicago, July 1-5, for our 25th General Conference.  We exhort Exodus leaders to join us.  Join us to celebrate the life of Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda who risks his life every day to fight the infamous 'kill the gays' bill. We challenge you to sit at the feet of leaders who founded the Global Justice Institute and are working with LGBT leaders in Asia, Africa and Latin America."

"Words are cheap. Lives are precious," concluded Dr. Wilson. "Do not disappoint us."

         Our global leader made our message very clear: justice is not cheap. We are always called by God to forgive, but we will never forget. We will keep our siblings in Christ on the other side of the spectrum accountable for the damage they have done. The countless lives lost to suicide because of their so-called “ministry” cannot be brought back. The countless lives ruined by their efforts and message will not necessarily be repaired. They have sinned terribly in the name of God. This is not a judgment; it is the unadulterated truth.

         The message of today’s Gospel reading from Luke falls right in line with this week’s news. We can empathize with the man who was said to have been possessed by thousands of demons. Never in this passage does Jesus blame the man for his struggle. Instead, he simply commands the things that bound the man to leave his life and let him be free.

         The man had lived a tortured life, naked and afraid in the tombs. He was kept chained up so that he would not “infect” others. In ancient times, demons were said to be spread through the nose and the mouth. (It sounds like the common cold or flu to me!) But Jesus comes along and breaks through the boundary that society had put on the man and fearlessly invited him back into the world of the living.

         Here we have a perfect parallel for our lives. The closet is a tomb. It is a dreary and smelly place of soul death and too often physical death. In our society, we view suicide as a personal choice, but think of the man locked up in the tomb because he was misunderstood. His mind was filled with the demons of shame, guild, fear, self-hatred, negative self-worth, and misinformation. He never asked for these demons. He didn’t make a deal with the Boogy Man. The man called “the demoniac” was forced into oppression by the unforgiving power of Empire. He struggled and broke off the chains, but scared people when he escaped because he was still consumed by the voices that cluttered his mind.

         But the Voice of Truth spoke through Jesus and set the man free. Jesus gave him permission to be free from the thoughts that bound him. And he could finally take the shackles off his feet so he could dance to the rhythm of life. And though his demons were gone, he was out of the tomb, out of the closet. And that scared people just as much if not more than when he was still in his former state.

         Isn’t it that way with us? Christ has called us out of dingy closets, into the light of day to proclaim the truth of God’s calling on our lives, and it scares some people! They ask, “How can this person who is supposed to hate herself be proud now?” How? Because God casts out “demons” of self-hatred; there is no “demon of homosexuality” to be cast out. Just as the Garasenes asked Jesus to leave them because of the freedom he gave the man called the demoniac, fundamentalists would probably ask Jesus to leave their towns today because of the freedom he has given the queer community.

         The Gospel passage ends with a commission to the liberated man: “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” That is God’s commission to us, especially during this month we call LGBT Pride. No matter who you love or who you are attracted to- go and testify to all the good that God has done in your life. Don’t dwell on the demons of the past. Like Rev. Elder Troy Perry said he did, burn down the closet so there’s no closet to back into! A very happy Pride to you all; may God liberate you anew each and every day. Amen.

Questions for the Pastor about LGBT and the Bible

Today I received an email asking a series of questions. Below, you will find the questions and then my answers.

1. How is being a lesbian a gift from GOD?

2. I am being instructed if it’s not in the BIBLE then it is not of GOD. Do you agree?

3. What is your opinion of the proper use of the BIBLE?

4. If being gay isn’t wrong why do churches insist it is?

5. What do you do if GOD told you to stop having intercourse with your spouse?

1) God creates us much more diversely than the categories people have created can explain. Just as some people are born intersex with the genitals of both sexes (which is obvious they were born that way because it is physical), about 10% of us are born with the natural inclination to be attracted primarily to the same sex. I believe that God uses LGBT people to expand the minds and hearts of a world that has become blind to the fullness of God's creation.

2) The Bible is an inspirational document where we can find beautiful truths to live our lives by. But it is misused every day by those who treat it in the wrong way. The "Bible and Homosexuality" pamphlet as well as the "Power of the Bible" pamphlet explain these things well. (http://mccchurch.org/resources/mcc-theologies/)

3) Jesus said that the Greatest Commandment is to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). This commandment covers all the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament/Hebrew Bible/Tanakh). The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' time had become way too legalistic, enforcing laws just because they were laws, not out of love. The entire Bible should be read through the lens of the Greatest Commandment.

