August 29, 2010
2 Corinthians 4:1-18
“Do Not Lose Heart”

Franklin Circle Christian Church

Rev. Allen V. Harris
 

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August 29, 2010
2 Corinthians 4:1-18
“Do Not Lose Heart”
Franklin Circle Christian Church
Rev. Allen V. Harris

In one of the most memorable movie scenes in my lifetime, Marine Lieutenant Commander Nathan R. Jessup, played by the immortal Jack Nicholson, is being questioned in court by Lt. Daniel Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise. In the lead up to the incredible climax of the movie Kaffee yells at the witness, “I want the truth!” and the Commander shouts back, “You can’t handle the truth!”

Ah, what an eternal exchange! Some want the truth, and some can’t handle the truth. Which begs the question, “What is truth?” What is fact to some can be fiction to others. What is only half the truth to some is either none of the truth or all of the truth to others. And even if all agree on the facts, aren’t the ways in which we understand those facts, translate those facts, just as important in shaping reality?

After all, isn’t the Christian faith all about truth? The author of Philippians reminds us,
“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
And Jesus, quoted in John 8, says of himself, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (8:32). And in John 14 Jesus boldly proclaims, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (14:6)

But I am also keenly reminded that even Jesus interpreted reality in such a way as to point to a deeper truth, even if he wasn’t emphasizing the simple truth at hand. And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” When the Pharisees tried to trap him, using one truth against him, he interpreted their “facts” to point to a larger truth.
But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why are you putting me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me see it.” And they brought one. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. (Mark 12:13-17)

We want the truth, but can we handle the truth? And whose truth do we want to hear?
As we prepared for today’s celebration of two men’s journey in faith, which has included the path of ordained ministry, I have deeply and sincerely pondered my own path to ministry – and into and through my ministry – and how it has both paralleled and diverged from those of Jim Schimmel and Dick Elwell’s journeys. I read through the texts used at their ordination services, two of which are highlighted in the Call To Worship I wrote for today (2 Timothy 2:15 and Acts 20:17-35). Classic texts, I would venture, for ordination services.

But I kept coming back to the scripture used in my own ordination from 2 Corinthians 4. Unfortunately, the most poetic portion of the text, “But we have this treasure in clay jars…,” oftentimes dulls the listener’s ear to that which came just prior to it, which, in my mind, is the most powerful and prophetic witness of the chapter, and which speaks great truth about these two men whose lives and ministry we celebrate today. At risk of redundancy, I would like to refresh your memory:
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I am both convicted and heartened by the phrase, “by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.” In my own case, the open statement of the truth, that God can and does call people to ministry whom the world – and the Church itself – has labeled “misfit,” or “immoral,” or even “evil” was made real and concrete by my open statement of my identity as a gay man and the convoluted and heart-wrenching process the Church went through to determine this truth.

I had both the gift of history on my side and the questionable character trait of being a risk-taker. I was being examined for ministry in the early 1990’s and great strides had been taking place in our knowledge of biblical interpretation and language translation, in medical diagnosis of what is illness and what is not, in legal protections for minorities, and in cultural understandings of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Now, mind you, my “open statement of the truth” did not lead to an easy path to nor in ministry. Not only did the Commission on Ministry in my home region of the Southwest interview me twice, and the second time in stone-cold silence with only me talking, but my home congregation withdrew their critical endorsement of me, urging me to “get counseling immediately,” (which I had been in for several years!), but the Commission on the Ministry in the Northeastern Region, where I had been hired as a non-ordained pastor, deadlocked on one meeting resulting in my having to travel from New York City to Buffalo and then to Boston for a total of three complete and exhausting ordination interviews.

The final count did allow for my full authorized ordination into ministry, but it began years of fighting and bitterness in that Region, which continues to this day. Tellingly, one of the chief accusations against me was that I spoke well and wrote well, thus leading to the wording of the policy against ordaining “homosexuals” that was passed after my process which states, “No one who openly communicates their homosexual lifestyle” shall be ordained into the Christian ministry. I, and the congregation which called and ordained me, stood on Paul’s words: “We refused to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.”

