Monthly Archives: February 2013

What Movies Gave, Oscars Took Away

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

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MH910216353Sunday’s Oscar performance was a spotlight shining on the differences between being marginalized and privileged.

Here are some of the ways Seth MacFarlane, the writers and producers of the Academy Awards distastefully chose to produce an evening intended to celebrate the accomplishments of artists.

People might say that MacFarlane was being an equal opportunity offender.  However, do we hear jokes at the expense of women as often as men?  Do we hear jokes from white people about white people as often as we hear them about racial minorities?  How about people who are Jewish, gay or overweight?  Are their lives joked about more about than people who are Christian, straight or thin?

The isms were solidly present within minutes of the broadcast.  MacFarlane performed a song about women being nude in movies.  He made a joke about a popular domestic violence relationship.  Then, over the course of the evening, he made jokes about women’s sizes and the way minorities talk (among other things, of course).

Abominable.

Sure that’s MacFarlane’s way, or at least that’s what people tried to tell me over and over.  I wondered why did the Academy choose to be represented by him?  Why did the producers of the show choose a person who will belittle people based on a number of various factors?

Again, as much as I love the Oscars, this year’s ceremony reflected greater issues in our culture.  For instance, when the media focuses on hair, makeup and wardrobe, we take the attention away from the reason that these artists are there: their brilliant accomplishments.  (Sure, we all love to dress our best, but criticisms do not have a place in dressing up to feel great.)

Throughout 2012, we’ve had some wonderful reminders that people of multiple races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, looks and ages have such amazing talents.  We are reminded by these accomplishments and efforts that no matter who you are or what you look like, you are able to accomplish great things.  We had storylines that lifted the human spirit.  And, yet, the people holding these awards decide to hire a host and a team of writers.  It was this “creative” team who chose to demean those who were celebrated.

These movies and performances helped us in seeing God’s grace, God’s presence, God’s love and God’s image within ourselves.  Unfortunately, the ceremony to recognize gifts in film achievement was clouded by disrespect.  Sad.

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Chronic Illness in the Body of Christ

22 Friday Feb 2013

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As many of you know, I struggle with endometriosis.  It’s an illness that causes endometrial tissue to grow outside of the uterus.  The health issue causes me to occasionally feel extreme pain around my cycle, extra fatigue and stomach discomfort.

I’ve learned how to live in pain and exhaustion.  I’ve done what I can to improve my condition including having surgery and changing my diet just so that my pain and discomfort will be minimal.

But so many people have conditions that are painful in very different ways or even completely debilitating.  Some of these include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease – among so many others.

In the past number of months, I’ve connected with many women who have endometriosis and, often, other chronic health issues.  Many work but have very limited lives beyond work.  Some can’t work at all.  There are a number of people in this country who have no health insurance.  Those who are able to see doctors are often given excuses that “it’s in your head.”  I’ve heard that many women with endometriosis are told that incredible pains are “normal” (but I’ve never experienced this myself).  Each month, these women live at a pain level of ten.  Eventually, when the pain gets bad enough, they have an exploratory surgery to see what is happening.   At that point, they are told they are infertile or need a colon resection surgery because no one listened to them years earlier.

Many chronic illnesses take a while to be diagnosed and treated.  Sometimes, there are no treatments for the aches and exhaustion of some of these health issues.  How frustrating it is to be told that there’s no solution to exhaustion and pain, except for cognitive therapy and antidepressants!

Frustration does not stop there.  They work and parent even though their bodies feel as if they are to fall apart at any moment.  If they can’t work because of the extent of their illness, many people with these chronic illnesses are told by society that they are lazy and don’t want to work.  Their pain is not believed because it doesn’t show on the outside of their bodies.  I’ve  heard one person with one chronic illness tell others that their health problem is not a “real” illness.

Because we are all part of the Body of Christ, we all suffer from endometriosis, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and the entire list of autoimmune and chronic diseases.  Because we are one in humanity and one in Christ’s body, we also all suffer from diseases like Parkinson’s, MS, cancer, AIDS.  When one part of our body hurts, our whole body hurts.

So when someone  with a chronic illness is disregarded, they do not receive the dignity they deserve.  They feel even less dignity than they did when they kept their illness to themselves.

Unless we walk in their shoes, we can not understand their pain, their slowness in movement, their foggy minds and their fatigue.

