Focus on Haiti: MCC Disaster Relief

Metropolitan Community Churches Calls for Emergency Action
to Support People of Haiti

Yesterday, as the world watched, the island nation of Haiti suffered its worst natural disaster in 200 years. Today we must act!

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has devastated the region, destroying hospitals, schools, homes and most government buildings, with aftershocks continuing.

Family members inside and outside the country are unable to contact each other. People inside the country who have been able to make outside contact report that voices can be heard from the rubble and the fear is that many children are among the victims trapped in afternoon classes.

"The level of distress is indescribable," said The Rev. Tania Guzman, in a phone conversation today. "People are panicked over the inability to find those they love and care for."

Rev. Tania is our MCC Pastor in the Dominican Republic, serving members in Haiti, also. She has asked that MCCers from around the globe join her in a prayer vigil at 7:30pm EST this evening. She will be leading a service via skype with as many of our members as can be contacted. A meeting to mobilize volunteer efforts will follow the service.

"What we will need," Rev. Guzman continued, "is both the spiritual and the physical support to rebuild lives and communities. There are no walls to tear down here; only the work of building up hope again."

I ask you to join me today, wherever you are, in praying with the congregation AND in making a donation now to supply emergency food, shelter, medicine and clothing, as well as phone cards so that families can reunite.

Your generous gift of $5, $50, $500 or more�whatever you can afford� will go a long way in restoring lives and rebuilding the hope of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Please give what you can now by going clicking the donate button to the right.

I know that our prayers and our gifts will mean everything to the MCC congregation in Haiti and the communities that they and Rev. Guzman serve.

//signed, The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator

This statement prepared in conjunction with The Moderator's Global Justice Team, The Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Chair.

Metropolitan Community Churches | PO Box 1374 | Abilene, TX 79602 (USA)

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Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC
October 11, 2009
National Coming Out Day

Conversations from the Heart: Coming Out Through the Eye of a Needle

Introduction:
Today we are presented with rich texts in our lectionary readings and we are offered an opportunity to talk about an important topic for members of our community; coming out.
When I was 8 years old I walked down the aisle of Eastside Baptist Church in Auburndale, Florida and gave my heart to Jesus. It was a decision that I have carried with me throughout my life and never regretted. When I was 16 years old I walked down the aisle of the First Baptist Church in Auburndale, Florida and committed my life to Christian Ministry. That decision has caused me a significant degree of grief throughout my life and is one for which I have absolutely no regrets. I earned the Bachelor of Church Music degree from Stetson University and began serving as Minister of Music and Youth and in 1981. In 1986, while on the staff of a fairly large United Methodist Church not too far from here, I got in a tub full of water, called my parents and told them I was gay. Exodus International was next and I’d be happy to talk with you about that later, but time does not permit detail here. Let me just say that I don’t need to be straight in the name of Jesus, and that I stand before you open and out the way God created me to be in spite of the emotional damage that program did to me and many others during the 2 years that I was involved in it. Then it was off to the Baptist Seminary in New Orleans. And wouldn’t you know it; I joined the staff of the church where the son-in-law of the seminary president was Pastor. After two years my beloved psychology professor called me into his office and suggested that I strongly consider leaving that seminary, “before you have a crisis” to deal with. I heard him clearly and I drove out of the gate saying, Oh God, I’ve spent my whole life preparing to do this, I have no idea what to do now. You know the rest. I came out, I met Troy Perry and here I am. I tell you that story, knowing that Professors of Preaching would say it’s too much personal information and still believing there’s a purpose in it as it relates to our gospel reading for today. I want to make one point clear before I go any further. I know coming out has risks. Coming out with one’s sexual orientation is a personal decision that needs to be made carefully. I am not encouraging anyone to come out before it is appropriate to do so given each person’s individual life situation. And, I have experienced in my own life that the closet is the least safe place that I can be, that being out brings an element of peace and safety to my life that I never hoped for while I was holding on to my own closet door with both hands.

Gospel
The most familiar part of our gospel for today is the part about how difficult it is for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle, and how following Jesus can be even more difficult than that. I want us to think about a few ideas.
First let’s understand that the word, “man” does not just mean males, it means all of us. Once again, I insist on adding that because the gospel writer had no concern for women, viewed them as property, without any concern for their personhood and for their equality and I just refuse to do that even in one sentence. It is also important for us to get past this idea of the “rich” person featured in this gospel. Rich by whose standards? What does it really mean to be rich? I want to suggest that in this context the gospel is not referring to the kind of houses WE live in, the balances in OUR bank accounts, the kinds of food WE eat, or the kind of clothes WE wear. Let’s face it, my sisters and brothers, by the rest of the world’s standards all of us gathered here are amongst the riches people in the world. We eat well, we dress well, we sleep inside on comfortable beds, we drive most places rather than walk, and we go to the grocery store and get mostly what we want. That list could go on for hours. We ARE the rich in the world, so let us be very careful about excluding ourselves when we hear Jesus address a “rich” person. Jesus is talking to US.
Coming out has a price. It is not free. So why do we do it? I have some ideas. Would you agree with me that in many parts of our community coming out as people of faith is at least as difficult if not more so than coming than coming out about our sexual orientation. We were at an event here in Gainesville recently where we saw an old friend of ours, one that we’ve worked with for many years. During the conversation she said, “I really like you guys, it’s just too bad you’re Christians.” That sounds harsh and at the same time I understand what my friend was saying. Christians, among other religious people, have done a lot of evil in the world. Particularly this right wing practice of beating people over the head with the Bible and insisting that ours is the only way and that everybody else is going down the slippery slope to Hell. We know better than that, and I don’t know about you, but I’m determined to come out as a person of faith in ways that will win people over with kindness and love rather than driving them away with anger. We know what it is to struggle under all kinds of attacks and false expectations and it is in that struggling that we learn the value of what we receive on the other side. We know how our struggle can be used to benefit others. Rev. Eun-Sang Lee, a straight Asian-American man serving Warren United Methodist Church in Denver says, “As the biblical words of God were born out of an oppressed community, today’s LGBT community is pregnant with words of truth out of our liberation struggle.” We know, don’t we, that coming out as Christian can be as hard as going through the eye of a needle and that it is worth it.

Coming out in our daily practice of life can be challenging, too. This involves both our Christianity and our sexuality. All you have to do is drive down I-75 or around Gainesville, and I promise you, challenges will present themselves in the form of crazy drivers. It’s also known to us that in all our relationships we have opportunities to act out our own anger, or to really practice living in the ways to which we’ve committed. It is challenging to be out as a Christian member of a minority sexual identity group and remain positive. We know what it’s like to deal with other vulnerable people who have sometimes been victimized by our culture based on the power of the “us” over the “them.” And perhaps we can embrace the idea together that it is time for us to get over the perspective of victimization. Perhaps we can let go of our own internalized homophobia that holds us back and binds us to systems of the past. Maybe we can really embrace our true identity as people of faith called for a purpose and in so doing begin to practice our faith by coming out in the daily practice, in the daily living of our lives. In his book, Coming Out as Sacrament, Rev. Chris Glaser writes, “Our celebration of coming out is incomplete until we serve as Christ to others victimized by the religious, political and economic systems and structures of our world. Our celebration of coming out must become inclusive of all scapegoats. This is the message of Christ. That is the lesson learned by the Body of Christ in various movements of the Spirit that opened the church’s doors yet wider, from the inclusion of strangers at Pentecost and of Gentiles in Acts to the later Reformation and reformations of the church. It’s important in a world that sometimes condemns all kinds of people, for us embrace our faith in our daily living, to love like the people of God, to put out positive energy no matter what happens. We are called to live out as people of faith and to build peaceful relationships in our daily practice, even when it’s as hard as going through the eye of a needle.

