The road is long. Arriving at the end is not easy. In the storms
of our human struggle, we realize that our bodies alone cannot get us
to the end. The trip is too long. What we need is a power that is
outside of our ability and limitations. Certain experts and the maps
they produce along the way, claim that the body is more than able to
make the journey without any help. They say that our bodies are better
than any force that could aid us. But, we know that this is not true.
When we realize that a vehicle is needed, our trip is transformed. As
we ride in our vehicle, we continue to feel the bumps and holes of the
road, and daily we are reminded that the shock from these bumps would
be even more treacherous, even fatal, without the aid of our vehicle.
Daily, our tires fall into the holes and daily they rise up out of
them. Our vehicle brings us out of the dark chasm to continue on the
road toward the sun's bright beams time after time.
The gay Christian is in the predicament of the driver. Many of the
resources that are believed to contain truth attempt to expose the
roadblocks and bring out the answers to gay and lesbian acceptance into
the Church, but they fail at the task. The authors of these books
desire to know the answers but few attempt to find them in the right
place. The result is a system of questionable material. Many books
being written in gay theology provide a cheap way out for those who
have the advantage in society, especially in the Church. It is not
actually until the person drives further that it becomes plain that the
theology that he/she has picked up on the journey from such resources
will not function as it should. The outward appearances are deceiving.
Freedom and true release from oppression in the Church and in the
world are at the end of the road. The question is how does the Church
arrive there? How can gay and straight people come to love each other
in a healthy atmosphere of ecclesiastical space, putting aside past
incidents of hate? Many theological books claim that the answer comes
in a human container: it is in what we do that we will obtain salvation
from oppression and abuse, for this system proclaims that all people
have an "inner goodness."
But, what is being distributed here is suspect theology in light of
Christian teaching and the Scriptures -- a "Theology of glory." This
article is about a better answer -- a "Theology of the Cross." By
implementing a homiletical, liturgical, hymnological and sacramental
theology, it will become clear that the only possible way to reach the
end of the road with an effective reply to homophobia, heterosexism and
other oppression, is the Cross. The Cross is the only way by which we
get to the "other side," embodying discipleship and be willing to take
risks for our fellow human being. Only when the Cross is the basis for
our theology and not human agendas, can we show God's love to the world
in our actions. Oppression will come to a halt because the Cross
produces a change from the hostility of universal sinfulness to the
hospitality of divine grace which is ours as people of faith, both gay
and straight.
The Church at the time of Martin Luther thought that it had the
answer, too. Great amounts of sin had consumed the medieval world
(including the Church and many of its theologians). The answer that the
corrupt hierarchical Church offered was built on human solutions that
put stock in greedy and idolatrous interests (sin). The selling of
indulgences was an outward sign of this system of glory. While the
Cross was definitely present in the ecclesiastical dogma of the Church,
obvious in the celebration of the Mass alone, the Cross' presence did
not mean that there was a theology of the Cross. Instead, the system in
place was one about the Cross. The theology was being fueled by human
self-interest and money, signs that the Cross was in a secondary
position in all arenas of the Church. This sort of theology is a
"Spectator Theology." The theology of the Cross operates on a different
foundation. The Cross is at the heart of the Christian message and
theological enterprise, proclaiming that all people by their very
nature are sinful and in need of salvation which comes from a power
outside of human ability.
Through Jesus' death and bodily resurrection, a metamorphosis or
transformation takes place. It is one of simultaneous justification and
sanctification. The Word of God (Logos)
is not only in the Sacraments and the sacred Scriptures, but also in
the person of Jesus Christ. Both the Law and the Gospel are present in
all of these forms of the Word of God. The Law convicts us of original
sin and condemns us to death, but Christ's death and resurrection
raises us to new life. A theology faithful to the Word will hold the
event and purpose of the Cross with its intrinsic elements of Law and
Gospel high. This is theologia crucis (theology of the Cross). "In the
Cross and resurrection, God is bringing about something entirely new,
something that is to put an end to the old way of thinking as well as
acting [which includes an acceptance of our sexual dimension, and for
some people, a change from homophobia to an openness of grace and
acceptance] . . . the Cross is its own system. The Cross and
resurrection in itself brings about something entirely new." [Forde,
Gerhard, Where God meets Man (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1972),
34.]
