Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] May 15, 2022 “We’re Not Radical. Just Early.” Acts 11: 1-18 The apostles and the brothers and sisters throughout Judea heard that even the Gentiles had welcomed God’s word. 2 When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him. 3 They accused him, “You went into the home of the uncircumcised and ate with them!” 4 Step-by-step, Peter explained what had happened. 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying when I had a visionary experience. In my vision, I saw something like a large linen sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came all the way down to me. 6 As I stared at it, wondering what it was, I saw four-legged animals—including wild beasts—as well as reptiles and wild birds.[a] 7 I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill and eat!’ 8 I responded, ‘Absolutely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 The voice from heaven spoke a second time, ‘Never consider unclean what God has made pure.’ 10 This happened three times, then everything was pulled back into heaven. 11 At that moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them even though they were Gentiles. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered that man’s house. 13 He reported to us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is known as Peter. 14 He will tell you how you and your entire household can be saved.’ 15 When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as the Spirit fell on us in the beginning. 16 I remembered the Lord’s words: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then who am I? Could I stand in God’s way?” 18 Once the apostles and other believers heard this, they calmed down. They praised God and concluded, “So then God has enabled Gentiles to change their hearts and lives so that they might have new life.” Watch the UCC Bouncer Ad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW6X6l5XGsw “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” It may be a bit presumptuous for the UCC to make this claim because we can’t guarantee this is everyone’s experience. In fact, it isn’t always everyone’s experience. But I do hope it expresses our theology and aspirations. Not everyone agrees, of course,: “Jesus doesn't turn people away?!? Um sorry, but you can't be an open, unrepentant homosexual and be a Christian. The UCC isn't a ‘church’ but instead a synagogue of Satan.” Wow. This TV commercial, called the Bouncer ad and one more called the Ejector Seat, aired on many networks. It was 2004. But CBS refused to air it. Their official response was that it advocated for gay marriage at the same time as the Bush administration was proposing a constitutional amendment against it. It’s a bit of a stretch to claim that showing two seconds of two men holding hands and a group shot of two women whose haircuts may resemble lesbians had anything to do with marriage, but to our good fortune, the controversy provided tons of free air time on network news, including CBS. Leaders of some denominations expressed outrage. We don’t have bouncers at the front door! Yes, maybe not literally, but that isn’t how it always feels. And how did it feel to be a Gentile in the very beginning of the Jesus Messiah movement? It never feels good to be talked about. It feels terrible to be blamed for creating controversy when all you want is to be included. Or how did it feel to be like Peter. Instead of being welcomed in Jerusalem with applause for a good job done, Peter is greeted with consternation and condemnation. How could you eat with one of those people? Peter had a grand and puzzling vision. And then had a series of experiences which led him to conclude that God shows no partiality. What God calls clean we must not call unclean. But first he had to defy his Jewish tradition by eating with the God-worshiper, but uncircumcised Cornelius. Yet, it was clear to Peter that his defiance was God’s will, further confirmed when he and other witnesses marveled at how the Holy Spirit fell upon Gentiles just as it had on Pentecost upon Jews gathered from every nation. To be clear, the “opposition” were not against the Gentiles. They just believed that Gentiles needed to maintain ritual purity, follow the dietary laws, and, if an adult male, be circumcised. This was not a fight between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. This is a family feud into which Peter introduces a new vision. But remember, this wasn’t Peter’s idea. He was following a vision from God. But you have to have sympathy for the traditionalists. One guy has a vision and thousands of years of religious tradition are just supposed to be swept aside? Of course, changing any tradition, especially religious traditions, is never easy. The UCC likes to claim “we were the first.” There’s even a webpage listing UCC Firsts.[1] For example, we were the first Protestant denomination to ordain a man of African descent, Lemuel Haynes, in 1785. We were the first denomination in America to ordain a woman, Antoinette Brown, in 1853. And yes, but not exactly. The UCC wasn’t formed until 1957, so it was one of the predecessor denominations that united to form the UCC. So, more accurately, Congregationalists in Connecticut ordained Lemuel Haynes in 1785. Antoinette Brown was ordained in 1853. Except, it was only recognized by her church in South Butler, New York. The local association of Congregational churches did not recognize her ordination, nor did the denomination. And, in fact, sadly, she left after 10 months and became a Unitarian, never to serve as a pastor again. In 1883, Emma Newman was the first female to be licensed to preach and pastor by an association of Congregational churches in Kansas. She went to Harvard and completed all the same seminary classes as men but she was only a guest, not allowed to enroll, so she didn’t “graduate.” Clearly gifted and allowed to serve churches, still, denominational officials refused to let her be ordained. But not to denigrate these milestones, today more than half of UCC pastors are female. And a growing, but still small, number of transgender persons who are called to ministry in the church are being ordained. Another