Sermon at the Pride Prayer Service- June 16, 2022

Welcome to Christ the Servant’s Pride Prayer Service 2022. The past couple of years have been really rough for everyone, especially for those of us in the queer community. Although we have seen signs of hope and progress, we are in the midst of a deep and brutal backlash against the strides we have made. From “Don’t Say Gay” laws to laws banning trans children from playing on the proper sports team to bathroom bills to laws making it harder for trans people to change paperwork to fit their true genders, there has been a full-on legal assault on queer people. In the face of all of this hatred and bigotry, it can be all too easy to fall into bitterness, hatred, and a desire for revenge. But there is another path we can choose.

In the reading we read tonight, we heard how God desires us to react when faced with evil. We are not to react with evil, we should not “repay evil with evil.” As verse 21 says, “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good.” This doesn’t mean that we should just lie there while evil is happening, it doesn’t mean that we should just let evil happen. It means that we need to show people love even if they are not doing the same to us.

We are called to proclaim when evil is taking place, we are called to confront it and we are called to do what we can to protect others. But confronting evil doesn’t mean that we need to be evil ourselves. While there is such a thing as holy anger, there is a difference between confronting evil and using anger to promote justice and allowing anger to overtake you and use you.

What we must always remember is that there is a person who is spouting bigotry and hatred. And as a person, they are worthy of a certain level of love and respect. We don’t need to agree with them, but we do need to love them because they are people and all people are worthy of love and respect. It isn’t easy, believe me, I know. It is really, really hard sometimes because our inclination as humans is to strike back and strike back hard. We want to make other people hurt after they have hurt us or after they have hurt those we love. But we are called to do things differently. We are called to do our best to share God’s Love with all people, especially those who we may feel don’t deserve it. 

Another place we see this is in the Beatitudes. There we see Jesus’ Love ethic in action. We see Jesus taking the world and its hierarchies and turning them on their head. We see Jesus blessing those who are disadvantaged, those who have been mistreated, and those who are outcast. Tonight’s reading is an extension of this Love ethic. This call to reflect the Love that God has for us to the whole world to see is a radical reunderstanding of the world. Rather than following the rules and understandings that the world has laid out, we need to embody the Love of God for the world.

Another place we see this idea? The Parable of the Good Samaritan. This famous parable is about a man who takes care of someone who is a member of a group that his people are enemies with. The question Jesus answers with this parable is “Who is my neighbor?” and the answer is everyone. Anyone who is human is our neighbor and is someone we need to care about and who we need to love. I’m not saying that if we just love people, we will magically change their hearts and we don’t love other people for our own sakes. We love people because God asks it of us and we do it because they are worthy of love because they exist. Whether that person is the immigrant coming for asylum, the trans child who is trying to just live their life, the person suffering from food or housing insecurity, or the bigot who is trying to take away others’ rights, they are all worthy of love simply because they exist.

When we say that God Loves all people, we mean that She Loves all people. All means all. It is not for us to try and limit God’s Love anymore than it is up to fundamentalist Christians to do it. God’s Love is freely given to all people simply because they are people. As I said, I know this is not easy, in fact it is something I personally often really struggle with. Giving into anger can feel cathartic and can often be the path of least resistance. But focusing on the humanity of the person you are talking to? That can be really, really hard, particularly when they don’t treat you as a person.

So go forth, confront evil and spread God’s Love to the whole world. Be a beacon of light for the world to see. Embody the Love of God and Their Holy Anger. Work for justice and peace with love.  

Sermon at the Pride Service at Rockville United Church, June 12, 2022

I was given the opportunity to preach at Rockville United Church on Sunday, June 12, 2022 for their Pride service. Here is the text for that sermon. If you'd like to see the video, please click here. Do note, it's about 23 minutes long, so longer than anything I've done in the past.

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Welcome and well come to Rockville United Church on this Trinity Sunday. Before I begin, I wanted to thank Pastors Scott and Jennifer for allowing me to preach today, Janine for reaching out to invite me, and to everyone present here whether you are physically in the sanctuary or online. I appreciate you taking the time to listen to what I have to say.

  
Since I’m sure some of you may wonder about my greeting, allow me to explain it. “Welcome” (1 word) means just what it says: You are welcome here in this place. “Well come” (2 words) means that it is well; or good; that you have come here. It is a greeting meaning “You are welcome in this place, and it is good that you are here with us.” 

To start, I want to tell you a story. After I talked with Pastor Scott about preaching here today, I sent him a list with three readings that we might use today. Each reading had a theme and hymn suggestion along with it. When I visited here a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Scott told me that no one had done that before and I responded that I am that person. You know, the person who will really prepare for everything and do so as far in advance as possible. When I was telling some members of my church family this story, each of them had virtually the same response. They were all something along the lines of “Yeah, that sounds like you.” And that is part of what makes us a family. People who know you well enough that they can predict what you will or will not do. 

It is a truism that humans are, by nature, social animals. We tend to seek out other people so that we can maintain a connection outside of ourselves, to find someone to help us when we are in trouble, or to find someone that we can help. For much of history, the family has been the most basic social group that has existed. Whether it be parents and their children or whole generations living together, the family has been an important part of various societies. 