4) Churches even married same-sex couples before Christianity became the religion of Rome in the 4th century. From that point on, the prejudices of various cultures and governments have tainted the Church. While many strands of Christianity have continued to live out Jesus' message of unconditional love and non-judgment, people can be controlling and will use everything, including religion, to support their views. In recent American history, churches used to Bible to justify slavery, racism, and sexism. But the Spirit moved within the hearts of many and those lies were dispelled. I believe the same thing is happening now in regard to LGBT people.

5) I have had a relationship with God my whole life. I love God with all my heart and I thank God each day for the gift of life. Like one knows what a good friend would say, I know what God would say. Jesus said that the sheep know the voice of the Shepherd (John 10:27). When so many wolves in sheep's clothing continue to say terrible things about LGBT people, it's sometimes hard to distinguish their voices from God's voice. But through prayer, you will know what is true. And remember, 90% of prayer is listening :)

Awakening

“Awakening”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

June 9, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

1 Kings 17:8-24

Luke 7:11-17

         Every day, billions of people wake up in the morning, just to sleepwalk through the day. I don’t mean that their Ambien hasn’t worn off, and I’m not talking about sleep disorders. I’m talking about going about life spiritually asleep. This isn’t a judgment on other’s lives. It’s rather an observation that I and countless others have made and written about. Recently, I talked about the book The Four Agreements. The premise of this book is that most people are living a nightmare. Don Miguel Ruiz calls this “The dream of the planet.” In this nightmare, we are stuck in a cycle of judging ourselves more harshly than anyone could ever judge us, and in return feeling victimized by our own self-judgment. The inner Judge and the inner Victim cause negative thoughts to go round and round in our heads in a never-ending cycle. But there is hope. We all have the ability to wake up… but we must choose to.

         I remember a story that has been passed down from generation to generation of a man who lived in India before the time of Jesus. He was a prince, guarded within the confines of his wealthy family’s home. He was never allowed to leave the family property because his parents never wanted him to experience suffering. The boy’s name was Siddhartha. Eventually, he broke through the gates and saw the city for what it was: poverty, sickness, death, suffering. He was angry with his parents for sheltering him from these things. He began to wonder, “What can I do to help?” After questioning the Hindu priests about how to stop the suffering, and not finding a sufficient answer, Siddhartha found a bodhi tree and sat under it. He sat for a very long time and contemplated all he had seen and heard. Eventually, Siddhartha had a mystical experience in which he became “awake” or “enlightened.” From that point on in his life, he sought to teach others enlightenment. His students called him “Buddha” or “Enlightened One.” Buddhists over the past two-and-a-half millennia have not worshipped Buddha as god, but rather followed his teachings that are said to lead to inner peace and a prosperous life.

         I keep a couple little Buddha statues around the house to remind me of Buddha’s message of waking up. It is very easy to spiritually go back to sleep. When you ask people, “How are you?” how often do you hear them say, “I’m tired.” Some people have physical conditions that make them physically tired, and many people work long hours- even several jobs. So physical and emotional fatigue from these things is understandable. But I think behind a lot of people’s confession of being tired is a spiritual fatigue. We don’t want to admit it because that might mean that we’re not strong or aren’t doing what we are “supposed to do” to be spiritually awake. There goes the inner Judge again! We hold in emotional poison because it’s something we can control. Some of us put excessive poisons in our bodies so we don’t have to face the living nightmare. But the irony is that the body becomes tolerant to substances over time and it takes more and more to numb the pain. For those of us who are not addicts, casual use of substances is not harmful. But for those with a propensity for addiction, any use can lead to a downward spiral of unloving actions toward themselves and others. I have heard the testimonies. For addicts, walking up spiritually means practicing sobriety.

         The truth of most of our lives here is that we have enough food, clean water, shelter, and necessities to at least get by. Compared to a great amount of the world that lives in poverty, we have a lot! (Amen?) Some of us have partners, friends and family we are close to, and we all have our MCC community for support. So we can all say we have people that love us. Not all people can say that. So why do we choose to live the nightmare?

