“Why DEI is the Better Part of Deity” May 5, 202
“Why DEI is the Better Part of Deity”
Psalm 98:1-4
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
1 John 5:1-9
John 15:9-17
Good morning, and welcome to this, the 6th Sunday of the Easter tide season. I realize that there are those who don’t care to dwell overly much on this whole 50 day Easter season thing. I mean, Easter is over right? It was great and all that but maybe it’s time to move on. Well , for these folks my only reply would have to be that moving on is precisely the point. I say this because it seems to me the closer we examine the events that occurred after the resurrection then the better we will understand our role as ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
There is a lot of foreshadowing in the scripture we study during this time. In today’s reading from the 10th chapter of Acts, for example, we witness the conversion of a Roman centurion; a Roman soldier, no less. Peter had recently experienced a revelation that God does not show favoritism and this newfound revelation was reflected, I’m sure, In his testimony to this Roman soldier. The fact that this event was marked by multiple baptisms in the presence of the Holy Spirit is a foreshadowing of events to come: particularly the day of Pentecost.
It’s interesting that some scholars claim that The centurion was the 1st gentile to profess his belief that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the son of the living God. Others say that it was the Ethiopian eunuch that Phillip encountered on the road who was first, but it really doesn’t matter.
What matters is that the nation of Israel did not have dibs on the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. What matters is a firm belief that God alone for the love of us, came to us in the flesh that we might come to know the heart and mind of our creator. No one is left out, no one is excluded. All are welcomed at the table.
Those of us who grew up in the faith don’t consider this to be any kind of late breaking news. From early childhood, we learned the stories telling us how Jesus continually ministered to the riffraff of society: sinners, outcasts and outlaws. He even shared meals with tax collectors and went out of his way to offer the gifts of forgiveness and salvation to prostitutes and scoundrels alike.
Also, it’s safe to say that none of us grew up in a family or community that taught us just because we are sons and daughters of Abraham, we are the chosen people of God. No, we can affirm that we are special In the eyes of God, but that doesn’t mean we are somehow better and that we will receive preferential treatment simply because we were born from the right people.
We were made to understand that, as the song says, “Jesus loves the little children , all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, we are precious in his sight . Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
If you think about it, being a Jewish person during the time of the ministry of Christ must have been somewhat of a burden. I mean, here at last was the long awaited Messiah, come to save the nation of Israel from the oppression and domination of the Roman Empire, finally, the words of the prophets they had been studying for generations were finally coming true. But there was a problem. There was a messaging problem.
The people of Israel who rejoiced in Christ the Messiah also had expectations. They expected a Redeemer who would tip the scales of justice In their favor. They expected a savior who would rally the children of Abraham with fiery speeches commanding them to rise up against their oppressors with the promise that nothing short of the power of God would be their strength and their shield.
That was their expectation, but that’s not the message they were hearing. I mean, it must have been mind boggling to accept the fact and truly believe that this Jesus of Nazareth, whose death they had witnessed, had indeed risen from the dead. But the risen Christ didn’t speak of retribution. He didn’t make promises to even the score. No, but by his presence and through the works of his disciples there was a new message for the people of Israel, it was a message that revealed the power of believing and demonstrated the gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to those who truly believe Jesus is the son of the almighty God. Now that, by itself, Is enough to shake you to your core if you have been raised on the Torah all your life. But there was one more wrinkle to these newfound revelations: This incredible invitation to the Kingdom of God through baptism and the power of the spirit was available to everyone; Jews and gentiles alike.
Like I said, to us this is no big deal. But to a Jewish person in the time of Christ, it was earth shattering. The message, to put it bluntly, was. “Here is your Messiah But he is not yours exclusively. You’re going to have to share,” And you can bet your bottom dollar that there were many Jewish people, especially the religious leaders, who wouldn’t accept this without a fight.
I mean, here is a people that since the time of Moses and the escape from Egypt to the promised land have always held themselves aloof. You would hear them say, “God loves us best. We are the blessed sons and daughters of Abraham,” imagine the degree of doubt and confusion that swept through the Jewish nation when the message that God offers salvation to all people became known through the new covenant brought by Jesus Christ. The keyword here, of course, is that ‘all’ means ‘all;’ ‘everyone’ means ‘everyone.’
