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At the great Temple in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus, there was a large outer area called the Court of the Gentiles. Closer to the center of the Temple, the Holy of Holies where God was believed to dwell, there was another area called the Court of the People (which meant the Jews). Tradition says that between the Court of the Gentiles and the Court of the Jews there was a wall. It was only the people of the Law, Torah, the Jews, who were allowed to pass through a door in this wall, in order to come closer to God. It is also believed, and apparently archeologists have now confirmed this, that on this wall there was an inscription saying that any Gentile attempting to enter the Court of the Jews would be put to death.

The central issue which preoccupied the Apostle Paul throughout his long ministry was the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His letters often focused on how this reconciliation was happening or not happening in the young churches he had started. As a Jew schooled in Torah, he would frequently draw upon Jewish tradition and imagery. In his Letter to the Ephesians, he writes:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near;..

According to the Law of the Jews, the Gentiles are those who were far off, and they, the Jews, nearer to God. Their message was "If you want to come close to God, you must accept our Law. Gentiles must first become Jews. That is the only way to pass through the barrier, the dividing wall. To become close to God, you must first become like us." All this was, of course, symbolized by the architecture of the Temple with its wall separating the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of the Jews. But Paul says that this is wrong. It is not a matter of telling Gentiles what they must do to enter into God’s presence. It is instead a matter of making it clear that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the wall itself has been destroyed. The wall (sustained by the Law) was itself a symbol of hostility, not welcome.

For Paul the issue is always how our alienation from God is demonstrated by our alienation from each other. Paul says that the Christian community is like the Temple except that there are no barriers. No one can say "Be like us if you want access to God." Jesus’ faith in God becomes the model for our faith in God. Jesus’ love of neighbor becomes the model for our love of neighbor. Jesus showed that the way to love God was through a radical trust and obedience. And with this came a radical acceptance of all others. The only people Jesus repeatedly rebukes are those who say, "If you want to be close to God, you must first do this." Which usually means, "Do as I say!" The business with James and John in the Gospel lesson shows how ingrained is our human attitude of needing to feel closer to God by keeping others far off.

For Paul, the church is the community that models what reconciliation with God and reconciliation with one another actually looks like in our time and place. Paul proclaimed in his time it was about reconciliation between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. What he was able to work on first was the Jew and Gentile issue. He didn’t really get around to the other two. What is it about in our time? It continues to be about reconciliation between male and female, but also rich and poor, black and white, first world and third world. And it is about reconciliation among people of differing sexual orientation and gender expression.

For those who are followers of Jesus, I think two things are always of central importance. First, it is the conviction that each and every human being is created in the image of God. And though each of us is distinctive, that image of God lacks nothing. And secondly, we believe that, as Paul says, Jesus came into this world to break down the human barriers that happen because of sin. God doesn’t create walls. We do. And among the worst and most dehumanizing walls are those erected by religion. Discovering that there is, in reality, no barrier strong enough to separate us from God, that nothing in all creation can separate us, including the rules, writings, and traditions of religion – is great Good News.

Some have wondered why it is important to amend our Open and Affirming Statement to include transgender Christians. It is said that the behaviors that are called transgender are so far outside the general norm and affect so very few people, aren’t there more important things we should be worrying about? Let me briefly share some reasons why I think this is an important subject. First of all, whenever people, whoever they are, say that they experience a barrier between being themselves in all their humanity and the Christian community, we need to listen. God didn’t create that barrier; humans did. Why? Because this human tendency called sin leads us to say, "We who represent the norm in society, are more right than you. If you want access to what is good, including God, you must be like us, who represent the norm." We then become the unwitting agents of that particular pain experienced by gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender people – the special pain that comes to those who have to ask themselves, "Am I being told that I must change who I am and how God created me in order to be acceptable to God’s people?" The answer to this question must be a resounding "No!" The only acceptable response from us who represent the norm is to instead ask ourselves if we, like James and John, are not more worried about securing a place at the right hand of God at the expense of others. Secondly, we inhabitants of the norm need to look more humbly and with greater understanding at those outside the norm. The bell-shaped curves we create to describe the range of human orientations and behaviors are not maps of God’s zones of approval. In fact, God repeatedly enters history with God’s own plumb line, which shatters the artificial constructs of our bell-shaped curves (Amos). God has a different map of human disposition and behavior. How about measuring us and our human communities in light of justice, kindness, and humility? (Micah) What kind of curve does that look like? Most of us may not engage in the behaviors of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender people, and may find it hard to understand such orientation and behaviors. Well then, why not stop and listen? Consider Job. He is trying to figure everything out, especially his own unmerited suffering, and God responds with some pretty bracing words – saying basically, "I created the universe. I did it the way I wanted. I created every thing and every person the way I wanted. And I don’t owe you any explanation for anything." Our God says, "All I want is your trust and obedience and all will be well with you. There is no need for dividing walls of hostility between you and people that are different from you."

Finally, by listening to and seeking to understand the feelings of those outside our human constructed norms, we find a valuable opportunity to look at ourselves differently. We erect dividing walls of hostility for a reason. The reason is our own sense of insecurity in the eyes of God, our own inability to trust God, our own unwillingness to let go and welcome God with a radical openness. When, like James and John, we start worrying about who’s in and who’s out, we are only indicating that we haven’t understood who God is. If there is someone I don’t understand, someone who is so different that I am uneasy, even frightened by what they represent, that can be a great gift to me. Because it forces me to look at myself. As the old spiritual says, "Take a look at yourself and you will look at others differently."

This takes the courage to be clear. The news is again filled with the struggles of the Episcopal Church on the matter of the consecration of an openly gay Bishop. In this controversy we see the whole range of Christian response – from love and courage to political waffling to outright hate. But let us again be clear, as members of Christ Congregational Church and the United Church of Christ, about where we stand. We are open – radically open to God’s love and justice, and open to each other. And we are affirming. God is good. And every inhabitant of God’s good creation bears the Creator’s stamp of approval. Thus says the Lord, "I have made you and you are mine." Judgment belongs to God because everything belongs to God. In the end, what is required of us? It is to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. That is more than enough. Amen.
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