Finally, we come out for the sake of the Good News. Hear it again, this is the good news of the Gospel, that God loved the entire world, everybody, with no exceptions, so much that God gave God’s beloved child that whoever, whoever, all, no exceptions, believed in Jesus, followed Jesus, loved like Jesus, would have eternal life. I come out all over again this morning for the sake of the gospel. This news is so good I cannot keep silent about it.

Conclusion

I’m so excited about what God is doing here; I can’t get enough of it. MCC was going to pay for me to be at the March on Washington this weekend and I said, “No, I’m going to stay in Gainesville.” Why, you might ask. Well, I do believe in big movements, and marches and demonstrations. I’ve worked my entire adult life for equality and justice for all of God’s people and I’m tired of waiting. And more than that I believe in grass roots activism and there’s nothing that I could do in Washington this weekend that is more important to me than standing here at home coming out as a gay man and coming out as a person of faith. Will you join me today in coming out? Will you join me in coming out as the people of God? Will you join me today in coming out throughout our daily practice of living? And will you join me today in coming out for the sake of the good news of the gospel? Let me do it clearly; I am a gay man, created in God’s image, giving all I have to give for the sake of the Gospel that teaches me to love in the name of Jesus. Coming out through the eye of a needle; a conversation from the heart. God bless you this morning. AMEN.

Lectionary Readings for the day:
Amos 5: 6 – 15

Seek the LORD and live, or God will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. 7Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! 8The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, is names the Lord, 9who makes destruction flash out against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. 10They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. 11Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. 12For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. 13Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. 14Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. 15Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Mark 10: 17 – 31
17As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” 28Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Sisters and Brothers on the Journey Together
OR
I Wouldn’t Take Nothin’ for my Journey Now
Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC
September 27, 2009

Introduction:
Sisters and brothers, we are on a journey together; a spiritual journey. And I have to tell you, “I wouldn’t take NOTHIN’ for my journey now.” Let’s think about today’s reading together.

Adonai

Let me unpack for us this name “Adonai,” which you heard in Psalm 124. “If Adonai had not been with us; if Adonai had not been for us; Blessed be Adonai; Our help is Adonai. “Adonai” is a Hebrew name with several meanings. It can be used to refer to plural Gods, the belief which was common during the time that today’s Psalm was written. It can also mean simply, “God.” Many times it is translated “Lord” and I am always challenged by that because that translation bows again to the practice of patriarchy with a slant toward masculine connotations. The definition I like most is closer to “Lord of Lords,” although I might say, “God of Gods.” Remember the song, “Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing baby,” well this God is the real thing, the God above all others (if you believe in others) our God, omni-resourceful God, THE Omni- God. THE God. This is the God of Israel, this is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Ruth and Naomi. This is the God of Troy, and Nancy and Paul and Kathy and Rick and so many others who share our faith. And most important for us, this God is our God forever and ever – AMEN! Adonai, God of Gods; OUR God. Isn’t that just awesome? THE God of all creation is our God. Now that’s something to get happy about. Well, let me move forward.
Building the Spiritual Community

So with the help of Adonai we are called to build a spiritual community in this place, and our New Testament reading from the book of James shows us four steps in that journey. Let’s look at them.

1. An effective spiritual community supports its members in difficult times.
This is a trait of an effective spiritual community that this church does very well. I’ve seen it in just the short time I’ve been here. You visit each other at home. You visit each other in the hospitals. You pray for each other. You drive each other to appointments. You sit with each other while loved ones have surgery. You feed each other when finances are lean and people struggle. I have to tell you one of the moments of greatest blessing to me was when one of our board members wrote to me in the midst of just a flood of our people in the hospitals. And at a time when I really needed it I got an email that said sometime like, let’s have a prayer meeting. And we did not have time to advertize, we put the word out as best we could and a few of us came here in a circle and spent about an hour intentionally praying for our sick friends and family and for those who were taking care of them. And when someone in that circle prayed something like, “And God give Rev. Jim strength as he tries to take care of all of us,” I felt a touch from Adonai. I heard in my spirit that we would make it, that our people would get better and I knew that Adonai was on our side and this church was too. Now I don’t get that personal too often, and today I want you to know that “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” The support of friends and family during difficult times is life-giving and sustaining. And I want to challenge us to continue growing into that characteristic of an effective Spiritual community that supports each other during difficult times.

2. An Effective Spiritual Community Celebrates with it’s members during joyful times.
I’ve seen us celebrate, too. Did we have a time here during our Homecoming/Installation weekend or what? We had amazing food, we have amazingly talented members entertain us, we had that wonderful concert with Justin Ryan and then we had 106 people pack this place out in worship on Sunday. Sisters and brothers we know how to celebrate! And I hope we can learn to celebrate the big and the small joys in our lives. Let’s celebrate birthdays. Let’s celebrate anniversaries. Let’s celebrate graduations. Let’s celebrate love. Let’s celebrate participation. Let’s celebrate financial responsibility according to spiritual terms. Let’s celebrate a growing membership. Let’s celebrate a growing choir. Let’s celebrate active community presence. Let’s celebrate with Pride. Let’s celebrate because Adonai is on our side. Let’s celebrate individuals, families, let’s celebrate with our allies in other minority communities. Let’s join with them in their celebrations and let’s make sure they are here to celebrate with us during ours. I’m getting to know them and the good news is they want to be here. Let’s develop our allies so we can succeed together and so we can celebrate together. And let’s celebrate Trinity. This is a work that God is doing and we are called to celebrate it. We serve and awesome God who has called us to a purpose and we celebrate a God who has only just begun the good work that has started in us. Let’ celebrate a vision, let’s celebrate ministry, let’s celebrate with Joy together. Effective spiritual communities know how to celebrate.

3. An Effective Spiritual Community Calls itself back into Order when necessary.
This part is both hard work and absolutely necessary. ¬Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson reminds us not to listen too much to old tapes. Most of us have them. Mine are the Baptist tapes that tell me I can’t, I’m not worthy and all kinds of other lies. These are the tapes that, if I let them play too long can really impact my daily practice of faith and spirituality. And sometimes it is so easy for us to fall back into old patterns of bickering and backbiting and burning up the phone lines spreading negativity. Rev. Wendy Foxworth says, “Sometimes we have to say ‘OOPSIE,” and ask for a do-over. That’s what it means to call ourselves back into order. We have to remember intent as well as impact when we speak. We have to refrain from blaming or shaming. We have to take responsibility for getting for ourselves what ever information we need. We have to speak for ourselves only, knowing that we really cannot speak for others. We have to handle our disagreements gently, lovingly, kindly, in person and in time. We all know what happens when we let wounds fester; they rot. And when we let our hurts and angers fester for long, they rot, too. They can rot our souls. They can consume our spiritual houses both individually and as a community. Effective spiritual communities call themselves back into order when necessary. My friends, let us always be calling ourselves back into the order of loving kindness and effective Godly relationship with one another. That really is the Jesus way.

