Once again, good morning and welcome to Trinity MCC in Gainesville.Especially if you are here for the first time or for the first time in a long time, we’re really glad you’re here.
The Worship Planning Team has asked me to take a minute here to explain to you a change in our Communion service that we will begin next week.The good news for most of you is that it is more of a change back.
Beginning next Sunday we will return to the practice of having holders here at the front of church so you can serve yourself communion.You may come individually, with your partner, with your family, with your friends. You may serve yourself or each other.The difference is that I will not be placing the host in your hands.
I, along with others, will be available here to pray with you.I know you want to have time to pray with your pastor and we can always find time to do that.And in these moments during the service, unless you have a special need that you really want the pastor to pray for, please let’s distribute ourselves as evenly as possible among all the prayer partners who will be available. Be aware of one thing with us, if the health of the community demands that we make future changes, we will make those and we promise always to keep you informed when that occurs.I know change is difficult so I encourage you to “TRY IT ON,” and let’s see if this works better for us.Deal?Thank you.
Last week we had to deal with that very treacherous reading from the gospel of Mark.This week we have a wonderful, touchy, feel good story and this reading, like last week’s has some important lessons for us, so let’s look at it together for a few minutes.
Labels
We start out this week with a couple of Labels; the “uncircumcision” and the “circumcision.”Let us be clear that circumcision, the way it is used here has an additional layer of meaning.Among the players in this story, the circumcised are the INSIDERS and the uncircumcised are the OUTSIDERS.Labels are like that, you know.Many of us grew up identifying Christians as insiders and non-Christians as outsiders.Where I grew up Protestants were insiders and Catholics were outsiders.Then when I was in seminary in New Orleans, Catholics were insiders and Protestants were outsiders. In our own American culture for most of my life straight people have been the insiders and queer people have been the outsiders.Now, I want to take a moment here to define my use of the word “queer” for you.First of all, when we take on a name that has been used against us, it literally takes the negative power away from those who would use it to hurt us.If I identify as queer, I am not hurt of offended when someone rolls down her car window and yells “QUEER” at me.I look at her and say “You’re right! Congratulations!”So I embrace queer so others can’t insult me with it.Second, I use “queer” as a big umbrella term.My “queer” means gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, straight, confused, people who love GLBTQ people, people who support us, people who include us, people who write positively about us, people who stand with us for equality and justice for all people.We’re all queer in that way because we choose to love the way Jesus loves rather than buy into the world’s exclusive version of love.God is love and real love that includes all of God’s children is queer.So that is what I mean by queer.Please understand that because I never intend for anyone to be offended by my use of the word and I am keenly aware of its impact.
It is often true that labels are not helpful.Labels set us apart from each other.Labels set up ‘”us and them” relationships. People in the “US” camp are insiders and people in the “THEM” camp are outsiders, and my sisters and brothers, in the eyes of Jesus, in the Household of God there are no OTHERS we are all insiders, we are all included and there is no room for labels that exclude. Perhaps it would be appropriate for us to hand out labels at the gate to this property that say, INCLUDED.That’s a label I could go for and that, my friends is the label that God tattoos on each and every one of our hearts.
Included at a High Price
And let’s be honest with other, that kind of inclusion comes at a high price.We are redeemed and we are being redeemed by a God who loves us so much we can’t even imagine it.God has broken down every barrier and said to all of us, “Come on in.”Come in, Welcome.” God has crushed every wall that stood in the way of our relationship with God and still says to you and to me this very morning, there will be no walls between you and me and God.Where ever there were walls there is now clear access. That is the good news of the gospel; that there are no barriers and no walls between us and God.And when God breaks it all down we have full access.Full access!No barriers!No walls! And the Bible tells us that Nothing, absolutely NOTHING can separate us from the love God.We hear it loudly that we are members of the household of God.We are God’s family.We are God’s children. We are the beloved of God!Oh hallelujah, Trinity MCC, can you get excited with me about this today.Jesus included us!Jesus included me, too!Jesus included you, too.Can I get a witness in here this morning!?!So what does that mean for us?
