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This Week's Homily

September 12, 2010
24th Sunday of the Year - Cycle C

“God Hates Fags!” I Don’t Think So!

A Homily for Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered People

“Anthropomorphism” is a fun word! A person can use it to impress people if s/he wants to. It is two Greek words put together: anthros meaning “human” and morphos meaning “to change”. “Anthropomorphism” means to cast something that is not human in a human light or present it as having some human aspect(s), in other words “to change to human”. We change animals to human when we say an owl is wise or a fox is sly. We tend to do this to God a lot. For example, the Bible frequently speaks about God’s “strong right arm”. This is not to say that her/his left arm is weak. The fact is that God has no arms at all, for God is spirit. God’s “strong right arm” is anthropomorphism, speaking about God in human terms.

Anthropomorphizing God is not bad. It usually helps us to speak about God in ways that are meaningful to us. But speaking about God with anthropomorphism can lead us to “give” God human aspects that mislead us, that cause us to see God in ways that are inappropriate. I think that is happening in today’s 1st reading.

In this passage a human feeling of anger and vengeance is placed on God. So in the story we hear of God as very angry about the people setting up the golden calf. S/he then wants to destroy everyone except Moses and “start over”. Moses, being more “cool headed” than God, convinces God not to destroy the people. So, because humans tend to be vengeful and picture God that way, we now see God as vengeful – this is “bad” anthropomorphism. It does make a great story and say something important about the people, Moses and God’s mercy. But I personally don’t think God gets as uncontrollably angry as s/he is depicted in this story. People might, but God does not.

I want to draw 2 thoughts out of this for a GLBT homily. The first is about a new anthropomorphism. The second is about handling our own feelings.

You’ve heard it. You’ve seen it printed on signs and shown on the newscasts: “God hates fags!” and similar slogans. This is simply not true. It is taking a hateful and misguided human feeling and applying it to God. It is a blasphemy of God as well as a degradation of God’s people. It is despicable.

Now, how does one handle the strong feelings such slogans raise in a GLB or T person? Some feel guilt or fear of God because they are GLB or T. Happily, many have gotten rid of these feelings. If you have not yet done so, please do all you can to rid yourself of feeling guilt for being GLB or T, and rid yourself of feeling fear of God. Nowhere in the scriptures or tradition of the Churches does it say that God hates GLBT people and wants to hurt us. (The Scriptures do mention same-sex “behavior”. An explanation of this is beyond the scope of this homily.) What the scriptures and tradition say repeatedly is that God loves all the people. God loves you and wants you to develop your whole self, including your ability to love, even to love people of the same sex. God’s love of us GLBT people is NOT anthropomorphism; it is very real. The hate slogans are anthropomorphism of the worst kind!

The other main feeling that these slogans raise in us is outrage. This feeling is appropriate. There is nothing wrong with intense anger at this injustice. The problem is what to do with the anger.

I certainly may feel like destroying the perpetrators of such “anti-gay” lies. But, despite the anthropomorphic God depicted in the 1st reading, this is not God’s way and must not be our way. In today’s Gospel Jesus tells us what we must learn to do with our just feelings of anger. We must learn to forgive. Jesus welcomed the sinners and ate with them. Not only did he believe in them. He loved them. How does a sinner grow beyond her/his sin except by being welcomed, forgiven and challenged to be a better person? Jesus told parables about the joy God feels over the return of any sinner. And the author of today’s 2nd reading reminds us how Paul considered himself the greatest sinner because he helped to kill Christians. Yet Jesus forgave Paul.

This, then, is what we, as GLBT disciples of Jesus, must do. We must not let our anger at homophobic acts and sayings lead us to retaliation. We must forgive them and love them into leaving behind their sin. (Of course, we can and must denounce the bigotry and homophobia in every way possible and do all we can to present a fair and balanced image of GLBT people in the world. But, in our fight against homophobia, God does not want us to try to hurt the perpetrators.)

So, if thinking of God in positive human terms like “Mother” or “Healer”, etc., helps you feel closer to God, anthropomorphize to year heart’s content. But, please do not put negative human aspects (the vengeful one) on “the face of God”.

More important than trying to find human ways to see God, however, is to see God as s/he reveals her/himself: the one who loves, heals and forgives. As a son or daughter filled with God’s life, we do the same. We GLBT people learn to love, heal and forgive those who hurt us. Not so easy to do, but, Oh! so Godly!

Background for Today?s Scripture Readings
(If you want to get the readings from the Internet, click on this link: HYPERLINK http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab www.nccbuscc.org/nab and the date you want.)

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
Moses has been gone for 40 days and the people are restless, afraid something has gone wrong. They demand, not a new leader, but a way to see god. So Aaron had them gather their gold jewelry and from it constructed a golden calf. This calf is actually presented not as another god, but as a representation of Yahweh. Something similar happened when King Jeroboam, 1st, broke away from the kingdom set up by David and Solomon and began the Northern Kingdom, called Israel. To keep the people from going to the temple in Jerusalem, which had the Ark of the Covenant as the symbol of the presence of Yahweh, he had 2 golden calves made. He set these up in 2 shrines, one at Dan and one at Bethel, to symbolize the presence of Yahweh in the Northern Kingdom. These events affected the way today’s story in Exodus was eventually written down.

Our passage is about Yahweh telling Moses about the golden calf and his intention to destroy the people and create a new people from Moses. Moses, however, acts as mediator and, recalling God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, convinces Yahweh to relent. Notice that the angry Yahweh tells Moses that the offenders are “your” people; and Moses says to Yahweh that they are “your” people.
1Timothy 1:12-17

The author is a second or third generation Christian writing as though he is Paul to add Paul’s prestige to the pastoral directives he wants to give the Christian community. In today’s section he tells of Paul’s conversion from the worst sinner to an apostle of Jesus. The point is the mercy of Jesus to all sinners exemplified in his mercy to Paul.

Luke 15:1-32 (For shorter reading, 15:1-10. Our introduction will cover only 5:1-10 since 15:11-32 was covered on the 4th Sunday of Lent.)
The previous section of the Gospel dealt with bringing the poor and disadvantaged into the church. This section is about forgiveness of sinners who have left the Church. It is occasioned by the self-righteous Pharisees complaining that Jesus invites sinners to his meals and eats with them. (There is a reference here to the Eucharist.) Jesus responds by telling parables as examples of the great joy that God has over the return of even one sinner.

Copyright (c) 2000  Don Becker, Revised 2004

Copyright ? 2004 by Don Becker