         I think today’s readings from Scripture can give us some insight. Our first reading was about the prophet Elijah from the Tanakh (the Hebrew Testament). The prophet comes to the town of Zarephath. Whenever reading Scripture, knowing what the names of towns and people mean gives a lot of insight into the meaning behind the text. Zarephath means, “refining shop.” Zarephath is said to have been a town where precious metals were refined in refiner’s fires to burn out all of the impurities. Throughout the Bible, the image of the refiner’s fire is used as a metaphor for the purification of the human spirit. We have to be careful with the word “pure” or “purify” because it is commonly used now to mean taking the pleasure out of life. That’s what the Puritans of New England were all about. And unfortunately Puritanism has not died; it has just taken on new names within the realm of fundamentalism. But that’s not what this story about Elijah is about. Rather, this story is about Elijah using the power of God to refine the lives of a widow and her son.

         At first, it seems like a terrible thing for Elijah to ask the poor widow to use the last of her food to feed him. But if we read the story as allegory, we can see that food is a metaphor here for spiritual food or life force. The story is teaching us that when we have a scarcity mentality about what we each have to provide spiritually to our loved ones and to our world, we cannot live abundantly. Elijah had great faith in God’s power to bring life in places where there seemed to be none. And so when the widow’s son had died, Elijah prayed that the child be filled with life again. This story is not about how to do ancient CPR. No, this story is to show us that even when we feel dead inside, like God isn’t listening, resurrection is possible.

         The Gospel of Luke tells a similar story that scholars believe to be written to mirror the story of Elijah from 1 Kings. Jesus is said to have met a widow as well, but in the town of Nain. In Hebrew, Nain means “lovely” or “green pastures.” So the tragic event of a widow’s only son’s death does not match the town name. But it does teach us what the natural state of our being should be: lovely. As the 23^rd Psalm says, “I lead you through green pastures.” The widow and her son thought they were in a barren desert, not on green pastures. But Jesus proves them otherwise. Without even touching the son, Jesus tells him to rise- and he does. Jesus’ good word brought life to people he encountered. He helped all the people he could to become spiritually awake.

         Jesus’ example brings me to ask you the question today, “Do your word bring others to spiritual awakening or does your word make people want to go to sleep?” I certainly hope my sermons don’t make you want to go to sleep J The word is a very powerful thing. It can cast nasty spells on others by decreasing their self worth, or it can bring healing by affirming their sacred value as beloved children of God. I think we all do some of both, but our aim as followers of Christ is to practice healing words, not spells.

         A Course in Miracles states, “Could it be some dreams are kept and others wakened from? The choice is not between which dreams to keep, but only if you want to live in dreams or to awaken from them. This it is: the miracle does not select some dreams to leave untouched by its beneficence. You cannot dream some dreams and wake from some, for you are either sleeping or awake. And dreaming goes with only one of these. The dreams you think you like would hold you back as much as those in which the fear is seen. For every dream is but a dream of fear, no matter what the form it seems to take. The fear is seen within, without, or both. Or it can be disguised in pleasant form” (29:25-26).

         Deuteronomy 30:19 puts it clearly for us: “ [God says,] ‘I call heaven and earth to witness [to] you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life…” As strange as it sounds to us spoken aloud, the truth is that we too often choose death and the curse. The inner Victim seeks pity, confusing pity with love. We don’t need to be pitied to be loved. What God wants is for us to celebrate our lives. That is the meaning of being awake. And that is the truest meaning of LGBT Pride. The ego kind of pride is unloving and that is why it is listed as a sin across religions. But pride in our beauty as God has made us is God’s will and our destiny.

         As each of us practices being spiritually awake, we wake up others as well. The refiner’s fire spreads like wildfire if we let it. Today, may we allow the Divine Refiner’s Fire to purify our hearts that we may be resurrected into life on those beautiful green pastures of abundant life. We can live Heaven on earth. And so it is. Amen.

Healing Our Own, Healing the World

“Healing Our Own, Healing the World”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

June 2, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Psalm 96

Luke 7:1-10

Today our reading from the Gospel of Luke leads us to ask the questions, “What is healing?” and “What ways of healing are we called to?” Let’s look deeper into the scripture and see what wisdom we can find.

