2 Timothy 1:1-7
I, Paul, an
apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life
that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Creator and Christ Jesus our Saviour. I am grateful to God—whom I
worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you
constantly in my prayers night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you
so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith
that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am
sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God
that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a
spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of
self-discipline.
Luke 17:5-10
The apostles
said to Jesus, “Increase our faith!” Jesus replied, “If you had faith the size
of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and
planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your
servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come
here at once and take your place at the table’?Would you not rather say to him,
‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink;
later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the servant for doing what was
commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do,
say, ‘We are worthless servants; we have done only what we ought to have
done!’”***
Will you pray with and
for me? You who are the source of life, fill us with your spirit today. Give us
wisdom and open hearts, courage and strength. May our listening and our
speaking be full of your grace. In all your many names, amen.
45 years ago
this week, a man named Troy Perry put an ad on a local gay paper, looking for
anyone interested in Christian community. 12 people answered that ad and showed
up at his front door that Sunday morning. Over the years since, MCC has grown
to plant churches on every continent except Antarctica, with clergy and members
of every colour, gender and race under the rainbow, opening doors of hope to
thousands and thousands of people. When a person comes out as LGBT, often the
most devastating loss, after that of family, is of their faith tradition.
Indeed, it was often that tradition that forced them into the closet for so
long. Without a community of faith, those individuals for whom their faith was
a central part of their lives felt isolated and lost. Yet when they tried to go
to a church--or synagogue or mosque--they were marginalized or ejected once
their orientation was discovered. They were told they were sinful, condemned,
wrong, not worthy. Their relationships were treated as if they did not exist,
their calls to ministry, whether ordained or lay, were dismissed, and their
families of choice were disregarded. Much of this is not news to most of
you--some of you have lived these truths.
And then came
Troy Perry, himself cast out by the denomination he was raised in, had been
ordained in. He declared a new truth: that God had declared all things God had
made to be good, and that God had created LGBT people too, and therefore, there
was nothing sinful or wrong about being LGBT. There were so many people around
the world hungry to hear this news, MCCs sprouted like mushrooms after a rain.
Los Angeles, the mother church, San Francisco, New Orleans, New York, Chicago,
Washington DC, Toronto, London, England, Cape Town, South Africa, Sydney
Australia, and now Quezon City, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and hundreds of
others. MCC was the first church to bless same-sex relationships, the first to ordain
openly LGBT individuals, one of the first to ordain women, the first to have a
female leader, one of the first to use inclusive language. MCC may be small in
numbers but we have been a huge force in the world of human rights. MCC
petitioned to join the World Council of Churches, an organization that works to
bring harmony between the various Christian traditions. Unfortunately, the
petition was denied because a couple of traditions could not countenance
homosexuality and threatened to leave the Council. Nonetheless, during the
study period, members of the World Council of Churches attended a special MCC
worship service. That service marked the first time, and I think the only time,
members of the Council took Communion together.
Today, in
small prayer groups in Eastern Europe and in the Caribbean, in Uganda and
Nigeria, in Pakistan and India, MCC is still bringing that word of truth and
hope. We have gotten used, here in Canada, to the fact of the legal right of
the LGBT community to exist; our right to marry, to serve openly in the
military, all the legal protection any other Canadian resident has. Many of the
mainline churches here are or are moving towards affirming LGBT rights,
ordaining LGBT people, accepting and supporting trans* people as they transition,
blessing and officiating at same-gender weddings. Elsewhere in the world, it is
not so rosy for our brothers and sisters--some of them face the death penalty
simply for being who they are. MCC is speaking truth to power in those
places--working for tolerance, then acceptance, then celebration. It is not
easy. But it never is for a minority trying to change the attitudes and beliefs
of the majority. But that spirit of power wins, in the end--because it is also
the the spirit of truth.
One of the things
about Rev. Elder Troy Perry that struck me when I had the chance to spend some
time with him during the anniversary weekend is lack of pride. When I laid out
a tentative schedule for the weekend and asked him for approval, he just looked
at me and smiled, saying, "I am at your disposal for the weekend. Whatever
you want or need me to do is fine with me." He has no attitude of
entitlement or pride. When I invited him to co-celebrate communion with me at
the worship service, he would not, saying that I was the pastor of the church
and he would not take my place. He stood with me, but made it clear that I was
the pastor of MCCW.Troy never expected kudos for what he did--he has never
bragged about his founding of MCCS. It was simply what he was called to do, and
he did it. He did only what he ought to have done.
How different
the world would be! It is, of course, possible and even probable that another
church would have been created, or that the mainstream churches would move more
quickly to inclusion, and that the LGBT communities in Eastern Europe and on
the continent of Africa would find other champions. But it is not certain that
those things would have happened. Without Troy's willingness to do what he
ought, none of us would be here in this place. Where would you be without MCC,
without this community? Some of you have been to conferences and workshops and
meetings of other MCCs--think of all those people, and what their lives might
have been like without. MCC.
It matters, what we
do--whether we can see the end or not. Troy had no idea he was founding a
church--he was looking for other LGBT Christians, for support and
encouragement. That support groups, gathered for prayer and worship around
God's table, has become a multinational church, a voice in human rights work
that is listened to in Washington DC as well as Ottawa.
We may think it doesn't
really matter, in the larger scheme of things, what we do. It may seem that our
work is too minor or small or inconsequential to even be noticed, let alone make
a difference. But it does make a difference--whether we know about that
difference or not, whether it is a difference in one person's life or the life
of a community, or even the life of the world.
Doing what we ought, in
the spirit of power, makes a difference. What we ought to do is different for
each of us. For me, it was coming out, and then coming here to Windsor. I
continue to do what I ought to do, as best I can discern it. For others, it
will be other things, whether changing what you do or simply keeping on keeping
on. Every one of us can make a difference in some way--in the spirit of power
and love. Make that difference. In all God's names, amen.
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