Reading Bible and understanding Bible in the right way is a very responsible activity. During the history many evil things were happening because of the wrong Bible interpretations. Many people were killed in the name of Jesus and many wars were started for the sake of church. Today we also have many evil activities that Christians do for the sake of God. There is a special group of people who are victims of satanic and anti-Christian propaganda that certain Christians spread by saying that LGBTQ+ people deserve to be persecuted and to disappear from this Earth. Recently I have joined an online meeting conducted by LGBTQ+ Ministry within Church of Christ the King, here in Frankfurt. We were discussing about the issues and hardships that LGBTQ+ Christian people are struggling with for years just because of wrong interpretations of the Bible. The story about Sodom and Gomorra talking about the violence and violent people who were punished because of the violence. Violent gang bang raping was also included and their desire to hurt angels. But first of all it was about violence. There are some other verses condemning ritual same-sex activities which in the context of that time might be related to pedophilia and worship satanic rituals. There is not a single sentence talking about the love between two same sex people including mutual respect, dedication, emotional and physical affection and love. As straight sexual activities are also defined sinful as we know that Jesus even said that when a men even for a moment think sexually about the women he already did adultery in his heart and further we know that adulterers should be eternally condemned. Does that mean that the Bible talks about straight people that all straight population is not going to enter the Kingdom of God? If we would interpret the Bible in a wrong way we could say so. This is why it is very wrong to interpret Bible in a way that it should not be interpreted. I would also like to add here that God when giving us Bible he has also given us a common sense to understand that if one’s biblical interpretation could lead to discrimination and make another human being feel endangered and hated just because of who he or she was born to be, a healthy functional brain and a common sense would realize that something is wrong with this interpretation. One of these wrong interpretations exists for the centuries and centuries and they are related to the definition of the Roman Catholic Pope. In today’s reading Matthew 16/13:20 we read promise to Apostle Peter that Jesus will give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven:

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Even though it does not have much common sense and that it totally runs out of the entire Biblical context many people believe today that the Pope is the new Peter and representative of God on Earth. There is an interpretation that by this sentence Lord Jesus gave the power to Apostle Peter to be a new representative of God, in Latin we would say Vicarius Filii Dei which means Representative of the Son of God. Roman Catholics believe that after Peter every new bishop of Rome (read Pope) has a special privilege to be called as a representative of the Son of God on the Earth. Through the history churches have done many evils because of wrong interpretations of the Bible. And people were lacking to use brain and simply have common sense. Today that same church is fighting against human rights to love and create a family. Unless straight family. God is still showing them that it is wrong while there are over 8.000 pedophiles within Roman Catholic clergy said Pope Francis. There are many gay sex scandals happening within all traditional and homophobic churches, not only in Roman Catholic but also in Orthodox Church and other conservative protestant churches. We lack of scandals in Old Catholic, Episcopal, Anglican, Lutheran and all of those churches that respect equality and human right to love a person of same sex. And look, there are no more scandals, no more hidden sexual activities of self-called saints just because church (read believers) use the God-given common sense to admit that everyone is free to love who they want to love and that the core of our faith is love. And that is a real natural condition. For someone that is astrophysics but for someone it is just a logical thing and a common sense. And I would like to end this sermon with a message while reading the Bible please use your brain and use your heart. Your brain will tell you the common sense, your heart will tell you that where love is there is no sin. And only in this way you would have the power to understand and to preach the Bible. In the name of Love. Amen.

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28

          It is refreshing to read scriptures that are more connected than they are apart.  I mean, there feels like an actual theme running through these passages  for a change and I am glad that I got them to work with for this week.

          For years, I have felt like an outsider of sorts.  On more than one occasion things have happened to put me on the outside of what was considered normal by many others around me.  I grew up with six sisters (one older brother) and so I did and learned many things that my sisters did.  For so long, it became clear that I was able to do things that they did, or any other girl did, just because I was around them and watched them do it.  By the time I was about eight years old, I was twirling a broomstick or a mop handle, marching around our yard as the drum major or majorette of an imaginative marching band; and by the time I was eleven, I was cartwheeling, flipping, doing splits and straddles and even mastered just about every cheer that any cheer leading squad seen on any Saturday or Sunday sports football game (college or national) was doing.  My sisters were doing it, so it felt only natural that I was able to do it, too.  But, not everyone was okay with this. 

