Wholly Family
Romans 8:1-11 (A contemporary reading based on the scripture)
Happy Pride 2008!
How many of you remember when Disneyland rated their rides with letters? You know then that the best rides required an E ticket. I want to welcome you to All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church and tell you that we are an E ticket ride. Some of you are here for the first time, perhaps having traveled a long way to find a faith home where you can integrate your spirituality and your sexuality. You have come to the right place. So…
To set an honest mood for Pride Sunday, I want to quote Cathy Guiswite, author of the comic strip “Cathy.” In one particular comic, the almost liberated Cathy is about to go on a date when she says, “I’m wearing the heirloom lace of my grandmother, the consciousness of my mother, the new morals of my generation, so no matter what I do or say today, I’m going to offend myself. And thus begins my sermon.
This week Michelle Obama received praised for connecting the dots between historical discrimination and prejudice. She said, "We are all here because of those who marched and bled and died, from Selma to Stonewall, in the pursuit of a more perfect union." She is right. There is a connection between our history of activism and the freedoms won in the pursuit of justice. There is always a connection between our future and our history. We are making history today.
By simply showing up here at Pride, we are shining a public spotlight on our lives as GLBT Christians. We must connect the dots between our visibility and our viability. Thank you.
The public nature of Pride week asks our neighbors and allies to consider the injustices we face. This is important because injustice is interrelated. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” Do you believe that? I do. No one is free until we all are free.
Of course celebration is a big part of the weekend. We have much to celebrate. I celebrate that I am here today with you. I want to express how proud I am to stand with you. I’m proud to be a member of the All God’s Children MCC FAMILY because WE ARE FAMILY. I’m proud to be one of your pastors. I’m proud to be part of the larger queer community in the Twin Cities. I’m proud that we are a faith family and that comes from many traditions and backgrounds; joined in the common goal of doing justice together.
All God’s Children IS a family-- of support, of friendship and of respect. In every important way we are wholly (W H O L L Y) family. And our family is holy (H O L Y); sacred.
We have committed our gifts and passions to shared work. Did you know that just in the last 5 years we have contributed over $50,000 to over forty organizations in our community? We’ve provided scholarships for youth, funding for youth programs, money to end the profanity of exclusion. We’ve supported the Minnesota AIDS project, the Minnesota Freedom Band, and we’ve spoken truth to power through our Would Jesus Discriminate campaign. We have reason to be proud. We’ve done good work together.
MCC is not a church that welcomes you in spite who you are. MCC is a church that welcomes you because of who you are. God has called us in unique ways. And because we understand what it means to be marginalized, we are called to offer leadership from the margins, TO THE MARGINS, working to end oppression by instigating, inspiring, and participating in acts of justice. Just being here today is an act of justice. You are standing up for the people who cannot stand up for themselves. We have come a long way but we can never forget that we’re not finished.
It is wonderful that California has overturned the marriage ban.
Did you know that our own Rev. Troy Perry who founded MCC 40 years ago, was who filed the initial lawsuit with his partner Phillip, back in February 2004 that led to last month's ruling in California? California is now the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize marriage for same-sex couples. The decision by the high court marked an enormous milestone for Metropolitan Community Churches. That is another reason to be proud.
Did you know that the reason marriage is legal in Canada is because of MCC pastor Brent Hawkes? Did you know that Rev. Hawkes and his staff wore body armor when they performed those first marriages? He was committing acts of sacred defiance when he performed those first marriages. He was challenging the Canadian marriage laws which did not say that marriage was between a man and a woman. Canadian law referred to two people—so he challenged the vague wording and was met with daily death threats. Media surrounded the balcony of the church to witness those first ceremonies and ultimately their work led to winning the right to legal marriage in Canada.
When my spouse Kathy and I were married in Toronto, our officiant asked us to look at our feet. Until she shared the rest of the story I did not know what courage and activism led to our right to stand there. So we looked at our feet as she reminded us we were standing on holy ground, WHOLLY fought for at great personal risk. Brent was later awarded the royal order of Canada-the highest honor Canada bestows on their citizens. We can be very proud of Rev. Brent Hawkes and MCC Toronto. And no, we’re not finished yet.
Last month Rev. Pat Bumgardner who is pastor of MCC New York, and who leads our Global Justice ministries, traveled to Malaysia and Pakistan to open a dialogue with our brothers and sisters whose lives are not free. She met a group of lesbians that fear for their lives every single day. The women hide in a one room apartment, saving every penny so they can send one of the women to beauty school. They have a plan. When the first woman can begin work, she can provide the money to send one more to school and then one more and one more. It’s the only way they know to take agency over their own lives-at least for now.
Pat also told me of an eight year old Pakistani girl who tugged on her shirt. She had one question. “Why did they not throw candy into the street when I was born?” In India it is customary to throw candy into the streets only when a male child is born. There is no rejoicing for females. After speaking to Pat the little girl said that if she has children she promises to throw candy into the streets for a girl or for a boy-another act of sacred defiance. That’s why the MCC Global Justice Team exists, to be agents of change by building bridges that liberate people and unite voices of sacred defiance.
Brothers and sisters, we are part of something much bigger than a simple church service in the park. We are changing the world moment by moment.
That is why today, when we march through the streets of Minneapolis, I want you to take a handful of candy with you. Toss it into the streets as you march and remember the justice work that we are doing here at home and in India, Africa, Jamaica, Moldova, Gambia, Eastern Europe and beyond. In places where young LGBT people have been shunned and threatened by their biological families and their countries, we have a holy obligation to become wholly family with and for them.
We must continue spreading the good news that God’s love is unconditional. Let’s enjoy this amazing day of celebration. Let’s march proudly for ourselves and for those who cannot march.
May our lives this day inspire continued acts of justice. We are not wedge issues. We are beloved children of God. Are you in? Let’s go spread some love and toss some candy into the streets. And so it is. Amen.