A House of Prayer for ALL People
Here’s what I’m experiencing with God.What being members of the Household of God means for us is that we are called to cast the same welcome that God casts.We are called to build the Household of God right here, and I know that’s a big job.How will we do it?Let me share with you some suggestions from Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook’s book A House of Prayer for All Peoples.
1.“Build on Health – Congregations that build multiracial (multicultural) community are those that strive on all levels to affirm the dignity of every human person and to sustain relationships based in mutuality and respect.
2.Know Their History – The study of history reveals both the heritage and traditions of a given congregation and leads to further discernment of a church’s mission and ministry in the present. Certainly, in terms of building multiracial (multicultural) community, the study of history is imperative in order to understand the dynamics of institutions and who is included or excluded in the present.
3.Seek Committed Leadership – Leadership is a key variable for congregations concerned with building multiracial (multicultural) community over the long haul. Clearly, clergy and laity who understand the dynamics of power and oppression and who are committed to change are integral.
4.Share a Rich Symbolic Life – Though congregations have different “entry points,” those committed to building multiracial (multicultural) community eventually experience change on all levels of the organization: education, worship, governance, pastoral care, outreach, and so on.Part of the challenge of building multiracial (multicultural) community is adapting the symbolic life of the congregation in terms of worship, music, education and even architecture to reflect various cultures.
5.Develop Community and Denominational Relationships – (Share together in a variety of programs and activities that support anti-racism and anti-oppression)
6.Implement an Action Plan; Monitor and Evaluate – Implement some formal action plan designed to build multiracial (multicultural) community and continue to monitor progress and evaluate how the programs are doing.
7.Cultivate Spiritual Stamina – God calls all humankind to a life of rich diversity. Our spirituality reflects the relationships we have with God, other people, ad the world and is consistent with our racial, ethnic and cultural heritages. A disciplined life of prayer and reflection rooted in a multiracial (multicultural) community of faith is perhaps the greatest source of support for the challenges faced by those who choose to open up their lives in this way.”[1]
Conclusion
Sisters and brothers, hear the good news of the gospel.We are, you are, I am, we are together Members of God’s Household.And whenever we are privileged in such a manner as this we have a high level of responsibility.What is our responsibility here?To build the Household of God here in this place.To get rid of labels that exclude people from our fellowship.To include others, even when it comes with a price and even when it’s scary.On the Sunday that I came here to visit I asked you if you were ready to take on God’s calling…even if it scared us to death.I heard your “YES, we can do it,” loud and clear.And so I call on us together today, right here, in the here and now, to make this place part of the Household of God.Love makes a Family and Family members make a household. May this household of God’s family be known by love, in Jesus name.AMEN.
[1] Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook, A House of Prayer for All Peoples: Congregations Building Multiracial Community (Bethesda: Alban, 2002), 180 - 185.
READINGS:
For the choirmaster. A psalm of David
The sky tells the glory of God,
tells the genius of God’s work.
Day carries the news to day,
night brings the message to night,
without a word, without a sound,
without a voice being heard,
yet their message fills the world,
their news reaches its rim.
There God has pitched a tent
for the sun to rest and rise renewed
Llke a bridegroom rising from bed
an athlete eager to run the race.
It springs from the edge of the earth
runs a course across the sky
to win the race at heaven’s end.
Nothing on earth escapes its heat.
God’s perfect law
revives the soul.
God’s stable rule
guides the simple.
God’s just demands
delight the heart.
God’s clear commands
sharpen vision.
God’s faultless decrees
stand for ever.
God’s right judgments
keep their truth.
Their worth is more than gold,
their taste richer than honey,
sweet from the comb.
Keeping them makes me rich,
they bring me light;
yet faults hide within us,
forgive me min.
Keep my pride in check,
break its grip;
I shall be free of blame
for deadly sin.
Keep me, thought and word,
in your good grace.
Lord, you are my savior,
You are my rock.
Ephesians 2: 11 – 22
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth,* called ‘the uncircumcision’ by those who are called ‘the circumcision’—a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands— 12remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body* through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.*17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to our Heavenly Parent. 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.*21In Jesus the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together spiritually* into a dwelling-place for God.