Depending on where you live, a family name may very well completely influence the life you lead. Think about America today. We have families whose members are famous for no other reason than their family name. The Kennedy’s, the Bush’s, the Kardashians,’ and other families have a national importance that has outlasted the people who made the name famous in the first place. If you look on a local level, I am sure you can think of other families in your area whose name carries a weight that maybe it shouldn’t because the family did something great in the past. 

In Biblical times, the family name was more important than it is now. Think of the genealogies in Matthew and Luke tracing Jesus’ lineage back to Abraham (Matthew) or Adam (Luke). Think of the division of Israel into tribes based on which son of Israel they were descended from. Your lineage could determine your position in life, what types of jobs you could have, where you lived, and many other facets of your life. 

In today’s reading, we see the family of Jesus wanting to take him into their custody because they believed that he "had lost his mind” (Mark 3:21) and the religious leaders said that “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “He casts out demons through the ruler of demons.” (Mark 3:22). So, when his family came to take possession of him and he was told that they were waiting outside, Jesus’ response was to ask the rhetorical question: “Who is my mother? Who is my family?” He then responded to the question with “This is my family! Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my sister, my brother, my mother.” (Mark 3:33-35) 

In this passage, Jesus is laying out the idea of what we now call “the chosen family.”  It is a family, not of blood or a legality such as adoption (hereafter termed “biological family” for convenience’s sake), but of a bond that exists due to common beliefs or characteristics. If you think about it, most people form chosen families. Some arise from necessity because people have been rejected by their biological families. Others arise because people have beliefs that cause them to drift from their biological family, so they seek out a family that shares these beliefs. Or a chosen family may form because people are far away from home and need a support system around them. 

For those of us in the queer community, the chosen family is all too often formed because of the first reason given above: rejection by the biological family. All too often, our families reject us because they see us as “making a choice” that they disagree with. Or maybe they don’t understand or respect our gender identity, name, or some other aspect of our lives that is not “normal”.  So we seek out others like us, people who can understand the particular struggles we face, the issues that society presents us with, or can commiserate with us when we face the prejudices that all too often face us when we exist in the world as who we truly are rather than as the world wishes us to be. 

As we see in this passage, Jesus is explicitly embracing the idea that there exists the idea of a familial bond that goes beyond the bond of blood. He embraces the idea that working together to fulfill the will of God can be a bond that forms a family. These bonds of love and belief need to be understood through the lens of the special love Jesus had for those who were marginalized or outcast. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus taking special care for people who the society of the time had rejected: lepers, Samaritans, prostitutes, and tax collectors to name a few. Jesus was explicit in claiming these people as a part of the Kindom of God: a kindom not of power, but of Love. 

God’s Love is a notion that is central to the Bible. In the Gospels, Jesus talks of how God’s love is meant to encompass all people, regardless of their societal status. They embrace and protect those who were cast out of society. This call for a love that embraces all people regardless of what society says was, quite probably, one of Jesus’ most radical teachings. 

In many ways, this sort of love asks us to go against our nature as human beings. If you think about it, because we are social animals, we form groups and tend to see the world as “us vs. them.”  We see those outside our group as a threat to us, which may or may not be true. The more deeply we hold to the beliefs that bind our group together, the more threatened we will feel by other groups. But if we take Jesus’ call for an all-embracing love into account, we will embrace all people, even those we disagree with or feel threatened by. This doesn’t mean that we have to like them or what they do, but we are called to see them as fellow children of God and to love and respect them as such. 

Years ago, I read a book called Catholic & Christian by Peter Kreeft. In it, he talks about how there are three Greek words for love in the Bible: eros, philea, and agape. (I have since discovered there is a fourth: storge.)  I want to focus on agape. Peter Kreeft defined agape as a perfect, self-giving love. Agape does not depend on sentiment or how we feel at the time. It is a love that seeks to help others, that sees that others have worth simply because they are, that does not depend on how we are feeling at the moment. It is not a warm blanket that we can wrap ourselves in. It is not that fuzzy feeling you get when you see someone attractive. It is love in action. It is love that gives because it can, not because a reward is being sought. It can be small and seemingly insignificant, or it can be large and world changing. 

Agape is often the cement that holds a chosen family together. We love and support each other, not because we have to, but because we choose to love and support each other. We have all been through similar experiences of having to reconcile who we are with who the world tells us we should be. We have all experienced the rejection (or fear of rejection) that comes along with the journey of self-discovery that we embark on so that we can live our lives as our authentic selves. While the particulars of our situations are different, the broad strokes are similar enough for all of us to be bound together in bonds of love and support. 

The bonds that form a chosen family go beyond just similar beliefs and experiences. They can also include a shared interest. In the show Pose and the documentary Paris is Burning, we see how important chosen family could be to people who were not only not only gay/lesbian and/or transgender, but also Black or Latinx. In the ballroom culture, Houses had a parent who would serve as protectors of and mentors for young members of the House who had no other family. These families were born of necessity due to society rejecting people who transgressed societal norms. Within both these Houses and the underground ball culture, people were free to be themselves in a place of safety and support.

