Called to Freedom
(Rutgers, June 28, 1998; 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C;
Lesbian and Gay Pride Sunday)
II Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 (OT, 369); Galatians 5:1, 13-14, 16a, 22b-23 (NT, 201,
202)
This is a poignant Sunday for me and, I'm sure, for many others, for
our congregation's celebration of Lesbian and Gay Pride Sunday
has in the past been so strongly linked to the prophetic witness
of the contemporary Elijah who lived among us-
Carl Bisson.
We learned in this morning's First Lesson that,
in anticipation of ancient Elijah's imminent departure from earth,
his chief disciple, Elisha, prayed that he might inherit
the spirit of prophecy with which God had filled Elijah.
And we also heard that after
Elisha had seen Elijah carried off to heaven in a whirlwind,
he did receive the gift of that spirit
and that, thereupon, Elisha took up Elijah's mantle
and carried on Elijah's prophetic ministry.
So this Sunday, some eight weeks after Carl's departure for heaven,
I pray that we, collectively, may inherit the gift of Carl's spirit,
that we, collectively, may take up his prophetic mantle
and carry on his ministry of justice for gays and lesbians.
To that end, I invite each and every one here this morning,
after this service, to journey with me over to 5th Ave. and 55th St.
and to dedicate our joyful participation in today's parade
to the memory of Elder Carl Bisson,
for whom this day on the calendar ranked right up there,
perhaps just below Easter and Christmas.
For through the power of the Holy Spirit
Carl experienced on days like Easter, and Christmas,
and Lesbian and Gay Pride Sunday
God's call to freedom,
God's call to a freedom grounded in Christ
and expressed in acts of love, and joy, and peace.
Carl experienced on days like Easter, and Christmas,
and Lesbian and Gay Pride Sunday
a can to the freedom of which the Apostle Paul speaks
in this morning's Second Lesson.
"For freedom Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery...
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters. . .
Live by the Spirit.”
As Paul understood so well,
Christ, the liberator, wins to set us free from an the closets
that enclose and stifle us.
As on the very first Easter Sunday,
when Christ burst the bonds of his own tomb,
so Christ wins to burst the bonds of the tombs
that wall in our lives.
Christ calls us to come forth from our tomb- like closets,
to come forth like modern-day Lazaruses
to come forth the fullness of a life of love
empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Freed from the closets and tombs of our past,
resisting every call to resubmit to that imprisonment,
and open to the transforming power of God's Spirit,
our lives may then be lived in love for neighbor
and in love for ourselves,
and may then bear the fruit of the Spirit,
which is, as the apostle Paul tens us,
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, genero-
sity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Did any of you last Wednesday evening join me in watching
on the Long Island PES station Channel 21
the program entitled "Gay and Straight: Can We Talk?"
It was hosted by Brian McNaught.
Brian is a gay man who works with corporations that are
seeking to overcome homophobia in the work place.
He has found, in his experience over the past 20 years,
that the prejudice against gays and lesbians among Christians
is best overcome
not by the discussing of biblical interpretations
but rather by the sharing of personal stories
about spiritual journies.
Perhaps I was impressed by Brian's program precisely because my
own 20-year experience of dialogue on this topic within the PCUSA
has led me to exactly the same conclusion.
It is when we heterosexual Christians have the opportunity
to hear the stories of openly gay and lesbian Christians,
stories that reflect the fruit of the Spirit-
love, joy, peace, and kindness-
in the lives of openly gay and lesbian Christians,
it is then that our homophobia is most likely to be overcome,
it is then that we heterosexual Christians are most likely
to be called forth from the the tomb of our prejudice
to freedom.
Brian McNaught described on his program an airplane ride
during which he was engaged in casual conversation by the man
seated next to him-a white, straight, born-again Christian
from Cobb County, Georgia,
the district represented in Congress by Newt Gingrich.
Brian's stereotypes about straight, born-again Christians from Cobb
County tempted him to duck this conversation
by burying his nose deeply in a newspaper,
but something freed Brian from the tomb
of his stereotype about Cobb County Georgians,
and Brian decided to take the risk of talking openly
about himself, the risk of telling his story.
Brian described to the man how, as a young teen-ager,
he had been very active in his church.
His two greatest goals in life
had been to fulfill his spirituality and his sexuality.
he had wanted to be both a saint and an openly gay man.
But the church had told him he couldn't be both.
Ten years later, Brian was still in the closet, he had left the church,
and he was being rushed to the hospital as an attempted suicide.
The doctors were able to save his life, and in the aftermath
he somehow became miraculously freed inside of himself:
his spirituality was rekindled, he came out of the closet,
and he began his life's work of telling his story
so that others might overcome their homophobia.
That was the short version of the story Brian told
to his seat companion on the plane ride.
And by the end of the trip, there was
one less homophobic person in Cobb County, Georgia.
Now on the tv program, Brian didn't claim what I'm about to say,
but I believe it with all my heart.
I believe it was Christ who freed Brian from his sexual closet,
and I believe it was the Holy Spirit that empowered him
to fulfill both his spirituality and his sexuality
and to undertake his life's vocation.
And I believe it was Christ who both
freed Brian from his stereotype about Cobb County Georgians
and freed that white, straight, born-again Christian
from his stereotype about gays and lesbians.
Today, through our Second Lesson,
Christ is calling each and every one of us to freedom,
to the freedom of loving our neighbor and of loving ourselves,
to the freedom of realizing, of fulfilling in that love
both our spirituality and our sexuality,
so that, through the power of the Spirit,
our lives-like those of Carl and Brian-
may produce the fruit of love, and joy, and peace.
Let us pray.
0 God, You have called us to freedom, and we answer that call.
You have offered us the transforming power of Your Spirit, and
we claim that offer.
You have challenged us to pick up the prophetic mantle of justice,
and we take up that challenge.
You have commanded us to love our neighbor as ourself, and we
heed that command.
In the name of Christ. Amen.
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