In the previous chapter in Luke, Jesus heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, which was against Jewish law. Then a “great multitude” of people from the region came and tried to touch Jesus and many of them found healing. Then we read in the seventh chapter this story of the Centurion (a Roman soldier) whose servant was ill and close to death. The text tells us that this soldier was in charge of many men, so he was a higher official. He probably worked for Herod who was the Jewish/Roman hybrid King, given charge to rule Israel through his knowledge of Judaism but by authority of pagan Rome. This Centurion is said to have led the building of the synagogue there in Capernaum, which was a center of trade in Galilee. In line with Jewish law, the Centurion did not want Jesus to enter his pagan home because it would cause Jesus to be ritually unclean. He had witnessed the faith of the Jews and he had heard about the great miracles that Jesus had performed, so he had faith that Jesus could heal his servant as well. The Centurion told his friends to deliver a message to Jesus saying, “But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.” The Centurion loved his servant dearly and through this love he believed that his servant could be healed.

When Jesus receives this message from the Centurion’s friends, he is astonished because the Centurion doesn’t request typical ways of healing. Jesus was probably thinking, “This man gets it. He knows what healing is all about: faith.” In the Gospel of Matthew in the same story, Jesus speaks directly to the Centurion saying, “Go, let it be done for you according to your faith.” In both Matthew and Luke, as soon as the friends or the Centurion return to the servant, he is healed.

The critic’s response to stories like this is to say, “That was a nice story Pastor, but why can’t I be healed? I have been ill for a long time and as hard as I pray, I am still sick.” Some so-called “faith healing” churches would say, “You don’t have enough faith.” Televangelists like Benny Hinn would probably say, “You need to wait for your miracle to come.” These responses may be said with good intentions, but they can cause us a lot of guilt. They can make us feel like we are not good enough. They can even question our faith, leading us to wonder whether God is really listening.

I view their response as a half-lie and a half-truth. The lie is that all illnesses can be cured with prayer alone. Believe me, I have been a hospital chaplain and have prayed again and again with chronically ill people. Some have gotten better and others declined and others died. I don’t attribute their condition to my prayers or to their faith. I know that there are numerous reasons why a person’s body will heal or decline.

But I do know for sure that prayer is a powerful force. Prayer opens your whole being to the Divine, allowing you to rest in God’s healing womb. Prayer clears fear from the mind, allowing the Good to flow through a person. Science has proven that the stress of fear and worry causes negative effects in the body. Serious illness can be triggered by stress. Clinically, these symptoms are called “psychosomatic.” When the spirit is filled with poison, our bodies feel pain. I know when I am worried, my stomach hurts and I can’t eat. When some people are depressed, they overeat, and often eat junk food because the fat or sugar gives a temporary high. (Oprah has been talking about this for 30 years!) The phrase, “Worry yourself to death” is not an exaggeration.

In the early days of the Christian Science movement, they believed that all illness was caused by negative thinking. To this day, some fundamentalist sects refuse to go to the hospital or take their children to the hospital because they perceive doing so as a lack of faith. Many of them have died because they refused treatment. Their peers say after the death that it must have been God’s will. I certainly do not condone that kind of behavior. Modern science can be a great blessing that saves lives and allows us to live longer and fuller lives. But I also believe in holistic healing which includes both medical and spiritual elements.

Many of us know by experience that we sometimes have the choice of whether to live or not. Some people with terminal illness decide to tell their body to shut down because they simply cannot fight the suffering anymore. To them, death is a blessing, which I fully affirm. Others with terminal illness have an indomitable spirit that refuses to let go of life. The AIDS pandemic has shown us many cases where people with AIDS have held out with all their strength, often with the help of faith, and have gone from the death bed to running marathons after a few years of healing. Faith will not rid the body of HIV, or cancer, or MS, or any disease, but it will rid the mind and the spirit of crippling fear. Faith heals dis-ease, not necessarily disease.

There is also a queer twist to this story of the Centurion and his servant that we find in the Gospels. History tells us that in that place and time, Roman soldiers were not permitted to marry. This is because they needed to focus solely on their military duties and if they died, they did not leave a widow and/or orphans. So instead of having female companions, soldiers often had male lovers. Sometimes they were the same age and other times, it was an older man with a younger man. In fourth century BCE Greece, a famous army called the Sacred Band of Thebes was formed by the Theban commander Gorgidas. The entire army was comprised of 150 pairs of male lovers. The philosophy behind this army was that the men would fight harder because not only was their own life at stake, but also the life of their lover. And in my mind, who wants to face an army of 300 gay men?? (Or an army of 300 lesbians!) And remember, it was a group of hardy drag queens that fought against the police at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in June of 1969. They were fed up and fought back for once. And the event has gone down in history as the start of the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. That is why we celebrate LGBT Pride in the month of June.

