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| p2. May 9-16 Community: May 9. �Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner (Luke 17:18)?� Ten lepers ask Jesus for healing. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priests, a ritual requirement of those who were outcast for health reasons. On the way, their skin heals, but only one, a Samaritan, turns to praise God �with a loud voice� and give Jesus thanks. Jesus tells him, �Your faith has made you well.� Just as Jesus� listeners would have been unsettled by his story of the �good� Samaritan because Samaritans were despised, so Jesus made use of this Samaritan�s expression of thanks to demonstrate the lack of gratitude among his own people. As lesbians and gay Christians offer thanks for God�s grace and for God�s gift of sexuality, we model for all people of faith the heartfelt gratitude Jesus praises in this story. Praise be to you God. You have restored me to your Body by grace, and you have reclaimed my body by faith. May 10. That evening, at sundown, they brought to Jesus all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door (Mark 1:32-33). Jesus had already had a busy day in Capernaum. He had taught in the synagogue, cast out an unclean spirit, and healed Simon�s mother-in-law. But word spread of his capacity for healing, and �the whole city was gathered around the door.� There are days in our lives when it feels like everyone needs us, and we have no time for ourselves. Jesus did not forget that he was human. The next morning he went alone �to a deserted place, and there he prayed� (Mark 1:35). Everyone was looking for him, but he found time for himself and for God. If Jesus needed time, think how much more we need to take time for prayer! Help us receive your care, Sweet God, as we give our care to others. May 11. For this says the Sovereign: With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back� Their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Then shall the young woman rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow (Jeremiah 31:7, 9, 12-13). What a vision for those exiled from one another and from their home! Just as it worked for Israel, it works for us. Our community is coming together, with more to come. May 12. Each one heard them speaking in the native language of each (Acts 2:6). If you�ve traveled abroad, you know how good it can be to hear your own language. Entranced and curious, the foreign visitors gathered to hear in their own tongues of �Gods deeds of power� in Jesus Christ. Bless the words of our lips with a way to speak the meditations of our hearts to others, Holy Spirit. May 13. �Look here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized (Acts 8:36)?� The Spirit led Philip to an Ethiopian eunuch, a Jewish convert who had been to worship at Jerusalem. The eunuch asked to be baptized. Philip didn�t hesitate. In Jerusalem of that day, the eunuch would have been at a disadvantage spiritually as much as sexually because bodily mutilation was forbidden and procreation was expected. His black skin also may have put him at a disadvantage among fellow Jews. Let�s face it, the Spirit was queer for this guy. The eunuch did not fit the standard profile of �acceptability.� Yet the Spirit went out of her way to baptize him into the Christian community. Thanks to the Spirit, she�s queer for us, too. May 14. Then Peter began to speak to them: �I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God (Acts 10:34-35). If spirituality is about what unites us, why do we let it divide us? If God shows no partiality with regard to our condition, perhaps God shows no partiality to the spiritual way that is chosen, as long as God is reverenced (�feared�) and justice is done. God of every faith and God of my faith in Jesus Christ: help me embrace those of other faiths without neglecting my own. May 15. ��we must recognize that the interpretation of scriptural prophecy is never a matter for the individual. For no prophesy ever came from human initiative. When people spoke for God it was the Holy Spirit that moved them (2 Peter 1:20). The Christian community has the responsibility of interpreting scripture. We who are lesbian and gay Christians also are the church, and also are responsible for the interpretation of scripture. To neglect that responsibility is to give up our rights. As you move women and men of ages past to proclaim your leading, move us, Holy Spirit. May 16. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement (Colossians 2:18). Some people may raise a fuss over the gender of our attraction, and question our �bias� when we say that doesn�t negate our faith in Christ. We are more qualified to speak of our experience than they are. We are the experts. They only know their experience, not ours. |
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