4. An Effective Spiritual Community leads others to follow God’s ways.
Most of us have been exposed to a lot of church-building schemes. Many books have been written about ways to do it, programs to put on, I remember phrases like, “win the lost at any cost,” “I found it and you can find it too,” “I’m so glad I’m born again.” I’ve been through 3 seminary programs and I read all the time. And after all of that here is the best way I know to lead others to follow God’s ways. LOVE THEM. We’ve all been beat over the head with the bible long enough. We’ve all been through enough programs. We’ve tried enough schemes and so I very simply call on us to love people. All people. I’ve been blessed to share friendship with Nadine Smith, the founder and Executive Director of Equality Florida for about 25 years. One day I marveled at the way she effectively embraced and worked with just about anybody that walked through the door and I said to her, “Nadine, how DO you do it?” She looked at me and said, “Rev. you just have to love every body.” 25 years ago I had no idea how that statement would impact my life and my ministry and here I stand with you in another century still remembering that phrase. Sisters and brothers we have to love everybody. Everybody. No exceptions. That is the final and perhaps the most important characteristic of an effective spiritual community. Love everybody the way Jesus loves us.

Conclusion
1. Effective Spiritual Communities Support their members during difficult times.
2. Effective Spiritual Communities celebrate with their members during joyful times.
3. Effective Spiritual Communities call themselves back into order when necessary. And,
4. Effective Spiritual Communities lead others to follow God’s ways.

Our journey has been, is and will be blessed. I have to honestly say, in the words of Vestal Goodman, “I wouldn’t take nothin’ for my journey now.” The journey of the past, the journey of the present, and the journey to which we have been called together out into the future.

Adonai, make us an effective Spiritual community based on these principles and most of all based on your love. In your many names we pray. Amen.”





















Introduction: Old Testament Reading

Psalm 124

Say it, Israel! If the Adonai had not been with us, if Adonai had not been for us when enemies rose against us, they would have swallowed us in their blazing anger, and the raging waters would have swept us away – rushing, surging water, thundering over us.
Blessed be Adonai for saving our flesh from their teeth, for tearing the trapper’s net, so we could flutter away like birds. Our help is Adonai, creator of the eath and sky.

“Adonai” is a Hebrew name with several meanings. It can be used to refer to plural Gods, the belief in which was common during the time that today’s Psalm was written. It can also mean simply, “God.” Many times it is translated “Lord” and I am always challenged by that because that translation bows again to the practice of patriarchy with a slant toward masculine connotations. The definition I like most is closer to “Lord or Lords,” although I might say, “God of Gods.” Remember the song, “Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing baby,” well this God is the real thing, the God above all others (if you believe in others) our God, omni-resourceful God, THE God.



New Testament Reading

James 5: 13 – 20

13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. 19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins

The Greatest Love of All: A Sermon for Children of All Ages
Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC Gainesville
September 20, 2009

Would all the children in the congregation please come up and join me?

I. The Skin Horse (from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams )The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

I. Teachings on Love
You have heard me mention Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh many times. Listen to these passages from his book, Teachings on Love;
At Plum Village children are at the center of attention. Each adult is responsible for helping the children feel happy and secure. We know that if the children are happy, the adults will be happy, too. If you succeed in bringing your child up happily, you can share the fruit of your practice with many people. One fourteen year old boy told me this story. He said that every time he fell down and hurt himself his father would shout at him. The boy vowed that when he grew up, he would not act this way. But one day his little sister fell off a swing and scraped her knee, and the boy became very angry. His sister’s knee was bleeding and he wanted to shout at her, “How can you be so stupid!” Why did you do that?” But he caught himself. Because he had been practicing breathing and mindfulness, he was able to recognize his anger and not act on it. He said, “I realized that if I did not do something about the anger in me, I would transmit it to my own children.” That was a remarkable insight for a fourteen year old. We have to let the ancestors in us be liberated. The moment we can offer them joy, peace and freedom, we offer joy, peace and freedom to ourselves, our children and their children at the same time. Doing so, we remove all limits and discrimination and create a world in which all traditions are honored (and a world in which all living things can be loved).
II. Love that prefers the vulnerable
Did you notice like I did that the disciples were focused on power and position? They wanted to determine questions like who was the closest to Jesus. They wanted to know who was the most influential. They wanted to know who belonged to Jesus’ “inner circle.” And isn’t that just like the way our culture teaches us to live? We constantly worry about who we know or who we don’t know, how much power and access we have and we wonder how we can overcome the stereotypes of gender and the lasting cultural preference for systems of patriarchy over equality. We’re taught the be the best at academics, to be the best at sports, to be the best in music and theatre and to be the biggest and best church and to go to the best and to continuously climb the ladder of success no matter who we step on or push off during our journey to the top. And at times like this when the lectionary leads us to consider a gospel such as this one, I often wonder when we’ll get our fill of stepping on people and pushing people off the ladder or out of our way to get what it is we want for ourselves. Rev. Dr. Holly Hearon, assistant professor of New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, reminds us that "Scripture constantly subverts our definitions of power and privilege."
Notice with me the way Jesus subverts the disciples discussion of power and privilege in this gospel. The disciples are exposed as inadequate in their understanding of who Jesus is, and what it means to be identified with him. They hide their ignorance, even as they indulge their preoccupation with power and status. This sets the stage for important lessons regarding authentic personal existence and wholesome community. Jesus moves the concern from "who is the greatest" (Mark 9:34) to the spiritual significance of "being like a child" (Mark 9:35-37). With "child" understood as representing "the vulnerable," people like us, queer people, gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans people, women, children, people of color and many other vulnerable people may more closely identify with those to whom Jesus is pointing. "The vulnerable" are those who operate in terms of the reversal of customary power relations. In verse 37, "vulnerability" is associated with the capacity to be welcoming, to receiving the other. Surely the welcoming person is one who facilitates nurturing an inclusive community. This emphasis is far-reaching as it clearly indicates that whoever welcomes the vulnerable welcomes the one who was sent by God, and ultimately God. That, my sisters and brothers is counter-cultural for us. It is different from the way almost every one of us was raised and it is one of the most important concepts for us to embrace as we live into our commitment to the practice of Radical Welcome, Radical Inclusion and Extravagant Hospitality. These are the way that we embrace and practice the greatest love of all, the love of God, the love of Jesus that says to all people. Come. Welcome. Come join us in Jesus name. The greatest love of all is a love without exception. It is a love that embraces the vulnerable with the word, “Welcome.” It is a love that gives up a preference for power in favor of a preference for equality and justice. It’s a love that believes in healthcare for all people. It’s a love that believes in food, clothing and shelter for all people. It’s a love that knows no boundaries because Love is born of a God…this God…our God whose boundaries know no limit. That is the greatest love of all. I love children and I’ll let you in on a little secret, when I worked in the child and adolescent psychiatric treatment field, I preferred the ones who acted out the worst. I preferred the ones who were the most vulnerable. I preferred the ones most other folk had written off for hopeless. And I have seen it over and over again that when a child or a vulnerable person of any age understands that she or he is preferred, she or he gets better, he or she has the lights come on, he or she begins to hear a voice well up from within that first whispers, then speaks, the shouts, I CAN MAKE IT! I can make it because somebody believe in me. I can make it because God loves me. I can make it because I believe in myself. And I’ve seen the light in their eyes and I have seen them go on to experience successful lives contributing greatly to our world. And I stand before you this morning/evening to tell you that YOU CAN MAKE IT, TOO. Many of us have been the vulnerable and we can make it. Many of us have been the underdogs and we can make it, too. Many of us know a whole lot more other people like us and I have a question for you as I try to wind down; Will you be the one that says to them, “YOU CAN MAKE IT?” Will you deliver to them the gospel of the Greatest Love of All that says, “God loves you and in the name of Jesus, YOU CAN MAKE IT and you will; in Jesus name?” My sisters and brothers, in whatever circumstance you find yourself this morning, God loves you and has a plan for you life and YOU CAN MAKE IT. That is the Greatest Love of All. That is the message that God has for us in this time together. You have received the Greatest Love of All, the Love of a God who says YOU CAN MAKE IT. Now go make it and go share it, in Jesus name. YOU can do it. You can make it. And with God’s help, we will be a place that practices the Greatest love of All, the love of God for children, the love of God for the vulnerable, the love of God that says, “Y’all come, no exceptions.” That is today’s message for children of all ages; The greatest love of all. Amen.










Psalm 54
Judge in my favor, Lord, use your power to save me. O God, hear this plea and listen to what I say. For godless people attack me, strangers without conscience plotting my death. But God is my savior, God alone guards my life. Let their evil rebound on all who plot against me. True to your judgment, Lord, put an end to them. With a free heart I will sacrifice to you and praise your good name. You saved me from danger, I see my enemies routed.


Mark 9: 30 – 37
30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it; 31for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Humankind is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
33Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

I Sing Because I’m Happy
Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC Gainesville/OdysseyChurch Jacksonville
August 23, 2009

Introduction:
(Singing) “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. For God’s eye is on the sparrow and I know God watches me. God’s eye is on the sparrow, and I know God watches me!” Doesn’t that make you happy today, friends? Doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that God’s eye is on you every moment of every day; when you put your feet on the floor in the morning, while you’re going through your day, when you put your head on the pillow at night (if you’re lucky enough to have one) and while you sleep in the wee hours of the morning. Doesn’t it make your heart want to sing knowing that God’s eyes of love and compassion are watching over you, watching out for you, looking for the good in you in your past, in this very moment and on out into eternity. And don’t you love a God that brings us freedom; freedom from oppression, freedom from discrimination, freedom from the labels of “other,” freedom from all the chains that have bound us up and held us down? We can really sing at the top of our voices, “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free. God’s eye is on the sparrow and I know that I know that I know that I know God watches me. My goodness, that is good news this morning. What a wonderful and loving God we serve! Are you with me? I’m so excited about what God is doing here and in our denomination, and in our world out there to make everybody knows the radically inclusive, radically welcoming, extravagantly hospitable message of this Gospel of liberation. And I’m even happier that we are a part of it.

Psalm 84
The Psalmist cries out to God, “Your temple is my Joy, and my flesh sings its joy to the living God. That’s right, sisters and brothers, our God is a living God. You might have heard the message somewhere along the way that God’s work is finished and that we don’t really need an active God anymore because now we can just live by the scriptures. And I’m here to tell you this morning that I love the bible, I love the stories that I’ve lived with since I was a little boy in the Baptist Sunday School and I also know that God is alive and well. I know that Time Magazine made a false report on April 8, 1966, when the front cover said, “God is Dead,” and I know that others are making false reports today saying “there is no God,” because I know, we know a living God, a God that is alive and well and living not only in time and space, but also in our hearts deep inside of us. We know that we are God’s temple; that this church is also God’s temple and we are singing today because we’re so happy that our very flesh sings out the joy of knowing this God who is alive and well living with us and in us!
The Psalmist uses the metaphor of birds; swallows homing and sparrows seeking places to hatch their young to describe the eagerness with which we can approach God and God’s dwelling places. The Psalmist takes the message of Radical Inclusion to a new level by welcoming non-human images into the temple. I know when I bring my dogs onto this property they are very happy, they sense that this is a peaceful place. I’m also reminded of the morning I drove up to witness that family of deer, beautiful adults and beautiful young deer lounging peacefully on this property. I see the birds and the butterflies and the spiders and thanks be to God, no snakes so far, enjoying this place that is a dwelling place for God. It is God’s dwelling place in the land and in the buildings and in the hearts of those who come here to worship. As the Psalmist suggests, this can be a welcoming place for humans and even non-humans. Helene Talon Russell makes an interesting point. She points out that some birds are ambi-sexual. And I’m thankful for her thoughtfulness because that give us yet another level of inclusiveness to which we can aspire. Some birds are in the minority, too. Some birds are different, too. Some birds are different like you and I are different and isn’t it just fun that although the Psalmist probably not aware of all this, that God has found yet another way to make us sing because we are happy, another way to sing because we are free as we witness this message of full inclusion coming from folks who did not even understand it and were still God’s instruments to teach it. Isn’t it wonderful the way God works?!
The Psalmist also reminds us that in the midst of all this happiness and joy, we will encounter some tough times, too. We know tough times, don’t we? I’m reminded of the late Vestal Goodman, my favorite of ALL gospel singers I’ve ever known, and her song, “God Walks the Dark Hills.” Sister Vestal sings, “GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS, THE WAY AND THE BY WAYS, GOD WALKS ON THE BILLOWS
OF LIFE’S TROUBLED SEA. GOD WALKS IN THE COLD DARK NIGHT, THE SHADOWS OF MIDNIGHT GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS JUST TO GUIDE YOU AND ME.GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS TO GUIDE MY FOOTSTEPS
GOD WALKS EVERY WHERE BY NIGHT AND BY DAY. GOD WALKS IN THE SILENCE ON DOWN THE HIGHWAY GOD WALKS THE DARK HILLS
TO SHOW ME THE WAY.
And I know that some of us in this very room are walking dark hills. I know some of us had to really struggle to get here today. I know some others of us who were unable to get here today because of the struggles in their lives. I want to assure you that I have been in those places in my life, too. I’ve been in places that felt like the Valley of Thirst and I know you have to. And at those times I did not feel happy, I did not feel like singing, I did not feel God living inside of me, I felt anything but free. And as I stand before you in this moment I can tell you that Sister Vestal is right, that the Psalmist is right, that God has spaced event that dry and thirsty ground with springs of living water. God has sent the welcoming rains of autumn and God has walked with us over those dark hills to a point that we know what the valleys feel like so much that our rejoicing can be complete when we get up on the mountain. God empowers us on our way. God brings us welcome relief. God nourishes us for the journey ahead. God brings us the joy we need to Sing because we are happy, to sing because we’re free today. God IS our Strength. God IS our shield. God is the giver of all honor and of all grace. And today we are being called to live into that honor and into that grace, in all our relationships and in our business, and in the way we treat strangers and in the way we treat each other. God wants us to SING because we’re happy. God wants us to SING because we’re free. And finally, sisters and brothers, God wants us to SING to all the world this message of message of liberation, this message of liberation. We are free because God has set us free. We are happy because God has made us happy. We walk patiently through the valley’s because we know how the story ends. It ends in freedom, it ends in deliverance, it ends in peace and it ends in love. God’s love. God’s inclusive love for you, for me, and for all those who are coming, for all those who are on their way.


Conclusion
(Singing) “I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free. For God’s eye is on the sparrow, and I know God watches me. For God’s eye is on the sparrow , and I know God watches you, and you, and you, and you, and me, and all of us, and I know God watches me.” God bless you today. AMEN.