Looking back to our reading today from the Gospel of Luke, we can be pretty sure that the Centurion and his servant were lovers. The text uses the Greek word doulos, which denotes a pederastic relationship of an older man and a younger man. Before I continue, please do not think that I am condoning pedophilia. We know that at least in our country, the age of consent is between 16 and 18. We consider a relationship between someone older than 18 and a minor to be nonconsensual. Minors can be easily coerced into consenting to sexual contact that may not be psychologically good for them.

In the ancient Near East, it was common and acceptable for an older man and a younger man to have a sexual relationship. It was even viewed as part of the natural process of growing up. With that said, we can view the relationship of the Centurion and his servant with ancient eyes. We can affirm their love for each other, not just because it was not unlawful or taboo, but because Jesus affirmed it too. Never in the Gospel texts does Jesus condemn the Centurion for his relationship with his servant. The only thing Jesus was concerned with was that the servant was suffering from illness and the Centurion was suffering from grief. So in affirmation of the love that birthed the Centurion’s great faith, Jesus sent healing words their way. MCC’s “Would Jesus Discriminate?” campaign put up billboards across the country, quoting this passage with the message, “Jesus affirmed a gay couple.” Oh, did that make some people mad! We can’t project the label “gay” onto ancient people because that construct did not exist at that time. But we can affirm same-gender love when we see it in our sacred texts. It is this kind of action that starts the conversations that lead to healing the Church concerning LGBT folks.

Do you need the touch of the Great Physician today? I can’t promise that your ailment can be cured, but I can assure you that if you put your health into God’s hands, God will do for you whatever is possible. I believe that God continues to work for our wholeness each and every day. I also believe that spiritual dis-ease is not our natural state. Our natural state is how we came into this world: seeing miracles every day. A Course in Miracles teaches that a miracle is not something to be surprised by. Rather, a miracle is a natural occurrence. It is a turn from fear to love within our being. It is a letting go of any grievances we are holding against our siblings in the human family. The agent of a healing miracle is forgiveness.

What do you need to let go of today? What stands between you and the open embrace of God’s Love? What unimportant thing is keeping you from the kind of happiness that God wants for you? Today, you have the opportunity to “let go and let God.” I will now be available to anoint your forehead with oil as a simple reminder of God’s grace and Unconditional Love that dispels all fear. If you do not want oil, you may also just receive a short blessing. Our Care Team will also be available to pray with you. Please come as you feel led, and remember: accepting your own healing is the first step to healing our world. Amen.

Progressive Christian Theology 101

“God in All, All in God”

Lesson for MCC New Haven

May 26, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

·       Progressive Christian Theology 101: Theo/Thea (God) + Logos (Word/Reason/Logic) = Exploration of God

·       Most Christian denominations are Trinitarian, though some are not.

·       Trinity: Not three gods, but rather God revealed in three persons. Traditionally “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (or Ghost). Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Source, Christ, Comforter/Helper/Paraclete. This formula is used in baptism and in blessing.

·       Hebrew God in the Tanakh: YHWH (tetragrammaton) transliterated as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”. It is written as “LORD” in most of our Bibles. Jews do not speak this name for God. God’s name is kept unspoken because it is too holy to speak. Many Jews write “G-d” in further respect. Jews refer to God in common conversation as “HaShem” meaning “The Name.” In prayer, they use “Adonai”, meaning “Lord” (“Kyrios” in Greek). Before the temple was destroyed in 70CE, the name was pronounced, but only in the Holy of Holies by the priest.

·       Hebrew names of God:

o  Elohim, “God of Power.”

o  Ehyeh asher ehyeh, “I AM” or “I AM that I AM” or “I will be who I will be.”

o  El Shaddai, “Almighty Breasted God”

o  Shekhina, God’s dwelling presence. Feminine.

·       Trinities of other religions. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva in Hinduism, etc.

·       God beyond the Trinity: What other ways do we see God? Panenthiesm: God in All.

·       What kind of God can we believe in? The question should not be “Is there a God?” but rather “Is there God?” Our answer today: Yes. God is.

·       Psalm 139: “Where can I go from your Spirit?” The answer: Nowhere!

·       The problem of suffering: “theodicy”. Especially after the Holocaust (Shoah), theologians had to change their ideas about how God works in the world. We cannot believe that God causes suffering. We hear some fundamentalists claim this, but that is harmful theology.