The funny thing is that for thousands of years The church, and I use that term loosely, has been diligent in finding ways to exclude people from the love of Christ. The Catholics fought the Protestants and the Protestants fought the Catholics . Why, there have even been battles fought over the proper method of performing a baptism. For hundreds of years, it was an accepted belief that left-handed people were possessed by the devil and so were excluded from the service of worship. And of course, there were the Crusades not to mention the ongoing battles in the Middle East between Muslim and Jewish people which, apart from the fact these people love to hate each other, can be traced back to the question of who owns which Piece of land that God gave to them thousands of years ago.
But then along came Jesus telling us- no, commanding us to love one another. It goes without saying, I guess, that it is difficult to shun and and exclude people when these are people that you love.
So as we approach the end of this Easter tide season, let’s recap a bit. Much of our readings, as you’ve noticed, come from the book of Acts and much of the discussion centered around privilege .
When it became apparent that even gentiles were welcome to the Kingdom of God, it caused a bit of a stir in the Jewish community who, let’s face it, were oh, so possessive of this privilege they had owned for generations. For a nation that had been beaten and beaten back so many times, I suppose they needed something to hang on to. But the fact that God shows no favoritism is one of the prevailing themes of these writings And we need to keep that in mind.
The second thing you may have noticed in the last few weeks is that almost all of the epistle writings and gospel messages we studied came from the apostle John, So I’d like to speak on that if I may.
The first obvious question is, “what makes the gospel of John different from the other three?” The gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke, according to Wikipedia, are known as” the synoptic gospels” because they include many of the same stories, in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical wording. They stand in contrast to John, whose content is largely distinct.” Wikipedia
But there’s more to it than that. As early as the 2nd century, John’s gospel was considered the spiritual gospel, so there’s that. But if you’re looking for an easy way to remember the difference between the gospel of John and the Synoptics just remember that John’s Gospel tells a story of who Jesus was, the others tell us what he said and did. This gospel doesn’t have any parables in it, whereas the others have many. Also, Jesus is described in different metaphors, which isn’t done in the others.” But if you ask me what I think is the best part of John’s gospel, I would tell you love-love is the best part.
I have discovered over the years that there is one take away from John’s gospel that seemed to show up every time I read it, and that is that it leads me to believe that perhaps it is possible to love all humanity the way that Jesus does. And that’s saying a lot from an old grump like me. But it can be done, it’s possible, praise be to God for this gift of grace.
There is an acronym that pops up in the news from time to time that is causing some consternation in the world of politics. Unfortunately, it seems to have fallen into the same basket along with such nifty catch phrases as critical race theory and cancel culture and black lives matter. It is called DEI-diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is a quick go to reference point for institutions that exist for the betterment of our society. Institutions that govern, institutions that educate, and yes, institutions of faith: they all can certainly take some pointers from the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Has anyone here been following the happenings of General Conference in North Carolina? Well, on May 1st something quite remarkable happened. Rather than try to paraphrase my way through it, I will read to you the report from good News magazine, which tells us “Previously, our Discipline stated, “We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God’s grace is available to all.”
That language has now been removed, and the church takes no formal position on the morality of homosexual relationships.
However, in other changes, the church now allows for “the full inclusion of LGBTQ people in church life,” as reported by UM News Service.
So there you have it. All people are welcome to the Kingdom of God, and all means all. Will this ruling have a dramatic effect on our congregation here in Amity, Oregon? Most likely not but I do wish that Virginia was still around to witness this moment. There will be questions and theories Postulating how after so many years of struggling with this issue it was the the general conference of 2024 that passed it by a 78% margin.
I would encourage you to give this change in our doctrine considerable thought, even prayerful thought because people will be asking what you think. I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but I want to tell you I have been getting phone calls already. One call came from a member of a different church who really caught me off guard when he asked me what I thought. I could have been more eloquent, I suppose, but my answer to him was. “It’s about damn time.”
Diversity, equity, and most of all inclusion. If the church is to be the body of Christ, isn’t this what we’re all about? Or as the apostle John once said, “If you believe that Jesus is the Christ—that he is God’s Son and your Savior—then you are a child of God. And all who love the Father love his children too” Diversity, equity, and inclusion because as the great theologian Heather Cook once said, “God didn’t make no junk.”
Amen and Shalom
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