Psalm 84:
Your temple is my joy, Lord of heaven’s might. I am eager for it, eager for the courts of God. My flesh, my flesh sings its joy to the living God. As a sparrow homing, a swallow seeking a nest to hatch its young, I am eager for your altars, Lord of heaven’s might, my sovereign, my God. To live with you is joy, to praise you and never stop. Those you bless with courage will bless you from their hearts. When they cross the Valley of Thirst the ground is spaced with springs with the welcome rain of autumn. They travel the towns to reach the God of gods in Zion. Hear me, Lord of might, heed me, God of Jacob, God our shield, look, see the face of your anointed. One day within your courts is worth a thousand without. I would rather stand at God’s gate than move among the wicked. God is our sun, our shield, the giver of honor and grace. The Lord never fails to bless those who walk with integrity. Lord of heaven’s might, blest are all who trust in you.
John 6:56-69
56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living God sent me, and I live because of my Parent, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Humankind ascending to where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by my Parent.” 66Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Living with Jesus…All the Way
Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC Gainesville
August 16, 2009

Introduction
I’m taking a departure from my usual custom of preaching primarily on the gospel reading and using an Old Testament reading as a supporting source. You probably noticed today that we had two New Testament readings; one from Ephesians and one from the gospel of John. The reading from the gospel sounds familiar because it overlaps with our reading from last week, beginning with John 6: 51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven….” There is an important new aspect to what Jesus says here and we’ll get to that in a little while. For now, though, let’s look at the reading from Ephesians.
Many of us grew up learning that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians Well the truth is that it probably was not actually Paul, but a follower or a disciple of Paul who wrote the letter. And it may be true that this disciple and follower of Paul also shared the name Paul. One of the clues about all of this is inclusion of “Hades” in the letter. Scholars are clear that the concept of “Hades” originated quite awhile after the life of Paul, so it would have been impossible for him to refer to or use the term. So, although the discussion of this topic takes up pages and pages in the commentaries, let’s just say for today that it seems clear that some other Paul wrote this epistle.
Another interesting aspect of this letter is that we are not completely sure to whom it was written. Other epistles being with statements like, “to the church of God which is at blank. This one is vague in saying, “to the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus.” There are many ambiguities where this letter is concerned and we cannot answer all of them. And I want to suggest to us this morning that we do not need to know exactly who wrote these words and to whom they were originally addressed. We only need to embrace, perhaps by faith, that there is a message for us in this letter. There is helpful teaching in it for us. And we will us it to guide us forward in our faith journey. As The Interpreter’s Bible suggests, we will embrace that the theology of Ephesians has been key in the development of Christian theology and therefore we will turn to it for yet another lesson this morning.
Be Careful how you live and live wisely. That’s good advice so how do we follow it. We could easily turn this into a diatribe against alcohol, against drinking, against drugs and against all kinds of behavior and that might be somewhat helpful to few people and perhaps not ultimately helpful to most of us. I believe the key here is to live wisely. Live wisely by using all the mental faculties God has given us. We must treasure the wisdom and intelligence that God has given us and live wisely. We are being called to turn toward behaviors and habits that are good for us, good for the community, good for the cosmos, and to turn away from behaviors that are destructive. Not just today, but for the long term. And for us sometimes the wisdom to which we turn has to be “alternative wisdom.” I might have shared with some of you that when I was very active in politics one of my favorite phrases was “don’t buy the lie.” And we know what the lies sound like. “You’re not good enough, you can’t be Christian, God can’t love you, You can’t succeed, you will fail, you know the line.” Well, my sisters and brothers the good news for us today is that we don’t have to buy the lie. We can choose an alternative wisdom that comes from God and says, “you ARE good enough, you ARE my people, you ARE called, you CAN make a difference in the world, You ARE, you CAN, you WILL because I made you to succeed. You ARE, you CAN and you WILL, in the name of Jesus. That’s alternative wisdom. That’s the wisdom that people like us have to hold onto, promote and teach today, tomorrow and for all our lives because if we don’t preach it and teach it, many will never know the wisdom of a loving God, a refreshing God, a God that gets us up in the morning and carries us through our day and protects us at night as we are sleeping. That is wisdom, that is a promise we can hold onto for all our lives. Not just now, but every day, every week, every month, not just part of the way, but ALL the way. That’s what it means to Live with Jesus ALL the way.
Now let’s return to the gospel for a couple of minutes. Last week, you will remember I preached about this gospel as a call to Radical welcome, Radical inclusion and Extravagant Hospitality. And I since the lectionary has led us back here, I want to add one phrase to last week’s teaching. Are you ready? Here goes. Jesus is not calling us today to eat flesh and drink blood. Jesus is calling us to live the way he lived. Jesus is calling us to share in this radical way of life. Not just for today, but for every day. Not just for tomorrow, but all through the week. Not just through the week but all month. You get it…we are being called to live like Jesus live for the long term. Live with Jesus every day. Live with Jesus every month, every year. We are called to live with endurance this commitment that we are making to live like Jesus.
Radical Welcome, Radical Hospitality, Extravagant Hospitality, all the way.. That’s the message of the gospel this morning, my friends. Have you heard the phrase, “Dare to be different?” Well I’m daring all of us here in the name of Jesus to be different; to share in the life of Jesus by being Radically inclusive, by being Radically welcoming, by practicing Extravagant hospitality with all who come, with ALL who come, with ALL who come, for the long term…all the way. Embrace alternative wisdom that says you are smart enough, you are tough enough, you are good enough and you can do it ALL the way. Wisdom that says you can and you will change the world as you Live with Jesus ALL the way. All the way with Jesus. Living with Jesus every day in every way, for your own good, for the good of the community, for the good of the world, for the good of the cosmos, because God says you can and you will. We will live for Jesus. We will live with Jesus all the way! Say it with me my brothers and sisters, “We will, live with Jesus, all the way, ALL THE WAY, ALL THE WAY. WE WILL LIVE WITH JESUS ALL THE WAY. Hallelujah, Gloria to God. Every day, in every way, ALL the way. God bless you this morning…ALL the way.
Amen.





First Reading: Ephesians 5: 15 – 20
15Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel Reading: John 6: 51 – 58

51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Humankind and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living God sent me, and I live because of my Parent, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

A Message of Radical Welcome
Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC Gainesville
August 9, 2009

Watch this video clip with me and think about all the messages with which it confronts us. Forest Gump clip, “Peas and Carrots.”

As I begin this morning’s message I want to give credit to some important people, mostly women in my life. First, to my own mother who taught me the value of Southern hospitality with that “ya’ll come” approach to our home, our meals and many of our activities. I first learned how to say “welcome” from her. My friend Rev. Jaynie Nell Hickman was the first person I told I was gay. She was the associate pastor at the church where we both served at the time and she continued to welcome me under her umbrella in spite of the risks it presented to her own licensure and ongoing ministry in her denomination. Then to my friend The Reverend Elder Troy Perry who after several years of my own searching for a home for the ministry to which I had been called at the age of sixteen, wrote to me a simple email saying, “Dear Jim, I believe there is a place for you in our church. Love, Troy.” Then to my Pastor, mentor and friend, The Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson, who during my training with her taught me the value of extravagant hospitality. And finally to The Reverend Bishop Yvette Flunder of our sister denomination, The Fellowship, whose on website is addressed www.radicallyinclusive.net. I share those people with you not at all to drop names or to let you know who I know, and with a completely different purpose. You see, I know what it feels like to feel un-welcome. We do not need to spend time this morning rehearsing my experience in the Southern Baptist church from 1981 until the time I left as a gay clergy person. Just let me be clear with you, I know what un-welcome feels like. And sing because I’m happy this morning and I preach because I’m free thanks to people like Mom, and Jaynie Nell and Troy and Nancy and Yvette and because of a God who created me in God’s own image and looked at me and said, “Very Good.” And because of a God who did the same thing for you and for every person who has ever come on this property and to those who are on the way and to those who have yet to experience this message of welcome. Welcome. WELCOME.
All of today's lectionary readings bring to mind people in extreme situations: David's grief, Elijah's despair, the faith community's bitterness, wrath and malice, Jesus' connection of boundless life with his looming death. And all of the lessons speak of the God who gets us through these situations. A God who has proven to us over and over again that we can trust God in every situation, including the most difficult ones of all.

