On Sunday March 22nd our United Church of Canada family celebrated official designation as an Affirming Ministry with Affirm United. We have worked hard with our church family on what it means to walk with the marginalized in the Spirit of Jesus. Our new mission statement we embraced back in Nov 2014 states the following:
As the opening words of our United Church creed says: “We are not alone, we live in God’s world…”
At Dunbarton-Fairport United Church we promise to :
• Be open to all people.
• Welcome you regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, differing attributes and abilities both physical and mental, cultural identity, economic circumstance.
• Continue to be challenged to greater inclusion and justice seeking for all of God’s creation.
• Encourage all as disciples to respond to the needs of the wider community and the world with both Christian service and witness.
Our Affirming celebration was incredible from the gospel reading of the Samaritan woman in three parts (our Jesus was black), to our guest preacher Ruth who is transgender and leads a congregation, to the Spirit Movers who are a liturgical dance group of able and differently able bodied dancers from the L’Arche movement, to the creative hands of children drawing faces on rainbow people. It was a celebration of diversity and love and promise.
Then came Monday…the next day. And I thought “wasn’t yesterday great…now how do we continue to move beyond the festivities and go forward with what needs to be done? How do I move beyond the joy and love of yesterday to continue to move into the stories of pain and the real work to be done?” The goal was not the certificate…rather to live into the Mission Statement.
I can’t even begin to think of what the day after the parade must have been like for Jesus. From a festive gathering of disciples and followers and people getting swept up in a sort of a parade to the stark reality that he was not about the parade and the Hosannahs. He was about setting his eyes on Roman power and staring them in the face and speaking truth to Empire. I wonder if when they looked back at him the authorities could see the faces of those who Jesus ministered to in his eyes .
Mondays are a reality check from the Sunday celebration. How do we move from our church space, our comfort zones out into the world to speak truth to power, to the Roman Empire in our midst? Do we carry the faces of the marginalized in our eyes? Do we in the midst of fatigue, critique, our own pain find a way to take the path when the parade has packed up and gone home?
This past week we watched Jesus Christ Superstar with our confirmation group. One of the great musical moments among many in the movement was when the disciples dancing wildly sang “When do we ride into Jerusalem?” They believed they were going to overthrow the Roman Empire and take power and get glory rather than being the ones stepped upon. Jesus turns to them and tenderly sings back to them pleading “Understand what power is…understand what glory is!
It is not about the parade…it was always about God’s love for the marginalized. This is why we can’t let go of the story at the parade…the real work is yet to be done…the work of God’s love for everyone. And yes it is Monday and we are tired…but set our eyes on the day and see God’s people to be loved. And so I offer this prayer…
O God of waving palms and songs that stir,
we know what must be done, but our bodies get tired.
May we draw strength from those parades of love,
moving forward with the compassionate eyes of Jesus
always ready to love and be loved. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen
