March 20, 2011
2nd Sunday of Lent. A. Year
or
God calls us to follow a unpredictable way, born again of the Spirit "and calls it a blessing.
Holly Hearon impress him two aspects of this passage from Genesis: first, the passage can describe the experience of many LGBT people, leaving behind the "house" of our fathers (verse 1) to go to a new land ( "Somewhere over the rainbow?) where God shows us our identity as LGBT people. We are led to a new ground not only in terms of our identity, but also in terms of the communities to which we belong and a new way of being in the world. But this is one way that God reveals himself.
Second
(echoing suggesting Helene Russell), God tells Abraham to be blessed so that it can be a blessing. This invites LGBT people to consider the particular blessing they bring to the world. Such blessings include qualities such as hospitality, welcoming the stranger, the importance of community, and the ability to enter into life with joy and humor. Similarly, Michael Miller believes it is important to note that regardless of family pressure, social and religious Abraham was exerted on their growth implied a new understanding of God and of himself in relation to the rest of the world. With confidence in their new understanding of God and of himself, was capable of challenging the status quo and initiate a risky path of self-discovery, discovery of the other and discovery of God.
When have you had to fight for yourself no guarantee of your family or faith community? What voice heard? How could this be a blessing for everyone, even those not with you?
reflection of Paul in Romans 4:1-5,13-17 on the faith of Abraham has been used by later Christians to minimize the importance of the Torah, the Jewish scripture and tradition. But as much as Holly Hearon Charles Allen insist remember that Paul's attitude toward the Torah is complex. Here you are trying to show why non-Jews are, and were always included in the promises of God.
Abraham, says Holly, was in a sense still a heathen when he believed in God had not yet received the sign of circumcision. For Charles, Paul's observation that the promise did not come through the law, is another reminder that Abraham had no Bible to support its risky decision. That does not mean that the Torah or the Bible are unimportant, but suggests that the voice of God not limited to them. Michael Miller agrees that the Torah does not point to a narrow orthodoxy, but to an ideal manner that reflects the common life of God with us. This does not mean confining the action of God or the voice of God.
As many of us today, Paul is struggling to honor their own writing so that leaves room for God to speak in new ways, apparently without precedent. God spoke before the Torah. He spoke through the Torah. He spoke after the Torah. And still speaking.
How do we honor the voice of God in the Bible and hear God speaking in ways yet unheard? What leave space for other voices? What we leave space for the voice of God?
The wind blows where it says Jesus in John 3:1-17. The voice of God is not confined. Michael Miller hear Jesus saying to Nicodemus that faith creates the kind of openness to the dynamic presence of God (represented by the notion of Spirit) that allows radical changes that are only adequately represented in the notion of being born again. Holly Hearon, the story of Nicodemus reflects the history of those who still have not "come out" whatever way they can apply that term. It is the story of anyone who sees her identity, but only can approach it in the shadows because they fear being caught and losing their status - their employment or position of privilege. Born of the Spirit is to embrace our status as children of God. God's purpose is to have life-even if we have to approach God from the shadows: it's a start.
The alternative gospel reading in Matthew 17:1-9 tells the Transfiguration. It's pretty predictable that Holly Hearon and Charles Allen would see this as another story of how Jesus is "taken out" by God. Charles joked: "What is amazing is not?" Helene Russell hears the "no fear" of Jesus (verse 7) as a guarantee that we need not fear our own transformations.
Psalm 121 reminds us that God, our creator, we embraced, abundant life we \u200b\u200bwant for our integrity and honor as God's children.
Where is blowing in your life the wind of the Spirit? Are you willing to respond with openness? If not, what other responses are available to you right now? How can God transfigure our circumstances?
inclusive Prayer
Convócanos, Oh God, from the family environment.
Lead us to unexplored regions,
and make our lives a blessing to those we meet.
Give us courage exam and explore ourselves openly.
Amen. 
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