Three and one-half years ago I traveled to the Twin Cities from northern North Dakota to watch the Minnesota Twins play. Besides watching the Twins win, I had the opportunity to reconnect with a friend from my seminary days and to stay overnight with a relative, my dad’s cousin. "Benjamin," had not sought ordained ministry, but had studied in order to be involved professionally in the church as a youth ministry leader. He had already long been a very gifted organist in a congregation, but he had at least as great a gift at positively connecting with teens. He had been loved by the church youth with whom he worked, and by their families.Benjamin is gay. He told me when it later came out that he was gay, that he had been released from his job as youth leader at the church he was serving. That had been nearly two decades before. In our conversation that night over a beer and popcorn in a little bar down the street from the seminary, Benjamin said with sadness, "I still would like to work in the church, but there isn’t a place for me there." While he remains faithful in attendance at a Lutheran church in Minneapolis, Benjamin expressed a desire for the opportunity to again share his gifts and serve the church. My dad’s cousin, "Sharon," is a woman nearing 80 years old. She has been alone now for 13 years since her roommate and friend, "Lorraine," died of cancer. In our conversation that night, she recalled her brother’s funeral more than 40 years before Lorraine died. It was a hunting accident. She told how Lorraine had gone with her to the funeral. They were already living together then. That is a long relationship.In more discreet times same-sex "partners" referred to each other as "roommates" or "friends." Sharon and Lorraine called each other that for more than 40 years, until death parted them. We all knew the truth, but no one spoke it. Sharon is a lover of literature, a good neighbor to her neighbors, and she loves the church and Jesus.Dr. Terrence Frethiem, a respected Old Testament professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, reflecting on the creation texts in scripture, said, "For the creation to be like it was when God created it would be a failure of the divine design. Ongoing change was part of the design."And when Jesus’ disciples came and said, "Hey, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop them, for he was not one of us." Jesus said, "No one who does a work in my name can soon speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us.""Ongoing change was part of the design." "Whoever is not against us is for us."And so, we continue to humbly discuss and debate this issue that faces the church, an issue that touches the lives of real human beings, members of our own congregations and families. In bold faith we take another close look at God’s Holy Word, a deeper look, to see if we have heard it rightly, or to discern if the living Word of God is speaking in a new way. The reality is that there are times when scripture does not so quickly and finally close a case as we might wish. In the season leading up to Easter, it is good to remember that Christ is alive … and might still be helping us to gain our sight.