Good morning. This is the day that the Lord has made let us
rejoice and be glad in it. Today is Wednesday, June 17th. I hope you are
doing well today.
Our reading today is from Romans 6.1b-11.
Should we continue in sin so that grace may abound? I really don't know anyone who asks that question these days. I never encounter people who think, "I'll sin more, so that there will be even more grace flying around!"
Having said that though, I am aware of many people who sort of believe that it doesn't matter how I live because God loves me anyway. The French write Voltaire, from the early 1700's once quipped: God will forgive me; that's God's job." And while it is true that God loves me no matter what I do, that God will forgive, something seems to be missing.
Should we continue in sin so that grace may abound? Paul's question here gets me thinking about how to understand grace.
Last week I watched an episode of Queer Eye on Netflix. I've never seen the show before. When the show first came out way back in 2003 it was called Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. 5 gay men would help an out of fashion heterosexual man without any fashion sense get it together. They would help him revamping wardrobe, redecorating, and offering advice on grooming, lifestyle, and food. The show disappeared for a number of years before coming back to Netflix. I watched Season 5 - Episode 1 "Preaching out Loud."
The show centered on Noah Hepler - an ELCA pastor in Philadelphia, PA. Noah was married to a woman before he came out as a gay man. He has since divorced and was called to serve a Lutheran congregation in Philadelphia, but he has never been comfortable in his own skin. For 13 years now he has tried to figure out just who he is as Noah Hepler. Because he has never been allowed to be Noah Hepler. Noah wonders who he is a pastor, as a gay man, as child of God, because he has never felt comfortable being himself. He believes he could be a better pastor, a better leader in his community, a better person if he were more comfortable in his own skin.
One of the things that struck me as I watched that episode - and I would commend it to everyone of you to watch if you have Netflix; what struck me; what broke my heart the most is that the church - of all the places a person ought to be able to be welcomed, loved, accepted for who you are - the church was the place where he felt the most condemnation for being gay.
It's hard enough to grow up, to figure out who you are, to date, to do all that as a heterosexual. I cannot imagine it as a gay man, and then to be condemned by the place that should abound in grace. He had to hide himself for who he was. Part of what struck me with this episode is how painful it must be to grow up knowing you are "different" from others and believing that God hates you because of that.
The hopeful part of the episode is that now, in the year 2020, Noah feels that he is allowed to be Noah Hepler. He is openly gay. He is serving a church that is a good fit for him, and he is making it part of his congregation's mission to reconcile with people like him. He wants to make sure that no young person is ever brought up in a faith that says they are not allowed because of who they are.
This reading reminds me of God's grace. God's grace abounds. God's grace changes how we understand ourselves and how we see other people.
Let us pray: We thank you God for your Spirit that moves in this world and in our lives. When we speak of your grace, we are speaking of your love, your acceptance of us, right where we are. We know there are people out there who have heard the message from the church, that they are unworthy, unvalued, and must change before God can like them, much less love them. Yet when Jesus stretched his arms out on the cross it was as if he was welcoming us to him - no matter how we understand ourselves. Help us to live in such a way that others will know your love of them, and your acceptance of them. This we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.
People of hope, thank you for this morning. Know that even if today is not okay, and tomorrow is not okay, all will be well, all shall be well, and all manner of things will be well, because you are held in God's loving arms, and nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Be well.
