To Be a Peculiar People

Two years ago today, I started my ministry here in the Mountain Sky Conference of The United Methodist Church as your bishop. Looking over the past two years, my heart is filled with thanksgiving to God for the life we have shared together. I have been deeply moved as I have traveled throughout our conference, listening to so many of you tell me about what excites you about the ministries of your local church, the concerns you have for your community, the hopes you have for those who will come after you. I have delighted in the ways the Spirit has moved in our midst, bringing new fruit from the labors of so many, as we created a new annual conference together. I have been humbled by the secrets you have whispered to me, seeking relief and healing from the wounds you have carried. I have been energized by the bold faith of our young people and encouraged by the wisdom of our elders. I have been grateful for the ways we have been willing to engage in hard conversations together, allowing grace and love to guide us even in the midst of deep disagreements.

Reflecting on all of this, I can only utter the prayer of Dag Hammarskjöld: “For all that has been, thanks. For all that shall be, yes!”

As we enter this new year together, may we continue to find ways to deepen our love of God and neighbor. We are living in an era where love is in exceedingly short supply. More and more, differences are seen as threatening rather than something to delight in as a gift from God. Bullying and belittling have threatened civil discourse. Violence is seen as preferable to compromise. As followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, what are we called to do? Who are we called to be?

This will not be an easy year for United Methodists, as General Conference delegates determine who we will be for coming generations. Can we be united in mission, to extend the love of God to all in such generous ways that others are inspired to follow Christ? Or will we allow our differences to divide?

May we in the Mountain Sky Conference sink deeply into the ways of Jesus to offer the world an alternative vision of community. I Peter 2 calls Christians a “peculiar people” because the teachings of Jesus are in stark contrast to the world.

“Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.” (I Peter 2: 1-3)

May we lean into love, through which we come to know God more completely. Love never rejects but always seeks to connect. It doesn’t divide but always draws the circle wider. Love never belittles but honors others as made in the image of God.

In this way, may we allow the Spirit to lead us in ways we can’t even imagine, as we love God, each other, and those we haven’t met yet, more deeply and completely.

WE ARE THE VILLAGE

Where is the village?

Here is the village!
Who is the village?
We are the village!

More than two hundred girls were preparing for tests

And so they laid down for a good night’s rest
Terrorists came in, they were taken in the night
Who will be their voice, who will put up a fight?
Where is the village?
Here is the village!
Who is the village?
We are the village!

 Two brown kids walk home from school one day

Their undocumented parents work hard and pray

When they get to their home, Something’s not right

 Their parents are gone, they were taken by ICE

 

Where is the village?

Here is the village!

Who is the village?

We are the village!

 A child is bullied in the school playgroundToo dark, too light, to gay, too round
The words they hurt, they cut like a knife
The only option she can see, is to take her own life

Where is the village?
Here is the village!
Who is the village?
We are the village!
 

A child is hungry and dreams of meat

But the cupboards are bare there is nothing to eat
This isn’t just happening so far away
There are hungry children in the US of A
Where is the village?
Here is the village!
here is the village?

We are the village!

A child now lives with a great deal of fright

Because her dad comes to her room at night

The very one who should try to protect her

Has now become a monster by being her molester

Where is the village?

Here is the village!

Who is the village?

We are the village!

There are kids in your apartment or living down the street

Their future already feels so obsolete
Won’t you take a moment, to let them know you care
It’s the simple things we do that wash away despair
Where is the village?
Here is the village!
Who is the village?
We are the village!

Standing on the Side of Justice and Love?

Recently, The United Methodist Church General Board of Pension and Health Benefits decided to add another social screen to their investment portfolio: companies related to private prisons. This adds to the current screens of gambling, the manufacture, sale, or distribution of tobacco-related products, weapons, and pornography. This continues to keep the pension funds of clergy and lay employees in line with the denomination's historic stand for social justice.

I am very happy that The UMC is concerned about those on the margins  enough to make a commitment not to profit from (or add to the profit of) companies that support systems of injustice.

I wonder, however, how well The UMC would fair if some companies that we are in partnership with utilized certain social screens?  Would they continue to do business with The UMC?

Every clergy and lay employee whose pension is through GBPHB has free access to Ernst and Young Financial Planning Services.  This is valuable and important for those whose careers do not exactly offer a windfall of economic gain. But interestingly enough, Ernst and Young has just been named The Employer of the Year by the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender advocacy group, Stonewall.

The UMC, with its own version of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", speaks out of both corners of its mouth when talking about homosexuality. The church believes in equal rights for gay men and lesbians in society, but not within the church. Gay and lesbian couples ought to have their relationships protected by law, but cannot have those same relationships blessed in their house of worship by their pastor.  Gay men and lesbians ought to be able to serve freely in the military, but self-avowed, practicing homosexuals are not to be admitted as ordination candidates, ordained clergy, or appointed to churches.  All this because the church states that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching."

This year, The United Methodist Church will gather as it does every 4 years to determine how the Holy Spirit is moving the church to live with greater faithfulness into the future.  Nearly one thousand delegates will spend two weeks in prayer, conversation, study and legislative activities, providing a new set guidelines for the people called United Methodist. One of the issues that will be discussed and debated is homosexuality.  For forty years, this has been an issue which has divided the church, yet the voting body has been unable to even acknowledge that the divide exists, voting down time after time a simple recognition that the church does not agree on this issue. As a result, United Methodist gay men and lesbians have been told that their lives and their love are incompatible with Christian teaching. This pronouncement flies in the face of a God who causes each one of us to proclaim in our own voice, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139)

As we prayerfully approach General Conference, I wonder where, how, and what God is saying to us regarding homosexuality:

• as our sister and brother mainline Protestant denominations have moved to accept the gifts and graces of gay and lesbian members,
• as state after state offers legal recognition through marriage equality or domestic partnerships of gay and lesbian couples,
• as the US military sees that gay men and lesbians can serve as faithfully and valiantly as straight service men and women,
• as young people turn to suicide because of the church's complicit support of bullying,
• as more and more companies that The UMC does business with have more just employment policies than the church.

The United Methodist Church has a long history of standing on the side of justice and love. What side will we be standing on after the final votes are cast at General Conference?