          My stepfather had no problem hurling names at me from time to time just to make himself feel good.  My Boy Scout Troop enjoyed doing the same and then carried the name calling to the halls of our schools.  It was all done in an attempt to push me out and make me feel like I was “less than” they were.  I was never taught that anyone was “less than” anyone else and I especially never felt that way growing up and listening to the Word of God in church, any church that I attended.

          In third grade, my teacher at the time, taught every one of the students who wanted to learn, how to knit.  It looked fun and so I decided that I would give it a whirl!  I knitted a long purple scarf, and at the end of the school year, along with many of the other students in that class, participated in a fashion show to allow our parents see the work we had done throughout the year.  I was not the only boy who learned how to knit but I was the only one who was ridiculed for learning how.  And, one of the boys who was the most cruel had learned to knit much more than I did and yet, the other boys in the school thought that what he had done was ‘cool’, I was a ‘sissy’.  Anyway, I was as proud of my scarf as he was of the baby outfit that he had knitted for his new little sister.          

          In our OT reading, we read of how during the reconstruction period after the exile the matter of who was eligible to be a member of the community.  Although some wanted to be exclusivists and keep out disqualified people, these verses make clear that the Third Isaiah advocates an inclusive policy that is extended to “eunuchs” and foreigners.

          One of the reasons I was strongly attracted to the Episcopal Church and our church is our policy of inclusiveness.  I will never forget the first time, not so long ago, when while sitting in the pew of an Episcopal Church, I heard the words “gay” and “people with AIDS” shared from the pulpit!  I got all choked up because for so long I wanted to feel like I wasn’t stuck sitting on the margins of my faith. 

          But up until this moment, and like so many before and after me, sitting on the margins of most things has been the norm.  Isaiah 56:5c, 6 says “even the foreigners will not be cut off.  They will be given a new name.” and then in verse 6 further says:  “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant – those I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for ALL peoples. Thus says the Lord God; who gathers the outcasts of Israel. I will gather others to them; beside those already gathered.” And, yet, many ‘churches’ refuse people access to the church or even refuse to give them the Body and Blood of Almighty God.  Why?

          And still there are well meaning people associated with the church that are quick to cast people aside because they don’t look right, have on the right clothes, smell right, live in the right neighborhoods, drive the right cars, go to the right schools, have the right jobs, and on and on and on.  You get what I mean.  And, we don’t do anything to try and welcome people into the fold of God where they belong.  Our job is to be the example of Christ.  The Canaanite woman was doing nothing wrong.  She knew who the Almighty was and she wanted to see Him to be with Him to tell Him what was going on with her daughter.  Those around Him didn’t want Him to be bothered with that.  They didn’t want for Him to have to deal with probably ‘another whiner who just wanted to see Jesus.’ And, what is wrong with that?  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!” I say this prayer more than once a day and I don’t care who hears me.  I know that God hears me and in spite of those around (wolves in sheep’s clothing) who are quick to tell me that I am wasting my time, I still pray that prayer because I know that by the precious blood of Jesus, I no longer sit on the sidelines, in the margins, in the ditches, in the background…wherever.  I know that my redeemer lives and has delivered me to move to the head of the class, to the front of the line, passed GO, to the foot of the cross and live eternally with Him.  This is the message we need to always be willing to share and exemplify.  No one should ever be told that they are not good enough.  When we get so high and mighty to think that we are even remotely better than anyone else when we look in the mirror, like my 11-year-old niece reminded me when I told her that I was prettier than her, “GET SOME WINDEX!”

May Jesus Christ be praised!