Jesus continues his lengthy discourse about himself as the bread of life in John 6:35, 41-51. What he claims strikes his audience as implausible on the face of it (how can somebody we know be from heaven?), but he goes beyond the implausible to the revolting by saying "the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh" (verse 51). Can you imagine what that sounded like to those who heard it for the first time? Eat my flesh; drink my blood? I have to confess to you, I am acutely aware of how unusual that statement is every time I celebrate communion? This is my body…eat it? This is my blood…drink it? How odd! Jesus was a Jew and in Leviticus we learn that eating flesh and/or drinking blood is an abomination. We’ve heard that word used before, haven’t we? Is Jesus endorsing an abomination? What does that mean for Christians who claim to somehow eat the body of Jesus and drink his blood every week? And especially what does it mean for those who really believe it’s the honest and true body and blood of Jesus? An abomination? How do we turn that focal point of our worship into a message of welcome? Especially, what does it mean to us in the days of HIV/AIDS? “Welcome to our purposeful celebration of high risk behavior!?” or “Welcome to our abomination celebration?!” Certainly not.
What Jesus is doing here, is making a direct connection between the boundless life he offers and the death he must face to offer it. So how does that connect with us? Let’s see if I can make it clear.
Jesus is offering abundance and at the same time is foreshadowing his death. He’s saying come to me and I will give you abundant rest. Come to me and I will give you abundant Joy. Come to me and live life more abundantly. And Jesus is also saying it is not free. Abundance comes with a price. Jesus is somehow saying to us, “Come follow me and I will give you rest” AND “it will cost you your life.” It will cost us in the radical ways we deal with each other. It will cost is in the radical we say welcome to others. It will cost us in the radical ways we include us. People will accuse us of being strange. People will accuse us of being different. People will say, “s/he’s weird,” and I want to tell you something this morning sisters and brothers, if that’s the way people view me because I love others the way Jesus loves them, SO BE IT. If that’s the way people think about me because I cast a wide welcome under my umbrella, AMEN. And if that’s the way the rest of the religious community views us as church together, as RADICALS for being inclusive, then I have just one thing to say; GLORY TO GOD. I want to be different, I want to be loving, I want to be inclusive and if that makes me radical, Hallelujah, Glory to the Lamb!
You see, If we want to live abundantly there are times when we will be called to give something back. Remember the phrase, “from the one who has been given much, much will be expected? If we want to live abundantly sometimes we have to give back. We have to get over ourselves to some extent. Jesus get’s his hands dirty over and over again. Jesus, if we listen to the holiness codes of Leviticus, makes himself unclean. Jesus is a grassroots organizer, Jesus gets down and dirty with the people And if we hear Jesus correctly this morning, Jesus is calling us to a life that calls us into a little more direct contact with others than we might otherwise like. Jesus is calling us to practice radical welcome, radical inclusion, extravagant hospitality.
Jesus is not calling us today to eat flesh and drink blood. Jesus is calling us to live the way he lived. Jesus is calling us to share in this radical way of life.
Helene Tallon Russell says, “These Bible passages highlight spiritual nourishment which – whether Eucharist or Communion, truth, pot luck church meals, tenderheartedness, or simply bread eaten with the awareness of the divine presence – strengthen us by centering us in what is holy and truly significant.”
Radical Welcome, Radical Hospitality, Extravagant Hospitality. That’s the message of the gospel this morning, my friends. Have you heard the phrase, “Dare to be different?” Well I’m daring all of us here in the name of Jesus to be different; to share in the life of Jesus by being Radically inclusive, by being Radically welcoming, by practicing Extravagant hospitality with all who come, with ALL who come, with ALL who come. No exceptions, no exclusions, a Radical welcome for ALL people; like peas and carrots. In Jesus name, In JESUS Name, in Jesus name. God, make our welcome radical so that all may know the inclusive, liberating, life-changing message of your Gospel, of your love. In Jesus’ name. God bless you today. Amen.

Keys to Godliness OR Unity in the Community
Rev. Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC Gainesville
August 2, 2009

Key number one: Recognizing Sin

SIN – How do you feel when I say that word? SIN – What do you hear in that word? How does it feel to hear it? Notice the reaction in your body. Do you tense up? Do feel sick? Are you afraid? Does it bring up some memory that troubles you? SIN. Some of you are thinking, like I probably would about now, “Oh no, he better not go there. I’ll walk right out those doors, etc. etc. etc. Stay with me for a couple of minutes and let’s think about sin together.
What is sin? Some would say that sin is disobedience; disobeying God, disobeying parents, disobeying the law, disobeying any authority figure. Any of that could be sin. This week I looked up the term SIN in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary and discovered that it spends more than 2 pages trying to define sin. Some key ideas there are “missing the mark,” “deviating from the goal” and “moral or religious deviation.” The ideas of breach of relationship and rebellion are also present. And it lists the most the most profound sin is “rebellion against God.” Those are heavy definitions. Let me see if I can come up with something that will work for us. I want to suggest that Sin is any behavior that interferes with our relationship with God and anything that interferes with our relationships with each other. Hear me again, Sin is any behavior that interferes with our relationship with God and anything that interferes with our relationships with each other. Let’s think about that briefly.
We all know when we’ve done wrong or sinned, or at least most of the time. We immediately feel that “OUCH” when our conscience twitches reminding us that we could have done better. We experience that feeling in the pit of our stomach that tells us we might be in a little trouble. So what are we to do? Well, our Psalm for this morning has some very good news for us. Did you hear it?
God loves those centered in truth; God teaches us God’s hidden wisdom. God washes us with fresh water, washes us to be bright as snow. God fills us with happy songs, and causes us to dance. God shuts God’s eyes to our sin, and makes our guilt disappear. Creator, God, reshapes our hearts, God, steady our spirits. God does not cast us aside stripped of our holy spirit. God save us, brings back joy, supports us, strengthens our will and causes us to turn around from our sin and walk in new and better ways so we can teach God’s way and others will turn to God, too. Glory hallelujah, that’s what our loving God does for us. That’s how God responds to sinful hearts turned in God’s direction and God enables us to turn around for the good of all the world. Sisters and brothers let us not harden our hearts and let us turn toward God who loves us and hears us and forgives us and helps us turn around in Jesus’ name. That is the first key to Godliness and that is how we begin to create Unity in the community.
Key number two: Honoring Differences
We all know that we are created equally and very different. Do you remember the song from the television show, Cheers¸ “We wanna go where everybody goes, where people are all the same, we wanna go where everybody knows your name.” There’s some truth in that song. We do want to be where the people we know as “everybody” are and we do like it when “everybody” knows our name and God in heaven above knows that if we were all the same we would more than likely kill each other. We do not want to be the same, we are not created to be the same and we must learn to honor the differences among us. During my study time this week I ran across a commentary by Rev. Rollin Russell, former Conference Minister of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Russell writes, “Mature Christians are not prone to fighting over doctrine; they know that the unity of the church is more important. Mature Christians are not misled by some new prophet or program; they know that the unity of the church, (that the unity of the community) is paramount. Mature Christian, and I know we all want to be mature Christians, exhibit humility, we stick with each other in good times and in bad, we show patience with each other even when someone is on our last nerve, we work for unity in the community, we stay connected in the bond of the love of God and in the bond of the love we share for each other. And we keep doing that over and over and over again until all of us reach a level of maturity in Christ that ensures that we will continue honoring our differences, celebrating our diversity, and loving each other on out into the future in Jesus’ name.
Key number three: Honoring our gifts
We know and we heard it again today that God gifts people in many different ways. We need to honor the gifts and make places for us all to use our gifts. Pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, school teachers, police officers, librarians, professors, food service workers, ditch diggers, doctors, nurses, all kinds of gifts that we can honor in our midst. We all can benefit from these gifts among us and as we learn to do that we develop Unity in the Community. I value you for the characteristics God has placed in you. I value you for the gifts God has gifted you. You do the same with me. We share our diversity, we share our gifts and we honor each other because that is the way God created us to be. Now I must add one word of caution here, because I have lived through the experience I am about to share with you. I see that old familiar phrase “speaking the truth in love,” do you see it? My paternal grandmother was known as a godly woman. She had perfected a lot of what we’ve discussed here this morning. And I want you to know if she were here this morning I would tell you to LOOK OUT if she every said, “I’m just speaking the truth in love…” LOOK OUT because in the next breath she was about to rip you or someone you knew to shreds. Please don’t use this verse to defend that kind of behavior. I can assure you that is the key to a train wreck in the community. That is a way to build dis-unity in the community. Instead, let us speak the truth and show our love. Let us be bound up as one body in Christ, a diverse body, a body full of gifts and talents shared on behalf of God, on behalf of all the world. Let us honor our similarities and let us honor our differences.
In his book, Teachings on Love, Thich Nhat Hanh writes this love meditation;
May I be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit
May she be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit
May he be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit
May they be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit
And I would add;
May WE be peaceful, happy and light in body and spirit.
As we deal honestly with sin, as we honor our diversity and as we celebrate all the gifts God has placed among us. Those are today’s Keys to Godliness and those are some ways we can build Unity in the Community. God bless you. AMEN.



