Scripture - Mark 8:27-30
Personal Notes
Well, not bad for my first preaching gig in six years! It was a big honor to be invited -- I take our anniversaries seriously. Going back into Abraham Heschel (The Prophets) was a real treat for me; that one goes back on my "books to seriously re-read" stack!
My apologies for going on too long. I fell into two "rookie traps" that only became clear in hindsight; you other preachers/speakers may know about these. First, there was the moment when I looked down and saw that I was a third of the way through my notes and was sure I'd only been talking for two minutes. "Oh s* ... panic padding!" Then there was the end, when I realized I had reached my destination but couldn't find a parking space. Must've circled the block at least twice!
Anyway, many thanks to Rev. Wanda and all the folks at MCC-LV for their warm welcome! Happy Anniversary!
Rev. Wanda Floyd and me
Sermon Notes
Background
- Jesus miracles of feeding & healing, challenging assumptions
Who do
the people say I am?
John the Baptist - the voice crying in
the wilderness
telling the nation to repent and
prepare the way of the Messiah
TDP
& MCC as voice crying in the wilderness
crying out to Christendom to change …
many thought MCC was just a means to open the other churches … people
identified as "Baptist" or "Catholic" or "Jesus Only
Pentecostal" or whatever … took some time before we started calling
ourselves "MCC’ers"
Some think like that today -- now that
there are open and affirming churches all around (continue to pray for the
Methodists!), other "options" … what do we need MCC for? “Mission
Accomplished” (remember Bush!)
John the Baptist knew that the crying
in the wilderness wasn't the end of it … he'd been baptizing, seeing people
repent … putting new wine in the old wine-skins (as someone would later say)
wasn't what he thought he was waiting for/pointing towards
MCC began to know that wasn’t who we
were
Eliljah/one
of the prophets
prophets not easy people … flamboyant,
hysterical, noisy … running around naked for 3 years, carrying around a yoke
(pride parade)
Heschell: prophets not mics,
inspiration at the vortex of temperament … mission + power of word not own +
temp, concern charac & indiv … the prophetic moment is by god's initiative,
but in speaking through the prophet the messages also the prophet's pov …
Jeffrey Keuss: It has been said that when God has something important to say,
God will wrap it in flesh … God wrapped MCC’s message in OUR flesh -- although
today's wisdom would rather bring a cleaner image to the table -- when it
probably would've made more sense to have a bunch of nice straight people
champion our cause, god wrapped this prophetic message in our sometimes inconvenient
flesh to make it REAL -- God is here and now and in your face, the spirit
moving among people the world (and sometimes we ourselves) would rather not
see.
Who do you say that WE are? There’s the
problem of “not a LGBT church”
point
of the prophets is very particular injustice … other traditional philosophers
found it trifling that Israel’s God was more concerned with the problems of
ordinary people than in the Big Questions of existence … prophets say that
justice IS the Big Question of existence! While some may think “LGBT church”
makes us trifling, God’s prophetic word is that LGBT liberation IS the Big
Question.
AH what prophets fear: a people may be
dying w/o being aware of it; a people may be able to survive, but refuse to
make use of their ability
TDP saw a people dying -- true, our own
LGBT people were dying, but the society was dying of *hate* w/o being aware of
it (desensitized) … the church was not making use of its ability -- in fact the
church was at the heart of the problem, key part of the hate-making machine … the lgbt people who were dying needed
to learn to speak up in its their defense
Who do
you say that I am? Messiah
Messianic secret / pentecostal secret
common healings vis homophobia
Bill Brady
Luke 7:20-22 - what is the proof? (John
the Baptist asks) The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have
leprosy[a] are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed
to the poor.
Who do we say that WE are? That church
– a church of power and miracles? Wesley story – “arise and walk?”
Who do we say that WE are?
Are we the “til something better comes along” church? (Just
as good as every other church except for what we do in bed)
Are we the “can’t stand the sight of injustice” church? “The
human rights church” in Global Justice is good … has a tinge of the closet (I’m
a friend of Troy D Perry) … but on the right prophetic track …
But by what power will we
continue that fight?
Can we say, “We’re the church where God pours out a queer
new spirit that you’ve got to see for yourself!”
Or better yet …
Can w be the church where we don’t have to say who
we are because it’ll be written across the sky in lightening?
