Scripture: Psalm 42; I Acts 5: 16-39

"I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them-in that case you may even be found fighting against God!"

- Acts 5: 38-39

It's good to be back with you. It was an awesome 213th General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church (USA). Today, I want to share with you some of the highlights of the Assembly and share the Gospel through my report.

First a personal detour. I fell in love with this church more than 25 years ago when my budding faith was seeking understanding. In the providence of God, I encountered Presbyterian mentors who embraced my deepest questions and were not intimidated by a faith-filled skeptic. I was mentored by wise persons who affirmed that the life of the mind and the life of faith are not incompatible, but could be in a symbiotic relationship. I was told that no one in this church had to leave his or her mind at the steps of the sanctuary in order to worship God. I discovered that many Presbyterians believe that doubts are part and parcel of an active faith and that a questioning faith often reveals a deeper passion for God's truth.

I also discovered that in the Presbyterian tradition, at our best and most courageous, we not only concern ourselves with matters of private faith and personal conviction, but we also meddle in politics, in society, in the heartache and pain of the world's injustices. "God is sovereign over all," the Reformers declared and so we are concerned about every dimension of life.

I discovered that the God of love that I came to know through Jesus Christ has no limits, but travels into the farthest reaches of the cosmos with love, a love that plunges into the chasm of human despair, a grace that hears the desperate cries of a humanity torn by warfare, bigotry, and evil and brings about redemption through the sacrifice of the cross and the glory of Easter.

I came to appreciate that I was nurtured in this faith and it became my own. At the Presbyterian breakfast table where I grew up, my parents, brothers and I debated and argued and, yes, fought over religion, politics and social issues, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the women's movement.

We did so, in part, because my Presbyterian pastor introduced these issues into his preaching and teaching in the First Presbyterian Church of Twin Falls, Idaho, a small town not exactly a bastion of liberalism. He meddled because God meddled, and because they meddled, my faith was set on fire. This is the church I fell in love with. Last week at the 213th General Assembly, I fell in love with this church again: a thinking church, a caring church and a prophetic church.

Picture these images to try to capture the flavor of meetings of the General Assembly: county fair, family reunion, political convention, an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, a three-ring circus.

Each of these images has truth in them, but first and foremost the General Assembly for me is an experience of the presence of God, the mysterium tremendum. This experience of the Divine occurred particularly during opening worship where thousands of Presbyterians gathered, of every hue, opinion, shape and size, divided in many ways but united in our love of God, Jesus Christ, and the church.

I also experienced the presence of God in dozens of conversations with both friends and strangers: during late-night strategy sessions, in hotel elevator rides and while sitting in the peanut gallery besides good friends whose very lives and careers are at stake in the decisions the Assembly makes. It was awesome to be at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) this year. In a church with such great flaws, it is good to fall in love again.

The single greatest highlight for me was the election of our own Jack Rogers as Moderator. Pasadena Presbyterian Church - the church of Robert Freeman, Eugene Carson Blake, Gance Little and Cynthia Campbell - is deeply grateful to count among our own the Moderator of the 213th General Assembly, Dr. Jack Rogers!

Now for some other highlights:

The Assembly made a strong statement affirming the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the church's historic proclamation that Jesus Christ is Savior. This statement was made in response to a controversy stirred up by the Presbyterian Layman and others in response to an address made at last year's Peacemaking Conference in Orange County that some took to imply that the Presbyterian Church believed that there were other Saviors besides Jesus. The tiff grew out of the desire of some to engage in meaningful inter-faith dialogue and still affirm Jesus Christ as Lord and others who allege "creeping universalism" within our diverse Presbyterian family.

The Assembly resoundingly refused to adopt what some feared might be an effort to create a new litmus test for ordination and church employment, particularly at the national level. The Assembly refused to endorse a small set of faith affirmations that are already stated better and more completely in our confessions. The Assembly did "confess the unique authority of Jesus Christ as Lord."

Secondly, the General Assembly established a 17-member Theological Task Force to lead the church in a time of discernment about theological issues where there are significant divisions among Presbyterians. These issues include, but are not limited, to issues of doctrines of Christ, biblical authority and interpretation, ordination standards, and the use of power in the church - in other words, the same things Christians have been debating for two millennia, now going on three.

The Task Force is to report annually to the General Assembly and after four years finally to presbyteries and congregations, proposing ways to promote the peace, unity, purity and mission of the church.

Moderator Rogers and former Moderators Sygmann Rhee and Freida Gardner will be appointing the Task Force. May God have mercy on their souls.

The Assembly began new initiatives in campus ministry, adopted a comprehensive policy on domestic violence and affirmed the directions of historic talks taking place between the PC(USA) and the Catholic Church. The Assembly made a 10-year commitment to explore new ways to be in ministry with children and their families. The body appealed for peace in the Congo, the Sudan and the Middle East and recommitted the Presbyterian Church (USA) to greater advocacy and humanitarian assistance in these violence-torn areas of the world.

