It is sometimes said that people have been discussing this issue for so long that everybody has made up their minds and have dug the trenches to defend their positions. In my experience this is not true. I know any number of laity and clergy who have shifted from being opposed or ambivalent about same-sex marriage to being in favour of it (I don\u2019t know anyone who\u2019s gone the other way). They say a week is an eternity in politics, and five months is likewise a long time in church.<\/p>\n
For these reasons, I do not see it as a forgone conclusion that the motion will fail. The odds may still be against those of us who want to see it passed, but they are not insurmountable odds.<\/p>\n
God takes risks with us. Creation was a great risk, but one with a beautiful result. That we humans turn against the will of God was part of that risk, but God considered that and found it acceptable. And so God took another risk when the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. And even though we turned against Jesus, God\u2019s love was as strong as death and against any reasonable expectation we have a Christ whom we proclaim as risen from the dead. From a small group in Jerusalem the followers of Jesus who were \u201cnothing\u201d\u009d (to use Paul\u2019s phrase) spread the gospel over the centuries to places unknown. So let us go forward, trusting that God\u2019s purposes for us will be done.<\/p>\n