As people of faith, what can we do to give dignity to our sisters and brothers who hurt?  Of course we can pray for them and with them.  We can offer scriptures, like Psalm 6, Psalm 22, Psalm 23 or Psalm 38.

But people with chronic health issues will need more than a few Bible verses handed to them.  They yearn to feel human, desire to reclaim their dignity and want to be heard.

When each and every day you wake up with another symptom or feeling overwhelming pain, you feel like Job.  You may feel that God has deserted them.  When you can’t get your health problems resolved, you feel like the woman with the hemorrhage.

So as people of faith, how can we be a support to them when their doctors and friends don’t even believe them?  Frankly, it starts with listening and praying with them so they know that someone else is cheering for their healing.  It starts with helping them sort their feelings, giving them a space to vent and cry.  It helps if you can go to their appointments with them or pick up their medicines for them – if they ask.  It begins with helping them reclaim their dignity as made in God’s image.  Our care for them includes spending time with them in fellowship; many of them can’t leave their homes or have limited energy for fun activities.  They find isolation in their illness.

And it begs for us to be advocates for their health in broken health care systems.

I don’t think God gave me the endometriosis pain “for a reason.”  God experiences pain when we do, and I don’t think of pain as punishment or a method of teaching.  But I believe God is calling all of us – those who have experienced pain and those completely healthy – to use our voices and stand with those who hurt, knowing that we aren’t alone on our journeys.

Loving My Voice

18 Monday Feb 2013

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I have a funny relationship with my voice.

I’m not exactly happy with the sound of my voice.  There have been moments of absolute disdain that began from the sounds which come out of my mouth.

In the eighth grade, I had a teacher tell me how horrible my voice was.  I never bothered to act in high school because I hated my voice and assumed that everyone else hated it too.  I took a public speaking class in high school and still managed to squeak out an A.

Then I went to college.  For my first career, God called me into public relations, a vocation that people would surely hear the sound of my voice.  My college classes included Acting (again, I got an A), Voice and Articulation (which I got an A+) and Public Speaking (which, believe it or not, I got an A+ in that class, too).

Maybe I’m not as bad as I thought… Maybe…

And then God called me into the ministry.  There is no doubt that my voice will be used.  But there is doubt on how well I speak.  I think back through my past and critically analyze the many perceptions of the way I speak.

Over the course of my life, there are times people have praised me for the sound of my voice.  And then there are times people have critiqued the way I talk.  I know that when I get nervous, I talk fast.  When I get passionate, the tone of my voice goes up and down.

Like everything else, my speaking is a work in progress.

I don’t believe I’m monotone, and the text I write for the speech is fine.  But the nerves kick in and my voice can go in any direction.

And, yet, God has called me to use my voice.

Here I am, for the umpteenth time, watching A King’s Speech.  King George VI, also known as Bertie, is called to take on the role as monarch.  In his new position, he must make countless speeches.  But Bertie has issues with stuttering and wonders how he can be king with such an impediment.

God didn’t call Bertie based solely on his voice.  Through this calling, God brought people into his life to strengthen his voice.  And Bertie continued to work on his speaking as part of his answer to God’s call.

Granted, my speaking may not be quite a choppy as Bertie’s, but there are times I lose great faith in the sound of my voice.  There’s this tension I’m called to live into: working to improve my speaking yet loving the way I speak right now.  Sure, I know I can always grow as a speaker, and I must keep working on it.  But I know that I must love who I am at this very moment, that God has called me to be here whether or not I have a spectacular voice.

This voice has the potential to bring hope to those who are in need and words to challenge people into action.  If I silence this voice, so much that needs to be said won’t be spoken.  Words in an adequate or average voice is better than no words spoken at all.

Sure – I still wince each time I listen to a recording of myself, although I must admit that I have improved greatly in the past six months.  My challenge to myself is to love my voice – love the nasal sounds that it brings, love the pitch and tone.  For if I fail to use my voice, God is limited in this world.

In Christ’s Love – A Letter From a Ally

11 Monday Feb 2013

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Last night, I tweeted this:

“I’m a straight ally pastor who is here for you dealing w/#TheStrugglesOfBeingGay. God loves you just as you are! :)”

I received a few responses from people on Twitter.  I think they needed to hear that there are people of faith who support and love them.

How could I not tweet this?  Jesus the Christ loved everyone.  Am I not called to do the same thing?

But that’s not the only reason.

