NEPA Rainbow Alliance: Gay Pride Service Organization

By The Reverend Peter D. D’Angio, Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church – Scranton
A sermon preached at the service for the Rainbow Alliance, 30 September 2007

The Sermon
I’m Peter D’Angio and I’m priest in charge at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Scranton. My partner and I arrived in Northeastern Pennsylvania seven months ago; it’s a joy to connect with the Rainbow Alliance and to be part of this day.

After you leave here you’ll be going to watch “The Saint of 9/11″ which tells the story of Father Mychal Judge, the New York City fire department chaplain who died at Ground Zero on September 11th. As you’ll see in the film, queer people like Father Judge struggle in the church, just like they struggle in life. But that does not mean that the church does not have a place for sexual minorities, as Jesus makes clear in the story of the wedding banquet that we hear today from Luke’s gospel.

How can imagine the story in modern day terms? Well, I’m a big fan of the Style Channel (who would have guessed?) and I sometimes watch “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?” which tells stories of wedding planners and brides locking horns. So here’s Jesus’ story as told on “Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?”

The father of the bride has hired the best venue for the wedding reception, and we see the camera lovingly hovering over the beautiful table settings, the gorgeous flowers, and all the rest of the details. The father barges into the scene and demands that the wedding planner do something about the fact that none of the guests have shown up for the wedding.

Ever resourceful the (gay) wedding planner goes the immigration office and gets all the people waiting in line there. He hires a bus to go to a local nursing home to get all the residents, some of whom are in wheelchairs, some on walkers. He goes to some place like the 12 Penny which just happens to be having drag night and brings all the drag kings and queens, as well as all the other patrons. Finally, when all these people have assembled and sit down at the lovely tables the father of the bride says, “Now the party can begin!” Of course, it is a fabulous party as only queer folk can pull off!

More…
What Jesus tells us in this story this morning is that we have a place at that party with him. He reverses the societal expectation that we are outcasts and he tells us, and all the rest of the marginalized, that we are honored guests to him, contrary to what the church often says in word and deed.

We find Jesus’ attitude reflected in the letter of John which says: “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth…” (1 John 3:18-19a). What I hear in this is that as queer folk, we have to speak the truth in love about our own lives. We have to come out and in coming out we will know ourselves as both truthful and whole. In this call to come out, and I would add to come out in the church, we start from the belief that God created and continues to create us as who we are: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, intersexed and yes even straight, and that that is GOOD. God did not create LGBTI folk as second class citizens, any more than God did women or people of color, despite what some denominations have outwardly taught at times or at least implied. When we tell the truth of our lives we can integrate the social, erotic, and spiritual; we speak the truth to power, which empowers not only us but those around us. And the place to do this is not only in our families and in the workplace but in the church as well because the church needs to hear our voices as the beloved people of God.

I get the question “Why bother with the church?” all the time, and not just from queer folk. The argument goes something like this: God is everywhere not just in the church and I have my own spirituality even though I’m not really religious. So why should I come to the church which is so messed up about human sexuality anyway? But there’s a flaw in this stance: being spiritual alone is kind of like being queer alone; it’s possible, but not very rewarding. Spirituality practiced in the closet tends to produce a similar thing to sexuality practiced in the closet: the elements of being a spiritual person are all there just like the elements of being a member of a sexual minority. But they just haven’t been allowed to grow or to see the light of day. We all know what happens when someone comes out as queer; they undergo a process of growth and transformation, but it takes a community to help make that happen, and that’s why we’re here today to help to continue to make a community which we and others like us can be a part of.

The same thing happens when we come out to Jesus; our spiritual lives grow and blossom. But we need the love and support of other people on the same journey and that’s what the church is all about, just like what the queer community is all about. There are churches out there like Saint Stephen’s and like Saint Luke’s that welcome you and where you will hear the truth of our lives proclaimed from the pulpit. One young man said he was electrified the first time he heard me use the word “gay” in a sermon, and he began a journey with us at Saint Luke’s. Just after his twenty-first birthday he stood in the pulpit at Saint Luke’s and preached a sermon about diversity, acceptance, and the truth of his life. People’s attention was riveted on him throughout the sermon and in the line at the back of church after the service people commented glowingly on his message.

Often hidden inside stone walls like these are places of warmth, acceptance and community. But churches Saint Stephen’s and Saint Luke’s have to struggle to come out in a queer culture that equates Christianity with homophobia, judgmentalism, and narrow-minded prudishness. All the parties involved: queer folk, our straight allies, and the church are engaged in the process of coming out, not only to each other but also to God. And with all us all stands Jesus who says to one and all alike, “Come and join my party.”

The Readings

First reading: 1 John 3:16-23
We know love by this, that Jesus laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment –  that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

Second reading: Luke 14:15b-24
While attending a banquet with the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.”

Preached at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 30 September 2007.
All Bible quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), unless noted otherwise.