Pride Sunday. Different than any other I’veexperienced.
I go to the West Park Sunday shrive and a very happy to see a banner proclaiming Pride Sunday.The Gospel lesson is Matthew 10: 40-42, ends with these words
42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” …Dan, the preacher, tells a beautiful story of meeting a young man in a park in Pittsburgh who had been rejected by his family after he came out and then reconnecting him with a friend whose family took him in. During the prayers, I recount how the wife of the former pastor of West Park had started awater table during the Pride march togive a “cup of cold water” in Jesus’ name to hot and tired marchers. It’s good to see my old church worshipping again.
I meet my familyfor our weekly ZOOM get together, some in the Catskills, some in Berlin and me in Harlem. It’s interesting to hear my oldest son, probably the furthest left in the family, speak against “cancel culture.”I had mentioned that as a young Boy Scout, our troop had done a minstrel show. My son laughed and said, “I hope no one took pictures”,which led to a conversation about the necessity of grace in people’s lives leading to change and redirecting ones’ life, the total life being what counts. US Grant may have owned one slave, but could not bring himself to order him to work and granted him his freedom at a costof $1000 at a time he was without funds. As a General he defeated the South, defied President Johnson in pursuing reconstruction, led military operations against the Ku Klux Klan. What exactly is the message in tearing down his statue? I remember my friend Osagyefo Sekou’s criticism of the so-called Black Bloc white anarchists who with no sense of historic anarchism wouldwreak havoc whichalwaysresulted in Black heads getting cracked. Still the same.Tear down all the statues. Fire people for dumb mistakes. It's all virtue signaling. The system remains intact.
One last General Assembly related event. My friends in the HIV network hold a webinar featuring people working with HIV in Baltimore, where we were supposed to have met. Workers from the Hope Springs project. In Baltimore, the face of HIV is Black. One out of 41 over age 13 will contract HIV. One out of 20 in predominately Black zip codes. One half of Black trans will have HIV and one half of Black men who have sex with men. (MSMs, they say, not gay.) Baltimore is number 5 in the US in total HIV cases. People who have been abandoned by the church. Already marginalized people further marginalized. These are my friends, on the front line. I bring a word on behalf of the Presbyterian Health Educational Welfare Association. Thankful for their work.
Rock stars and prophets
I’m wearing, not seen, my tshirt from the Rock Stars and Prophets event where That All May Freely Serve called together all those who for decades had fought the fight for full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the Presbyterian Church, as a reminder to me of that struggle that began in 1978 and finally ended in May 2011. I do this in honor of Pride.
My friends in Composers Concordance hold another Social Distance Concert. Theirnew classic music reflecting the months of quarantine and lockdown. Again I envy them and wish I were there.
double rainbow
I meet a fiend for dinner, wanting to celebrate the new opening. The line at the Tavern is 25 minutes long. The Jamaican seafood restaurant only has uncovered seating. It’s starting to rain. We settle for middle eastern under an awning, beef kebabs and laban yogurt. Before the sun goes down, there’s a double rainbow.
Today we are gathered on PRIDE SUNDAY. This year more than ever…it I san important day to celebrate as celebration becomes an act of resistance against the forces of hate, fear and violence.
Last night, I went to a concert and celebration event at the Brooklyn Commons Café…a gathering of the young queer community…white, black ,latino/a and Palestinian…beyond categories…as our epistle lesson said last week, there is”Neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female..” I’ll never hear those words the same way again. There were poets, singers, performance artists, telling their stories…filled with anger, rage,resolution….and fierce love..and finally my friend Stephanie Ryan Johnstone (https://lovesongsfortherestofus.com/)…and the choir…the second song was by our friend Osagyefo Sekou (https://mic.com/articles/135635/rev-sekou-the-holy-ghost-s-new-album-the-revolution-has-come-is-true-healing-music#.EqFoUbueB)…about violence done to a trans woman of color...Ryan is bringing back an old tradition…that of churches, unions, communities…singing together…in harmony …and unity.
(I’m thinking a concert with Brother Sekou and his Holy Ghost Band, and Ryan and their choir..that’s what we should be doing in our sanctuary..) The Commons became that night church…safe space for being together, singing together, and shouting at God…the same one we claim to represent…
“As for the kind of community I want to be part of, I am interested in creating a community where those who have been rejected in every other space can come and feel safe…” ad to that I say amen..
