A Devotion

 Amanda Mountain

“You desire truth in the inward being, therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart” (Psalm 51:6)

Many of you know that I sit in the front pew at church and sometimes put my arm around the woman I love. I didn’t ask God to send this love into my life, and sometimes I am overwhelmed with the blessing and grace from God that led me to this woman and this great love in my life. I cannot explain it. It is a feeling from my innermost being, a love in my secret heart.

The policy of the UMC is that this love is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” My reasoning, however, tells me that love is central to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Just read any of the Gospel stories. United Methodist theology speaks about something called the quadrilateral, a tool not named by Wesley but interpreted by Wesleyan theologians as central to our beliefs based on their own reasoning as they read Welsey’s sermons. The quadrilateral calls us to consider Scripture as primary but to bring in the traditions of the church, our own experiences, and our ability to reason when interpreting it.

I also think it is our call as Christians and followers of the love of Christ to call into question any traditions of the church that are incompatible with our experiences of that love in our lives. It is a precious thing, and not to be ignored or discredited simply because of ignorance, misunderstanding, or attitudes that oppose the love Christ has shown us through his life and teachings.

This Lent, I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself how love is shown in your life. Now ask yourself how you would feel if a law told you that your way of loving was immoral and incompatible with the love of Christ. I invite you to work against the forces of injustice in your life, your church, the community, and the world. Search your heart and your lives, find the love, and work to integrate it your methods of relating to others.

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Lenten practice:

Act against just one injustice that you see in your community. It doesn’t have to be around the LGBTQ issues in The UMC. You could start small. Serve food at your local food pantry. Volunteer at a shelter, the SPSA, or WSCAH. But do not stand idly by as injustices take the love of Christ out of your life and out of the world!

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Prayer:

God, give me strength as I work for justice in the world. Help those that suffer because of unjust laws and systems working against them. Bring the light of Christ into the world so that all may feel loved and whole.

Amen.