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Please read all four cartoon panels above
Welcome back to Part 18 of A History of Incompatibility. In this series, we explore the development of Christian beliefs around human sexuality, particularly as it relates to present church schisms over LGBTQ inclusion. If you are just now joining the story, I recommend going back and starting at Part 1.
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This week’s images explore the sharing of Holy Communion in the Body of Christ. The elder takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks the bread, and gives it away. In The United Methodist tradition, we practice an open table, which means the communion elements are available to “all who love [Christ], earnestly repent of their sin, and seek to be at peace with one another.” You do not have to belong to our denomination or particular brand of Christianity to share at Christ’s table. You do not even have to be baptized yet (though if you feel a desire to receive communion, we would counsel you towards baptism). The Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards has summarized our beliefs around communion like this:
“When we receive ‘the body and blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood,’ we are remembering. At the same time, we are also re-membered, put back together again. We pray that we may be ‘one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.’ God’s work of making us one and uniting us with Christ, with each other and in our witness and life in the world — is the ordinary way by which God feeds us, sustains us, and empowers us to live as Christians in the world.”
In my comic, I have the pastor presiding in front of the torn veil, with this infinity-DNA breaking through. I’ve used this image a few pages back to symbolize the incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ, God breaking into our reality and uniting us together in faith. When we partake in Holy Communion, we are not just remembering, or memorializing, the Last Supper of Jesus and the disciples. As Burton-Edwards states, we are re-membering, putting the Body of Christ back together through invitation, mutual repentance, mutual forgiveness, and the receiving of grace. And I am arguing that LGBTQ Christians are every bit a part of that Body as their straight siblings in Christ.
In the comic, John’s quotes are coming from John Wesleys sermon, The Scripture Way of Salvation, while Peter and James’ quotes are coming from Acts 15. If you’ve been keeping up with the series, you’ve noticed that instead of tackling the few verses so often used to excommunicate LGBTQ folk, I am drawing from the larger narrative arc of the gospel and church tradition that affirms God’s free grace for all. Just as the first apostles reevaluated their understanding of scripture and tradition after they witnessed Gentiles come to faith in Christ, so we must do the same when we see LGBTQ believers. St. Peter and St. James followed the mind of Christ when they talked about removing burdens and barriers from salvation.
The tricky thing about belonging to the communion of saints, the Body of Christ, is our diversity. We are not, and have never really been, of one mind about just about anything. Sometimes we can live and let live, agree to disagree. And other times, one part of the Body refuses to acknowledge the differences in another part of the Body, and cuts them off or silences their voices.
While this series is unapologetically for the full inclusion and affirmation of LGBTQ identities within the Church, that does not mean I am arguing for the annihilation or silencing of dissenting, unaffirming voices. While I hope hearts will be changed and opened to see that the love of Christ is already active in LGBTQ Christians, the truth is all of us belong in the Body of Christ together. Whether your impulse is towards inclusion or purity, we have so much to learn from one another and contribute to each other.
Thank you for reading this far into the series. We’re getting close to the final pages, but we’ll see you back here again next week!