In this system, the "old Adam" dies and a "new Adam" rises in Christ.
This is about the freeing of human souls from the bondage of sin and
with this comes the reality and knowledge that there are no degrees of
sin - the homophobe is no worse than a liar or someone who cheats on
his partner. The Cross is the only thing that levels the playing field
so that all are in the same passenger seat with the same baggage. While
the baggage may be different colors, it is all the same size.
The theologia crucis creates a mandatory focal point on Christ in
liturgy and hymnody, preaching and Sacraments. Without this, the
community of faith cannot teach the world about the true justice and
freedom that can be found in the Word of God. When we proclaim the
Cross in word, music and action, we proclaim God's Word (Law and
Gospel) as God's justice. This answer does not originate in the mind of
humans, but rather it comes from the infinite love and wisdom of God
who gives us knowledge and shalom. This reality is what Christians
celebrate in liturgical worship.
Christian worship (liturgy and hymns in particular) is about the
Cross. Corporately, we affirm the truth that God is one God. We try to
model our lives so that they reflect the Reign of God in its justice
and saving power. It is because of the Cross that we turn away from
worshipping ourselves and the popular culture in which we live so that
God is praised and magnified on earth. The liturgies of the Church have
served as a retelling and living out of the story of salvation since
the time of the early Christians. While the traditional liturgies and
some hymns may have been used at times as tools of oppression, that is
not their original intent nor is it their real purpose. Oppression was
never the purpose of the Scriptures. Under that heretical use of the
Word of God, the Scriptures became texts of terror. Real Christian
worship puts aside differences, including sexuality, because "in Christ
there is no east or west."
Hymns and the liturgy teach us what we need to know about Christ and
the Cross.
In worship, ALL of God's children hear the story of salvation in
which they are freed from sin through the Cross. We rehearse the
solution to the problems that we face in the reenacting of this story.
Chord after chord, word after word, gesture after gesture bathes us in
a spiritual balm which brings the soothing harmony only the triune God
could produce. When we die and rise daily as baptismal anamnesis, we
remember the death and rising of Jesus, making God's will clearer.
"Thus you can say that the will of God for you is revealed in the fact
of your baptism, or in the fact that you hear the Gospel and receive
his body and blood in the sacraments." [Forde, 36.]
It is in the act of corporate worship that we taste, smell, touch, see
and hear God's presence in the struggle of life. In this sense, we know
that we are in need of the Cross, that the Cross brings shalom. Our
senses die but then rise like a crocus in the springtime. In the Cross,
the Word of God springs up in a natural earthly sign which contains a
supernatural divine promise.
The theologian of the Cross has the valuable task and duty of
returning "ad fontes" to the Cross as a source of life, justice and
truth. The homilest, ordained or lay, must turn to the ancient
Scriptures of the Church in order to make the justice of God plain for
ALL to believe and live daily. This homiletic of Law and Gospel is
consistent with the space, rites and actions in which the community of
the Cross shares. Preaching the continuity and resolution of the Cross
means letting the Good News transform the life of the Church, not by
seeking to do the transforming on one's own:
[Childs, Jr., James M., "Preaching Justice: The Ethical Vocation of
Word and Sacrament Ministry" in Trinity Lutheran Seminary Review
(Spring/Summer 1998), pp. 5-18, ed. Donald G. Luck (Columbus: Trinity
Lutheran Seminary), 9.]
The preaching of discipleship and freedom that we have because of
the Cross is the spoken Word which forms a partnership with our
gestures (figurae) in worship and out in the world. Our worship space,
which also should proclaim the Cross, shapes our actions by stenciling
our movement in a cruci-centric form. The altar and font rise above
other furnishings in the worship venue because they are physical aids
to participation in and being marked by the sacramental message of the
Cross. They help configure the actual worship space cristo-centrically
and support the Trinitarian focus of the rites of the Church. Gestures
such as the "passing of the Peace" and the presider's orans posture
during the consecration of bread and wine aid us in living the Cross
story daily. Many Christians find that making the sign of the Cross is
also a meaningful and important part of their faith and piety.