 
While the chosen family is of particular importance to the queer community, it has spread to the wider world. One example is “Friends-giving,” when people celebrate Thanksgiving, not with their biological family, but with friends who they feel particularly close to. In other words, this is another form of a chosen family. If you look at many teen dramas, they also have some form of chosen family taken place. For example, in Dawson’s Creek, not only is there the wider chosen family of the entire group of friends, but Jen, Grams, and Jack form their own chosen family after Jack is rejected by his father after coming out. Even though Jack and his father eventually reconcile, the bonds he forms with Jen and Grams are the strongest and most durable in his life, to the point where he calls Jen his “soulmate” in the series finale. 

The most important part about a chosen family is that it is “chosen” rather than being assigned to us. It is not a family we have out of obligation, but one we pick for ourselves and is based on bonds of love and affection. With our biological families, we often feel obligated to support each other because that is what we are “supposed to do” rather than because we want to. With a chosen family, on the other hand, we have people around us who we have made the explicit choice to make a part of our lives. These sorts of chosen bonds can be some of the strongest bonds that exist because they are based on a conscious decision rather than being forced on us. 

When I was growing up, I was part of a cult called the Mother of God Community. Being a part of this Community was an integral part of who I was, and my entire identity was centered around it. Any other aspect of my life, including being a part of the Catholic Church, was subordinated to my identity as a member of the Community. When the Community came crashing down in the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, it caused me to have an identity crisis because I had never developed a sense of self that did not depend on the Community. Subsequently, I latched onto a couple of other groups to substitute for the Community as a part of my identity. Eventually, I realized that these groups were no better for me than the Community had been. 

After college, when I realized that I was queer, I was thrown into another identity crisis. The religious beliefs I had grown up with conflicted with this part of me that I had tried to deny or get rid of, but eventually had to accept lest I risk causing myself more damage than I had already done. In the end, I ended up leaving the Catholic Church because I needed to find out who I was apart from any group. A few years later, after I had discovered an identity that did not depend on someone else (I was 36 at this point), I decided to find a church that was affirming.  And so, I found my current church, Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Gaithersburg, MD. 

In this church, I found a chosen family that was truly healthy and good for all. We are bound together by the bonds of love for each other and the community around us, “regardless of sex, race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical and mental ability, age, or anything else that too often divides us.” (http://www.ctslutheranelca.org/about/)  Because the church accepted me and allowed me to be who I am without judgment, I was, for the first time, able to connect with the local queer community and meet more people to be a part of my chosen family. 

I say this not to boost myself or my church, but to illustrate the complete and utter necessity of familial bonds, even if they are not bonds of blood or legality. Over the last several years, there have been numerous young members of the queer community who have been rejected by their family and then committed suicide because they felt alone and isolated. When someone does not have other strong bonds and their biological family rejects them, they are much more likely to commit suicide. With the advent of social media and the greater interconnectedness that accompanies it, the percentage of queer teens who commit suicide has trended slightly downward because there has been more acceptance, but the rate of queer youth committing suicide (or contemplating it) is still well above that of non-queer youth. (https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20200210/fewer-lgbt-teens-plagued-by-suicidal-thoughts-but-rates-still-high#1)

 
As a church, we are called to meet and embrace those who are in the margins because that is where God is in a special way. There’s a song from the Broadway play Dear Evan Hansen which says “There’s a place where you don’t have to feel unknown and every time you call out, you’re a little less alone. If you only say the word, from across the silence, your voice is heard.” And that, my dearest siblings, describes a church like nothing else does, or rather, a church as it should be. The form of the church, if you will. It is a place where you don’t have to feel alone because you are in community with people. A place where you don’t have to feel unknown, because you are known by God and by the people of your church. A place where you can cry out and be heard. A place where you can ask for help and it will be given or ask for support and know it is there without question. A church should be a shelter for those who need rest and protection. A place where we can come and bask in the glorious love and support of those around us. A place where we can simply be. That is what the church is called to be. A church is another form of a chosen family. 

In the Bible, Jesus calls us to love each other and to care for each other, regardless of whether or not we are related by blood (see the Parable of the Good Samaritan). Having a chosen family is just one way we can do that. Through this family, we can support each other, cheer each other on, uplift those who need to be uplifted, and have a connection outside ourselves that is based on love, not obligation. 

Reconciling in Christ Sermon 2022

If you would like to hear the sermon, please go here.

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Welcome and well come to CTS on this Reconciling in Christ Sunday 2022. Before I start, I wanted to explain the meaning of the opening. I’ve had a few people ask me about it, so I figured I’d explain it. “Welcome” (1 word) means just what it says: You are welcome here in this place. “Well come” (2 words) means that it is well; or good; that you have come here. It is a greeting meaning “You are welcome in this place, and it is good that you are here with us.”