And in the most reported item, likely to be the most controversial, the 213th General Assembly voted by a 60% margin to send to the presbyteries a constitutional amendment that, if adopted by a simple majority of the presbyteries, would remove the categorical prohibition on the ordination and installation of openly gay and lesbian Presbyterians as deacons, elders and ministers of Word and Sacrament.

Hardly a license for immorality as have some surmised, church officers would still be held to the historic ordination standards which currently states that church officers "should be persons of strong faith, dedicated discipleship, and love of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Their manner of life should be a demonstration of the Christian gospel in the church and in the world."

An additional statement would be added to the Book of Order section outlining standards for ordination stating that church officers' "suitability to hold office is to be determined by the governing body where the examination for ordination or installation takes place, guided by scriptural and constitutional standards, under the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ."

What this does, I believe, is recapture the historic role of freedom of conscience and mutual forbearance that have been at the heart of Presbyterian belief and practice in our better times. Ordination of gay and lesbian Presbyterians will neither be required nor prohibited; just as we do not require nor prohibit the ordination of red-headed heterosexuals. We find out if they have gifts for ministry, and with fear and trembling we ordain them, and persons like me is what you get.

The responsibility for determining suitability for ordained office will reside with sessions for elders and deacons, and presbyteries for ministers. I believe the decision of the Assembly was not focused on human sexuality, but was about trusting local governing bodies to choose officers under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, the scriptures and our confessions, and guided by the Holy Spirit.

For 25 years the Presbyterian Church has been struggling over issues of human sexuality. Polls consistently demonstrate that we are well divided as a denomination over the ordination of gays and lesbians. This amendment, if adopted, may provide a means whereby a categorical prohibition against a class of people is removed, where a regulatory approach is declared non-functional for freedom-loving Presbyterians on nonessential issues where we simply and profoundly disagree, and where we can trust local sessions and presbyteries to love our Lord, love our church and ordain and install church officers as followers of Jesus guided by historic standards and conscience. These are the highlights of the 213th general Assembly from my perspective.

It will be a passionate year in PC(USA) presbyteries and congregations in the coming months. I hope and pray that, as faithful Presbyterians who disagree about many things, we will continue to become the church that I first fell in love with nearly three decades ago: a thinking church, a meddling church for justice and compassion, a church that loves the Lord.

I want to remind you that these difficult and important so-called "issues" have always been with the church. I want to remind you that behind these issues, particularly about ordination standards and gays and lesbians, are real human beings, flesh and blood human beings who are our brothers and sisters in faith, people who simply want to deepen their relationship with God and Jesus and to share that love with others. My friends, this is what is at stake here.

Long ago, in the year 35 A.D., give or take a year or two, a faithful rabbi named Gamaliel awakened to a new day in Jerusalem, the city of David, the city that stoned the prophets and crucified Jesus, the city of Easter. This faithful rabbi loved God. He loved people. He loved the Word as he knew it in the Torah, the writings and the prophets.

He woke up at dawn one day. It was a new day. He left his house and headed down the narrow Jerusalem streets, entered the outer gate of the temple courtyard and headed up the stairs to the temple mount.

A raucous crowd had gathered. Cries of hatred erupted from the mob and he was disgusted. He wondered why he had not taken that simple country synagogue on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, with palm trees, a hammock and a cool breeze. But he was in Jerusalem now, up to his ears in the middle of things at the crossroads of God's beloved city and human evil. In Jerusalem, like all cities, not meddling was impossible. The choice for Gamaliel was whether he would meddle for God or for evil.

A ragtag group of strangers named Peter, James and John were being hauled from the temple by the guards at the urging of the mob. They were to be thrown into jail for the usual charges: blasphemy, fomenting civil unrest, and tearing up the very institutions that gave society a sense of decorum and decency. They insisted on talking about some character named Jesus. In his gut, Gamaliel knew he had seen one of them before. Was one of them not Peter, the coward that managed to slip away from Jerusalem a few years back? What was he doing back in Jerusalem causing so much trouble? Why was he meddling and talking about Jesus?"

The crowd wanted the disciples killed. "Wait!" Gamaliel said. In a fit of conscience, he ordered Peter and the others to be held outside the gates and he said, "Fellow Israelites, consider carefully what you propose to do to these men.

"For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about 400, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

"So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them - in that case you may even be found fighting against God!"

There is something about the movement of the Holy Spirit that is no respecter of prisons. Walls cannot contain where the wind blows, nor could laws, nor could a grave contain our Lord.

The 213th General Assembly took some decisive actions. Many believe, as do I, that the action to send to the presbyteries an amendment to delete the so-called "fidelity and chastity" section from the Book of Order is both just, and the first step in removing a bad law from our Constitution. Many observers believe there will be churches leaving our denomination because of it. It won't be the first time, nor the last.

Our Moderator and others who love this church will have our work cut for us. Keep Jack in your prayers, and all of us including our brothers and sisters who are still categorically excluded from exercising all the rights of church membership.