[Huck, Gabe, How can I keep from singing? Thoughts about liturgy for
musicians (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1989), 25.]
As a result of the Theology of the Cross in all aspects of our
faith, a new ethic is carried out. Now, the believer has what Sharon
Welch calls an "ethic of risk."
This means that while we still remain sinful, the grace of God seeps
into the depths of our souls and we become agents of that very grace.
We have no choice to stay in the comfortable seat. We are called to a
discipleship of "costly grace," as Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us,
which means that because of the resurrection, we are called to be
partners in change.
We are called to a life-long profession (baptismal vocation) of
justice that means giving up control and letting God work through the
power of the Cross. It is only through the Cross that each believer
will be able to embrace an ethic of risk for his/her neighbor. Only
then will all Christians love as they were first loved. The lack of
this ethic may indicate a lack of the Cross in any theology, whether
that be a gay church or a straight one. As a straight man, I must
constantly remind myself that being a Christian does not mean sitting
back and letting the chauffeur drive. Somewhere in the midst of my
privileged heterosexual life, I must get up from my conformably padded
seat to serve my homosexual neighbor. In order to be a theologian of
the Cross and active Christian, I must extend the hand of friendship.
Christian discipleship is about putting aside past prejudices and
working for the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God which is not about
sexual orientation.
CONCLUSION
All Christians desire to know the answer to the human dilemma that
we have been discussing. It is the job of the theologian of the Cross
to crack the false front of real truth that has been assembled by
homophobes, but the task remains also of enlightening the side which
says the answer is within us. Through preaching the Word of God, right
administration of the sacraments in worship, and social action through
the Cross, humanity's predicament is made naked for all to see. God's
grace provides a protective cloak which warms us up from the chill of
this exposure. It makes love to us. The Cross exposes our NO and brings
us to God's YES! This YES is always the Cross; it is always
resurrection. It is how we know how to love and be loved. Without the
YES of the Cross, the oppression of sin and the power of the devil
would have the last word but, they do not. Our risk in living the
theology of the Cross always leads us to the resurrection of Easter.
Note: When "Word of God" is used in this article, it is not meant to be used
in a fundamentalist or biblicistic way. Instead, the "Word of God" is
the unseen substance which brings truth in our lives. I am speaking
about the experience and revelation of truth and the presence of God in
our lives. This is in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures not as texts of
terror, but as freedom and justice. This is not a literal word for word
message. But, rather a Word inspired by the Holy Spirit to free the
world from the very oppression and sin which gays, lesbians, bisexuals
and transgendered people throughout time have experienced. While this
"Word" points to everyone's sin, it liberates all in the person of
Jesus and his death and resurrection on the Cross. The Word of God in
Jesus, the Scriptures, the Sacraments and liturgical environment,
contains the Gospel which resurrects the whole believing community and
helps it to know better the saving presence of God. This is the Word of
God.
"Moralizing does justice neither to Law nor to the Gospel. It stirs
up guilt without recognizing the depth of human sin. It utters
admonitions which betray too much faith in human possibility and,
therefor leaves us powerless in the end. Moralizing does justice
neither to the Law nor to the Gospel. Moralizing about justice
misses
the radicality of God's absolute demand and absolute judgment
as revealed in the Cross. In its humanistic proclivities, moralizing
about justice misses God's absolute, radical love and mercy, which
is
the promise of the whole Christ event . . . True preaching of
justice
begins and ends with God's absolute demand and judgment and begins
and ends with God's absolute grace and mercy. Moralizing about
justice
begins with an illusory belief in human potential and ends with the
existential disappointment of human failure."
"Think about the sign of the Cross as such a rehearsal. Over and over
it comes- from the door of the church before baptism, through each
morning and night at bedside, each Sunday in the assembly, then to
the anointing of the body in sickness and in the end the signing of
the
body for burial with that same Cross. What are we rehearsing? In
the
cross traced over and over, we are learning the very shape of our
lives,
knowing or absorbing little by little how for us that cross is the
weapon against evil and the victory over death."
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Also In This Issue:
Loving Our Enemies - Within and Without