·       God did not cause the tornados in Oklahoma. Natural disasters are NOT “acts of God.”

·       Our beliefs inform our behavior. Believe in a punishing, angry, manipulative God, and you will be as well. Believe in the God of Love that Jesus taught about and demonstrated, and you will live a life of love as well.

·       For more info on Progressive Christianity, visit www.ProgressiveChristianity.org

Spirit-Filled Living

“Spirit-Filled Living”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

May 19, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Texts:

Acts 2:1-18

John 14:12-17

         Happy Birthday! … On the Christian calendar, today is called Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost has long been called “the birthday of the Church.” Each year, we read from the second chapter of Luke’s Book of Acts how the disciples were all gathered together after Jesus had departed from them. And just as Jesus had promised, they had a life-changing spiritual experience together. Without any history, you may read the story and think their experience is just a bunch of meaningless chaos. A strong wind blew through the house where they were and then tongues of fire appeared above each of their heads. And though the crowd spoke in many different languages, each person heard the others speaking their own language. They could understand each other without a translator.

         I imagine that if I had not grown up in the church and I read this story, I just wouldn’t get it. It sounds like just one more story with crazy Bible language. And that is why we turn to the eleventh chapter of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (verses 1-9, GNB). “At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth." Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built, and said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other." So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.”

         We know that this is not a historical story. All the people of the world at that time did not speak the same language. And we also know that God is not a separate entity that lives in the sky and comes down to check on us now and again. This kind of text was written in order to give a lively explanation for why different people spoke different languages. Imagine it being told around a campfire. The moral of this story is that people were trying to get to heaven, and they tried doing so to “make a name for themselves.” They wanted fame; they weren’t seeking a relationship with God.

         Now let’s look back at the Pentecost story. Remember that Jesus had just done what the people of Babylon had failed to do: he ascended to heaven to be with God. And he didn’t do so selfishly as the Babylonians had tried to do. No, Jesus went to “prepare the way,” that others might come after him. But instead of just disappearing and waiting for people to die so that they could rise to heaven in spirit, Jesus sent heaven to them.

         The fire of God’s holy Spirit fell from heaven so that it could live within those who had been enlightened by Jesus’ teachings. And hinting at the story of the Tower of Babel, without mentioning Babylon specifically, we see the peoples of the world united once again, this time by Love.

         Was the disciples’ hair on fire? No. Did someone just leave a window open when there was a storm brewing? No. Were there really people from all those places gathered there? I don’t know. What I do know is that the Pentecost experience was a life-changing one for those involved, an experience that isn’t isolated to that house in Jerusalem, but is rather an experience that is available to us all. Luke makes a bold point in his story telling: God is with us. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God.

         It makes perfect sense that this event is said to have happened on the Day of Pentecost. Christians did not invent this day; Jews did. It was the Festival of Shavuot when Jews celebrate Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. In the third chapter of the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, the story is told, “There an angel of the Lord appeared to [Moses] in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And [Moses] said, “Here I am.” Then [God] said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” … And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.”

         Do you see the parallel here? Moses experiences God as a flaming bush in a “mountain-top experience” in which the power of God is too much for him to bear for long. But on the day of Pentecost, Jesus’ disciples are not told to step back from the flame of God. Instead, the flame rests upon each of them, filling them with Holy Fire. Their Rabbi, Jesus, had brought the wonder and power of Sinai down to them.

         In Progressive Christianity, we do not claim to supersede Judaism. We honor the Jewish faith as one of many paths of truth. Jews still experience the Holy Fire of God in the lighting of the shabbos candles every Friday night as the Sabbath begins, and in the lighting of the Menorah during the eight days of Hanukah. Through their tradition passed down from generation to generation, they experience the holy.

         As Christians, we follow in the teaching of Jesus, that this Holy Fire cannot be contained, and it cannot be put out. When we open our spirits to the Spirit, we are ignited with the same loving-kindness that Jesus demonstrated. We’re just flaming with love! And as Jesus said in the passage from the Gospel of John we heard today, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.”

