Poor Grandpa John (Wesley)—founder of the old Methodist communion. The United Methodist leadership just voted to not allow gay clergy or recognize same sex marriage. To some of us, that’s a little bit like our leaders voting that the earth is not round, it’s flat. All those who agree, say yes. Okay, the majority rules: the earth is flat.
What?
Such a vote is one of the reasons why we are the NEW Buddhist Methodist Church, not the old one. It was a silly vote, by fla-earthers.
It’s understandable that folks want to keep basic, traditional human values in tact. And the tradition—the conservative tradition – is that we do just that. But the exploration and articulation of basic human values is not a static, ‘let’s-live-like-it-was- yesterday’ type of exploration. Rather, exploring human values, and human nature is an alive, here and now, animated encounter with the Presence that Jesus himself came to reveal.
“Love God with all your heart and soul and mind, love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mathew 22: 36-40)
Jesus was stone cold clear about this. Absolutely certain. Love is (or at least was) the basic reason, and motivation, and driving force of Jesus’s mission. Methodism, 1700 years later, was not quite as certain, not quite as clear, but they were open to exploration. Looked at from one vantage point, love can be understood as the basic method of Methodism, as it should be with all Christian denominations. (Or so we Buddhist Methods assume.)
(At one time I enjoyed asking any Methodist I met, “So, what’s the method?” Alas, Wesley’s original “Method” was a little bit like the Catholic inquisition, so I gave up bringing attention to it.)
Even though Grandpa John Wesley was not quite as simple or clear about this as we are today, after much investigation, that was his conclusion. (“I asked long ago, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ The Scripture answered, ‘Keep the commandments, believe, hope, love.” – John Wesley.)
Alas, the Methodists just voted, “Yes, you should love, but not like that.”
What?
Don’t get me wrong. I was brought up Methodist, (and Baptist and Federalist and Episcopalian and then later Bahai and Hebrew and Hindu and Taoist and Buddhist, even Rastafarian. But that’s a different story, a different post.)
My grandparents on my father’s side were Methodists and I was baptized a Methodist and went to Methodist church and Sunday school for my first dozen years or so. I even sang in the Methodist kids’ choir.
Nevertheless, my grandparents on my father’s side might have easily gone along with the recent sad vote by the Old Time Methodists to bar gay clergy and same sex marriage. But I think my grandparents were basically in favor of NO sex marriage. (Just a coincidence that my father was adopted?) Just as they were in favor of Richard Nixon and slowing down the civil rights craziness, and for sure the women’s movement, and “do we really need to fly to the moon?” (Grandparents can get that way.)
Again, that’s why we here are the NEW Methodist church, (and Buddhist, too, for what it’s worth.) We are looking for whatever methods we can find to help us do as Jesus said we must do: Love God with all our heart, all our soul, all, our mind. And love our neighbors as ourselves. (Did I mention that already?) Resting in the Buddha mind, so the story goes, such love comes easy, natural.
Telling people they can’t love each other, as the Old Methodists just did, doesn’t seem like it’s following Jesus’ first two commandments, upon which hang on “all the law and prophets.”
God is love. (John 4-7.)
The old Methodists undoubtedly have their “good reasons” for voting against love, or this particular type of love. But for many of us, that’s as silly as voting to not let Redheads into our congregation, or people with green eyes, or who are 6’1” or taller.
Yes, undoubtedly, there are those who DO choose a gay lifestyle, rather than being born into it. Just as they choose which church they go to, or which gym, or which pickle ball session to attend. They choose thus just because it fits. It works. They resonate with it. To say no, you can’t go to that Pickle Ball session is, well, just silly. As was the recent vote by the old time Methodists.
Again, poor Grandpa John Wesley. Yes, of course, being a creature of the 18th Century, he might have agreed with the recent decision to not allow gays into the communion. But, then again, he might not. After all, John Wesley was vehemently against slavery, a hundred years before such a stance was popular. He was a very “let’s love our brother and sister” kind of guy. With the recent vote, I like to think he’d be rolling over in his grave, unless of course, he was already enjoying himself in heaven with the multitudes, including the multitudes of gays. Then he’d look down and say, “what?”
By their recent vote, the old time Methodists are making themselves less and less relevant to the truly dynamic spiritual awakening that is happening on earth these days. We New Buddhist Methodists are happy to welcome, and receive, whoever resonates with our music, our way, our vibe.
The old Methodists should reconsider. With their recent vote, I have it on good authority, Jesus wept.