Psalm 51: 3 – 15

A Prayer of Repentance. The Sinner peas to the tender God to be made whole, to be a new creation.

Have mercy, tender God, forget that I defied you.
Wash away my sin, cleanse me from my guilt.
I know well, it stares me in the face, evil done to you alone before your very eyes.
How right your condemnation! Your verdict clearly just.
You see me for what I am, a sinner before my birth.

You love those centered in truth; teach me your hidden wisdom.
Wash me with fresh water, wash be bright as snow.
Fill me with happy songs, let the bones you bruised now dance.
Shut your eyes to my sin, make my guilt disappear.

Creator, reshape my heart, God, steady my spirit.
Do not cast me aside stripped of our holy spirit.
Save me, bring back my joy, support me, strengthen my will.
Then I will teach your way and sinners will turn to you.




Ephesians 4: 1 – 16

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Parent of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said,
‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people.’
(When it says, ‘He ascended’, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Filled With Spirit; Filled With Purpose
May 31, 2009
Trinity MCC, Gainesville

Introduction:
Good morning Trinity MCC in Gainesville. I am once again reminded of our beloved sister Minnie Pearl. Do you all remember the way she would walk on stage with the price tag still attached to her hat and yell at the top of her lungs, “HOW-DY, I’M JUST SO PROUD TO BE HERE!”? Well, I’m just so proud to be back here with you too. It feels right for me to be here with Rev. Vickie in a church called Trinity. And I bring you greetings from Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, our moderator, MY pastor. When she and I talked about you this week, yes, we did, she told me how much she loved you and how she enjoys coming here and so many wonderful things. She and I have many of the same opinions where you are concerned. Thank you again for your warm hospitality this weekend. You are always so good to me and I really appreciate that.

I. Filled with Spirit
a. When I was a little boy growing up in the First Baptist Church of Auburndale, Florida, most Pentecost Sunday’s our choir would sing beautifully,
“Come Holy Spirit, we need your power,
Come Holy Spirit, revive the church, today.”
Well, I’ve come to bring you some good news this morning, my sisters and brothers, the Holy Spirit has come today and every day. The Holy Spirit has come just like Jesus promised, and that same Spirit is present here in this place and in places like it all around the world at this very moment and in the moments that they will gather to worship today and yesterday and tomorrow.. That same Holy Spirit is present for two reasons. One, because we’ve invited the presence of the Spirit to be with us; and second, because that same sweet Holy Spirit is alive and well in the hearts of God’s people. That means the Holy Spirit is alive in you and me and in all of us and that when we come together the Holy Spirit is with us, in us, a part of us, a part of our very DNA because we are children of God, believers in Jesus, and that’s the way Jesus said it would be and that’s the way it is. And women, I want to make a point of including you. I want you to read back just a little ways in Acts chapter 1 when the Bible lists the people who gathered in the room. It includes a long list of male names and it also says “certain women, including Mary were there.” I still struggle that the patriarchal view of women was in full force at that point and with the fact that it’s a miracle that the women got mentioned at all. And I want to say to you that these were Powerful, Courageous, Prayerful, Committed women of God, just like you gathered here today and that when God calls, God includes you too. So happy Pentecost my brothers AND sisters. The Spirit of our living God is alive and well in all of us. We are filled with the Spirit
b. Filled with the Spirit can have many meanings
a. Signs and wonders
i. Healing
ii. Prophesy/Preaching
iii. Speaking in Tongues
iv. Being slain in or resting in the Spirit
b. Fruits of the Spirit
i. Love
ii. Joy
iii. Peace
iv. Patience
v. Kindness
vi. Goodness
vii. Faithfulness
viii. Gentleness
ix. Self-Control
c. Or that “Still small voice that whispers in our ear and communicates with our spirits when we need a word from God.


II. Filled with Purpose
a. I want us to refer back to the reading from Ezekiel now. God led the prophet Ezekiel out into a valley filled with dry bones and told Ezekiel to prophesy to them.
b. Can you imagine how strange we would feel, if, for example, God led us out to the local cemetery and told us to prophesy or preach to the bodies buried there? And that’s pretty close to what Ezekiel told God to do.
c. And Ezekiel did exactly what God asked him to do and I love the way the bible says he began to hear movement, a little speaking, a little clattering, and flesh came on those dry bones and then breath and they came to life. And hear what God said, “Oh my people, I am going to put Spirit into you and you shall not die but live and proclaim the works of the Lord.
d. Do you hear it sisters and brothers, You shall not die but live and proclaim the works of the Lord, by the power of the spirit with you.
e. That is our purpose
f. You will live out this Gospel of Love by the power of the spirit that God has placed in you.
g. We will be God’s presence in our homes, by the power of the spirit that God has placed in us.
h. We will be God’s presence in our workplaces, by the power of the Spirit of God in us
i. We will be God’s presence in our community, by the power of the Spirit God has placed in us.
j. We will be God’s presence saying NO in places like California and Florida when legalized discrimination is placed into law by the power of the Spirit God has placed in us
k. And our young men and women will dream dreams by the power of the Spirit that God has place in us.
l. And our old women and men will see visions by the power of the Spirit that God has placed in us.
m. And everyone who calls out to God will be saved!
n. Hear that, EVERYONE, who calls out to God will be saved.
o. This is God’s message to us this morning.
p. We are called to live out the message of love by the power of the Spirit that God has given us
q. We are called to be God’s people by the power of the Spirit that God has placed in us.
r. You are called, we are called, Trinity MCC is called, to live out the message of the Gospel by the power of the Spirit that God has placed in us.
Conclusion:
Theologian Miguel De La Torre says, “We must put aside definitions of success that are measured by won elections or passed legislation. Liberation and salvation are more than simply material and temporal. The struggle for justice is also spiritual and eternal. Even in failure and death, God’s spirit breathes life.”

