Sermon for St Edward’s, Sun 28 June, Recognising Pride Month.
Readings: Matthew 10:40-end, Psalm 89:1-4,15-18.
As we gather today, we do so as people who, in the words of Psalm 89, sing of God’s steadfast love and proclaim God’s faithfulness. We come together in all our diversity to worship the God whose love endures forever.
If you spend any time in Brighton, you’ll notice all sorts of people standing at doors. Outside the Grand Hotel for example, there are porters and bell hops, greeting guests, helping with luggage, and offering a warm welcome. Shops have security staff, making sure everyone behaves appropriately and nothing goes missing. Clubs and bars have bouncers, deciding who gets in, who stays out, and who gets shown the door. Welcome is a powerful thing.
We say ‘welcome’ a lot here in church. And we mean it. Everyone is welcome. And by welcome, we don’t simply mean ‘come on in’. We mean that we hope people can flourish and thrive here. We hope people find friendship, belonging, purpose, and a deeper relationship with God. We hope people can participate fully in the life of the church as much or as little as they wish.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus says:
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.
Matthew 10:40
When we welcome people into our church, our homes, and our lives, Jesus says we are welcoming him. More than that, we are welcoming the fullness of God, the One who sent him.That is a remarkable statement.
Even something as simple as offering a cup of cold water becomes a holy act in God’s kingdom.
Now, we often talk about our church, don’t we? ‘At our church we do this’, ‘At my church we offer that’ And with that sense of ownership comes a choice. What kind of people do we want to be at the door? Are we bouncers, deciding who gets in and who doesn’t? Or are we like those hotel porters, helping people find their way, carrying burdens, and extending hospitality? Well, actually, Jesus calls us to go even further than that. Our welcome is not simply for guests. It is for everyone.
This comes in the context of a chapter where Jesus warns his disciples that following him will not always be easy. They will face opposition, rejection, and persecution. Yet he tells them not to be afraid:
Even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:30-31
In other words, remain faithful. Trust God. Nothing can separate you from God’s love. And yet, so often, churches have attached conditions to their welcome haven’t they? ‘You are welcome, but…’
‘You are welcome, but not on a team’
‘You are welcome, but not in leadership’
‘You are welcome, but only if you change’
Or sometimes, ‘You are not welcome at all’.
I find that difficult to understand. Because I’m sorry to say, this is a house full of sinners! Every one of us. Every week we confess our sins together. Every week we hear the assurance of God’s forgiveness. Every one of us depends upon God’s grace. If volunteering in church required a spotless record, none of us would qualify. I certainly wouldn’t be standing here today.
A truly Christ-like welcome does not require us to be bouncers.
But let me say clearly: being LGBTQ+ is not a sin.
Welcome should not come with caveats.
This year’s Brighton Pride theme is ‘The Power of Love’ What a wonderful theme! As Christians, we know something about the power of love, right? We believe in a love so powerful that it overcame death itself. A perfect love that casts out fear. A love that calls us to love God and love our neighbour. The love described in 1 Corinthians 13: that is, patient and kind, that is not arrogant or rude, that does not insist on its own way. A love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
When we support LGBTQ+ people, we are supporting those who wish to love and be loved. We believe that faithful, committed, lifelong same-sex relationships are good. More than that, they are something to celebrate. LGBTQ+ couples should be able to participate fully in the life of the Church, to have their relationships blessed, and to know they belong just as much as anyone else.
Yet some people still act as gatekeepers.
Perhaps because many of us have been taught, ‘Well, the Bible says…’ And I understand how deeply those teachings can be rooted. The Bible is our guide, our compass, our plumb line. We must be shaped by Scripture. But we must also read Scripture carefully and faithfully and responsibly.
A while ago we held a teaching evening on this subject, and I’m very happy to share the notes with anyone who would like to explore it further. But here is the very short version…
What does the Bible say about loving, faithful, committed same-sex relationships?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
The Bible never addresses relationships as we understand them today: mutual, faithful, lifelong same-sex partnerships. However people often point to seven passages. Out of more than 30,000 verses in the Bible, there are just seven texts that some interpret as referring to same-sex intimacy. But when you examine those passages closely, the issues being addressed are actually: exploitation, abuse of power, idolatry, violence, and injustice. None of them discuss loving, committed same-sex relationships. That does not settle every debate, but it should at least give us pause for thought.
And it reminds us to approach Scripture with humility. The same principle applies when people discuss gender identity.
Psalm 89 declares:
The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it—you have founded them… Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
We believe God is the creator of all things. Some argue that because Genesis speaks of male and female, gender must be entirely binary. But throughout the creation accounts, Scripture often speaks in broad categories rather than exact descriptions, and metaphors abound.
God creates day and night, but we know creation also contains dawn and dusk, sunsets and sunrises, beauty and colour.
God creates the waters above and below, but we know of rivers, lakes, streams, glaciers, clouds, rain, snow, and oceans.
God creates vegetation, apparently: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind – but the astonishing diversity of the plant world far exceeds this!
God creates living creatures, named as birds, great sea monsters, cattle and wild animals, but creation overflows with variety beyond our imagination. I mean there are over 370 species of bee in the UK alone!
Creation is abundant. Diverse. Complex. Beautiful. So why then should human diversity surprise us?
Some people say, ‘God doesn’t make mistakes’. I agree. Trans people are not mistakes. Those who are queer or non binary are not mistakes. We are all part of God’s beloved creation together.
And Scripture itself contains people who did not fit neatly into society’s categories. The Bible speaks of eunuchs for example, people who occupied a unique place outside of the conventional understandings of sex and gender. Often marginalised and excluded, but they nevertheless receive special attention from God.
In Isaiah 56 God promises them:
I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.
Jesus himself acknowledges eunuchs in Matthew 19. And in Acts 8, one of the first non-Jewish converts to Christianity is a eunuch of colour, welcomed fully into the people of God. Again and again, God reaches beyond the boundaries that people construct.
So perhaps the question is not whether God welcomes people. The question is whether we will.
If these questions are difficult for you, I encourage you to study, pray, and reflect deeply. It takes courage to revisit things we have always believed or been taught. It takes humility to learn.
But perhaps we should ask ourselves:
Who are we to limit God’s abundance?
Who are we to decide where God’s grace ends?
Who are we to stand at the door of God’s kingdom and determine who belongs?
And if we are unsure, perhaps this question helps:
When we stand before God at those pearly gates, would we rather be challenged for welcoming too many people, or for keeping too many out?
Psalm 89 concludes with a vision of joyful worship, and this is from the MSG version:
Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of God. Delighted, they dance all day long… Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us – you’ve been so good to us! We’re walking on air! All we are and have we owe to God...
Surely that is the invitation before us. To know the power of God’s love together.
To love God together.
To worship together.
To sing of God’s steadfast love together.
And to make sure that whenever anyone approaches that door, they find not a bouncer, but a community ready to welcome them in, in the name of Christ.
Amen.
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