Thoughts from Yesterday's All Saints Sunday Service

Sara and I attended a very meaningful All Saints Sunday service at our church, Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer, yesterday. The service had special meaning to us with the passing of Sara's father early this year. The most moving part of the service was when those who wished to do so walked to the front of the sanctuary, picked up a lit candle, and placed it on the altar in memory of a loved one who passed away in the past year. As I looked at all the people standing in line, it was hard not to be reminded that LCCR is a Reconciling In Christ congregation - that the church weleomes
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons, as well as those who may have been excluded because of other human distinctions, such as race, economic status, or gender. We thus affirm that this welcome includes all people. We pledge to ourselves and to all others that we will strive to live as a reconciling people, in our life together and in our outreach to the world.
I saw all kinds of individuals and families proceeding to the altar to remember their loved ones lost in the past year: mom, dad, and children families; individuals; gay and lesbian couples with their precious adopted children; widows; retirees; immigrants from Togo; and others. It was a reminder of how we all are born, live a limited time on this earth, and die, and that
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28
And further, that
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.[Romans 3:23-24]
It was hard not to think of the vote on the marriage amendment coming up tomorrow when looking at the members of my congregation. I have already stated my reasons for voting against the amendment. As I saw my gay and lesbian friends among those standing in line to remember their loved ones, sharing in the same sort of joys and pain that all people do, it was hard not to think of all the hateful things I have seen written about the issue by proponents of the amendment. No discussion of the issue seems possible without some cruel person thinking they are showing the height of wittiness by using the same idiotic "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" joke that was old when I first heard it sometime in the 1980's. Somehow they never think to end the comparison with "not Lamech and Adah and Zillah", or "Esau and Adah and Oholibamah and Basemath", or "Solomon and his 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines". People who make this joke should remember that they are mocking their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ - created, like them, in Gods' image. I urge those considering this vote to remember that this amendment affects the right of people, not abstract concepts or jokes. Remember that your church cannot be forced to marry same sex couples, and that freedom of religion means freedom for all, not freedom to enforce your beliefs on everyone - any more than you would want, for example, Sharia Law imposed on you.

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