Let’s see:
· President Obama finally came out in favor of gay marriage.
· NC passed one of the most restrictive laws against gay marriage we have ever seen; people are really up in arms about that one.
· The John Edwards trial over his affair and all that continues to make news (someone in my family was a BIG fan of Edwards at one time).
· A woman in Toledo was charged with killing her baby, after the baby was found in the freezer.
· There was that man who killed a mother and one daughter, and then they finally found the other two little girls and the man shot himself when the police arrived.
· Oh yes, the United Methodist every-four-year General Conference (an international meeting of our denomination) met down in Tampa. They talked about some big restructuring proposals and could not agree on one. They ended guaranteed jobs for clergy which was a HUGE deal (so I don’t have a job guaranteed anymore) . And they debated once again about whether or not it’s ok to be gay. We still came down 60-40 on that one. More later on that.
· Lots of big news.
Some of it tragic. Some of it just causing people to draw lines; I’m on one side and you are on the other. Some are fuzzy or in the middle in the discussions.
I want you to keep all of these headlines in your mind as I introduce today’s theme. Remember we have been talking about our emphasis for this year at The Village: HOPE. Hope grows in our Village community. We are using the four letters in the word HOPE to talk about what it means to live our live together as The Village.
Healing for our brokenness.
Openness to God.
Purpose for our Lives.
And today – Everyone is included.
When I ask you what is unique about The Village, one of the things that you would probably mention is that EVERYONE is welcome here.
I have been thinking a lot about how to say that this week and what that means. Because you see, all churches say they are friendly. Just about every church at one time or another puts out on their sign: Everyone is welcome. And they sincerely mean it. But every church has a culture, and when you walk in, you know if you are part of that culture or not. Another way to think about it is the tribe.
The tribe might be race, age, economic status, but most churches are pretty narrow in who is a part of that church. You pull in the parking lot and the entire parking lot is filled with mini-vans with soccer stickers on them. And when you walk in, and you are not part of that tribe, you know it and they know it right away.
We try a little harder here at the Village to be broad in our welcome. I think one way to put it is to say: “We DARE to welcome everyone.” Or “We are BOLD in our welcome.”
Sometimes I like to sit and think about who might want into our church and STRETCH our ability to be welcoming. For example I wonder, if some of these people from the news this week walked in, would welcome them:
· The people who supported the amendment in NC that prohibits gay marriage
· How about the people who are unhappy that Obama came out in favor of marriage
· How about that young woman who is accused of killing her baby? Could we be compassionate toward her, and hear her side of the story.
· Would we welcome the people who love that man who killed those two little girls and offer them comfort?
· Would we welcome people from United Methodist Church who voted against the church being accepting of gay marriage and the ordination of gay pastors? Could we sit down with them and try to help them understand our point of view? And listen respectfully to them?
· If John Edwards and his girlfriend showed up here, or someone else who was cheating on their partner, would we welcome them?
Hmmmm. So we say everyone is welcome. But do we really mean that?
Well, I don’t want to be too hard on us. We ARE BOLD in our welcome.
· We do welcome LGBT folks who are not welcome in many other churches. This is an important ministry for us to provide in NW Ohio.
· We have provided a safe place for folks who are in alcohol and drug recovery.
· This is one of my favs: One Sunday, we probably had fifty people in worship and two of them had orange hair. One of them were 17 and the other was 70. I love to tell that story because I wonder, what other church in Ohio had 4% of the congregation with orange hair AND nobody blinked!!
· We have had women with us, who are pregnant and are not married, and we did not judge them, we simply welcome them and care for them.
· Today we are hosting a Mother’s day luncheon and inviting women and children who have been affected by domestic violence. So, we do pretty well when it comes to boldness in our welcome. BUT there are always people who will stretch us. So when we say that we DARE to welcome everyone, we need to remember that God WILL challenge us. We do some incredible things, but God is going to send some folks to challenge. And we need to be ready.
Which brings me to today’s scripture. The apostle Paul wrote this in a letter to the church at Rome. The book of Romans is an amazing book. It is chock full of great theology. (Don’t be intimidated by that word – theology – it just means – thoughts and words about God.)
Listen again to some of the highlights of this scripture:
Romans 8:31-39
31-39So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture.
This is from the Message Translation, a paraphrase so the language won’t be exactly the same in other versions. It’s more modern, more relevant.
Now, of course, there are times when we feel like experiences in the world are trying to separate us from the fullness of life that God created for us. But God sent Jesus to create a connection between us and God.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.
