John the
Baptist dressed like Bigfoot
and did strange things. If a community
was going to hold an area-wide gathering of Christians, the Baptist would have
been invited to be the keynote speaker, not Jesus. John, after all, was the popular anti-hero,
thumbing his nose at Herod and the Roman Empire.
But the point
about our hypothetical keynote conference speaker has nothing to do with who
got invited; John would not have
accepted. He knew his time
was over, and the time of Messiah, Jesus was at hand. It was time for John to get out of the way of
Jesus. John refused to be the “star” in
the spotlight; his calling was to point to Christ, not build a following for
book signings and movie deals.
Which is
somewhat different from Frank Schaefer’s saga.
Frank
Schaefer was defrocked last December by a United Methodist panel of judges,
when a church trial unanimously found him guilty of violating his vows under
the Book of Discipline. He was stripped
of his credentials and his appointment in a Lebanon, PA church for officiating
at his son’s same-sex wedding six years ago.
Yesterday, the UMC appeals panel reinstated Schaefer (with back pay) due
to a legal irregularity in the way the penalty phase of his defrocking was
handled. Read the NY Times article
here
Progressives
– those in favor of full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in ministry are heralding
the decision as a great victory for Schaefer and the church, while on the other
side, conservatives are crying “foul”.
My friend Drew McIntyre wrote neither ‘side’ won here.
I think Drew
is right!
Drew also
held up the specter of this being a “pyrrhic victory” where the so-called winner uses up so much of his
strength/resources in the fight he loses much more than he won.
I think Drew
is also onto something here!
And that
would be true no matter what “side” won today; the cost is colossal.
In the long
run it is right to stand up for issues in which you have strong
conviction. I have no doubt that
Schaefer and the pro-LGBTQ lobbyists, as well as the
“hold-the-line-conservatives” AND all the “middle-of-the-roaders” have
attempted to earnestly contend for what they perceive as the faith once-delivered
to the saints.
But, at what
cost all this fighting? I see no
resolution in sight.
If the
consistent “push” of the left against right finally “wins” and ordination for
homosexuals becomes church law for United Methodists, along with every other
“open door” that brings, there will be a mass exodus of those who hold the
traditional view.
It happened
in the Episcopal Church in 2003, and just last week in a
close vote the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to accept LGBTQ clergy. None of these churches have remained
unscathed in the wake of such infighting and rancor.
You HAVE to ask the question: What is going on?
I believe
what is happening is John the Baptist in reverse. Jesus must decrease if we are to have our way
and our day – our 15 minutes of fame comes first!
Those of you
who know me understand I am not a “date-setter” for the return of Christ. But, if I was, the temptation to preach every
sermon from now on about watching the eastern sky would be overwhelming.
And my
prayers? They almost always end with “even
so, come, Lord Jesus”.
For You, Today…
It is recorded in the Gospels that Jesus told his
disciples the last days would be marked by incredible evil. Frank Schaefer’s name is not listed in those
passages, but neither is mine.
We must all be careful to honor God with not only what we do, but the way in which we do all
things.
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