Jesus walks on the waters of the sea of Galilee, one of most famous biblical stories. It is
the middle of the night. By all reports it is what was called “the fourth watch of the
night”, today’s equivalent of 3am.
It had been a busy day by anyone’s standard – to say the least – 5,000 men plus women
and children had followed him into the open countryside. There, in the late afternoon,
in the spring sunlight, on the green slopes above the seashore he had fed them all with
the breaking of the blessed bread and the fish.
As the feast was ending Jesus had ordered his disciples to get into their boat and cross
over to other side of the sea. He stayed behind alone. First, politely, he personally sends
off the crowds back to their homes and their ordinary lives. Then he heads up into the
hills, to pray. At the quiet ending of that momentous day there is a love both of God, his
Heavenly Father, and of his neighbor. An openness to both with all his heart and soul
and strength.
Now in the darkness and the wind he comes to his disciples, walking on the waters. “Do
not be afraid. I am with you. Take heart.” As so often, he believes that the opposite of
faith is not unbelief but fearfulness, anxiety, timidity or paralyzing terror. We all have
experienced that time in our life, where we forget who we are in Christ and that He is
with us.
The disciples on the boat are not at this point caught up in a storm. It is rather a matter
of a strong head wind and high waves battering the boat in the open sea. They have lost
control. They are getting nowhere. Directionless. They have no power. Jesus knows
what we are going through.
You have to ask why Peter says what Peter says. What puts it into his head? It is such a
strange request: “Lord if it is you, tell me to come to you across the waters”. How many
times have you questioned God?
“Come,” says Jesus. Peter steps out of the boat and across the waves towards Jesus.
And then, hit by the blast of the wind and the failure of his faith, he falters and stumbles.
Immediately, without a disruption, Jesus stretches out his arm to save him and leads
him back to the boat. “O man of little faith why did you doubt? We forget the faith that
mustard seeds can move mountains!
Now all of this is happening in the wee morning hours. If you have worked a “dogwatch”
you know nothing good is happening at this time. It is that lonely weak point when our
fragile humanity is at its weakest and most vulnerable to fear. There can be few of us
who have not woken up at this point in the night, appearing from a deep sleep into
confusion and swamped suddenly by anxieties as things from the past flood in on us. Or
fears for the future, or what the next day will bring, overwhelm us. We are incapable of
reasoning as the turbulence overtakes us and terror drags us down. Like Peter trying to
walk on the water, we are in water over our head, drifting and panic filled.

Perhaps then it is at these times that the Christian is to say into the darkness, “Lord if it
is you, tell me to come to you across these dark waters.” And for us to hear the voice of
our compassionate master saying once more, “Come, take courage, I am with you.” And
to feel too the touch of his outstretched hand and the gentle lecture, “O ye of little faith
why do you doubt? I am with you, with an outstretched arm”.
So as this short story ends, something of shimmering beauty has been revealed in the
darkness, and a firm foundation of courage and hope in God has been given in the midst
of the turmoil of the sea. Back in the narrow confines of the boat they worship the
cherishing massiveness of the divine presence: Jesus. Son of God and Son of Mary. I AM
with you.
“Do not be afraid for I have redeemed you. I called you by your name and you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers they will
not overwhelm you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.
Do not be afraid for I am with you.” (Isaiah 43. 1-5).
Jesus is Jesus, God is God, and the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit, it is us that forget the
power we have in the Trinity.

Trans…… Trans……  Trans……  Got your attention, didn’t I?  But nope.  Whilst I’m all about supporting folks who are trans, this isn’t that kind of post.  SURPRISE!  Nope.  This is all about trans…other things.  Stop for a sec and think about those five little letters, that one little syllable:  trans.  It’s a prefix.  According to the dictionary, most commonly it means: 

1.  across; beyond.  “transcontinental”  on or to the other side of.  “transatlantic”
2.  through.  “transonic”  into another state or place.  “transform”  surpassing; transcending.  “transfinite”

It’s that second one that’s important to us here today:  Transform; “into another state or place.” 

When I was a kid we had electric trains.  There was a transformer that made the electricity transform into another kind of electricity that made the trains go.  We all of us have transformers in our homes in one way shape or form.  You know those little black boxes that are at the end of a cord, and you have to plug another cord into it before you can plug the whole business into a socket?  Yep, those are transformers, too.

Then, there are the Transformers that are toys, which spawned movies and cartoons and a whole wealth of possibilities in entertainment.  These are toy line is that the parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again.   Great fun!

There are transformers in nature, too!   Seeds to plants, caterpillars to butterflies, pollywogs to frogs, and the list goes on.  By some miracle of nature, they all transform from one entity into another.  Exciting stuff, that!

And then….there is us.  We are born and we grow and change for sure.  But most of us don’t really “transform” into something completely different.  We are simply who we are.  Or are we?  Can we be transformed into something, someone, other than who we fundamentally are?