Paul writes:
I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
This is some good theology. Don’t LET ANYONE TELL YOU ANYTHING CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM GOD’S LOVE. It’s right there.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement called it prevenient grace – the grace that goes before us. It’s the love that is at work in our lives even before we say “yes” to God. Of course it’s important for us to say “yes.” Even when we are children, and for some of us, long into adulthood, before we say “yes” to God’s love, God has already said “yes” to us. God is in love with us and God is at work in our lives trying to get our attention, even before we are paying attention. And nothing can separate us from God’s love. It’s just that we are choosing not to pay attention.
This is why we believe so firmly here at the Village that everyone needs to feel welcome and “at home” when they walk through these doors. We do everything we can to make this place non-threatening. We give people some coffee and treats. We have music, and some flowers and candles on the table to make it feel like you’ve come to a party in our home. We don’t dress up, so if you don’t have nice clothes or you don’t like to dress up you don’t feel out of place (Kurt wears t-shirts and sweats all the time for this reason, ask him about why sometime and it’s not because the lawyer doesn’t have suits and ties). We want to make God’s love accessible.
Well, United Methodist General Conference met week before last in Tampa for 10 days. Some things happened there that were kind of disturbing. I need to tell you about it, because we are family, and I want to be honest with family. As most of you know, we are a mission church of both the UMC and the United Church of Christ. We are connected to the UMC, because I am a UMC pastor. I grew up in this church. The UMC has some good theology. John Wesley was a rebel in his own day that got out there with the people on the edges and took the gospel message out into the world to some of the people that the established church was neglecting (for instance he preached in bars (never heard of such a thing) and on tree stumps outside of coal mines). That was what the Methodist movement was all about when it started. That is one of many things I love that about Wesley.
I’m not happy that the UMC still has not joined the United Church of Christ in being fully accepting of lgbt folks but we keep hoping that those 60-40% votes will turn, because 40% of the church is voting with us.
Last week at the General Conf, there was a piece of legislation put forth to add to our Book of Discipline, which is our UM rule book. It was in the preamble to the “Social Principles” which includes our stance on a variety of social issues. They voted to add these words: “We affirm our unity in Jesus Christ while acknowledging differences in applying our faith in different cultural contexts as we live out the Gospel. We stand united in declaring our faith that God’s love is available to all, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.”
The first part of the statement was, I believe, meant to acknowledge that we are a diverse church. We are not of one mind. There have been many attempts to put something in the Book of Discipline, stating that we are not of one mind around belief about homosexuality and other things. Those have all been defeated. We can’t seem to agree to disagree because that would give some weight to the position that you can be gay and Christian and those who believe that being anything other than heterosexual is a sin, cannot abide giving any room for any other position.
You may recognize that last phrase in the final sentence: “We stand united in declaring our faith that God’s love is available to all, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.” It’s a direct quote from Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 8.
The motion passed at the General Conference and will be in our Book of Discipline. But this is the sad part. It barely passed and there was actual debate about whether or not to add it. And there was significant debate about whether to include those key words right out of scripture; “nothing can separate us from the love of God.”
This message of God’s love and grace drawing us to God is pure Wesleyan theology. But, you see, one of the delegates stated that our belief and our practice can separate us from God and bring us to judgment. That seemed to be the crux of the matter (for that delegate at least), whether or not we are going to be a church that draws people to God with a message of grace or a message of judgment (Daily Christian Advocate, Vol. 4, No. 8, p 2448, May 2, 2012). In that person and others minds, our beliefs and actions can separate us from the love of God.
The amendment passed 56% to 44% which means that 44% of those voting at our General Conference, for whatever reason did not want to include these words in our UM rule book: “We affirm our unity in Jesus Christ while acknowledging differences in applying our faith in different cultural contexts as we live out the Gospel. We stand united in declaring our faith that God’s love is available to all, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.”
Now 56% voted for it, so thankfully, here at The Village we are still in the majority on that one. We can give thanks for that. And by the way, on the votes about making the church fully inclusive of LGBT folks, 40% voted with us, so we are not alone in that, we are just not the majority yet.
What does all this mean for us? It means we keep doing what we are doing. We keep following Jesus. We keep being faithful. We dare to welcome everyone. But let’s don’t pretend that is easy, because we have our close knit tribe too. Someone could show up here in a suit and tie and feel really out of place. We need to welcome that person just as much as we welcome the person with ratty jeans and arms covered in tattoos. Everyone who dares to walk in that door is seeking the love of God, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. As the community called The Village we are called to welcome all and to be the love of God for everyone who comes here (and who can find out there in the community). So there can be NO EXCEPTIONS. God does not exclude us. So let us go and do likewise. Amen.
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