This is the message that we have heard; that God is love and in God is no darkness at all. God is love and we are called to live in that love. The time is now. Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn says, “We cannot wait until we die to live in the kingdom of God. We must live in it now. We have to be alive to experience the kingdom of God.” I agree with him. This is our time. This is our place. This is the time in the history of our church for us to live in the kin-dom, to prophesy, to dream dreams and see visions and to live them out in the name of Jesus. Do you remember the line from the movie Auntie Mame? “Oh what times we’re going to have…..” Sisters, brothers, “Oh what times we’re going to live as we live in the light of this Spirit, the Spirit of God, that God has placed in our hearts. God bless you today.
Amen.

Ezekiel 37: 1 - 14
The hand of the LORD came upon me, and brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. God led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, you know.’ Then God said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.’ So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as the Lord commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then God said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD.’
acts 2: 1 - 21
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘People of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
“In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Rev. Jim Merritt to teach "Bad Girls of the Bible"

Monday, 20 April 2009 21:14


OdysseyChurch Teaching Pastor Rev. Jim Merritt will teach from Bad Girls of the Bible: Exploring Biblical Women of Questionable Virtue, on Sunday, April 26, at 6PM. The book, written by Rev. Barbara Essex offers an enlightened view of many of the famous women of the Hebrew Bible. Rev. Merritt says, "I love teaching this book because it frees already oppressed women from the often non-biblical stereotypes placed on them. The study is also quite fun." The book is available at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=barbara+essex.

Rev. Merritt holds the Master of Divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School. He is the 2008 recipient of the Alison B. Cheek Feminist Liberation Theology Prize. He is the Marriage Equality Coordinator for Metropolitan Community Churches' Global Justice Team. He is a committed community activist who works tirelessly for equality and justice for all people.

The evening will include music, and an open service of communion.

Come visit us at OdysseyChurch, where the journey IS better...together.

I’ve heard a lot these past two days about Miss California Carrie Prejean. I agree with most people that you can’t fault Miss California for being honest but I her answer was still poor and these are the reasons why:

1. Know Your Audience
I really like Coke but I work for Pepsi. I’m in a team building event at work and my boss calls me up and says “Everyone here wants to know, What is your favorite soft drink in the world?” I yell out, “I don’t want to offend anyone, but I love Coke.” Everyone at work admires my honesty and integrity as I am fired.
Not to be stereotypical but you work in the fashion/advertisement business. What a way to alienate prospective employers. In contrast, this is what Obama said “I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman but I detest the bashing and vilifying of gays and lesbians. Most gays and lesbians are seeking basic recognition of their rights so they’re not discriminated against in employment or renting a house, so they can see their partner in a hospital. These are rights for everybody, not just some people.” Miss California could have just cut and paste.

2. Know Your Event
Christian values? This is the Miss USA pageant not Church. You promote an unobtainable body image that leads to anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders in young girls. You set women’s rights back a hundred years by turning yourself into an object and you promote christian values while your puppies struggle to stay in your dress. Put on a polygamist cult dress when you preach about being raised right.

3. Be Humble
Even if you would have won if you would have gotten a less polarizing question, don’t come out and say you were the winner. The great Michael Jordan said “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”

And finally, a bible quote for Miss California: Psalm 149.4: For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.

New York Governor David Paterson Announces Support for Marriage Equality in the Empire State

New York Governor David Paterson announced his support for Marriage Equality in the Empire State today. Paterson introduced legislation and, while he thinks it has no promise of passing, he wants to see the legislature fight it out. This move reflects the governor’s desire to press the issue with lawmakers in Albany as in other states to move ahead with efforts to grant more civil rights to homosexuals.

“We have a duty to make sure that equality exists for everyone,” the Governor said. “We have all known the wrath of discrimination.” “We keep marching forward for justice. The more we erase discrimination, the more we find out who we are and what we are as Americans.”

“Now is the time,” said Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches, “for fair minded people of faith to step forward and support Governor Paterson’s commitment to equality for all people. We salute the governor for today’s action and we commit ourselves to supporting the passage of this legislation.”

Rev. Jim Merritt, Marriage Equality Coordinator for the denomination’s Global Justice Team said, “Now is the time for the people of New York to begin contacting their legislators by telephone, mail and email, supporting equality and justice not just for LGBTQ’s but for all people.”

We celebrate 40 years and counting...of advocacy, history, and human rights with Metropolitan Community Churches!

Reflectons on Good Friday 2009


I awakened this morning with an awareness that it was Good Friday. This is interesting to me because it usually takes a few (or several) minutes for me to ease into my day and figure out what I need to do during it. This day was not like that. With my young cat Dante on top of me as if I were his favorite nesting place, I began to wonder what I would say about this day. I wondered what it meant to me this year. I wondered what I might write here and on facebook and on www.thecommunityactivist.com and what I might send out to my friends and family.

What I settled on first was that Good Friday carries with is a strong message of love. I want to state clearly that the message I hear from scripture and as I continue to walk with God is not about how bad all of humankind and I are/were. The Bible and my experience of the Divine remind me over and over again that we are VERY good; created by God, in God's image and deeply loved by God. And therein lies the key; Good Friday is not about how bad we are. It is, rather about how good God is, about love that is all inclusive, without limitation, without boundary. Perfect love.

Good Friday also carries with it an important message for victims of oppression; Jesus knows what it feels like to be oppressed even to the point of death. Jesus knows about what goes on in our lives. I know some of us continue to live under the scourge of oppression on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and economic status (just to name a few) every day of our lives.

What is good for us on Good Friday is the fact that we know the rest of the story. Jesus dies today under the extreme oppression of political leaders who feared loss of power and influence. Jesus suffers the full impact of oppression. And I remember many years ago hearing Tony Campolo preach his famous message, "It's Friday, (and) Sunday's Coming."

My sisters and brothers, today it is Friday and we all feel the sickness in our stomachs and in our spirits about what Jesus endured. AND, Sunday is coming. Some of us are living in a Friday kind of world AND Sunday is coming. Some us live under oppression AND Sunday's coming. Some of us suffer discrimination AND Sunday's coming. Some of us live as victims AND Sunday's coming. Jesus died today AND Sunday's coming. And maybe you feel like you're dying today, too. AND your Sunday is coming, too, in the name of Jesus, our God who says that you ARE not just good, but that you are VERY GOOD.

Brothers, Sisters, I share with you the impact of this powerful Friday in light of the fact that I know for you and for me, Sunday IS coming.

Good Friday blessings on you and yours.

Rev. Jim Merritt Teaching Pastor OdysseyChurch
www.odysseychurch.org

IOWA SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN GAY MARRIAGE BAN CALLING IT “UNCONSTITUTIONAL”



Heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to the people of Iowa on this significant day when the cause of Equality and Justice for all has taken a step forward in the State of Iowa. The Associated Press reports states, “In a unanimous ruling issued Friday, the court upheld a 2007 Polk County District Court judge's ruling that the law was unconstitutional.” For the full story, follow this link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30027685/from/ET/

“Today we won a battle and now we celebrate our victory. Tomorrow we will rise again and continue our struggle until justice and equality prevail for all of us,” says Metropolitan Community Church Moderator The Reverend Elder Nancy Wilson, “Momentum, time and the arc of history and hope are in our favor.”

Yesterday I asked us to take a moment to pray for Iowa. This morning I ask you to take another moment and this time, to be very thankful.

Palm Sunday and Holy Week blessings to you all.



Rev. Jim Merritt

www.thecommunityactivist.com

"Always Keeping it Real"



OdysseyChurch - Jacksonville, Florida

Teaching/Associate Pastor

"The journey is better...together!"



Marriage Equality Coordinator for MCC's Global Justice Team



Candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree - Episcopal Divinity School