Flags and Faith and Muslims

My dad was right, as he usually was, the day that he and I were talking about whether or not the American flag should be displayed in a church sanctuary. “Dad,” I said, “the sanctuary is the place where we worship Jesus, not a country. People from all nations come together in church in the name of Jesus. The cross is the symbol for the Christian church, not the American flag.” He replied, “Sal, it is because of the flag that you have the freedom to worship in your sanctuary in the first place.” I’m not sure that I ever admitted to him that he won that discussion, but he did. His logic made perfect sense and reminded me of what a privilege it is to be free to worship however I want. I think of that conversation often when my gaze falls on the American flag that sits beside the Christian flag in our sanctuary.

I try not to dignify much of the craziness of politics with a response, but today I need to let my father’s words speak.  “It is because of the flag that we have freedom to worship.” This nation was not founded so that only people who fit a narrow definition of Christianity could worship in freedom. Some of our most important stories of the origin of our country relate to people who had to flee nations who did not think they were Christian enough.  Members of several religious sects whose practice of religion had been outlawed came here so that they could worship as they felt called. 

To declare that people should be prohibited from entering this country if they are Muslim is abhorrent to our founding principles. It should also be abhorrent to us as people of faith. Freedom of religion isn’t really freedom if it only applies to me and not to other people’s religions. We were not founded on the basis of “freedom of my religion.” If we think that the only way we can live as followers of Christ is to fear people of other faiths, then we have missed something  in our Scripture reading. We are called to welcome the stranger and to treat the world- even the people that we might call enemies- with tender love. 

There will always be rhetoric on all sides during a political season, and it’s not worth it to chase after every offending comment. With these comments about a faith issue, though, I can't not speak up. I must say out loud that I am thankful to live in a nation that offers freedom of religion to me and everyone else.  We can never let that freedom be diminished for anyone, nor should we condone rhetoric that celebrates that possibility. 

You see, my dad was right all along. He pretty much always was. He was always one of the smartest men around, and I am convinced that's still true.

Snakenado

One of the cheesy delights of this summer’s vacation was the chance to watch “Sharknado 3.” In case you haven’t had a chance to watch any of the three Sharknado movies, the premise is simple: A bunch of deadly sharks gets sucked up into a tornado. The resulting sharknado proceeds to drop hungry sharks out of the sky, where they eat people in spectacular ways. Apparently, the only effective way to kill a shark dropping from the sky is with a chainsaw, especially if you happen to have already been eaten by the shark and need an exit strategy. (Does movie making get any better than this?) This year’s installment was particularly good, with plenty of chainsaws and cameos of celebrities getting eaten, including Jerry Springer and the entire cast of the Today Show.

Good, clean fictional fun, right? Well, it’s all fun and games until the fiction becomes reality.

One morning last week, I was sitting on the beach when I noticed a really cool scene unfold in front of me. A seagull was flying by with a 2-foot snake in its claws. I thought that was a pretty astounding feat for a small seagull. “You go, gull,” I cheered it on as it flew near me. I looked around to see if anyone else was admiring this spectacle, but the family next to me wasn’t paying attention.

Suddenly, two other gulls decided they wanted the snake for themselves and gave chase. In the ensuing skirmish, the seagull dropped the snake.

A few feet in front of me.

A snake. Dropping from the sky. Right in front of me.

Where is a chainsaw when you need one?

Stunned, I sat there in fear, waiting to see what the snake was going to do. It turned out that it didn’t do much of anything since it was already dead. Whew!

Again, I looked to family beside me. They still had not noticed anything. The gulls came back and had a noisy argument about who got the snake. The original gull settled the argument by proceeding to swallow the snake whole, beginning with the head. I was pretty impressed, because I couldn’t see how 2 feet of snake would fit into the gullet of a seagull.

The family beside me still hadn’t noticed this really cool nature happening right in front of us, but I kept watching, and the gull kept trying to swallow the snake.

Finally, the gull realized the enormity of its task and flew off, with half of the snake inside and half of the snake dangling from its mouth. After flying a few feet, the gull gave up and regurgitated the entire snake, dropping it harmlessly to earth. 

The gull flew away, and the dead snake lay where it had fallen, which was inside the beach bag of the oblivious family beside me.

Snakes falling from the sky. You never know what might happen next in God’s creation, but you always want to pay attention so you don’t miss out. And so that you’re not surprised when you unpack your beach bag at the end of the day.

The Law of the Land and the Law of the Church

 Many United Methodists church people may be wondering what today’s Supreme Court decision means for our church. It turns out that the law of the land and the law of the UMC are sometimes different things. First of all, our Discipline is clear that no United Methodist pastor can ever be forced to perform a wedding that they do not wish. Other than scheduling conflicts, I’ve only said “no” once, many years ago, to a couple whose vision for their wedding ceremony did not match my understanding of a wedding as a sacred event. They were able to find someone else to perform their ceremony in accordance with their wishes, but that person did not have to be me. Likewise, any pastor of any denomination who objects to same-sex marriage will not be forced to perform a same-sex wedding.

While no pastors can be forced to perform a wedding, United Methodist pastors can be forced NOT to perform a wedding. In the early days of my ministry, we were taught that we could only perform weddings for which there was a valid marriage license. Back in the day, same-sex marriages fell under that “valid marriage license” rule. Today, however, our Discipline goes farther and states clearly that it is a chargeable offense for clergy to perform “ceremonies that celebrate same-sex unions,” nor may anyone celebrate those unions within a United Methodist church. 

No matter what the Supreme Court has ruled, under church law I am not allowed to perform same-sex marriages.

The next General Conference, which is our only venue in which to change church law, will be next May. Delegates have been elected from Annual Conferences throughout the world. Based on what I observe, I believe that the delegates from the United States would likely vote to change church law. However, 40% of General Conference delegates will come from other countries, many of which are much more socially conservative on this issue.  I am not sure that a way forward exists in our current governance, but delegates might begin to make some changes to enable future change.

Those are the facts. What am I feeling on this historic day? I am so very proud of my nation, and I am thankful to live in a place where we find some of our greatest strength in our diversity. Being a huge fan of marriage, I’m thankful for all of the people who will now get to make a lifelong to commitment of love and fidelity to one another in a full, legal manner. Andy and I welcome you to the joy of marriage, saying, “Jump on in, the water’s fine!” 

I am deeply pained, however, in a day and age where millennials find the church increasingly irrelevant, to find myself stuck on the sidelines when people want to get married. I know good people, both gay and straight, who stay away from the church because of this issue. It is no secret that there are people of faith who are opposed to gay marriage, but it seems to be a well-guarded secret that there are people of faith who support faithful, loving marriage for all. When we are prevented from performing all marriages, the secret is kept. 

For today, though, congratulations to our nation! Congratulations to all couples, straight and gay, who seek to live in lifelong, legal commitment to one another, and may God grant all of us grace and strength and joy to live out our vows.