On Sunday I preached in my home congregation. I have preached a handful of sermons in my life. It is not something I particularly like to do. But when asked, I take it seriously.
As a church, we are preparing to have "THE" conversation. You know the one. Who are we going to be in relationship to our LGBTQA+ friends. I used my earlier blog post about fear to set the stage. Here is a bit of what else I said.
So- what exactly are we afraid of?
We are afraid our children will choose to be gay.
We are afraid that church will no longer feel like a safe place if hurtful words are spoken.
We are afraid we are allowing the world or society to influence the church.
We are afraid we will lose friendships.
We are afraid of being wrong.
We are afraid our LGBTQ children/sisters/brothers will be rejected by people we love and hold dear.
We are afraid we are not following the Bible.
We are afraid of being blamed as parents for not raising our children correctly.
We are afraid we are accepting sin in our church.
We are afraid that the discussion will fracture our church family and people we love will choose to leave.
These fears are real. What will we do with these fears?
The ushers are going to come by with rocks, please take one.
Hold this rock in your hand. This rock represents your personal fear. A reminder that your fear is real and valid. We can use this fear to hurt others. We can use this fear to build walls and keep out those who don’t agree with us. Or we can use this fear to build safe space for all of us to live together. Take this rock home, place it somewhere you will see it as a reminder to pray for God’s guidance as we enter this fear-filled time. Remember that no matter our opinion, we are all afraid.
In our fear, Jesus speaks to each of us - Peace be with you.
As a church, we are preparing to have "THE" conversation. You know the one. Who are we going to be in relationship to our LGBTQA+ friends. I used my earlier blog post about fear to set the stage. Here is a bit of what else I said.
So- what exactly are we afraid of?
We are afraid our children will choose to be gay.
We are afraid that church will no longer feel like a safe place if hurtful words are spoken.
We are afraid we are allowing the world or society to influence the church.
We are afraid we will lose friendships.
We are afraid of being wrong.
We are afraid our LGBTQ children/sisters/brothers will be rejected by people we love and hold dear.
We are afraid we are not following the Bible.
We are afraid of being blamed as parents for not raising our children correctly.
We are afraid we are accepting sin in our church.
We are afraid that the discussion will fracture our church family and people we love will choose to leave.
These fears are real. What will we do with these fears?
The ushers are going to come by with rocks, please take one.
Hold this rock in your hand. This rock represents your personal fear. A reminder that your fear is real and valid. We can use this fear to hurt others. We can use this fear to build walls and keep out those who don’t agree with us. Or we can use this fear to build safe space for all of us to live together. Take this rock home, place it somewhere you will see it as a reminder to pray for God’s guidance as we enter this fear-filled time. Remember that no matter our opinion, we are all afraid.
In our fear, Jesus speaks to each of us - Peace be with you.
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