Thursday 29 January 2009

Today's piece is introduced by post yesterday's quote from Robert Bertram.

What was then at stake, in other words, in the struggle between "slavery" and "freedom" was the question of people's ultimate worth; what value of their own, if any, entitles them to life rather than death? And what assurance have they of being so valued? Such questions had assumed particular poignancy in that "time for confessing" because the dominant system of secular-religious authority, as the confessors encountered it, was oppressive most of all in how it ascribed value, ultimate value, preferentially to some persons rather than others on the strength of their religious and moral performance.
As a consequence, the Augustana protests, "poor consciences were driven to rely on their own efforts, and all sorts of works were undertaken. Some were driven by their conscience into monasteries in the hope that they might merit grace through monastic life. Others devised other works for the purpose of earning grace and making satisfaction for sins. Many of them discovered that they did not obtain peace by such means."

I had a dear friend who was always looking to be accepted within the bounds of the church...and accepted for who he was - not how he acted and how well he treated others. He was a saint within the arms of our Lord whose love of the church and other saints and his pursuit of justice and mercy, kindness and forgiveness was admired by me and those around him. But, he was quite literally living in exile within his own community. Everyone found him to be loving and kind and yet few if any people knew that he was gay. That...was not to be shared...nor could it be. What showed to others was the life he would say came from the Christ who loved him. But he lived within a church closet because he knew that if he came out - even to some of his best friends - it all would be over and he would be seen with different eyes - critical, judging, frightened eyes. One time he talked about the distress under which he lived. He so much believed in the grace of God but when he had attempted to become vulnerable he found that the church was more about earning grace than freely announcing the gracious Reign of God. I no longer have this saint within my life - only the memories of his baptismal smile.

Connection: Too many people live in self-imposed monasteries because the fullness of their lives are not welcome. And yet, it is not self-imposed...it is really because they live under constant threat within an community of people whose life is to be Good News.

By you loving hand, O God, you welcome us and hold us tight within your eternal grasp. Without that bond with us, it would be so easy to slip away and be lost in the tempests of the time. You make us whole and free and beloved. You encourage our lives. Amen.