God's Love for All

Today I went onto our church's website to look at something and at the bottom of the page we have a link to the ELCA's News, a banner that gives the highlights of the news releases from the ELCA, and one of the headlines caught my eye "ELCA Presiding Bishop Tells Young People 'It Gets Better'". I had no idea what this was about but thought maybe I should check it out. It turns out to be our Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson on a YouTube video for an online video project call "It Gets Better" directed to young people who are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender, that how they are treated, especially during high school, being bullied and teased that things will get better. This effort has come about after the recent suicides of young people who are GLBT and on this sight there are many different videos from everyday people to celebrities .

Bishop Hanson's video is especially moving, I think because for too long we as a church have not cherished ALL people for their identity and often we have not loved one another the way God has loved us. It saddens me to think of my church or the church as being a place where people might not find the love of God but rather the judgement of others for who they are. It saddens me that there are children of God who don't feel they can come and worship with their brothers and sisters in Christ and experience Christ's presence with us around a communion table because they fear of how they will be treated or what make me even sadder is to that think that they must somehow feel that they cannot be themselves to be accepted. We have been wrong and it makes my heart ache for those whose loved ones have chosen to end their suffering through suicide rather then find a place of love and acceptance because we have not been a place of love and acceptance.

Bishop Hanson quoted this passage from Romans: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. If it is so for God then we must speak this word of hope to all people. Bishop Hanson also said that "Words have the power to harm but also to heal", it is time for us to be the voice of Christ speaking of the love of God for all people - all people. It will get better - when we make it so. I pray that we might welcome all in the name of Christ. Amen

Full of Grace...just not very graceful,

Pastor Jill