I’m sure, given the readings, you are probably expecting me to preach on my favorite topic: Love. And you would not be entirely wrong. But what I am hoping to do today is approach it from a slightly different angle than I normally do. What I want to focus on today is the Gospel today. Specifically, I want to focus on the second half of the Gospel where Jesus says “Let the children alone — let them come to me. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up this was always talked about as meaning that since we are all children of God, we are intended to be like little children who are supposed to be obedient and eager to please. Now, although I don’t have children myself, I have been around them enough to know that not all children are like this. In fact, I’d wager that most children aren’t. Yes, little children seek approval, but all too often, they question everything (there’s a reason why the question “Why?” and the accompanying “Because I said so!” are so cliché!) and do things their own way. The point? This is a bad way to understand this quote from Jesus.

I think a better way to understand it is to look at a different aspect of being a child. Think of that old saw: “Children should be seen and not heard.” I’m sure we’ve all heard it at least once in our lives. It’s the idea that children don’t know enough, or children aren’t important enough to speak or to have input into things that are going on. Rather, they should just be grateful that they are allowed to be around (after all, we could just banish them from our presence!) and shouldn’t ask for anything more. This attitude is something that pervades our society is so many different ways. We don’t just act this way about children, we also treat many marginalized groups in the same way. Whether it be women, Black people, queer people, disabled people, immigrants, or any other groups asking for equal rights, we keep hearing about how they should be quiet and be grateful for what they have. When Black people have marched peacefully for equal rights, they are ignored or attacked. When they take stronger action, they are asked why they don’t ask peacefully. When women look for equal pay for equal work, they are told that they are being pushy and should be happy they are working. When disabled people ask for equal access to facilities, they are told that giving them equal access makes other people’s lives inconvenient and it is too expensive. When immigrants come seeking a better life that the United States advertises, they are told that they need to wait in a very long line and denied many basic human benefits that the US offers while being forced to subsidize these benefits for other people.

Another group that is marginalized and attacked in some horrific ways are trans people. In 2021 alone, 37 states considered 110 bills to restrict the rights of trans people, particularly trans youth. There have been bills to deny trans children the opportunity to be a part of sports teams according to their gender, bills to give bounties to people who feel that a trans person has “stolen” their spot on a sports team, bills to deny trans people the opportunity to use the restroom that is in accord with their gender, bills to punish parents who follow medical advice and allow their children to transition, and so much more. There are “gender critical” (i.e., transphobic) people out there every day harassing and bullying trans people (or anyone perceived to be trans) on social media and in person, sometimes leading to someone ending their life rather than continue to suffer from the abuse. We have churches which have punished members for daring to think or say that maybe, just maybe, God cares for trans people in the same way She cares for other people. We have people using Jesus as justification for their hatred and bigotry (although, that is nothing new). We have people suing in court because they follow transphobic “logic” and claim that a trans person “stole” a prize or ribbon that is “rightfully” theirs.

I could go on in that vein, but there’s so much more. In 2021 there were at least 50 trans or gender non-conforming people killed. The number is likely much higher than that because victims are often misgendered, which makes it harder to get an accurate count. This violence is often aimed at trans women of color. In fact, a lot of anti-trans rhetoric has its roots in misogyny and patriarchy. If you think about it, a lot of the rhetoric is aimed at trans women and children and the idea that they need special “protection”. The idea animating this is that women are weak and need to be protected by big, strong men. Or the idea that children can’t know their sexuality or gender orientation (unless of course they are cisgender and/or straight, which is “normal”) because they’re “too young” or “too innocent” as if being queer or trans is something that is pathological or that people need to be protected from. I could go on in this vein for some time, but I want to get back to the Gospel message.

So, if we follow the idea that this quote from Jesus: “Let the children alone — let them come to me. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” then I would argue that the “children” here are any marginalized people. As a church, we are called to meet and embrace those who are in the margins because that is where God is in a special way. There’s a song from the Broadway play Dear Evan Hansen which says “There’s a place where you don’t have to feel unknown and every time you call out, you’re a little less alone. If you only say the word, from across the silence, your voice is heard.” And that, my dearest siblings, describes a church like nothing else, or rather, a church as it should be. The form of the church, if you will. It is a place where you don’t have to feel alone because you are in community with people. A place where you don’t have to feel unknown, because you are known by God and by the people of your church. A place where you can cry out and be heard. A place where you can ask for help and it will be given or ask for support and know it is there without question. A church should be a shelter for those who need rest and protection. A place where we can come and bask in the glorious love and support of those around us. A place where we can simply be. That is what the church is called to be.

So, on this RIC Sunday, I ask you to look for anyone who may need rest, support, or love and reach out to them. Let someone know that you are there for them, that they are seen, that they are heard, and that they are loved. It can be hard to ask for help and even harder to get support in this time of COVID, which makes it especially important that we love and support each other. As it said in today’s reading from 1 John: “If we love God, we should love our siblings as well; we have this commandment from God.” Or as it says in I Corinthians: “There are, in the end, three things that last: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” So go and love. Love fearlessly. Love joyfully. Be a part of that Love which abides no borders because it knows no borders. May they know we are Christians by our love.

