I’m at the trial of Janie Spahr in San Antonio. As I said before, she is facing a church court for performing same sex marriages. Last night, we had a worship service. The room was filled with beautiful people I have come to know over the years. The abuse these people have suffered from the church is beyond my comprehension. A roomful of beautiful, faithful people being judged by “Christians” who disingenuously admit they are sinners in need of God’s grace, yet withhold that same grace from others.

Last night I remembered a tee-shirt from an earlier marriage equity event in Virginia. On the front of the tee shirt it had the tourist slogan, “Virginia is for lovers”. I noticed there was an asterisk on the saying. On the back of the tee shirt was the footnote, “Warning! Some restrictions may apply.” As long as the church claims grace for itself and offers judgment for others, we will be a rudderless, powerless joke ourselves.

Jesus taught whoever has love, has God. The Presbyterian Church will deturmine today if Jesus knew what he was talking about. As long the church is infected with this hypocrisy, to be honest, we should put an asterisk on all our symbols of God’s grace, “Warning! Some restrictions may apply.”