I have experienced the unconditional, steadfast love of God through my gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered friends.  They have been open to sharing Christ’s radical love.  And this has led me to becoming a straight ally.

Since college, I continuously have new LGBT friends coming into my life.  I’ve met them through friends, work and school.  Some of my dearest friends have come out to me since we’ve met, and others have come out years prior to our meeting.

This is what I would say to those of  you who are my LGBT friends in a friendship letter of love:

I think you are all so very brave to truly be the person God has made you.  And I am blessed by all of you in my life.

When I’ve been down, you have listened to me.  When I’ve been sick, you have brought me food.  You have prayed with me in times of trouble.  We’ve laughed together, and we’ve cried together.  You have encouraged me in my calling and been a huge part of my faith journey.

You are witnesses to the steadfast presence of Christ in our friendships and in this world.  You’ve extended hands of  hospitality and truly cared about me just as I am.

To my friends who identify as gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual, queer, asexual, questioning and fellow straight allies… thank you.

This is a letter of love back to you.  Our orientations and gender identities may be different, and I don’t know the true capacity of strife you’ve experienced in  your lives.  But I am proud to stand next to you and say we are all children of God, and we are all made in God’s image.  We all want joy in our lives, and we all want to be loved just as we are.

Thank you for inviting me to your weddings to see new covenants being made.  Thank you for breaking bread with me.  Thank you for allowing me to be a visitor in your homes.  My life is better because you are in it.

Love, Michelle

Now, to my friends who are still in the camp of “traditional” marriage (a.k.a. marriage between one man and one woman): I recognize that you will not all will agree with me.  Many just  aren’t there when it comes to expanding marriage, yet you treat LGBT people with respect.  I try to be sensitive about voicing my views to people who aren’t quite at the same place I am about gay marriage and various gay rights.  Experiencing new people and new situations takes a certain comfort level.  I highly encourage you to continue conversations with LGBT friends, and maybe your views on love, life and God will change.

And then there are people who are relentless about keeping love in a box: those who use the Bible against their fellow sisters and brothers.  I realize that standing quietly by and allowing seriously bigoted views to float through our atmosphere does not make sense anymore.  Allowing bullying and slanderous words should no longer be in our society.

I’ve heard from some people think that loving a person requires trying to change someone into becoming straight, and that being gay is not good enough.  So here’s what I’d like to say to these friends.  Here’s my letter to those who have closed themselves off from having unconditional loving relationships with their LGBT sisters and brothers:

I have to ask you a couple questions: How would you like it if someone wanted to change something about you that you could not change?  How would you enjoy living in a world where people didn’t love you for who you are.

You see, my LGBT friends are moral.  Extremely moral and kind.  They know Christ in ways that many bigoted people seem to miss.  They know Christ in ways that I have even neglected sometimes.  All they want is to have the same chances at love as you do.  And I’m sorry that those of you who are my close-minded friends have missed out on such love and beauty in your lives.

I also do not want my LGBT friends hurting anymore.  I want them to feel the same dignity you and I feel.  I want them to feel no shame.  I want them to experience the overflowing love of God.  And that is why I write to you today.

My prayers are that God helps you see people and the human condition in new ways – mostly so that you will have an enriched life full of overflowing love.

Love, Michelle

After watching Lincoln this weekend, I had to write this.  It came to mind that, generation after generation, some people feel the need to oppress others to keep their status of life more valid.  What happens when slaves are freed – will they get to vote?  What happens when they vote – will women get to vote?  Justice is a slippery slope.  But that’s the good and decent slippery slope that needs to happen.  Through logic, I see how those who defended slavery and stood against voting rights for minorities and women were on the wrong side of justice.  Those who stood against interracial marriage were on the wrong side of justice.  In 50 years, people will wonder why so many in the early 21st century stood on the wrong side of justice.  Just like those defending injustice decades ago, they used God and the Bible as their reasoning (yet continued to eat bacon-wrapped shrimp).

For Martin Luther King, Jr. said “The arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice.”

Join me on this side of the arc of justice.  If you haven’t had the chance to get to know LGBT people around you, I highly suggest it.  They will bless your lives in new ways.  Listen to their stories.  Hear the struggles they’ve endured.  Know that God will be presence as you listen to each.

I feel that writing this is a bit of a risk.  But, in this life, I feel the necessity to share God’s overflowing love.  That’s the love that brings connection and understanding.  And how wonderful of a world it would be if we could experience this in one another!

