e~mergent kiwi

Marriage, Civil Union, Omnibus Bill

Did a rant on radio recently about marriage, the Civil Union and Omnibus Bill.

Now I want to stress that these are my personal thoughts. They do not represent any group I work for. And I also want to stress that these are my thoughts in progress. I am still listening, still thinking, still processing. But at this point I like the legislation ...
continues under heading of What is marriage; and What is justice

I ask myself, What is marriage?
Firstly, it is a ceremony in which social relationships change. In front of the community, marriage acknowledges, brings into the open, a change of relationship between two people, their family and friends. It is matter of honesty and community.

Secondly, marraige is a social arrangement in which love and trust are shared. Commitments are made that affect things like property rights and the raising of children.

Thirdly, it is an entry into a way of being with God, a Trinitarian relationship, where 2 become 1 in the site of a third, God.

Fourthly, it has a societal history, an understanding and a tradition built up over time.

It seems to me that the Civil Unions Bill acknowledges these differences. It asks for 1 and 2, but not 3 and 4.

It seeks to honour, to preserve, the Godly understandings and historical rights.

It acknowledges that there are historical and theological traditions that need to be honoured.

We live in a plural world. Not everyone thinks like me. This cuts both ways. I have respect others opinions and traditions. Others have to respect mine traditions.
This means
1) that the rights of those we disagree with must be respected. Thus Christians must respect gay-rights, while gay-rights must respect Christian rights. Equally the gay community must respect the sacred and historical understandings that underpin Christian ideals of marriage.

I think the Civil Unions Bill does this. The Christian Heritage NZ leader Mr Ewen McQueen has argued these the Civil Union and Omnibus Bill will stripping marriage of any last vestige.

Frankly, the only people that will strip marriage of its vestiges are us. The Civil Unions Bill does not take away marriage. It leaves the uniquely Christian understandings of marriage to the church. It remains up to us as a church to honour marriage, to teach on Trinity and history and what that means for marriage.

With regard to the Omnibus Bill, I think we do have to recognise the justice issues involved. It seems to me to be unjust when a gay partner is not allowed to visit his partner in intensive care or see his partner in the mortuary, or to seek the cremation of his dead partner.

Then there is the justice issues involved as relationship break up.

In Micah 6:8, we are asked;
What does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly.

The Greek word dikaiosune is can be translated as both justice and righteousness.
Seek you first the Kingdom of God and God’s dikaiosune; God’s justice and God’s righteousness.

The Omnibus Bill does seek for justice and surely we as followers of a God of justice need to recognise this. Surely our Christian God applauds the seeking of justice and the end to discrimination.

I repeat my opening – this is my personal opinion and I am a mind still in process.

But that is my soapbox today:
what is the God of justice?
what does the Christian understanding of marriage
really require of us?

weddings are a civil union

Some talk in New Zealand about a civil union legislation, to give same sex marriages full legal equality. I did a radio rant on the top; arguing weddings are a civil union anyhow, under 3 headings.

great theatre
a civil process of love
a wedding is good ritual

Civil union Bill proposes a new type of relationship model for New Zealand. According to their promotional website, for the first time ever, it will enable same-sex couples access to full legal equality.

Apparently there are thousands of different-sex and same-sex couples are waiting for an alternative to marriage, needing legal protection and security.

Proposed Civil union Bill will do this by granting registered civil union couples recognition and relationship rights which are equal to marriage.

I am sure there is going top be a lot of discussion about this Civil Union Bill. I am sure discussion will include the need for justice, to protect the rights of people. I am sure there will be a lot of talk about morals, the need to uphold marriage.

Alongside the talk of justice and morality, there needs to be talk about the societal implications of marriage.

You see, I spoke at a friends wedding on Saturday.
A lovely occasion. A very Christian wedding, wonderfully planned.
Great fun.

And I have concluded that weddings, the marriage ceremony, is in fact a civil union.

Firstly, weddings are a civil union because they are great theatre.

The hush as the wedding party arrives.
(The Saturday wedding came in old VW Kombi vans)

Everyone standing,
the entrance music,
the first look at the bridesmaids,
and finally the entry of the beautiful bride.

This is not a slop in and sit down with feet up on the café table.

This is high drama.
This parade reminds us how important this occasion is.

The parade that starts the wedding ceremony reminds the gathered audience, the civil society, that something important is about to happen.

Secondly, weddings are a civil process of love.
We live in a world of bad news. Every night we see it on TV.

And then you get those vows.
I, the groom, take you to be my wife, to love for ever.
The idealism. The commitment.

No one in their right mind makes such vows to a stranger.

And so our civil society has a process in which love can grow. Its called dating and engagement.

As a society we have a number of stages through which commitments can process.

The wedding is the end of a well-worked societal or civil process.

Thirdly, a wedding is good ritual.

By “good ritual” I mean that a wedding service reminds our society of a change of relationship.

Because of a wedding, two people will suddenly move in.
They will become one, one address, one phone number, one life.

And so a whole lot of relationships must change.
Separate friends suddenly have to treat two people as one,
suddenly parents have to surrender their main parenting task.

And so a wedding ceremony demands a major negotiation of civil relationships.

How does a society negotiate these changes?
Well, you throw a wedding.
You gather all your friends and family together.
Together as a society, witness this change of relationship.

After a wedding, if the parents come to take bride or groom home at the end of the evening, we all go, No, no, no.

Why? Because we as a society have witnessed a major change of relationship.

So a wedding is a civil union.
It acts in society to notify a change of relationships.

The Civil Union bill is before Parliament.
It will attract a lot of attention in the media.

It will focus on moral issues – the historical and theological influence of marriage in our society.

It will focus on justice issues – how to protect and safeguard the rights of those in relationships?

It will focus on family issues – what is the best place to raise children?

Alongside moral, justice and family issues, we must face the societal issues.
That a wedding ceremony is a civil union.

It allows us as a society to participate in high drama.
It allows us to engage in a process of building commitment.
It allows us as a society to change relationships

Supporters of civil union and
Applauders of tradition marriage
need to get their heads not only around moral and legal issues.
They must consider that weddings are a civil union.

stripping, art and space

My latest radio rant ..
I want to soapbox about stripping the church.

Now before you reach for the radio dial, let me reassure you, I am not talking about a nude streak down the aisle.

At Easter, some churches strip ...

At Easter, some churches strip the church. As they move through the passion, through the last week of Jesus life, they take down all the furnishing and curtains.

The church becomes bare as they mourn the loss of God.

At Opawa Baptist, the process of stripping the church began early. It began on Sunday.

After the morning service, half the pews were unbolted and removed.
And in this bare space, metres and metres of black polythene were laid.

The church was stripped.

On Monday I went to the Christchurch Art Gallery.
One of the art exhibits was titled “The Imaginary Museum”. At about 12 points around the museum were nice comfy seats, a stack of newspapers and walkmans.

Open the newspaper and you were shown close up camera shots of various museums and art galleries around the world … Germany, France, Denmark..

Put on the headphones and you hear various museum directors describing their museums … Italy, Belgium, Finland.

The point is to get you thinking about how our environment shapes what we understand.

How does an art director in France use light, or the colour of the walls, or the placing of the doors, to shape our experiences of life?

Our environment shapes our experiences.

Back to church. On Sunday we stripped the church.
And over the next days, we will re-shape the environment of the church.

3 tonnes, of sand will be wheelbarrowed in and poured on the floor. A pool 5 metres wide will be made and filled with water. Trees will be placed. Paving stones will be laid down.

As I stood in this stripped out church space, I suddenly appreciated how light and colour and environment shape what we understand.

The point of all our work is to create an Easter resurrection garden. At Easter at Opawa Baptist we will literally worship in a garden. Hence the sand, the trees, the paving stones, the pool.

And at Opawa Baptist you can get to the Easter Garden by walking the Easter Journey,
walking the Stations of the Cross, contemplating artistic re-interpretations of the Last Supper, the Denial of Jesus, the walk to the cross.

So the point of stripping the church is to let our environment enhance our Easter experience.

Just like the art gallery, to let light and colour and enviroment impact on how we appreciate and experience Jesus death and resurrection.

And I suddenly thought about how environment shaped the teaching of Jesus.
The use of a boat and fishing and nets
to speak to fishermen about following Jesus, in Luke 5,
the use of lots of bread to speak about his body, in John 6
the use of parables, drawing from everyday experiences of the environment.
salt and light, coins and parties.

Jesus used his environment to communicate the gospel.

Is is time to strip our churches?

Week after week in churches our spaces and environments remain the same.

And our challenge is to follow Jesus. To let our environment shape our teaching

through the use of visuals on the OHT or PPT,
through the use of symbols and colour,

So that’s my soapbox this week.
Strip
not ourselves, but our church spaces

Follow Jesus
and use our environments to communicate the gospel and enhance our experiences of God.