I have never questioned the fact that both the opportunities of history, plus the powerful and prophetic witness of the Elders and Senior Pastor of Park Avenue Christian Church in New York City were instrumental in allowing the Church universal to do what God had already set in place. I do not take for granted these gifts, which are not available to every lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender candidate for ministry. This is much like those women in ministry today who have more opportunities – albeit not as many as there should be – compared to twenty, forty, and sixty years ago.



So what about Dick and Jim? What truth does my story offer to them? Well, they stand as reminders of the tenacious power of the human spirit and the astounding work of God’s Holy Spirit in the pursuit of truth – even if it means over a lifetime! Jim, who now proudly identifies as a gay man, has struggled with that truth for a lifetime, including coming dangerously close to suicide and struggles with his health that surely have to be on some level a result of the inward struggle of identity. Acknowledging the gifts and graces that have come to him even as he journeyed on a path different from my own – including an amazing partner and wife in Sue and wise and beautiful children and grandchildren – he has finally come into his own “open statement of the truth” and commends himself to the conscience of everyone every single chance he gets!

Dick has known he was gay from the dawn of time, but has been painfully aware that to speak the truth in love would be to sentence him to a life of poverty or, at least, the inability to follow God’s call. Dick and I have been friends for as long as I have been out as a gay man, over twenty five years, and I have had the joy of being in the company of Dick when he could be his full and fun and beautiful self (humor included). But even so, I know the deep pain he experiences of having to hide a very central part of himself so that the other gifts and graces he has might be used for the furtherance of the Gospel and the building up of the Body of Christ. Again, this has taken its toll. Both the Church of Christ loses out by allowing only a “partially-human” pastor to serve them, but it also has taken a toll on Dick, whose own health has been a roller coaster of epic proportions.

And this takes me back to my original question of the truth. What is truth for Jim and for Dick? Is the truth the perception that their churches they served – and perhaps even they themselves at times – saw them as “normal” heterosexual men serving as pastors? Is it truth if it is acknowledged only to the self and not to others? Is it truth if you haven’t yet discovered it?

What about “renouncing the shameful things one hides?” Shouldn’t we do what so many popular Christian pastors and politicians tell us to do? Isn’t heterosexuality truly the “norm” and shouldn’t we renounce homosexuality? Well, nice trick, but no. In the same way Commander Jessup tried to make the horrific hazing, torture, and ultimately, murder his men did in the movie, ironically titled “A Few Good Men,” seem like something honorable, contemporary conservative pundits make the shame, bullying, and, in some parts of the so-called “Christian World,” even the torture and death, of same-gender-loving people seem honorable and right. It isn’t – ever nor at all. But how can this be? How can folks who call themselves “Christian” see truth so differently?

The Apostle Paul answers this for us. “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake.”

The church, like much of society, has – and, sadly, still is – blinded to the gospel of Jesus Christ: God calls gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons to ministry just as God calls heterosexual people, men and women, people of all colors, races, languages, ages, and abilities, people of wealth and people in poverty, to ministry. If this truth is veiled, it is not our fault. Some choose to keep this truth veiled, and some choose to interpret it differently. We cannot stop nor help that. We can only proclaim the truth we know.

And how do we know this truth? Because James Daryl Schimmel… and Richard Elwell… and, I hope and pray every day, Allen V. Harris do not proclaim ourselves… we proclaim Jesus’ as Lord and ourselves as slaves for Jesus’ sake.

You see, the problem Lieutenant Commander Nathan R. Jessup had was that the truth that he didn’t think others could handle, the truth he wanted kept secret, was a truth that was based on maintining his own honor and on the shameful degradation of other people. He had lost his heart, and Christ will have nothing to do with either ego nor violence. Christ is all heart. The truth that Jim, and Dick, and so many others have lived out their entire lives – whether they spoke of their sexual orientation or not doesn’t matter – is the truth that it is God that is central to their lives, that human beings do matter and are beloved children of God and deserve justice, fairness, and equality, and they are humble servants of Jesus Christ, who was crucified to make that truth a reality. Jesus crucified is the ultimate image of God, the ultimate truth. And these men, in so many ways, dare I say it, have been crucified. Paul says later, “For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.”

And as I look at the ministries of Jim and Dick – which continue vibrantly into the future – I can say with Paul with full confidence: For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” And in the faces of Dick Elwell and Jim Schimmel, I see Christ.

Thanks be to God!
Amen.
 

Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2010 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096