Let us pray: Divine Parent, Maker and Lover of all. We ask You to help us know how we can be there for those who are marginalized by society. May we be inspired to share your Love with everyone we meet. May our love for You and for all Your creation lead us to be there for all people.

Let the church say: Amen!

Pride Prayer Service

Tonight (June 23, 2021), my church had its (hopefully) first Pride Prayer Service. I spoke (call it a sermon, a message, or whatever) briefly. Below is what I said.

You can listen to the sermon here. The audio is a little different from the written because I always make minor edits along the way as I read it out loud.

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Welcome and well come to Christ the Servant for our 2021 Pride Prayer service. When I was first thinking about what I wanted to say tonight, I was going to talk about Pride and its importance. However, about a week and a half ago, I heard a line in a tv show that gave me something to really think about and I wanted to offer some thoughts. The show is Love, Victor and the line is, “I’m not giving up on God. I’m giving up on you.”

Before I talk about the line, here is a little background. Love, Victor is a tv show set in the same high school as 2018’s Love, Simon. In the first season of the show, Victor; a Latino high school student; slowly comes to grips with the fact that he is gay. The first season ends with him saying, “Mom and Dad, I’m gay.” His dad is surprisingly good about adjusting, but his very religious mother Isabel has a much harder time. And this is not helped by a homophobic priest who tells her that Victor will not know God’s Love. When the priest says this same thing to Adrian, Victor’s younger brother, Isabel confronts him. She has managed to mostly start her journey of acceptance and affirmation, and she tells the priest that she and God both love Victor. She then quits her position at the church and the priest tells her not to give up on God. That is when she utters my favorite line of the season: “I’m not giving up on God. I’m giving up on you.”

See, queer people who are religious have heard this line or something like it so many times before. We are told that we are dirty, unclean, perverted, unloved, and damned to perdition merely because we are who we are. We are told that we are choosing a lifestyle that is antithetical to the Bible and that God will reject us. We are told that we cannot be a part of the church. Some churches will “accept” us, so long as we are quiet about who we are and don’t cause “scandal”. Some churches outright refuse to let us be members, fearing that we will “corrupt” people and lead them away from God.

But here’s the thing: Those of us who choose to stay in churches, particularly affirming churches, aren’t rejecting God. We are rejecting the organizations that reject us. We are rejecting the teachings that tell us that we are less than others or that we are second-class citizens. We know that God’s Love is all inclusive. We know that God Loves us all wholly and completely. We have faith that God, who is the Parent to all of us, will be there for us even if our biological or religious families reject us.

As we heard in the letter to the Ephesians: “You are included in God’s holy place and are members of the household of God.” Or as it says in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, neither heights nor depths—nor anything else in all creation—will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior.”

God’s love is whole, complete, and unconditional. We cannot earn it, we do not need to earn it, it just is. God loves us, not because She has to, but because They choose to. God made us all and made us just the way He wanted us to be. Whether that is gay, straight, lesbian, bi, pan, or asexual, whether that is trans, cis, non-binary, or agender, or any of the other glorious and beautiful possibilities that I may not have mentioned, you are a child of God, created by God, loved by God, and perfect just as you are. Know that, feel that, and accept that. And if you need to hear it, just let me know. I’ll say it again: you are a child of God, created by God, loved by God, and perfect just as you are.

If you’re an ally, please make sure that all of the queer people in your life know this and hear this often. When there is a world telling us how much of a burden we are, how twisted we are, how unnatural and corrupted we are, we need to hear from people who know that that is just not true. And don’t just mouth the words, make sure they are known through actions and deeds. If you see people spouting homophobic or transphobic things, say something. If you see someone who is queer struggling with being accepted because of who they are, show them that they are loved. Actions speak much louder than words and are more readily remembered.

If you are queer, know that there are churches who will accept and affirm you because of who you are. Not in spite of it, but because of it. You are beautiful, colorful flowers in the garden of life that God has made. Your queerness is sacred, it is holy. It is a part of you and you are sacred and holy too. Know that even if there are churches which reject you, God does not reject you. God Loves you and wants you to live a whole and complete life. That is Pride. Living who you are to the best of your ability. If there is someone out there who is queer, even if we don’t know it, know that you are loved. Know that you are a part of a community that will embrace you and help you and love you. It can be messy at times, but that’s family. That’s community.

So remember that line: “I’m not giving up on God. I’m giving up on you.” Remember that giving up on homophobic churches doesn’t mean giving up on God. It means giving up on structures or organizations or people who hurt you. Come to know the loving embrace of God. Come to know all the love that is there. Above all, know this: you are a child of God, created by God, loved by God, and perfect just as you are.

Amen.

Sermon for Good Shepherd Sunday (4/25/2021)

This is my first non-Reconciling in Christ sermon given on April 25, 2021.

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Welcome and well come to Christ the Servant Lutheran Church. In some churches, today is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday”. Take a look at the Gospel, and it is pretty easy to see why. Jesus describes Himself as “[t]he good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.” To add to that, we have Psalm 23 which starts with “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” The primary job of the shepherd is to protect the flock under their watch, to make sure that the flock gets to where it needs to go, to feed them, and to keep them safe.

