It’s as if our beloved Episcopal Church entered the Temple of institutional religion.

We reached for the scroll from Isaiah - the one that talks about the Spirit of the Lord being upon us and anointing us to bring good news to the captives and the oppressed. It boldly declares that God has sent us to proclaim release and freedom.

After we’ve read it to all who would hear, we sat down and calmly declared, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

That’s when the ruckus broke out. The institutional gatekeepers are hopping mad. Who knows where that anger will lead.

When the Episcopal Church decided, after decades of prayer, discernment, and open debate, that the full inclusion of all God’s people into the Christian fold was our challenge and calling, we knew this would bring liberty and joy to untold numbers of oppressed, persecuted, and downtrodden people. We also knew it would cause a ruckus in the Temple. And God only knows where that will lead.

Friends, taking a stand for what’s right is one of our deepest religious traditions. It is fearful. It is risky. It is not comfortable. But we have taken that stand in obedience to our higher calling. And so it is a time to hold tight to God, prayer, and each others’ hands, knowing that we are cared for and loved. And when all we can do is stand, to stand.

What’s more, we might even want to ask how this paradigm is living out in the microcosm of our daily lives. Dear Lord, for whom are we being asked to stick up in our home and work places? In what ways are we being called upon to stand up for the oppressed and the marginalized? Let your liberty and release flow through us, that our world might know, more deeply, your love.