[Oe List ...] the parable of the good Samaritan

Fri Feb 12 20:31:20 CST 2010

And is not someone who is prejudiced (about anything you hold dear) a leper
in liberal society?

Susan

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From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf
Of W. J.
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 8:56 PM
To: Order Ecumenical Community
Subject: [Oe List ...] the parable of the good Samaritan

This sermon is on target, but perhaps doesn't quite ring the bell that
allows people to 'get it.' A better 'cultural translation' of 'Samaritan'
that would speak to religious homophobes might be 'scum of the earth.'
Pedagogical questions: for you, who are some of those considered the 'scum
of the earth'? Do you actually know any of these people? How do you
personally view them and why? Do you believe these folks are 'less' than
other people? How do you imagine they are judged by the Mystery who made
them? What does it mean to you to judge--or not to judge--these people?
Marshall

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally
treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are
cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are
slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of
the earth, the refuse of the world."
<http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%204;&version=72
;> (1 Corinthians 4:11-13)

P.S. 'Scum of the Earth' is a heavy metal band. Also an atypical 'church' in
Denver. Check 'em out on the web.
Until recently, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
ran the aptly named Samaritan College which offered clergy training on the
'Bible college' model. These LGBT folks understand that they are the modern
version of 'Samaritans' for the religious establishment. After twenty years
or so of intense debate, they still couldn't get membership in the National
Council of Churches.

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From: Margaret Helen Aiseayew <aiseayew at netins.net>
To: Order Ecumenical Community <oe at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Fri, February 12, 2010 8:53:19 AM
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Salmon:-Who is My Neighbor

Thanks, Bill for sharing this sermon.  I have been trying for a long time
with my congregation, and I have not been able to get them beyond "love the
sinner, hate the sin."  (Actually, getting to the place where most of
them--not all--are willing to contemplate marginally loving the sinner,
almost seems like victory some days.)  They are adamant that  this is
possible--even though I have tried to outline several "proofs" as to why
that might not be so.  I will be interested to hear how this plays in your
congregation.  Do you have some openly gay members?  I should think that
would help.  I have none and feel like we need some badly.  Please pass
along my thanks for their grace and guts if you do.  Margaret

----- Original Message ----- 
From: William Salmon <mailto:wsalmon at cox.net>  
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:; 
Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 10:24 AM
Subject: [Oe List ...] Salmon:-Who is My Neighbor

Friends and colleagues -

            This is a sermon delivered last Sunday by Barry Dundas, the Sr.
Pastor at Salina Trinity United Methodist Church. This is a masterpiece on
the topic of homosexuality (our most painful topic in the UMC, and the most
neglected) and it needs to be shared. What do you think? 

Bill Salmon

Who is My Neighbor?

A sermon preached February 7, 2010

By Rev. Barry Dundas

At Trinity United Methodist Church

Salina , Kansas

In 2007 I was elected as an alternate delegate to Jurisdictional Conference
of the United Methodist Church . The Jurisdictional Conference has one
primary function, to elect new Bishops. Of course we don't know most of
candidates, but the church has a process to help us with our work. We have
the endorsed candidates fill out lots of paperwork answering "Bishopy" type
questions. Then they meet with each delegation for interviews. Over two days
we had interviews with nine candidates for three Bishop vacancies. It was a
fascinating experience. The written work included a specific question about
the inclusive nature of church. Of course all of the candidates supported
inclusiveness. It is central to our theology that God loves all people. If
you speak against inclusiveness then you are not going to be elected Bishop.
What I found interesting is that most of the candidates mentioned things
like gender, ethnicity or economic inclusiveness, but never mentioned
homosexuality. Only one candidate that I remember addressed homosexuality in
his paperwork. He wrote that he believed the issues around homosexuality are
possibly the most painful issues in our church. A few sentences later he
followed it up by saying, "However I support the current statements of the
United Methodist Church ."

This was a great opportunity to ask what I thought was an intelligent
question. When you are interviewing Bishop candidates, the last thing you
want to do is ask a dumb question. I thanked him for having the courage to
acknowledge the pain surrounding the issue of homosexuality when many of his
colleagues did not. I even went further by saying that I believed the church
has often been the source of the pain to which he nodded in agreement. Then
I asked him my big question, "How do reconcile acknowledging the tremendous
pain around this issue and your statement that the church should not change
anything, that we should just keep the status quo?" I have to admit that I
was quite proud of myself. I wanted to yell out Bazinga! His response was
very short, "We can't change anything, we would lose too many members." That
was not the answer I expected, at least not from a Bishop candidate. I
thought he at least would give me some kind of theological argument. That I
could respect, even if I disagreed with him. At least show me that you have
wrestled with the question, you might be my next Bishop.