I thank all of you who have open my eyes to new types of love.  Let’s keep love outside of the box today, this Valentine’s Day and throughout the year.

Bible Stories: Early Tales of Beautiful Imperfection

08 Friday Feb 2013

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This week I was overjoyed to hear that Helen Fielding is in the process of writing another Bridget Jones’ novel.

As some of you remember in these books or from the movies, Bridget is a single thirtysomething woman.  She is always hoping to improve upon her life.  She is always feeling and acting a bit awkward.  Unlike many women on our televisions and in our movies, Bridget isn’t the model-thin, she says the wrong things in many situations, and she isn’t polished.

When I see a Bridget Jones movie or read one of the Bridget Jones’ novels, I feel less alone.

I always wonder why there aren’t more books and movies that feature the everyday female.  Sure, maybe the our culture wants us all to look a certain way, but that’s not reality.  So, we need books, movies, and films to help us feel that we aren’t alone in being our truest self.

In this respect, the Bible is like Bridget Jones novels, Carrie Bradshaw tales, and episodes of Hannah Horvath‘s life.  We see the true humanity in the characters and can understand their journeys.  Each of them are spectacularly flawed yet they continuously reflect and try to improve upon their lives.

That’s one of the greatest things about the Bible: we are able to relate to its stories and feel less alone.  We are able to see that being flawed is nothing new, and grace is needed for us to keep moving forward.

How many of us have felt the world crashing down around us, like Job, or the frustrations with not being able to conceive, like Sarah?  How many of us have had our voices silenced when we were standing up for our own dignity, like Vashti?  How many of us have felt frustrated waiting for the love of our life, like Rachel?  How many of us have lived with guilt, like David?

This is why the Bible still works in our society today: our world has been, is, and will be full of imperfect characters.  Who will be our culture’s next story of beautiful imperfection?

God doesn’t pick sides

04 Monday Feb 2013

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It’s interesting that Romans 8:31 is trending on Twitter.  Apparently, Ray Lewis of the Ravens quotes this text:

If God is for us, who is against us?

When this trends on Superbowl Sunday, then people are seeing a very specific theological viewpoint.  Quoting this text today would lead people to believe that God picks sides.  Which would make me wonder if the Ravens had more points with God over the past season.  Or maybe the 49ers had created more trouble in God’s eyes.

Both teams had their issues.  Chris Culliver of the 49ers made homophobic comments.  The Ravens’ barred this cheerleader from cheering at the Superbowl because she was “too fat.”  Both teams haven’t had their finest moments with these comments in the recent past.

But God wasn’t rewarding them or punishing them for their comments or actions outside of the field.  I don’t believe that’s the way it works.

I believe that God is like Jack and Jackie Harbaugh.  They want both of their sons to succeed.  They know that one of their sons will walk away the coach of the winning team.  The other will go home disappointed.  And the Harbaugh parents are planning on spending their time first with the son who loses.  Couldn’t that be like God – – a parent who comforts the one who loses before congratulating the one who wins?

God is the parent that wants all of us to win.  So God doesn’t take sides but is the mom or dad who cheers for us all.

Jesus, the Heretic?

03 Sunday Feb 2013

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This post is based on my sermon from February 3, 2013 delivered at St. Paul United Church of Christ, Old Blue Rock Rd, Cincinnati, OH.

A few years ago, I saw a very thought provoking T-shirt.  It said “Heretic in good company.”  Underneath the title was a list of names, including St. Joan of Arc, Galileo and Martin Luther.  In the midst of the names was one name that stood out: Jesus of Nazareth.  Yes, that Jesus.

Woah, Michelle, did you just refer to Jesus a heretic?

Before I continue to further get myself into trouble by referring to Jesus as a heretic, let’s consider what heretic means.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines heretic as “1. A dissenter from established religious dogma and 2. One who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine.”

In his book Tribes, Seth Godin defines heretic as “ones who challenge the status quo, who get out of their tribes, who create movement.”  He continues that a heretic can mean “a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field (not merely religion).”

So, was Jesus a heretic?

When we look at the text today, we see Jesus challenging those in his hometown.  Verse 14 says that he was filled with the spirit when he entered the synagogues.  Once he starts referring to those in the margins positively – the widow and the leper, they started turning against Jesus.

