Earlier this week I received a letter from a priest friend up in the Diocese of Massachusetts who was a few years ahead of me in the ordination process. Her letter contained two things. In the envelope I found –
(1) a note (2) these stickers Her note was short. It said, “Hey Anna! Thanks for helping me spread the love.” Though her note simple, when combined with these stickers – became profound. In that moment, I knew I needed to preach on Love. So you might be wondering, what do these stickers have to do with Love? Well aside from the fact that they are hearts, printed on these little hearts are the colors of the gay pride flag, transgender pride flag, and stripes for Black and Brown lives – when combined, are made into one version of the Pride flag proudly flown during this month of June, which is Pride month. On this exact day 51 years ago, a riot erupted in New York City, all for Love’s sake. On June 28, 1969, police raided a gay bar known as the Stonewall Inn. This raid sparked days of rioting and protesting as the LGBT community and allies, led by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, mobilized to fight for civil and human rights. The Stonewall Uprising sparked decades of tireless work to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer persons would be treated equal under the law, and equal in the eyes of society. These activists fought for Love; because they couldn’t live in peace, if there was no Love. If you’re feeling off put, stay with me here, I promise this ties to a theological concept of Love. By fighting for equal rights in marriage, healthcare, the workforce, society – activists made a claim. That claim was that persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities are imbued with inherent value, dignity, and worth. In Christian lingo, that theological claim was that everyone was – and is – created in the image and likeness of God, a living dwelling place of the Holy of Holies, and deserves to be welcomed with Love. This Love I’m speaking of isn’t some temporary or fleeting Love. It isn’t Hate masked as Love that we show to one’s face then speak slander behind their backs. It isn’t Love motivated by our own selfish ambition or Love with the intention of some personal gain. It is Love of a whole person, as they are. It is Love that, in the words of Jesus, “welcomes,” receives, cultivates personal and intimate relationships, and embraces.[1] Why love in such a way? Again, Jesus tells us, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”[2] And this one who sent Jesus? That is God. The same creator God in whose image and likeness we are all created, the spark of whom resides in us all. Yet, Jesus warns us that this Love we are to show isn’t without risk. He acknowledges that he and his followers are a minority working within the structure of empire. As he talks about welcoming, he names his disciples as “little ones”[3] – ones who are vulnerable because they are embarking on a countercultural mission challenging the Roman imperial world. Jesus knew that this Love is radical. That it is dangerous. That the Jesus movement was a revolution in its time. It was so revolutionary, in fact, that Jesus – the literal embodiment of Love – was killed | by | the state. From his death, a movement was born. His death sparked centuries of tireless work to ensure that Love incarnate lives on in and around each of us. Though not partisan between Democrats and Republicans as we would think of it today, the Jesus movement was inherently political because it was about relationships. The movement was – and is – comprised of people making the claim that all people are imbued with inherent value, dignity, and worth…That everyone was – and is – created in the image and likeness of God, a living dwelling place of the Holy of Holies, and deserves to be welcomed with Love for the whole person. It could be easy to end there. Jesus says, “Love everyone!” End of story. But to end there would be to ignore the hard work. To ignore the reality that we live in a world built by fallen people for other fallen people. As such, systems and institutions were built which inherently exclude some people from participating as their full selves in society and exclude people from being recipients of Love incarnate. This means that as long as we inhabit God’s green earth, we have to see color, gender identity, sexual orientation not only because social, religious, economic, and political institutions discriminate along these lines…but also for theological reasons. For if all people are created in God’s image and likeness, to deny identities is to deny a Truth of God. And who are we to limit God’s identity? Even still, women, Black, Brown, and queer folks have been told throughout history that they lack the image and likeness of God, that they – that we – are not hosts of the Divine and, therefore, do not deserve to be treated as equal, let alone as a dwelling place of the Holy of Holies. This argument has been used to dehumanize and to support violence against these groups. This societally communicated denial of the Divine within each of us is an evil which demands repentance and necessitates lament. Lament which resembles the words of the psalmist. The psalmist cries in Psalm 13, “How long, O Lord? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?”[4] Today, lament could sound like, “How long must I be told that I am not welcome? That I do not bear Your image and likeness? That I am not worthy of a cup of cold water?”[5] It is out this lament of the dismissal of God-created identity; erasure of race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation in the name of normativity; this denial of Love – that Pride was born on this day 51 years ago and that the Black Lives Matter movement presses on today. These movements aren’t some partisan issue of the day. Rather, their causes – equality, justice, peace, Love – are Gospel issues. This is one reason why these movements can be perceived as so radical. Much like the Jesus movement of the first century, the Gospel Love that Christians are called to show – a Love which welcomes all, which sees and embraces a person’s whole self, and honors them as the image and likeness of God – this Love is radical. It is countercultural. To be Christian is to participate in revolution. The Jesus movement was revolutionary when it began and it is today, with high risks and even higher rewards. We as the descendants of this revolution are called to be instigators of Love – to be agitators who help spread the Love. To the psalmist’s lament of “How long, O Lord? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?”[6] we will respond “No longer.” We must keep the Love revolution going. It begins with confessing our complicity in preventing Love to flourish and in denying people the image of God in them, then it continues with looking at our neighbors and saying, “I see you. I welcome you. I Love you. I want to hear your story.” In the words of activist and theologian Dr. Christena Cleveland, for the image of God in me to see the image of God in you – that is, to see all of you and embrace and welcome you – that is Love. Fight for it. For when we have Love, then we can have peace. Amen. [1] Matthew 10:40. [2] Matthew 10:40. [3] Matthew 10:42. [4] Psalm 13:1a-2. [5] Matthew 10:42. [6] Psalm 13:1. |