In the second reading today, we hear the author of 1 John say: “My children, our love must not be simply words or mere talk-it must be true love, which shows itself in action and truth.” Our love, our faith is not something we are meant to have to put on a shelf and dust off every Sunday. It is a living force meant to animate our lives, to breathe life into our actions, and to drive us to go out and help others. If we want to truly follow Christ, we need to act on our faith, not just say that we believe in it.

If we want to follow Jesus, we need to derive inspiration from His actions and we need to do what we can to protect “the flock”. But who is the flock? Is it just the people who believe in Jesus? For much of the church’s history, the “flock” referred to Christians, to people who followed Christ. But that reading of the word “flock” runs counter to some of Jesus’ other teachings. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells the questioner that their neighbor is anyone. And if our neighbor is everyone, would Jesus expect any less of Himself than to regard everyone as His neighbor? In Matthew 25 (also known as the Sheep and the Goats), Jesus talks about how the nations will be divided based on how they have cared for the least among them. Those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit those ill or in prison, will go to eternal life. Again, notice that this is not limited to any particular group; whether ethnic, religious, racial, etc.; it is anyone who is in need of help.

In James 2:14-20, 26, it says:

"My [siblings], what good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save. If any are in need of clothes and have no food to live on, and one of you says to them, "Goodbye and good luck. Stay warm and well-fed," without giving them the bare necessities of life, then what good is this? So it is with Faith. If good deeds don't go with it, faith is dead.

Some of you will say that you have faith, while I have deeds. Fine: I'll prove to you that I have faith by showing you my good deeds. Now you prove to me that you have faith without any good deeds to show. You believe in One God. Fine. But even the demons have the same belief, and they tremble with fear. Don't you realize, you idiots, that faith without good deeds is useless?...

Be assured then, that faith without works is as dead as a body without a spirit."

In all of these, we see that having faith on its own is not enough. Faith should drive us into action. Faith should lead us to care for others; to protect the poor, the young, the widowed, and the marginalized. If our faith doesn’t lead us to do something, then it is not faith, it is belief. And belief, on its own, is as useless as the “hope and prayers” all too frequently thrown out as a supposed balm after a tragic incident.

In the song “Hands”, Jewel sings about how we are all to help take care of each other. She says:

I won't be made useless

Won't be idle with despair

I'll gather myself around my faith

For light does the darkness most fear

My hands are small, I know

But they're not yours, they are my own

But they're not yours, they are my own

And I am never broken

We'll fight, not out of spite

For someone must stand up for what's right

'Cause where there's a man who has no voice

There ours shall go singing

As followers of Christ, our calling is to be shepherds for each other. We are to look out for each other, care for each other, and protect each other. If we see injustices taking place, if we see people in need, if we see people under attack, we are called to respond. This is more than a request or an optional good deed. Faith requires action. We must help those who we can help. In order to be a living faith, it *MUST* be put into action.

And there are so many things in the world that need our attention. There is the devaluation of the lives of Black, indigenous, and people of color; there are attacks on trans people (particularly trans youth); there are people who go hungry every day; people who do not have homes; people who do not have clean water to drink; there are assaults on our right to vote freely and fairly; there are too many people imprisoned for acts which were incredibly minor or even for crimes they never committed; there are attacks on our environment in the name of progress; and so much more. I must admit, it can be overwhelming. It is all too easy to just throw up your hands and say “I can’t fix it! I’m just one person!”

But, we are the Body of Christ, not just one individual person. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about how we are one body made up of many parts. Not every part of the body can (or should) do the same thing. He then extends that to talk about how there are many roles in the church:

there are apostles,

there are prophets,

then there are teachers,

then those who do miracles,

those who have the gift of healing,

those who can help others,

those who have the gift of leadership,

those who speak in unknown languages.

Likewise, when we are looking to put our faith into action, there are many ways we can do it. We can take direct action and take part in protests, parades, or marches. But not everyone can do that. I know that I, for example, have trouble with them because I get anxious when I am around large groups of people. So, for people like me, we can (for example) write letters; make calls; educate and inform others; help organize events; donate food, drink, clothing, or money; or volunteer at a shelter.

Now, I know a lot of us already do at least one or two of these things. I want to challenge you to try and do more if you can. If you already volunteer at a shelter or help center, try finding out about an issue and contact the appropriate legislator/regulator to do something to help address that issue. If you give money, see if there is a way you can get more directly involved, maybe by joining a phone bank or letter writing campaign. And so on and so forth. We are not going to be able to solve the issues overnight, but we still must do what we can to help others and to drive our nation to be a more perfect union that truly addresses the needs of its people. For they are our siblings, and we are their shepherds. We must be love for the world. There is a saying attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Go out and preach unto all the world. If necessary, use words.” May our actions show our faith in action. May we protect and help those who are overlooked or ignored by society.