first. We were the first denomination in Christian history to ordain an openly gay man, Bill Johnson, in 1972. It’s hard to believe that was 50 years ago! It was the Golden Gate Association of the Northern California Nevada Conference that ordained him – not the denomination as a whole. That’s how it works for us. Our authorization for ministry rests in over 200 regional groups of churches which make decisions for themselves. Fortunately, unlike the United Methodists struggling with this issue since 1972, the rest of the denomination doesn’t have to agree. Still, even on a local level, Bill’s ordination was no easy task. But gratefully, the Apostle Peter was brave enough to challenge thousands of years of religious tradition on behalf of Gentiles everywhere. And gratefully, one brave man called by God to be ordained risked stepping forward. There were 96 delegates eligible to vote that day and 65% agreed to ordain Bill Johnson. An attempt was made to have the UCC Executive Council overturn it, but that’s not an authority they have. Instead, the Executive Council turned the request upside down and passed a resolution recommending that sexual orientation in itself is not a qualification or disqualification for ordination – a resolution then adopted by the whole General Synod, one of the first of many affirming Synod resolutions including being the first denomination to endorse same gender marriage equality – way back in 2005.[2] An action not binding on congregations, but still, a first of which we can certainly be proud. Another first. The Rev. Harold Wilke was born without arms and forced to deal with discrimination from an early age. He was barred from his local elementary school and had to walk several miles each day to another school. In college, administrators thought that a man who ate with a fork between his toes did not belong where others could see him. Wilke ate in the kitchen of the campus dining room until so many of his friends insisted on joining him in the kitchen that administrators finally relented and let him sit in the main room. He earned master’s degrees from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Union Theological Seminary in New York, Harvard University plus a doctorate at the University of Chicago. He felt called to the ordained ministry but sadly, not in a shining moment of bravery, the hierarchy of one of the predecessors to the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, discouraged him from seeking ordination. Nevertheless, he persisted and was ordained in 1939, but only after demonstrating that he could conduct the rites of the church as well as a person without disabilities. He served as a pastor, college and hospital chaplain, and became a tireless advocate with people with disabilities. In 1990, his role was recognized by the White House where he was invited to the ceremony for the signing of the Americans With Disabilities Act. While President George H.W. Bush was signing the bill, he handed out ceremonial pens. Since Harold had no arms, the president didn’t know what to do with Wilke’s pen. But, to his surprise, Harold quickly removed his shoe, stuck out his foot, took the pen between his toes, and slipped it into his shoe. Later, while seated next to First Lady Barbara Bush, he used his toes to put the pen into his coat pocket, to a roar of approval from the assembled guests. God called and Rev. Wilke pushed the boundaries and opened the door for many UCC ministers who followed. As I mentioned last week, among our firsts, Congregationalists opened Oberlin College to raise up men and women who would eliminate slavery; it was the first college in America to admit women. Congregationalists opened the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut which became Gallaudet University that began a movement that transformed the possibilities of millions of hearing-impaired persons. These actions didn’t happen because they were all unanimous decisions but because persistent and faithful people listened to the Spirit. And when we can all get out of the way, resist long standing prejudices, and open ourselves to new revelation, we who oppose one thing one day may just find ourselves praising God the next. One of my favorite buttons says: The UCC isn’t radical. We’re just early. It may sound like bragging, but it affirms the bravery of our ancestors. And these are the kinds of things we want to teach and encourage in our children and youth. The church changes lives, if we act as though it, we, can. This week one of my confirmation students graduated from law school. As I’ve done many times, at the end of 8th grade we went to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for a week – hard work, history, cultural immersion, and transformation. Daniel was so affected, he went back with the church two more times and then went to work on his own during summers. When he graduated high school, he went to college only to drop out a few months later. He returned to the reservation for two more years before deciding to ultimately go to law school and focus on the very native issues first introduced to him in church. He wants to change the world and I have no doubt that he will. In the Book of Acts, written 2,000 years ago, Peter acted on God’s vision. It’s wasn’t his idea that the church should widen its welcome for people to belong. But pushing against the boundaries, those who wished to be baptized were now welcome, just as they were, not because of what they changed. In every age we are called to keep doing the same. Mission Hills UCC didn’t become Open and Affirming to LGBTQ people because you thought it was a good idea. You were following God’s vision, for it was God who called the brave people sitting here today and saints who’ve gone before to widen the welcome. And in the name of Christ, with the power of the Spirit, we’re called to keep pushing at the edge of inclusion. In closing, watch the Ejector Seat ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbrd0rhtsG0 [1] https://www.ucc.org/ucc-firsts/ [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/us/united-church-of-christ-backs-samesex-marriage.html
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