Musical Prelude and Service.

Acts 16:16-34 & John 17:20-26
So often for Pride Sunday, I would choose a particular passage of scripture that seems to directly address the topic of how we, as a community of faith, see and relate to our 2SLGBTQ siblings. It makes sense, let’s confront the issue of hatred and fear and how it is misplaced as directly as possible. But I chose this year to follow the lectionary recommendations and trust that the Spirit will guide me and speak to me through the words we read and reflect upon today.
You see, I believe our faith calls us to invite; to welcome; to celebrate all people in all their colours, and their expressions of who they are and who they love. I feel it in my bones. It shouldn’t be a matter of working to justify one or two particular groups. Sadly, we continue to live in a world that is still obsessing over certain differences. We live in a world that continues to bully and exclude some members of our family and it also questions our insistence on recognizing and celebrating members of the 2SLGBTQ community as valued and beloved members of the body of Christ.
And so I have trusted the spirit to guide my reflections this week as I read the story of Paul and Silas being freed from a prison in Philippi.
In some ways, this morning’s passage from Acts is an odd story. It starts with Paul confronting a girl who is possessed by a spirit that tells people’s fortunes. She is annoying him by naming a servant or slave of God. He banishes the spirit and is promptly thrown in prison. An earthquake offers release from this imprisonment, but he remains; and in doing so saves the jailer who is ready to kill himself out of shame. The jailer and his friends eventually convert and are baptized.
We are told essentially that Paul loses patience with the slave who is possessed. We are not told what his ultimate motivation is in ridding her of this spirit, but we are told this action angers the cartel that owns her and exploits her. They stir up the fear and biases of the wider community against Paul and Silas, and have the apostles locked in stocks and thrown in prison. The girl –
freed of this spirit, is no longer a source of revenue. They can no longer exploit her and her talent.
The readers of this story lose sight of this girl. We do not know what her future holds, she simply disappears. Her future may be bleak, but given the theme of freedom and liberation that is so much a part of this story, I want to believe she ultimately experiences further freedom.
Despite being locked in prison, Paul and Silas sing songs of praise from their cell. An earthquake rocks their prison, and they are freed from their shackles. But knowing what that will mean for their jailer, they remain where they are. The jailer is bound in his own way. The system of loyalty and honour that is part of his world will condemn him to death for losing his prisoners, and he is prepared to commit suicide to protect his family.
This earthquake not only shakes the foundation of the prison cell, it shakes the foundation of this jailer’s view of and understanding of the world. He finds a new hope – a new way of relating to the world. He is freed from a toxic devotion to a sense of honour and loyalty rooted in violence, fear and death. A world view that selects who is favoured and who is exploited, and that says who you serve and who you are committed to determines your level of comfort and success.
In Paul and Silas, the jailer and his family are shown a new way of life focused on compassion and care for others and a joy of life in Christ. A new life in Christ.
The passage from the Gospel of John is Jesus’ prayer and statement that are all one. It is a prayer for unity.
We need to be careful when we talk about unity and being one in Christ. We are called to be one in Christ; to recognize that we are all part of this same body, but it is not a unity in which we are all the same. We are one and what affects one or some of us affects all of us, be that good or ill. But this unity is not uniformity. We are not identical, and we were never supposed to be identical. We each bring our own expressions, our varying colours, our unique gifts to this community. We are stronger and more interesting; we are beautiful because of the diversity we offer this world.
Part of our praise is the expressions of gratitude we offer to God in our songs and our prayers. We offer our gratitude for the beauty of this world; all its different colours and shapes and sounds that create a kaleidoscope and symphony of praise to the wonder of creation.
This is all part of my regular message of the beauty of diversity. I can’t help but think that some may wonder why we need to still proclaim a day to proclaim our support and alliance with Pride.
The simple and sad fact is that despite laws and regular movements to declare we live in a country and a community that recognizes there is room and love for the 2SLGBTQ community here, those who are gay, lesbian, trans and two spirit still live with the threat of violence and the threat of being excluded. They live with the knowledge that their lives and their safety could be at risk now or in the near future.
Too many members of this community still do not feel safe coming out to friends and family or living honest in the community. A great many express concern that the hatred and fear gripping much of the country to our south could easily take root here in Canada once again. Members of the 2SLGBTQ community are still looking for safe spaces and safe communities where they know they are welcome and embraced. Many would argue that hatred and fear never really left.
It is important that we are clear that we are a safe and welcoming space. It is important that we hold onto those values and work keep learning how to best and most compassionately live out those values, understanding we are not perfect. There is still so much to learn, but we can be honest with ourselves and strive to be better. We are a community that values what everyone brings to the table that is God’s banquet. That we reach out with loving and welcoming arms.
Christ’s love, the love that compelled Jesus to carry a cross and to die on that same cross, proclaiming love and forgiveness, is meant to free us. Free us from fear and hatred, free us from our own fear of being hated and the fear of being excluded and judged by those who disagree. We are freed from old animosities and mistaken ways of judging and excluding those we don’t know or don’t understand.
We are freed to simply love. To live lives of compassion and care. To offer support and strength and to let our eyes, our ears and whole beings’ glory in the incredible beauty of this world God has made for all of us.
And so, we proclaim, we are one. We are united in our love of God and of one another. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789