In Portland, I was inspired by watching on C-Span the resistance video feed of the Democrat sit in…led old saint John Lewis…WOW…Hillary should have dropped by…I mean Elizabeth Warren brought donuts..BUT…then my Plaestinian friend
Linda Sarsour, and another lesbian friend reminded me that …most massacres in this country have been committed by people NOT on the list…Orlando was NOT about terrorists…(but Oklahoma City was, did we call Timothy Mc Veigh a radical Christian terrorist?) .stop the gaming, just ban the damn assault weapons already…
In our gospel, Luke says: "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
What does that mean to you? Once we get started down the Jesus path, the way, there can be no turning back. ( The Wile E. Coyote moment, someone says…like Paul walking on the water to Jesus until he realizes what he’s doing..and then starts to sink…all too often we take ten leap of faith and then stop and crash before we reach the other side…Lot’s wife tuyrns back, becomes a pillar of salt…like Bib Dylan said, Press on…)
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So a few words about the Presbyterian 222nd General Assembly:
The action that started with our Session and our friends across town at Jan Hus, calling for an apology to the lgbtq community for years of exclusion, of gGod-given ministries denied, Apology? well, not quite…we couldn’t quite get there…it still seems that ”Sorry is the hardest word..”
And related to migration and the statement of Sanctuary principles our international work group, facilitated by Russ, ha sbeen working on? Yes…unanimously…
An effort to join the Methodists in leaving the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice was turned back. (Although we white pro-choice people wtil have to deal with the legacy of Margaret Sanger’s racist eugenics philosophy that informed her work on contraception..)
We have written a new, more pointed statement on Israel-Palestine (but voted no no on a call to boycott of Hewlitt-Packard..)..and we continue to support two states still…
Re. fossil fuel? Shall we divest? Well, no not yet…but we will double down on engagement, yes.
We made a radical new declaration on communion, that will no longer be restricted to those who are baptized..(simply all who are faithful…)
We passed a statement of concern for the lives of Black males (but amended it to read black people..)
There is HOPE. We are finding our way into a new day..this year the rejectionist right wing didn't even have a booth…now that the cultural wars are being settled, we have BIGGER questions to face, of race and class, big vs. small, privilege and power…
For the first time we elected two co-moderators, both women, one black, and one white
We have elected our first African-American stated clerk, our highest office…a nd J.Herbert Nelson comes as a prophet, not a lawyer..
Yes….
HOPE
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It was great to have our music man Jeremy Mage
Jeremy sings his song
back again from Switzerland. A new father! Jeremy played one of his new songs…and helped us rock some old ones….
Welcome back Jeremy!
Don’t look back? Well, sometimes there’s value on knowing where you came from. And so I shared stoles from the shower of stoles that for years were not by volunteers from around the country to be worn at GA’s as a sign of protest.
From the "Shower of Stoles" project
In a movement that began here at West-Park in 1978 with the More Light Statement.The religious Stonewall, as it were…1
I lift up the t-shirt from the Evelyn Davidson Memorial Water Table,
Add caption
named for the wife of our former pastor who called for a direct and concrete witness to the lgbtq community that not all churches rejected our bothers and sisters by passing out “a cup of cool water in Jesus’ name”…
And we end our service by singing together, We are a fiercely loving people, and we are singing for our lives…
[1]In harmony with the General Assembly of the
United Presbyterian Church, West-Park Church affirms the civil rights of all
person. Further, in keeping with our General Assembly’s guidelines, this
community of faith welcomes as members homosexual persons who both seek and
have found Christ’s love.
This local congregation will not select one particular element
from a person’s total humanity as a basis for denying full participation and
service in the body of Christ. Nor will this community of faith condemn or
judge our brothers and sisters who declare their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord
and Savior and promise discipleship to Him. We affirm that in meeting each
other in Christian love. God’s spirit frees us all to live and grow, liberated
from the oppression invoked upon us by ourselves and others.
Within this context, West-Park Presbyterian Church reaches out
to Christian and non-Christian homosexual persons with a ministry of support,
caring and openness—a ministry in which the creative, liberating power of the
Holy Spirit rules and guides.
1Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.
6Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on. 7Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit." 10He responded, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not." 11As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept watching and crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
13He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20
1I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
11I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD;
I will remember your wonders of old.
12I will meditate on all your work,
and muse on your mighty deeds.
13Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?
14You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.
17The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.
18The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19Your way was through the sea,
your path, through the mighty waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
20You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Second Reading Galatians 5:1, 13-25
1For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
13For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Gospel Luke 9:51-62
51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then they went on to another village.
57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 59To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
