Matthew 21:23-32

Pentecost + 15 - Year A

Matthew 21:23-32

During the recent church trial of Rev. Amy Delong (LoveOnTrial.org), the question came, “Are you now or have you ever been a “self-avowed practicing homosexual?” Amy wisely replied, “First let me ask you a question, do you ever ask that question of heterosexuals . . . that they are practicing?”

Church counsel had no response. “If we say yes, everyone knows that we don’t ask that question”: “If we say no, how can we ask it here without revealing our prejudice?”

And so Amy went on to clearly identify herself as a lesbian in a loving, committed relationship with her partner. Loving both her partner and her church, she calmly replied, “I won’t answer a question put to me with the intention of harming me.”

So, is the ministry of further revealing the expansive and expanding love of G*D done by a son who lives by the rules on the outside or by a daughter who lives by grace on the inside?

Forced choices by Jesus are no better than forced choices by chief priests of the Church un-Doctrinal Committee. Both have their limits; both reveal intentions.

What trick question have you been responding to when all that was needed was a twist and return question? Perhaps the bind you are currently facing isn’t really a bind. You are not between a rock and a hard place, but between accepted fantasy and walking free.