To close today, I want to pray a prayer from “God’s Work, Our Hands” Sunday:

The God of compassion, hope and joy, 
Our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer,
Bless your feet to carry you into places of need. 
Bless your lips to proclaim love and mercy. 
Bless your heart to love and listen to those you encounter. 
Bless your hands to care for the needs of your neighbors. 
Bless you to be a blessing to others. 
Now and always.  
Amen.

May God bless you and keep you. Know that you are a child of God and God love you for exactly who you are.

Sermon for Reconciling in Christ Sunday 2021

Welcome and well come to Christ the Servant Church on this Reconciling in Christ Sunday. Over the last couple of years, we have had members of the queer community speak on RIC Sunday. In 2018, we had a few members of the community and Pastor speak about what being a part of a RIC community has meant for them. In 2019, I spoke about how we needed to widen the circle of those who are a part of the church and use the gifts of all people, especially those who have historically been marginalized in order to allow for the fullest flourishing of the Church. Last year, Michael Yeschenko spoke to us about his past and how the gifts of many in the queer community, particularly trans women of color, are ignored or worse because of discrimination against the queer community and the killing of many trans people, particularly women of color.

This year, I want to take some threads from each of those sermons and explore them further. But before I do that, I want to briefly focus on one aspect of the second reading that has been used as a weapon by some people. In Galatians, we have Paul warning us not to fall prey to the flesh since the flesh is at odds with the Spirit. Many people interpret this in a dualistic light that things which are physical are unimportant, or even evil, and that only that which is spiritual is important. This leads to people policing the bodies of others or ignoring the physical needs of people in order to “save their souls”.

The policing of bodies has a tremendous impact on trans people (particularly trans women) and people whose gender presentation does not match the gender presentation people expect. We see some people denying the humanity of trans women and insisting that they are sexual predators who are merely out to prey on women in restrooms or locker rooms. We have transgender individuals who become sick because they are harassed so much when they need to use bathrooms in schools or other public buildings because people may try to prevent them from using the proper bathroom. We have trans or gender non-conforming people who are beaten or killed because they do not look like what people think they should look like.

If you remember the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats from Christ the King, the ruler separates the sheep and the goats based on whether or not they have taken care of others. The criteria being used are all based around taking care of the physical needs of others: feeding the hungry, providing drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, comforting those who are sick, and visiting those who are imprisoned. Notice that none of these are purely spiritual needs being met. There are spiritual or emotional benefits to each of these, but the primary action is taking care of a physical need. How many times have you heard people insist that it is more important to save souls than protect the bodies of those who are in need? How many times have those who claim to follow Christ insist that, as a society, we should not make sure that those who are suffering are taken care of, but instead we hear about how their situation is their own fault?  The answer is all too many.

But the thing is that this reading of flesh is missing a key idea. The idea of flesh in Galatians is not about physicality, but rather it is related to sin or selfishness. In other words, it’s about the breaking down of community and communal caring for each other. When read in this light, the passage takes on new meaning. It is a call that lines up with the Great Commandments we read from Matthew 22 in 2019. As a reminder, here is what we read:

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they gathered together and one of them, an expert on the Law, attempted to trick Jesus with a question: “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest?” 

Jesus answered: 

“‘You must love the Most High God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 

 “That is the first and greatest commandment.  The second is like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these the whole Law is based—and the Prophets as well.”

The second commandment here is also quoted in the reading from Galatians to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And when we pair these with the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we see that our neighbor is anyone around us.

All of this leads us inexorably towards the idea that the fruits of the Spirit are made manifest by us being in full community with each other and by our taking care of all of those around us, particularly those who have been marginalized or shunned by society. When we take care of those around us, that allows their gifts to fully flourish because they can focus on something other than survival. When we fully open our hearts and our doors to all people, it increases the gifts that are present in the Church and that in turn strengthens the Church. Our diversity and our differences make us stronger. Only by fully embracing the different gifts of all members of the Church can the Church truly become what it is meant to be.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks us to pay attention to the fruits that spring forth because “a sound tree produces good fruit and a rotten tree produces bad fruit. A sound tree cannot produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit”. In the same way, a church that fully embraces the Love of God and the full humanity of all people is more likely to produce the good fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”. The reverse is also true.

So today, I want to challenge each of you. I want you to think about someone in this church community (or in your life if you are a guest today) and about a gift that they bring to the church. At some point this week, I want you to reach out to them. It can be a phone call, an email, a text message, or a safely socially distanced chat. Name the gift that they bring to the church and let them know how you see that that gift has helped this community. I only have one rule: Don’t pick your spouse/partner/significant other or any family member. Hopefully, you are already telling them about the gifts that they bring. Pick someone different, maybe someone who may not hear about the gifts they bring to the table often.

You don’t need to report who you chose or anything and I am hoping that we all pick different people.

To close, I want to pray a Diversity Blessing that I found on a website called jesuitresource.org.  It was written by Clare McBeath and Tim Presswood:

May the God who created a world of diversity and vibrancy, Go with us as we embrace life in all its fullness.

May the Son who teaches us to care for stranger and foreigners, Go with us as we try to be good neighbors in our communities.

