I have friends that are not allowed to be ordained in their traditions because of gender and/or sexual orientation. My heart breaks over this issue. I have friends who are better preachers, teachers, and servants than me. Better. Hands down. But I am allowed to be ordained in my tradition. My friends cannot because they are gay. (And in other traditions, because they are females.) I stay in my tradition. I could try to explain about working within the organization for change. I could. But it is so hard to explain.
Today I celebrated my friends' gifts. I celebrated their call to ministry. Listen to me. All of you. They are called to ministry. I celebrated their diversity. And by God, we are a diverse bunch with diverse calls that awaken diverse gifts. I celebrated. We celebrated.
I listened as an inspired commissioning message was delivered. Now, my friends, I ask you to listen:
"As one of your communities we have been privileged to experience your many gifts over the last few years. We know that these gifts – of kindness, of loving justice, of hospitality, of compassion, of love of study, of imagination for what can be…. are gifts from God. The fact that our various institutional churches have unjust roadblocks to ordination does not negate or diminish these gifts. God has animated your life with the Divine Spirit, and the truth is you do not need anybody’s blessing to be about God’s work in the world. The broken places of our world actually don’t care too much about credentials.
But – let us not be naïve -- we live in a world where credentials still matter. There will be some professional opportunities that are not available to you because of your gender or your sexual orientation. One of the challenges for you around this will be finding ways to be faithful to your call and the expression of the gifts you have been given….while negotiating your way around some anger you may feel about the church’s blind spots...
And so my word of commissioning to you today is to be attentive to the anger, but do not let it paralyze you.
May it become a kind of righteous indignation
A slow-burning Pentecost fire in your belly that keeps all of us yearning for that day when our churches will look like God’s dream of an inclusive, beloved community.
Anger is a power. Use your powers for good."
You may not agree. You may not even agree that I should be ordained because of my gender. But I wept with my friends today. I wept because their call to ministry has been denied by so many. Their call is denied by the tradition that I hold near and dear to my heart. But I wept for joy, too. I wept as stoles were draped around their necks to honor their call. I wept because I promised to be an advocate. I wept in solidarity. I wept. We wept. I believe God wept.
The church continues. It continues as the sign, symbol, and presence of God's reign on earth. I will be present, and I will work. Hard. I have been called to the vocation of ministry. And out of my own calling is a responsibility to acknowledge, support, and advocate for others to fulfill their callings.
I wept today. I wept out of deep sadness. I wept from the experience of joy.
It was a service of celebration. Celebrate with me. Amen. BEAT
