| LGBT History: Blessed Are... |
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- Luke 6:17-26
- Matthew 5:2-11
It’s LGBT History Month… and some people might say, “why bother”? Isn’t this all passé? For that matter, why have a queer church? (when I talk here about “queer”, I’m referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, straight… an umbrella that is so broadly inclusive that we are doing something radically new here.)
Anyways, why bother? You know, on a related note, I sometimes get asked why I am a pastor with MCC? Why not pastor in one of the more mainstream denomination? Why do I see myself as a queer pastor in a queer church?
And I think the answer to that is also the answer to the first question… because when we look at our history as an LGBT people, we begin to discover that it is not passé… and that this church is needed.
I think our text today can offer us a window… a clue into how to explore this more deeply… today I want to practise what Tom Bohache, an MCC pastor and theologian, calls “homotextuality”. The idea of looking at scripture through queer eyes. And when we compare today’s reading with its parallel in Matthew, through “homotextual eyes”, there is much to discover…
When we compare Luke 6: 17-26 with Matthew 5:2-11, we discover some interesting differences. I’m moving the Matthew passages around just a bit to connect them to their parallel in Luke, to illustrate the point…
In Matthew, the writer says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Whereas in Luke, the writer says, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the commonwealth of God.
In Matthew, we read, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Whereas in Luke, we read, “"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled”.
Are you starting to hear the subtle difference? Luke’s version is much more immediate… much more concrete- it’s dealing with a physical reality now, not some spiritual reality in the future.
In Matthew, we read, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”. Whereas in Luke, we read “"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh”.
And then of course Matthew doesn’t have Luke’s “woe” passages, where Luke really takes to task the people and systems that are perpetuating oppression.
There’s a sense of immediacy in Luke that we don’t see in quite the same way in Matthew. And we’ve talked about this in recent sermons, haven’t we… about the danger of spiritualizing Scripture to the point that it no longer bears a practical reality in a system of oppression here and now. We see this danger historically as well… slavery is just one example where the Bible was misused in this way- encouraging people to reach for spiritual fulfillment in the hereafter rather than dealing with the oppressive systems at play in the present.
But I’m not sure that that’s what’s going on in Matthew. Tom Bohache suggests that Matthew may have needed to write in somewhat coded language, using phrases and wording that allowed the writer to communicate a message of justice within a system where it was unsafe to do so. Bohache reminds us that in LGBT communities, we are well-used to having to use coded language… we often use phrases and words that are significant if you know what they mean… if someone is a “sister” or “family”… or “plays for our team”… just to name a few. So there’s possibly a real queerness in the texts today…
And in that spirit, we enter into Luke’s text. Unafraid to look boldly and speak truthfully about our lives and our histories.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the commonwealth of God.
Blessed are you…
An older woman who lost everything… you lost everyone you loved, your family, your sons, everyone. You found yourself in poverty, and didn’t know how you would survive. And blessed are you, a younger woman who loved this woman so deeply, that you would risk everything you had to help her. You were willing to risk sacrificial love because you loved her so much.
Blessed are you, Ruth and Naomi…
You were poor by all the world’s standards of your time, and yet your love overcame all obstacles. You gave each other family, you gave each other life and love, and you are perhaps some of our earliest queer ancestors. Of course we know the wonderful passage that you, Ruth, spoke to Naomi… that has become a text for many marriages…
Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
17Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried.
May the LORD do thus and so to me, and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!’
Blessed are you, Ruth and Naomi, and
Blessed are you here today who have made sacrifices for love, who have taken great risks because you believe in that love.
"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
Blessed are you… Sylvia Rivera.
You left home at the age of 16, and lived on the streets, doing what you had to in order to survive. You dealt with drug and alcohol addiction. You were one of the original Stonewall rioters. Do we all remember that moment in our history- it was a pivotal moment in LGBT liberation movements. Legend has it that when the police raided the bar that night, that you, Sylvia, having had enough, took off one of your high heel shoes and threw it at the police. As we know, the riot at the bar sparked an outpouring of resistance that traveled round the world.
Sylvia, oftentimes you were ridiculed and ostracized by the straight world because of her outrageous boldness. But if we are really honest, you were ostracized by the queer community as well. And yet you refused to give up. You opened your own home to trans people, giving trans people who were living on the streets a safe space to live. And eventually you found a spiritual home in an MCC church. I remember the service there on Stonewall Sunday, when the preacher was talking about the riots, and what happened that night, and you stood up in the middle of the service, and talked back to the preacher, about how you experienced that night… about what really happened.
And that night at church, you stopped drinking. It was a turning point for you. You went on to become a leader in the church, and eventually directed the food pantry, feeding hundreds of homeless people.
Eventually, you died of liver cancer, and yet, the day before your death, you held a legislative strategy meeting from your hospital bed day to fight for the inclusion of trans people in a pending legislative battle.
Blessed are you, Sylvia Rivera… and
Blessed are you here today who have survived homelessness, poverty, drug and alcohol addiction. Blessed are you here today who have found your way back to life, to say YES to life. Blessed are you here today who have the courage to be outrageously bold!
"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."
Blessed are you… Brandon Teena
You were a young man born with a female body. And you lived in the Midwestern USA… not exactly a hotbed of queer activism. When it was discovered that you were biologically female, you were murdered.
Blessed are you Brandon Teena… and
Blessed are you here today who live in the gender God gave you, even when it seems to conflict with how society perceives your physical body.
"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Child of Humanity."
Blessed are you… Matthew Shepherd
You were a young, gay university student living in Wyoming. One night, you left a bar with two men, who beat you and tied you to a fence like a scarecrow. They left you there to die alone. But Matthew, I imagine Jesus was there with you… and I know that Jesus knew how it felt to die alone.
And a country mourned.
Blessed are you, Matthew Shepherd… and
Blessed are you here today who have faced name-calling, homophobia at work, school and home, verbal and physical violence in your homes and neighbourhoods.
"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets."
Blessed are you… Troy Perry.
You were a young man who lost seemingly everything when you came out. You lost your church, your pastorate, you were defrocked… and then a relationship ended in your life, and you were ready to give up. You attempted suicide.
And somehow, in the midst of all this, you heard God’s voice- as you said, “I knew that God cared about me and that God was with me, all the way – wherever that would lead me.”
(I’ve always loved this about Troy Perry- his powerful sense of God in terms of his own experience… and his willingness to trust that experience no matter what).
Troy, you said yes to God’s call. You opened your home, you advertised the first church service in a Los Angeles paper when it was dangerous to do so, and twelve people came to that first service in your home. That was our first MCC church. And now, we have more than 300 churches all over the world.
Blessed are you Troy, a prophet, activist, and a parent of a queer Christian movement.
Blessed are you, Troy Perry, and
Blessed are you here today who have taken the risk- or are taking the risk now- to say yes to a God who created you and loves you just as you are.
Blessed are you… and you… and you…
You are making history by living your life with integrity, honesty, and courage.
Each one of you is making a difference… you are history in the making.
Are you ready to make history??
Amen
This sermon was delivered by Reverend Kerri Mesner at MCC Edinburgh on Sunday 11th Ferbruary 2007. All rights reserved.
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