Proper 16 B + Where else would I go? + 8.25.24

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Saints, Oxnard

(1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69)

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. … Does this offend you? (John 6:56, 61).”

There is something very scandalous about eating the flesh and blood of Jesus, even if it is “just” spiritual. Dr. Peter Carlson points out that in John, bodies and enfleshment are important. In embracing receiving Jesus’ body and blood in a spiritual form, our bodies are made holy too. And yet, getting overly literal about this passage does lead to a sort of spiritual cannibalism. Which can be, as the disciples say, a “difficult teaching.” Understatement of the century! And yet, where else can we go? As Peter says so eloquently, “Lord, to whom can we go? (John 5:68b).”

Does this offend you? Many queer folks are used to giving offense from time to time. Christian and out Lesbian Musician Marsha Stevens-Pino tells a story about her song “Where else would I go?” She was a founding member of the Children of the Day, one of the first Christian praise groups of the 1970s. And then she came out as a lesbian and was painfully rejected by the community she knew and loved. And yet, she felt strongly that God was calling her to minister through her music, not in spite of her identity, but because of it, because she was both a lesbian and a woman of faith. Our own Don Pederson supported her as she restarted her music career via the Metropolitan Community Church.

Her song begins thus:

“Sometimes I forget how much

You changed me with a single touch

And when I start remembering

I see your eyes

And then I see the differences

In my two lives

And suddenly I cry

Oh Lord, where else would I go?

If I sought to leave your path behind?
If I look around, see the hate abound

No one else would take the time to find me

No there’s nowhere else to go.” (Marsha Stevens-Pino, “Where Else Would I Go?” From Is this the Real You? 2020)

I resonate with this when I go to Pride every year. At both the Oxnard and Ventura festivals, we put together our booth to share God’s love. And every time, there is someone who has felt hurt and rejected, either by the church or their family, or both. Last Saturday, the time I was there was pretty low key but with a lot of great interactions, and then a young woman came by the booth with her friend. Pretty soon we learned that she was traveling back home to the South where her father works in a conservative Christian ministry and where she belongs to a fundamentalist church. She knows her family loves her, but she began to express her anxiety at returning home to a place where she might be judged for being queer. Jordan from St Paul’s asked if we could pray with her, and we did, and it felt like a blessing. I also took down her email to send a reference for an Episcopal church in her hometown that was inclusive, and I thought about sending her off with the armor of God to protect her both within her hometown and within the worshipping community that she may be interfacing with upon her arrival home.

In today’s passage from Ephesians, we hear about the armor of God, that we are to take up so that we can withstand evil and stand firm. But interestingly, this not physical armor. Pastor Alene pointed out that in this passage all the pieces of armor are defensive, even in the metaphorical sense, except the sword, which is for the gospel, which is for Peace! So, we are to be defended by our faith. But how do you give someone a defense when their faith can be the source of attack?
At Pride, we handed out Anglican rosaries lovingly handcrafted by the Larkins, Fr Greg and his wife Nancy, adorned in rainbow colors. Some of the chunkier and colorful ones also, as Peter astutely pointed out, potentially doubled as a drag queen’s pearls! And we also handed out Alene’s information sheet about how to read the Bible in an inclusive way. We do not give these tools to be weapons. Those of us who have tried to argue with others about our interpretation of the scripture know that goes sideways fast. They are meant to provide defense and support. As Alene put it, and as much as I enjoy boots, she said that metaphorically we go into this spiritual battle not with combat boots, but with whatever footwear will prepare the way of peace.

How can you put on the armor of God today? Will you take in the scandalous body and blood of Christ, and allow him to strengthen you for the battles of this earthly life? Will you trust in him even when the world wants to pull you away from the love of God? Let us trust in the one who gives the words of eternal life.
Let me close by playing “Where else would I go?” By Marsha Stevens-Pino.

(Amen).

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