Ugandan martyr David Kato
He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
“This people honours me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.
You may have heard of Uganda’s drive to demonize homosexuals, of their faith-based belief that being gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgender is a sin and a crime, a crime punishable by death. This view is based on the way they read the Bible, a way that allows them to honors God with their lips while they hold their hearts far from God. Their way replace God’s commandment that we love each other with a human tradition of hatred.
A central tenet of Christianity – and Judaism – is that we should treat others as we would have them treat us. This is our “Golden Rule,” the one set out by Jesus which is the Gospel bedrock of our faith. .I doubt that any Ugandan wants to be treated the way Uganda treats LGBT people.
Despite God’s clear commandment in the Golden Rule, Ugandan Anglicans have long been at the forefront of anti-LGBT efforts including a recent effort to punish homosexuals with the death penalty. This infamous proposal, which is still pending before lawmakers, grew out of efforts by American evangelical groups to open an African front in their war against “the gays.” Backed by far right groups, these self-proclaimed evangelists have help focus hatred on “the gays.” Inevitably violent words led to violent acts, the most recent of which was the death of David Kato, the most prominent gay man in Uganda. Of course the police, before they had even completed their investigation, announced Kato’s killing was the result of robbery and had absolutely nothing to do with Kato’s leadership of Uganda’s small LGBT community.
Last Friday, Rachel Maddow updated this story, connecting the dots to make clear the links between American Evangelical Christians and the abuse of Ugandan LGBT people. Perhaps the most distressing segment of her report was video of Kato’s funeral. Kato was an Anglican, but the Ugandan Anglican sent neither bishop nor priest nor deacon to read his funeral rites from the Book of Common Prayer. Instead, they sent a Lay Reader to conduct the service. The Lay Reader began to make inappropriate remarks condemning homosexuality, turning an opportunity for pastoral healing and reconciliation into one of the most outrageous in memory of hatred masquerading as Gospel. The funeral was turning into an anti-gay rally as Kato’s friends confronted the errant lay reader. Police spirited the lay reader away and the locals refused to bury Kato. And then a miracle happened, one I saw right there on Rachel Maddow.
Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, who the Uganda church claims to have excommunicated for his support of LGBT people, stepped forward to complete the service. Kato’s friends and family carried the coffin to the grave where Bishop Christopher spoke these words:
“You may be different from me. I am straight. I am no LGBT but I know people that are LGBT and I respect them for what they are. And I believe that they are going to heaven, they are going to heaven…If you are a believer, don’t be discouraged, please don’t be discouraged. God created you. God is on your side.”
Today’s Gospel speaks to a people who know oppression at the hands of those who elevate human traditions above God’s fundamental demand of us: that we love each other as sisters and brothers. Right there on Rachel Maddow, Bishop Christopher said brought the Golden Rule to life with the words “God created you. God is on your side.”
Bishop Christopher (center) at a Bible Study Class during the 2088 Lambeth Conference. Oasis California helped bring pilgrims to Canterbury during Lambeth and assisted in development of these bible study sessions.
As President of Oasis California I have met Bishop Christopher several times when we worked with Bishop Marc Andrus and Integrity to raise money for Integrity Uganda. Bishop Christopher and I were worth both pilgrims in Canterbury during the 2008 Lambeth Conference. There I saw firsthand the Ugandan Anglican Church’s determination to shame and stifle Bishop Christopher. These church leaders have taken away Bishop Christoper’s authority to celebrate mass, stolen his pension and driven away many of his friends. They even claim to have excommunicated Bishop Christopher. But our God – the God of Abraham and Sarah, of Jesus and Mary Magdalene – our God will not be bound by the limitations of the human heart. AS we saw on Rachel Maddow, God has not excommunicated Bishop Christopher, instead God continues to make use of this gentle man.
God’s love for us is unbounded, and some of that love broke out into the word at David Kato’s funeral through the ministry of Bishop Christopher. And God’s love for us showed through the video, right there on Rachel Maddow.
Sometimes the love of God isn’t what we expect. Sometimes the love of God shows up in unexpected places, places like the Rachel Maddow show or a dusty graveyard outside Kampala. Sometimes God’s love is reflected in a man like Bishop Christopher, resplendent in purple robes and diminutive in size, who unexpectedly steps forwards to heal the afflicted and tell the destitute that truly God is on their side.
And because of that – because God cannot be confined to our ideas of what God should be or look like or how God should act – each of us has the capacity – no opportunity – to bring God’s grace into the world, to heal those who hurt, to give hope to the hopeless, to comfort the grieving and tell the destitute that truly God is on their side. This is what it means for us to be “living members of the Body of your Son” Jesus Christ. This is what it means for us to follow Christ.
Let us pray. Perfect Light of revelation, as you shone in the life of Jesus, whose epiphany we celebrate, so shine in us and through us, that we may become beacons of truth and compassion, enlightening all creation with deeds of justice and mercy and illuminating a way to you.
Let the people say: Amen.
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Preached by the Rev. Thomas C. Jackson San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral Feb. 8, 2011
Bishop Christopher’s ministry can be supported by donations to Integrity Uganda which may be made online @ http://www.iintegrityusa.org/ and directed to The Hopkins Fund.
Media reports of Bishop Christopher’s work include:
- Expelled Ugandan Bishop Ministers to LGBT
- The Dignity of Every Human Being
- Prophetic Conversations: Bishop Christopher Senyonjo Comes to DC
- VIDEO: Bishop Christopher Senyonjo does God’s work helping LGBT people in Uganda
- Human-Rights Champion Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda
- Help Welcome Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Integrity Uganda to the Bay Area
- Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda threatened after Archbishop Orombi accepts and then prohibits gay debate in Church
- Ugandan newspaper targets gays and Bishop Christopher Senyonjo
