On your lips*

I suppose everyone will preach this week about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan.

Have you ever given thanks to God? I mean really? Of course you have, you do it all the time. But, when you scream out “Oh my God!” are you really giving thanks to God, or are you giving honor to You? Right, most of us mean it to be about us, about how we feel, and not about God. Well, that’s what Paul calls living by the flesh. Think again.

Ok, now, say to God “Oh gosh … look at this beauty in my life … thank you for it.” And say to God “What a trial I am going through … thank you for being with me in it.” And say to God “Wow … this is your world, thanks for calling me to live in it.” If you can do this, you can avoid the temptations of the flesh and of the devil. (And I don’t mean anything about sex! Sex is good!)

St. Paul says “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.” He means, do go around saying the truth. “Oh my God” and “God bless you” and “God help us” and however you keep the “word” on your lips and in your heart.

Gay people need to work at this because we’ve spent so long in the diaspora that we don’t remember how it works. But hey, it’s pretty simple. Just remember God. And remember that God wants you to be the best glbt person you can be. Just go with God, give thanks to God, and brazen out the rest. It’s good to be gay. And to admit it is to shrug off all of the temptations of Satan. Because so long as you are being the lgbt God made you to be, no devil can tempt you.

Love God, love your lgbt self. Give thanks.

*1 Lent (Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13)

©2013 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.