Early in His ministry, in Mat 4:23, 24, Jesus went throughout Galilee preaching concerning the Kingdom of God and clearly demontrating His authority, and power and love for the people by healing their sickness and diseases. Due to His reputation, people sought Him from afar, from surrounding nations especially those who were very ill and Jesus did not turn them away but healed them and met their needs both bodily and spiritually. Throngs of people from Jerusalem and cities as far as Decapolis accompanied Jesus in His ministry. They came amazed by His kingdom message and the miracles that followed and many no doubt were seeking spiritual truths, to find out whether Jesus who apparently claimed He was God was really who He claimed to be. Many stayed as they were so attracted to Jesus that they decided to become part of the "Jesus community".

As Jesus look afar to see His "community" (Mat 5:1), He went up to the mountain from whence He could gain a full view of the crowds of people, who were so sick and seeking healing, and those who were well but sought spiritually to know God knowing that they are spiritually lacking by themselves. Jesus saw in an instance the great multitude of people who followed Him, the kingdom of God, and He called them blessed because they have recognized their frailty and lack, to let God be God in their lives. (Mat 5:3-8). Jesus saw that one day, because of His death, these multitudes will continue on the message concerning the kingdom of God, to be sons of God just like Jesus, the Son of God, bringing reconciliation between God and man (Mat 5:9), to be the light - to reveal the truth and the way to God just as Jesus had revealed to them the truths concerning the kingdom of God, and to bring His healing and love to the world.

Jesus proclaimed that this Kingdom of God where the requirements of the law in the old testament will be be fulfilled (Mat 5:17) by Jesus would surely happened. This came to pass when Jesus died on the cross - He made a way possible for us to be part of His family, to be in His kingdom. This kingdom cannot be entered through man's own effort to follow strictly by the letter of the Law, because perfect righteousness is demanded where even our motives and desires of the heart which could not be seen nor legislated by law will be judged. (Mat 5:20-22). Such righteousness can only come apart from man's works and actions through Jesus Christ who is totally perfect and whose death and resurrection cleanses us once and forever from our sins, giving us the power to change inwardly knowing that we will not be imputed of our sins even when we sin.

Two thousand years later, in another time, another community, but more persecuted than the Jews would have been in their homeland, what "blessedness" would Jesus declare if He were to step into the Gay Bars along Tanjong Pagar Road in Singapore, or the small Christian gay affirmative church in nearby Chinatown.

(Mat 5:3 NKJV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Gays do not have a high opinion of themselves. How can they? Is being Gay something to be proud of? that you can declare to the whole world and gain acclamation and acknowledgement for?. The Spirit of Gays are down and trodden like grapes. They are treated by the mainstream churches without dignity, respect, nor as an individual with any feelings. Due to the constant homophorbic statements, many have a low self esteem, and even internalized their homophorbia , hence hate who they are. For Gays, there is nothing lower in the strata of society that they could go below. There is no equality for Gays in this world, but there is in the Kingdom of God.

(Mat 5:4 NKJV) Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

Gays have been mourning since the beginning of time why God has been so unfair and unkind to create them as such. They mourned for the pain of rejection they have suffered, from family, friends, and society. They are bulied at schoool. They are rejected employment in certain areas. They are denied a long life relatiohsip provided in the marriage institution. Many look to old age with disdain knowing that without children, they will be left alone, no one to take care of them, no one to love them. Their families do not understand them. They are seemingly alone in the vastness of a homophorbic world. They cried out to God in mourning.

(Mat 5:5 NKJV) Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

Gays are generally meek by nature. They have a mild and a gentle temperament. This is unlike many straights who boast about how moral they are over the Gays and arrogantly make fun of Gays. By the measure they are being treated if one treats a religious minority as such, there would be a religious war against the community or at least loud protests. Gays could have instituted many justified reactions to the Christian community, and yet tolerated for many years the continuous bashing by the Christian Right and their self imagined "Gay agenda". Gays are hurting so deeply inside. They could respond an eye for an eye, yet they do not.

(Mat 5:6 NKJV) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

In the "Stranger at the Gate", we have a story of Gays who hunger so earnestly for God. Thinking that being Gay is a sin, they have tried to live a stright life for many years. Almost hiding their gayness, they hide in the closest, and with much prayer and petition before God to make them straight. For righteousness sake, such gays struggled a whole life time. They have no feelings for hetersexual love, yet enters into marriage and many have children. Yet, at the end of their lives, they have truly lived and suffered much agony and pain and struggles concerning who they are, versus their desire to live a righteous and holy life because they really love God.

(Mat 5:7 NKJV) Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.

As the the accumulative scientific research and observations from nature gathers seemingly unmistakable conclusion that Gay men are born as such, how merciful have Gays been towards those who accused them of being immoral, for those who have rejected and wrongly persecuted them. The mainstream churches will ultimately change their postion just as they did on slavery and divorce. Their current narrow and extremely biased arguments and even attempts to change Gays through "ex-gay" treatments have caused extreme harm, Yet many Gays still stayed within their Christian denominations, not advertizing their gayness, but silently bearing their cross of man and suffering. Just as Jesus cried "Father they know not what they did", the Gay community have been so merciful towards the Christian denominations.

(Mat 5:8 NKJV) Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

There are many Gays who have desired to be pure in their hearts. Being told by the church that they need to abstain from sex, they have led a life a celibacy in their earnest desire to be pure before God. They have suffered immense loliness and depression from being without close companion. They have not experienced the joy of sex which couples do to deepen their relatiohsips. They stared with a heart fill with "why me" at the straight couples in the church who just because they are stright can enjoy a married relatiohsip, and just because they are straights, theycan sleep with multiple partners and even prostitutes even through Gays have to be contend to a life of monastic singlehood and are considered "less pure".

(Mat 5:9 NKJV) Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

Despite the very strong condemnation by mainstream christianity, Gays have begun the process of declaring God's peace to their community, the message of the gospel to the Gays. The MCC in USA formed since 1968 have gone through much struggles and challenges, but have provided hope to the Gay community that God loves you and created you beautifully as Gays. They have been a "single" issue church not that it is unhealthy because of the desperate need as being Gay effects deeply the lives of every Gay person. In view of the homophobic society they lived it (who coindentally has made being gay a single most important moral issue), there is few choices but to affirm and support Gays in their predicament. They will not succumb to the temptation to "de-gay" their message, knowing that this is the very core of their calling and ministry to the be God's peacemakers to gays and to present a righteful image of God.

Back to Jesus in the Gay pub!

As Jesus spoke the beatitudes to the gays, they would have understtod what Jesus was saying not like the spiritually proud people down the road at the straight pub who think they are much more moral that the Gays. Many would be crying. many would be listening because they knew deep inside that this man Jesus knew of their plight and understood their shame, their pain, their rejection, and loneliness. Jesus wide open open arms bid "Come all you are heavy laden for my yoke is light". And they came and touched Jesus nail piercsed hands. They lined up in a row, to meet Jesus, one by one. There arose a deep sense of awe and a "God momonet" as the Gays begin to sing " Amazing Grace ... " for Jesus, God incarnate, have considered them so precious as individual people worthy of His love whilst the world have not. God have visited them. The Gay patrons saw that Jesus was with them and not against them for He too was likewsie persecuted by religion. ... and so they bid Him welcome ... and Jesus replied "For the Kindom of God is for such as this ...". They were not called gays anymore, but as a Child of God, a child of the Kingdom.

Amen.