Standing still and standing up

I typically enjoy looking at my Facebook memories each day.

It’s fun to see photos of the boys when they were younger, or to remember fun things we have done.

Sometimes though when the memories are hard ones, like when Aaron was so sick, looking back is hard.

Sometimes I see something that I said that meant something profound at the time and means something even more profound today.

That’s what happened to me today.

The memory that came up referenced a Bible verse from a sermon that morning. One I needed to hear at the time, even though it wasn’t one I wanted to hear. The Bible verse was Jeremiah 29:5-7. Verses 5 and 7 read:

“Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce… Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.”

That passage was relevant to me at the time because I was in a place in my career where I didn’t want to be anymore, but God kept closing doors that I needed to pass through to go elsewhere.

That passage is relevant today because the Methodist Church at large has shown itself to be a place different than what I thought it was. Less than I thought it was. And my immediate instinct based on that is to pack up my toys and go home, and to take my LGBTQ+ child with me.

What keeps me from doing that is that every day this week I have watched my pastor and other leaders and members within my church pull together to figure out the best way to be the church that we have always been. Which is inclusive, and loving, and welcoming, and affirming to all.  A church that celebrates all people regardless of their race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, gender orientation, gender identity, addiction or mental health history. A church that truly lives out the commandments Jesus has said to us are the most important of all: Love God and Love People. 

This behavior and activity isn’t new to this week. I have felt that from the time I first walked through the doors of this church two years ago. I saw it when my child came out as gay and was supported and celebrated for who he is.

I saw it when young people struggling with addiction and mental illness stood before our church and shared their struggles and their hearts.

I saw it when our church started a ministry to the family and members of the LGBTQ+ community, long before the actions of this week occurred.

I have seen that same love and statement within other Methodist churches in the area, and it gives me hope for the future of this church and these people, regardless of what the decisions on Monday and Tuesday indicate to the contrary.

I know that sometimes God has to burn things down before they can be built back up in the way they need to be built. I know that God brings beautiful flowers out of dust. I have seen that in my own life and I fully believe I will see that in this church.

So I will choose to build my house in this church and live in it. I will plant gardens and eat the produce. And I will seek the welfare of the city where God has sent me and my family, even though it feels a bit like an exile right now. I will pray to the Lord on behalf of this church and this community. Because I know that in its welfare, I will have welfare.

Friends, do not be discouraged. God is in this. And God is greater than what has happened this week. Our church is greater than what has happened this week. We will grow stronger because of this, of this I have no doubt. And we will touch people more than we ever could have imagined before.

We are offering LGBTQ+ Ally training this weekend for our church leadership and educational leadership. This is something that was planned long before the events of this week in the general conference, and that timing is not lost on me.

As I was confirming someone’s presence this morning, she told me that it was going to count as her church for the day. I told her that was appropriate, because this work? Loving people the world deems unlovable? That’s the real church.  The rest is just form and ritual and words.

Come back to life. Inhale restoration. Be done with heavy tombstones. The mystery is not in what is lost but in what remains. Resurrection is a birth story.

Let us build our houses and live in them. Let us plant gardens and eat the produce. Let us seek the welfare of this church and this community.

Let us be the church Jesus commands us to be.

Let us stand still.

Let us stand up.

For justice and for love.

Because if we don't, who will?