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?”
“‘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.
No comments:
Post a Comment