You see I believe he had at least one thing right, homosexuality may be most
painful issue in the church today, and often the church has been the source
of that pain. One of our church members has adult daughter who is gay. He
shared with me that she refuses to go to a church. Even though she was
raised in the church and still believes, she has received so much abuse from
church that she cannot even walk in the doors. As she puts it, she has
endured all the Christian love she can stomach. I asked many of my gay and
lesbian friends where the church has missed the point on this issue. There
answers were very consistent - judgment. They tell me the church preaches
against judgment and claims that Christians should not judge, but when they
come to a church, that is the message they hear. They are told over and
over, you are not worthy to be here, you are not acceptable to God. I think
we need to be honest; the church has done more damage than good on this
issue. Why is that? Maybe we have forgotten something that is central to our
faith.

Two weeks ago we handed out Bibles to our third graders. It was a great day.
As members of their church family, you were asked to circle your favorite
verses and place your initials beside them. It took me awhile to choose my
favorite verse because there are too many. Finally I choose the passage in
Matthew where Jesus is asked, what is the greatest commandment? He replies,
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second
is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets." I tell you, if I could just
do these two, I would be happy. It is about loving God with everything in
your being, centering yourself on God and God's purposes, but also loving
your neighbor. The two cannot be separated, they are too connected. If we
love God, than we must love our neighbors.

That is my favorite passage, but I also love what Luke does with this
commandment. Unlike Matthew or Mark, Jesus does not give the commandment. A
lawyer comes and asks him the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal
life?" In other words, what is central to life with God? Jesus asks what is
written and it is the lawyer who responds with the commandment. Jesus just
confirms that he got it right and then the lawyer makes his mistake. Wanting
to justify himself he asks, "Who is my neighbor?" What he is really asking
is who is not included, who do I not have to love? Jesus answers by telling
the Good Samaritan story, one of the most powerful yet scandalous parables
in the Bible.

The story is about a man who is beaten and robbed on a dangerous road
between Jericho and Jerusalem . The first two passersby are religious
leaders. Not only do they ignore him, they distance themselves from the man.
Like the Bishop candidate, they acknowledge his pain but are too afraid to
do anything about it. The Samaritan however not only stops, but acts to
bring healing to the wounded individual. To understand this parable we must
first acknowledge that to a first century Jew, Good Samaritan would be an
oxymoron. They saw absolutely nothing good in any Samaritans and the feeling
from the Samaritans was mutual. Their history went back nearly 500 years to
the time of the Babylonian exile. When the Jews were taken to Babylon , not
everyone was taken, only the Jewish leadership and the people with power.
Many were left behind on the land. And who were these people who were left
behind? They were the nobodies of society, the unimportant and the
powerless. Some who lived in area of Samaria continued to live there and
intermarry with people outside the Jewish faith. When the Jews returned from
exile, they decided that these Samaritans no longer counted. They were half
bloods, a mixed race that had diluted the pure faith. Even though they still
worshipped the same God and practiced Torah, these people were unacceptable
to the "real Jews." After 500 years, you can see how this animosity would
have grown.

For Jesus to make a Samaritan the hero was scandalous, but it also made his
point. When he asked the lawyer who was the neighbor, the lawyer only had
one possible answer, "The one who showed mercy." Jesus tells him to go and
do likewise. The answer to his question, "Who is my neighbor?" is very
clear. Everyone is your neighbor. Not just those who look like you or act
like you. Nobody is outside of God's love. If you want to love God then you
must love all of God's people.

It is very clear to me that our homosexual brothers and sisters are the
Samaritans of our time and place. For a long time they have been told that
they are nobodies, people who don't count, who are unacceptable in God's
church. They have heard the message loud and clear, "You are not our
neighbors!" How does this happen in God's church? How have we forgotten our
greatest commandment?

Brian McLaren tells a powerful story of the church he served. His church had
an e-mail listserv that was used to discuss issues of faith. For many weeks
they had a lively discussion on the issue of homosexuality. A man in his
congregation who struggled with his own sexual orientation confided in
Brian. He wanted to post a message explaining what it feels like to hear
messages like "hate the sin, love the sinner." However he could not break
his anonymity, it would be too risky and too painful. To preserve his
identity he asked Brian to post his message with the pseudonym pain. He sent
Brian the message to post, but when he copied the message he also copied the
return path at the bottom. It included both his real name and his return
e-mail address. Brian had no idea until someone called and told him.
Mortified he the called man and rushed to his house. He found the man
weeping with his family. Brian said that he died inside at that moment. They
talked and prayed. Brian apologized to his friend and miraculously he
forgave Brian. Brian concludes his story by saying, "Still, the fact remains
that a homosexual man whom I had hurt so deeply was far more merciful to me
than most churches are to homosexuals."

We can no longer just acknowledge the pain. We have been walking on the
other side of the road far too long. We have not lived our greatest
commandment, to love God and to love our neighbors. At the end of the story
Jesus tells the man, "Go and do likewise." Love your neighbor - all your
neighbors, just as God loves them. It is time to stop living out of our fear
and to start living through God's love.

  _____  

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