May the Spirit who breaks down our barriers and celebrates community, Go with us as we find the courage to create a place of welcome for all.

Amen.

April 2019

This post is going to be quite different from my last posts.  Before I go any further, I want to emphasize that the following post contains my thoughts and opinions.  It in no way, shape, or form represents the opinions, thoughts, or positions of Christ the Servant Lutheran church, the Church Council, or any other entity connected to the church.  I am not speaking in my capacity as Council member or Worship Coordinator.  Rather I am speaking for myself as an individual.

One more thing before I continue on.  I have heard some people say that they wish church was less political.  I feel the need to point out that there are two meanings of politics.  The first is a narrow version of politics, a partisan version.  This is the one where a group explicitly comes down for one political party of any others or support a particular political candidate.  The other version is a broader vision of politics.  According to one definition in Merriam-Webster dictionary, politics is "the total complex of relations between people living in society".  This is the version of politics that churches should embrace.  It transcends partisan politics to embrace an ethos about how society should work.  It looks at how society treats all of its members and how the members relate to the political society.  In America, we all too often conflate the two, but they are really different things.  The first one can very easily lead to theocracy (or at the very least theocratic thinking) but the second informs peoples decisions and helps to guide them to vote in a way that is consonant with their religious beliefs and their conscience.

I have become increasingly concerned about the US (and by extension the world, but I am going to focus on the US) over the last few years.  Ever since the 2016 election cycle started, our country has taken an increasingly dark turn.  From the time that a certain candidate (I cannot and will not say his name, so I will refer to him in other ways) stepped onto an escalator to announce that he was running for president of the United States, the darkest regions of our political thoughts have come to the forefront.  Nativism, racism, xenophobia, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and white supremacy have come to dominate our national conversation in a way they haven't previously.

That is not to say that they did not previously exist (they clearly did), but they had been banished from the mainstream of society, and for good reason.  America has always aspired to be a melting pot, a place where people from different countries and backgrounds can come and join together to form a new society, a "city on a hill".  Regrettably, America has never quite fulfilled that promise, but we have tried in fits and starts.  The course has meandered and we have never really dealt with structural issues that are holding some people (particularly people of color) back, but we have been trying, particularly the last 50 years or so.

But these last few years, it has felt like we have seriously backslidden.  The current occupant of the Oval Office, supported mainly by white people (particularly white Evangelicals), has done everything he can to entrench white supremacy in all walks of life.  We have had crackdowns on immigrants, we have had rollbacks of environmental protections that are mainly affecting poorer areas, we have had voting rights restricted in the name of "law & order", we have had the queer community affected by "religious freedom" rules that use religious belief as a sword to attack other people, and so much more.

Fortunately, we have had people fighting back against this trend.  While the fighting back is been somewhat successful, it is more like fighting a rearguard action than anything else.  We are losing ground for a lot of reasons, many of which are structural and systemic.  But there is also the problem where people don't fight back because either what happens doesn't affect them, they don't want to be political, or they don't see where they can make a difference.

In the first and second cases, that is privilege of the utmost order talking.  There is a meme that says "tbh being apolitical is a privilege.  some people can't ignore politics bcs politics attack their identity on a daily basis".  To translate: "To be honest, being apolitical is a privilege.  Some people can't ignore politics because politics attacks their identity on a daily basis."  For those people who can avoid politics, it is imperative that they not do so.  They should absolutely use their privilege to help out others as much as they can.  Yes, it is very tiring and exhausting, but imagine doing it because you have to in order to survive and to validate your very existence.  The more people we have supporting and lifting up marginalized groups, the less tiring it will be for everyone involved.

As for the third reason, I do understand that.  There is so much structurally which is standing against change.  That however, is not an excuse to do nothing.  It may take a long time, it may even take a lifetime or multiple lifetimes, but it can happen if enough people try hard enough for long enough.

So why am I writing a blog post about this in Footnotes?  Before I answer that, I must say that if you've stuck around this long, thank you.  The reason I am writing this is because I want to ask people to do something to make a difference and to be active politically.  I'm not saying you need to go to every march there is because I know we are all very busy.  But maybe take a few minutes at some point during the day and go to your congressperson's website or your senator's website and send them a brief note asking them to support a piece of legislation.  Maybe we could start a letter writing group at church to encourage people to call or email their government representatives.  Or you can submit written testimony in support of legislation (I've done this at the state level, not the national level) or leave comments for proposed regulation changes.  If you have time to march or protest, that would be a good option too.

As Christians, we are called to live out a life of service.  We are called to care for the poor, the orphans, the widows, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the outcasts like Jesus did.  We are called to love radically and fully like Jesus did.  We are called to charge into the temple and turn over the tables like Jesus did.  We are called to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth now, not wait passively for it to come.

So I am asking you to seriously consider what you can do.  I will not shame anyone into doing anything, but please do think and pray about it.  Are you doing what you can to help others?  Or are you simply letting it go in the name of "ignoring politics"?

Mychel Vandover
Queer, non-binary person
Citizen of the United States
Member of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church
"Go in Peace.  Care, Teach, and Serve."