This was just the beginning.  In chapters four through six alone, Jesus heals Simon’s mother on the Sabbath, he touched a man with leprosy which made Jesus unclean as well, he ate and drank with the people on the margins, and he healed in a synagogue on the Sabbath.

That’s just who Jesus was.

Jesus reframed rules for something greater.  He broke the rules so that he could be more inclusive to the Gentile, the widow and the leper.  He broke the rules so that people could feel loved.  He broke the rules so people could live a normal life, be accepted by their community, take care of themselves and family.

This is the Jesus I try to model my life after.

I’ve been told that our job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  And sometimes that means saying something in a very different and edgy sort of way.

This could mean that I support people who don’t fit an “traditional” love or life.  This means advocating for the poor, the widow, women, children – – even when people won’t agree with me.  This means volunteering to help those who are hungry, and yes, even call my representatives to be a voice to those who have no voice.  It’s doing justice and loving kindness as I walk humbly with my God.

So is being a heretic a bad thing?  Being a heretic is nothing new.  There have been heretics throughout the centuries.  Because the person with stated orthodox theology was more popular or powerful or had better connections, the less popular theologian was deemed a heretic and banished.  Sometimes, it was over little differences or larger differences –  like not believing in original sin or not believing that God and Christ were of the same essence.

Was Jesus a heretic?  Let’s look at the various definitions:

Was Jesus a dissenter from established religious dogma?  Was he One who dissents from an accepted belief or doctrine?  If he healed on the Sabbath, then he dissented from established dogma and accepted beliefs.

Was Jesus one who challenged the status quo?  By advocating for the Gentile, he was.

Did Jesus hold unorthodox opinions?  If he was willing to pick food on the Sabbath, then yes.

Jesus hung out with women, ate with all sorts of people and challenged those in authority.  Jesus started movement.  Just like Martin Luther, a significant heretic who lit the fire of our type of Protestantism, Jesus was the one who sparked the flame that started the Jesus movement, or, as many of us know it, the early Christian church.

I celebrate Jesus as a heretic because being a heretic means a person is willing to listen for the voice of the still-speaking God.  Sometimes, it’s going beyond preconceived beliefs of the church or Scripture to embrace the greatest thing Jesus embraced: love.  It’s putting love and faith above legalism and rules.

Sometimes, we’ll hear that voice of God ourselves.  And we’ll follow that voice even though it’s unorthodox or means that we have to change the way we have always done it.

It also means that we have to be willing to get thrown of the cliff, like Jesus almost was in today’s reading.  Or even crucified as we see later in Luke’s gospel.

It’s not easy standing up for what you believe.  I can’t even imagine it was easy for Jesus – being disliked by so many people for saying what you believe.

It’s not easy for any of us to feel the dislike for our beliefs.  Whether it’s from our best friend or stranger, we hate being called a heretic or false prophet as we try to follow the God that’s speaking to our hearts.

Unfortunately, when people are challenged in their faith, they aren’t willing to take the time for conversations, to say politely how much they disagree with you.  They are just willing to call names and close relationships.

We need to have a very thick skin to follow Jesus.  Because we are willing to fully open ourselves up to the divine – we also have to be open to all of the good and bad that can come from following the faith of Jesus.

As we follow Jesus, learn more about faith and connecting to God, we will see elements of our faith in new and unorthodox ways.  Eventually, someone will make a comment about faith or religion that’s tough to hear.   Or someone will associate their faith with politics in a way that you haven’t heard before.  And it may be uncomfortable and against what you believe.

How can we make that uncomfortable feeling go away?  There is no easy way, but one effective way is through dialogue.  We need to say the edgy things that we believe to start conversations that need to begin.  We need to find out why someone believes what they believe instead of calling them names and closing our ears to them.

Maybe they are saying something I need to hear.  Maybe there’s something they need to hear from me.  And sometimes, I will say something here that you may not agree with.  I always invite you to have a conversation with me after a sermon.  I can’t expect you to agree with me 100% of the time, and conversations will create an atmosphere of dialogue and love even when we think very differently.

So, was Jesus a heretic?  Whether we believe that he was or just a guy who spoke in edgy ways, he made people think and got people moving.  Are we heretics?  As we continue to hear the still-speaking God as Jesus embraced and Joan of Arc, Galileo and Martin Luther followed, we may be deemed a heretic.  But we are in good company as the God of justice, the Christ of mercy and the spirit of passion walk along side of us, calling us to serve a hurting world in their name.