In the Gospel reading appointed for today, we read in Matthew of “The Transfiguration of the Lord”:   Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him.  Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here.  If you wish, I will make three tents here,

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them,

then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased;  listen to him.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid.  But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.”  And when the disciples raised their eyes,

they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Well now.  There’s a lot to unpack from those few paragraphs, but the big takeaway for today is that Jesus showed those guys his true form.  He went from being “plain ol’ Jesus” to “Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.”  Like whoa.  But wait a sec.  Question.  Wasn’t he ALWAYS “Jesus the Christ, the Son of God?”  Was HE really changed; transformed, if you will?  Did he change, or did he just show the world who he already was?  I vote for Jesus doing the “show and tell thing” and him cluing the men who were with him into the fact that he wasn’t some second-rate nobody preacher, but that he was SOMEBODY.  THE Somebody.

And that brings us right back to the question, “Can we be transformed into something, someone, other than who we fundamentally are?”   Mmmmmmm     Maybe the question should be, “Who are we and what do we need to do to make us into the person God wants us to be?” 

And you ask, “Who does God want us to be and reckon wonder how do we become that?”  It’s sorta kinda easy to answer the first part.  Who does God want us to be?  God wants us to be the best version of the person he created.  Be you.  Be your best.  Be the best you that you can be.   Work to become You2.0

The second part?  The “how do we do that?” part?  He’s told us that, too.  In John 13 Jesus says to us, “But I am giving you a new commandment. You must love each other, just as I have loved you.  If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.”  We are to continue to work to change (transform!) ourselves and the world by doing the work that Jesus has given us to do, by helping others to see Jesus through and in us, by showing that love that he demonstrated, by bringing that love to everyone.

Jesus told us to love everyone.  Love.  Everyone.  Period.   Not just those whose politics are the same as ours.  Not only those whose religion is the same as ours, not only those whose lifestyles are the same as ours.  Love.  Everyone.  Period. 

We are to remember that there is not one person on this planet who God does not love.  Yes, even that…….….fill in your own blank.  Democrat?  Yep.  Republican?  Yep.  Trans person, gay person, bigot, other-race person, criminal, gossip, and irritating next door neighbor? Yep.  Yes.  Affirmative. Positively.  Absolutely.  Yep, and yes again.  We who claim to love the Lord, must show that love.  And if we act in love, if you actively DO love, that would transform the world.  Love.   Love others as you love yourself.   

Jesus tells us in pretty no uncertain terms and more than once:  Love.  Here:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34

This is my command: Love each other. – John 15:17

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. – Mark 12:30

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you – Matthew 5:44

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. – John 15:12

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you – Luke 6:27

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. – John 13:35

If you love me, you will obey what I command. – John 14:15

I’ll say it again, you are the only Jesus some folks will ever see, the only Bible some folks will ever read.  

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) said it like this:

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

We must show that we have, indeed, been transfigured and transformed.  Amen.

Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out.  Judge not.  No gays allowed.  Everyone welcome.  Separate but equal.  Love your neighbor.  And on and on and on….

Do y’all get as tired as I do of the back and forth between conservative and liberal, Democrat and Republican, this religious denomination vs. that religious denomination back and forth, my way or the highway babble that goes on and on and on and on, ad infinitum? 

Sometimes I just wanna scream STOP It!  Other times it’s a quiet “Why can’t we all just get along?”  More recently, my thoughts have been, “What the hell is wrong with you?”  I find it exhausting, this push and pull and continuous descension, and I find myself wondering, “What if?  Why?   How can we stop this madness?”

The answer, really, is kinda simple:  There’s an app for that!  And before you stop reading this and hasten to the App Store to look for this miracle thing that will guarantee you peace of mind forever more, lemme finish.  In the Gospel appointed for today, Matthew 13: 47-50, Jesus tells a parable or two, as was his custom, to make a few points.  Here: 

 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.  When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.  This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous  and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

See?  This is the “Kill ‘em all and let God sort’ em out” thing, only without the “killing” part.  What remains to be asked though,  much like Glenda asking Dorothy “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” is, are you a good fish or a bad fish?

We, all of us, need to continually examine ourselves to make sure that we are, indeed, in the ‘good fish’ pile.  And how do we know what kinda fish we are?  Are you ready?  Remember that App I was talking about?  Here it is:  Love God.  Love People.  Really, it’s pretty simple and straightforward.  We are to love folks in the way that God loves us.  We are to treat others the way we want to be treated.  Jesus says, again in Matthew 25:

  When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Notice there is no mention of race, gender identity, sexuality, religious preference or lack thereof, gender expression, or anything else that we today us to separate us into an “us versus them” mentality.  Nothing except acting in love.   There it is.  Love God.  Love people.  Act accordingly.  Amen.