Village Shepherd

Back in the early seventies when divorce was still regarded with shock and horror, Melanie fell in love. She fell in love with Peter who was tall and bronzed and handsome, but she knew her love was doomed because Peter was married with three children. Since Peter and Melanie were working together, they couldn't help but get to know each other quite well, but when Peter invited Melanie out for a drink after work, she refused. She didn't want to put herself in a position of temptation.

Nonetheless, they had some serious talks together and when Peter confessed that he was in love with Melanie, her resolve crumbled. Their relationship began to grow and both Melanie and Peter blossomed. Then he confided to her that his marriage had been unhappy almost from the day it started and that he and his wife had produced their last child to try to patch things up. It hadn't worked, and their home was full of anger and resentment and bitterness.

"Will you marry me?" asked Peter. "I'm going to get a divorce. My wife has been unfaithful on numerous occasions and we're never going to be happy together."

Melanie, who came from a strong, church-going family, was shocked. "I couldn't marry a divorced man," she said, " because divorce is wrong. It's against God's law."

But now that the suggestion had been made, Melanie found herself considering it more and more. And the more she considered it, the more possible it began to sound. She told Peter that she couldn't be responsible for breaking up someone else's marriage, but he told her that he was getting divorced anyway whether or not she married him, and that she was no part of that decision.

Eventually Melanie agreed to marry Peter as soon as his divorce was through. Melanie's parents were horrified and ashamed that a daughter of theirs could act in such a sinful way. But Melanie was beginning to think that although all the church teaching of the day was against the idea, maybe it was God's will after all that she should marry Peter. Christianity, she argued, is about love, and she and Peter loved each other very much indeed.

Melanie proved to be right, for the marriage was long and strong and happy. Peter's children accepted Melanie well and although life wasn't without its usual bumps, it was a marriage in which both Peter and Melanie were able to grow.

God doesn't always act in accordance with the received wisdom of the day. Sometimes God ignores man-made rules, perhaps because some man-made rules aren't right for every occasion and for every human being.

Around a thousand years before Jesus was born, the ancient Hebrews were governed by judges. Whenever a judge was needed, God would select a special person from amongst the tribes and call that person to be judge over the people. But all the surrounding tribes had introduced the concept of monarchy and the Ancient Hebrews began to clamour for a king of their own.

There was a strong strand of opinion which rejected such a desire, for until then, God himself had been king over the people. But the body of opinion in favour of a king was equally strong and eventually Saul was anointed as the first King of Israel. But although he started out rather well, Saul became a disaster and it was clear that a new king was needed. That king was David, who turned out to be the king par excellence, the one whom all Jews since have regarded with awe and reverence.

But the choice of David was very unexpected. The great prophet Samuel, who had anointed Saul as King of Israel, was now called by God to find Saul's successor. He knew it was to be one of Jesse's sons, and naturally he looked first at the eldest son since birthrights traditionally passed to the eldest son. But not only was it not the eldest son, but it was to be the son who was barely out of nappies. David was still a boy, looking after the sheep on the hillside. David was the one son who was out of the picture, according to human thoughts, for he was clearly far too young to be considered.

But David was selected by God as Israel's future king and later events proved the wisdom of the choice. God was able to look more deeply than human beings can look, and saw David's inner being. His outward appearance and his age and inexperience were immaterial. It was his inner being that mattered. And God chose David as a future king. Although he was anointed by Samuel (and apparently anointed twice more after Saul's death - 2 Samuel 2:4; 2 Samuel 5:3), it was many years before he became king. God gave David both the time and the opportunity to grow into the role.

Although we believe our laws and our traditions to be based on God's laws, we need to allow ourselves some flexibility of thought. If we look at society's rules both spoken and unspoken and always obey them without question, we fail to allow God any room to manoeuvre. Melanie and Peter would have disobeyed God if they had blindly followed society's rules. David would never have been crowned king if Samuel had followed society's rules.

Being involved in the changing of society's rules is a painful process. Those who are brave enough to be in the vanguard of change still face persecution, even in the West. Any clergy person who admits to being gay can expect to suffer, to be pilloried by the media and by a considerable percentage of Christians.

But God sees past the outward appearance and into the inner being. God has called women into his service as priests. God has called divorcees into his service as priests. So perhaps we shouldn't be surprised if God calls more and more gay men and women into his service as priest.

We have an unexpected God whom we can't second-guess. And thank God for that.