Musical Prelude and Service.

Galatians 3:26-29 & Mark 9:38-41
I want to start today’s message by stating clearly that today’s Pride Sunday worship is a part of our faith. This is not outside or counter to our vision of God and done simply to pander to fashion of the day.
I also want to address a question I hear quite often. Not necessarily from members of this congregation, but certainly I have heard it in several different places:
Why do we still need an 2SLGBTQ+ day?
Why is it still necessary to recognize the LGBTQ community with a special day?
Isn’t discrimination over?
Is it not true that members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and two spirit communities have been recognized in the law? Laws have been changed.
Do we still need days, months and events such as PIE Day and to fly rainbow flags and banners?
Well, this particular middle-aged, white, cis-heterosexual man is reluctant to speak on the experience of those who are part of those communities. They are not my stories to tell. But I can share a little bit of what I have heard and seen and experienced in my efforts to live as an ally. I have witnessed and experienced the hatred, the anger and what I perceive as the fear that is still a part of our society. I have witnessed the abuse of friends and colleagues in person and on social media posts. I have had my faith questioned by those who also proclaim to be Christian. I have endured hostility from those who have called me a false prophet, to use some of the more polite terms.
I have watched as people in our country continue to talk about a supposed LGBTQ agenda or a gender politics movement that they must protect their children from.
Yes. Progress has been achieved in recent years, but I can and do argue that this progress is fragile and shallow and if we truly care about the lives and well-being of our friends and family, we must continue to show and act on our support. I do not view this as a partisan issue, but one of humanity and compassion.
Again, speaking from my own experience, I have friends and family who must still live with caution and with awareness as many in our society are campaigning to turn back the clock on those hard-fought victories for equal rights. And, as you may have observed, much of the hostility towards the 2SLGBTQ+ community can be found in the church. Again, when I say “the church” I am referring to the wider and all-encompassing church. Not specifically this or the United Church of Canada.
Churches that have made a point of stating they view Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, two spirit and transgender people as beloved children of God and have welcomed and invited them to fully participate in the life of the faith community, without insisting they hide who they are, remain rare. Churches that are prepared to state that homosexuality and transgender identification are not sins are not common.
Churches that are open to ordaining or commissioning ministers and participating in same sex marriages are not the norm.
There is a good reason that members of these communities view churches that proclaim that everyone is welcome with suspicion. Stories of people entering those churches who declare themselves welcoming, only to realize that welcome comes with provisos are all too common.
That is one of the reasons churches like the United Church of Canada have established programs like Affirm United that encourage congregations to engage in training about how to be truly welcoming and inclusive so they can fly a banner that reassures gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals and families that a church is a safe space. And why they have also started promoting the idea of PIE. PIE stands for Public, Intentional and Explicit.
Say the words; people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, two spirit are all welcome here. Be intentional about making that declaration; don’t wait for the question and say it publicly. This message needs to be made for all to hear. It can’t only be part of the conversation we have behind closed doors.
We need to declare who we are as a community of faith and who we welcome. Do not mumble, do not whisper, and we need to mean it when we say you are loved, you are welcome, and we do not expect you to hide who you are and who you love.
So, how did we get here? How do we respond to the arguments that the Bible is very clear on the question of homosexuality?
Well, first I would argue, and many of my peers would also make the same argument, that the bible is not at all clear on this matter. At least not in the way so many are convinced it is. The so-called clobber texts, or texts of terror; those brief and few passages of scripture that appear to mention particular modes of sexuality as a sin or an abomination are not so clear, especially when placed in a more accurate context.
Furthermore, if we believe the spirit is alive and at work in us and through us, and at work in scripture, then we are encouraged to ask and to work at listening to how those words of scripture speak to us in our current world. Also, if we are really serious about what scripture is telling us, then beyond thee few passages of scripture that are often used to condemn groups of people, we are confronted by an abundance of messages in scripture calling us to recognize the sacredness of our relationships to one another, that we should see the image of God in everyone we encounter. We still hear with crystal clarity the call to love another as we are loved.
We still experience the unending urging of God, the prophets and of Christ, and the Spirit, to live lives of compassion and to work with God to build a world of justice, of peace and of mercy. To love kindness, to seek justice and to walk humbly with God.
There is no room in there to stand in judgment or to pick and choose who is in and who is out and who God wants and loves. Even if there are abundant times when I am myself tempted to engage in my own condemnation of those I do encounter, I need to keep reminding myself to avoid judgment and to simply love.
But – and I cannot emphasize this enough – loving my neighbour does not mean sitting on the sidelines while others hurl stones at my neighbours. The apostle Paul in his letter t the Galatians argues that our relationship to God is not contingent on who we are or what we do. He expands on that in Romans when he says nothing can separate us from God’s love. As we are united through Christ, we are neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, and neither man nor woman. We are children of God.
And when Jesus tells his disciples in Mark to lay off the man who is healing others in Jesus’ name, he is telling them to stop getting in the way of God’s healing love.
We have often heard the saying if you are not with us, you are against us. But consider the difference in what Jesus says: If they are not against us, they are for us. Don’t stop those who are offering healing in Jesus’ name. Don’t try and get in God’s way.
There are many more scripture passages that call on us to open our doors, to widen the circle, to add chairs for the dinner party, and to expand the party invitations. We are constantly told to stop judging and to simply love one another. The examples of this are endless. The call to feed one another; to listen and to offer healing and comfort to those who are hungry and alone are far more prevalent than a few comments on sexuality.
The Bible has often been used to justify cruel and unjust treatment of others. I cannot and will not deny that. Those who choose to see scripture as a set of rules that we must follow have all too often weaponized scripture as a way of maintaining a hierarchy and a status quo favouring the empire of the day. This way of reading scripture benefits those who hold privilege and power and authority over others.
But I cannot forget that Jesus also came among us; prepared to turn over tables and to cast down the powerful and lift up the weakest in society. I cannot lose sight of that image of Jesus. My Bible reveals a world that is all to often judgmental and unjust.
It illuminates a world that exploits and oppresses the poor and the powerless.
But my Bible also reveals another vision of what this world can and will be. A world that celebrates peace and mercy. A world based on God’s justice and nurtured by God’s love. I believe we are asked to choose what we desire. The world as we see it right now, or the one God promises.
This is not a tame and passive optimism for a possible future. This is a wild hope that we are called to actively work toward to make a reality, knowing God walks with us.
We do not open our doors and invite you to a Pride Sunday despite our faith. We do so because this is what our faith calls us to. It is who we are called to be.
Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

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