The Times, They are Changing

            This has been an incredible week for change.  The Supreme Court has ruled that same sex marriage is legal in all of the states of the union, overturning bans in a number of them.  There has been a great outcry against this from people in the conservative camp who look at this as simply another attempt by liberals to make our nation into a socialist country.  The Orthodox churches have denounced this decision as have many in the Roman Catholic Church.  Many others however have embraced this ruling as a source of goodness in this time of conflict and argument.

            Donald Trump has raged against Mexicans who have come across our border, labeling them rapists, and as a result a number of companies have refused to sponsor his Miss Universe pageant.  His power simply doesn’t extend as far as he would wish.  There are consequences for strong opinions, as most of us have discovered someplace in our lives. 

            The Episcopal Church is meeting in Salt Lake City in their 78^th General Convention.  They have elected Michael Curry, the African American bishop of North Carolina to be the Presiding Bishop for the next nine years.  The election was on the first ballot, a unique event in the history of the Episcopal Church.  Bishop Curry is well known as a dynamic preacher and an advocate for people who have no voice.  He follows Katherine Jefferts Schori, the first woman elected to that post.  It certainly appears that this church of ours is looking toward the future and attempting to be a voice in a culture that is diverse and demanding. 

            Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth to preach in the synagogue and wasn’t taken particularly seriously.  “Who is this man?  Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Joseph?  Don’t we know his brothers?”  Jesus was dismissed almost out of hand as being too familiar.  The Gospel says that he was able to cure a few people, but he says those great words that I have heard quoted over and over again: Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown.  Familiarity breeds contempt is another way of putting this.  

            Jesus sent his disciples out to do their work, advising them to take nothing with them for their journey and to simply rely on the people whom they met.  They did this to great advantage and  indeed they are still our models for what ministry needs to look like in this world.

            I hope that this church of ours will always continue to use that same model.  Times change and so the church needs to change with them.  Staying in the same place leaves those behind who are tormented.  We have left slavery behind, we have left the oppression of women behind.  We continue in this world to look for the downtrodden and to lift them up.  That is what Jesus told his disciples to do, and the job remains.  We can continue to find ways to keep the church the same and unchanging, or we can do what needs to be done and be the inclusive body that our Lord intended us to be from the beginning.  The choice is critical, and it us up to us.