         And I believe we are! MCC today is working miracles. Since 1968 when that first group of people met together in Rev. Troy Perry’s living room and experienced the holy Spirit there, MCC has spread like wildfire and never stopped. The KKK tried to put out the fire, but it couldn’t. The Moral Majority tried to put out the fire, but it couldn’t. AIDS tried to put out the fire, but it couldn’t. Hate crimes have tried to put out the fire, but they won’t. We heard the terrible news yesterday that a gay man was murdered by a shot to the head just Friday night in Greenwich Village in New York. We have come a long way tearing down walls of bigotry and hatred, but there is still a long way to go. We can’t let incidents like this make us hide in fear; we must continue to live boldly. We are a holy people, empowered by the Queer Spirit of God to spread the Good News that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt to be true: God dwells within us too. Luke quotes the prophet Joel in saying that God will pour Her Spirit upon ALL flesh. Not just some flesh; ALL flesh. Black flesh, white flesh, tan flesh, purple flesh. Straight flesh, bisexual flesh, gay flesh, transgender flesh. Young flesh and old flesh. Able flesh and disabled flesh. ALL means ALL.

         The founders of MCC New Haven knew this truth. I have spent many hours in our office looking through old records, tracing the path of the Spirit through our history. I believe that Spirit was present with Yale Divinity School students Kenneth Theriault and Beverly Lett who had the courage to start a church for LGBT people in 1977 when homophobia and transphobia was a common reality. I believe Spirit led Harry Wright to be the first Moderator and Paul Keroack to be the first Clerk of MCCNH’s first Board of Directors in 1979. And I believe that Spirit led Tom O’Loughlin to join the Board in 1981. I’m sure both of you have been recognized many times over the years for your work, but we continue to thank you today for all you have done in following Spirit and in still being here today.

         Through thick and thin of the past 36 years, God’s Spirit has blown through the life of MCC New Haven. For many years, attendance stayed around twenty. For a time in the 90’s, under the leadership of Rev. Susan Heiskell, attendance was around 150. In fact, in 1991, we had two services: one morning and one afternoon. A building fund was started. Then a recession hit and that dream had to be deferred. The church saw new leadership under Rev. Burnie Barbour, Rev. Marylin Bowens, and others. The choir enjoyed a season with Beth Styles.

I know that those of you who were involved in the church over those years have good memories and not so good memories. Spirits were encouraged and spirits were broken. Relationships began and some ended. Some beloved members passed away, including Harry Wright. I know that remembering some of these things may be painful. Struggle and loss isn’t fun. But we are a Christian community, and as such, we are called to look back and claim our story as part of God’s story. Never forget, God has laughed and danced with you and God has wept with you.

Over the coming weeks, you will have the opportunity to write on the timeline posted on the wall significant events in the church that are important to you. Take a note card for each event, and write how you saw Spirit at work during that time. Don’t be snarky. Don’t bleed all over the paper. Instead, do the work of healing by recognizing all that God has done for us. If you’re new to the church, please feel free to write down the date of your first service with us or an event with us that is important to you. This will be our way of looking straight into that burning bush, without being afraid.

The Holy Spirit that is with us is the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit within us speaks the truth through us in Love. As Paul writes in his letter to the Romans (8:26, NRSV), “…the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” You may not know how to express your feelings about our history. But if you allow Her to, the Spirit will intercede for you, advocate for you, help you.

A Course in Miracles (22:59) says, “Extension of forgiveness is the Holy Spirit’s function. Leave this to [Her]. Let your concern be only that you give to [Her] that which can be extended. Save no dark secrets that [She] cannot use, but offer [Her] the tiny gifts [She] can extend forever. [She] will take each one and make it a potent force for peace. [She] will withhold no blessing from it or limit it in any way. [She] will join to it all the power that God has given [Her] to make each little gift of love a source of healing for everyone. Each little gift you offer to the other lights up the world.”

We have a choice to make today. Do we frantically try to rebuilt the Tower of Babel to seek something in the sky that isn’t there like a “Golden Age” gone by, or do we embrace the Spirit of Healing and Forgiveness that is right where we are, that is our very own breath? If we choose the Way of Spirit, we will grow. If we choose the way of Ego, we will scatter like the people of Babylon.

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Giving, the Spirit of Generosity. Opening our hearts and our hands to serve our church and beyond our doors through giving the very best of our time, talents, and treasure is what will open up greater prosperity for our community. I’m here to orchestrate this process; I’m the maestro. But what’s an orchestra without the full cooperation of the musicians? A cacophony. I ask you today, for the sake of all who have come before us to keep this church alive, and for the cause of Christ, to choose with me the wild, daring, yet most fulfilling way of Spirit. In the words of the Sufi Mystic Rumi, “Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” And so it is. Amen.