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Sermon June 6, 2021
Miguel Gonzales
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 6, Track 2
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp6_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__June_13__2021
Video: https://youtu.be/lI9XNFzjKe0
‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
Today's lesson provides us with two parables. They are both like the parable of the Sower and The Seed. I would like to focus on the first, that of the secret seed, which is unique to the Gospel of Mark. As we are in the season of Pentecost and the season of spring and summer, we hear stories about farming, growth, and Godly gifts. A few weeks ago, we heard about the Holy Spirit filling up a group of foreigners with the ability to understand one another. Today, we hear Jesus talking in parables that may seem confusing. I think that is the point of these parables, God wants us to take away that which benefits our gifts, because we are all special, we are all God's creation.
In the secret seed parable, we hear about the farmer who scatters the seed. They trust that God will provide. I think they are talking about FAITH, which is a beautiful gift to have. It is innocence. It is simplicity. It is absolute trust in God. However, this farmer is not acting just on blind faith but also years of experience in their craft. The farmer has a green thumb, another incredibly special gift. They are watering, weeding, tilling, caring for this harvest which will provide sustenance to both people and animals as well as provide shelter and economy. During this period, early farmers used every bit of the harvest, not just for food, but for manufacturing as well. They would collect the byproduct of the grain, the chaff, and use that in making mudbricks and pottery. They were, unbeknownst to them, the pioneers in sustainability. They used the gifts God has provided to better their world.
I would like to now if I may turn to these gifts the farmer has: Faith and the Green Thumb. We are all blessed with a gift or gifts. And it is easy for us to accept our gifts. Maybe you call them your professional strengths and you learn to leverage that strength to advance your career. Maybe you hone your craft as an artist to push the boundaries of your art. They are all uniquely beautiful because that's part of God's plan for you. But how easy is it for us to accept the gifts of others? Our godly gifts should be treasured. They should be in a lifelong discernment & just like the businessperson, your gifts should be leveraged for the kingdom of God. Our society has engrained labels on us that no longer work for everyone. We are taught to optimize our strengths and improve our areas of opportunity. We have been forced to fit into a round hole. The issue, today, is that some of us will never fit through that round hole. We are squares while others are hexagons; what I mean is that the labels we grew up trying to fit, do not fit the person God has created. Some of us will never fit that model, but that does not make us less valuable, less worthy of God’s love. Our shapes serve a purpose. How easy is it for us to accept those who do not fit the hetero normative lives we have been taught to see as normal? Do we look to see how that person’s gifts benefits us or do we accept who that person is because they are a child of God? Sine we are all, children of God with gifts bestowed on us by God, shouldn’t acceptance be a natural and easy part of being Christian. And yet, here we are 52 years after the Stonewall Riots, asking to be accepted as part of society, to be part of your world. Here we are 52 years later, fighting for our Trans children to be allowed to play in high school sports with other boys and girls, because that’s how God made them.
Like the farmer, we too have a gift. We are all God’s children. When we meet strangers, look for the beauty in them. That is the gift God wants them to share with the world. Even if it does not fit our agenda, because the kingdom of God is scattered seed. We are wildflowers growing next to each other. We are after all part of one holy catholic church.
My husband and I plant a bed of Giant Benary zinnias in our front yard every year. At first, it was not my thing. I prefer one huge mass of color. For me, one large grouping creates a pop, it forces me to marvel at how God has created these beautiful flowers and it pleases me to see them in a massive display: a splash of purple tulips announcing spring, a bust of pink when the peonies bloom around Memorial Day, and a sea of blue and white hydrangeas throughout the summer which fill my home with glorious bouquets. But this bed of zinnias in various colors is special, it reminds me that all flowers are special, that all life has value. That bed of zinnias could easily represent us here today; a mix of people with different gifts who work together with God’s help to create something beautiful. It reminds me of the 1973 musical Godspell, which tells the parables through music. My personal favorite happens to be the Sower and the Seed and the song All Good Gifts, because the first time I performed this show, I sang this song. The song & parable reminds us to be grateful for all the gifts which God has provided. The gifts which you bring to his kingdom and those which the stranger will bring.
The farmer from our lesson has a harvest season where they can enjoy the fruits of their labor. For the LGBTQ community, we have June, where we celebrate Pride month, this is our season. It is important that we recognize the gifts of our early pioneers; gifts which came from Drag Queens and Trans Women. They were blessed with a special gift: courage. The courage to fight for justice. In 1969 it was illegal for men and women who identified as gay to congregate and the police, those who are supposed to protect and serve, targeted us. Marsha P Johnson was a trans woman who was brave enough to fight for justice. God blessed her with courage to fight for herself and for those of us that came after. I imagine that if she were alive today, we would take a collection to bail her out, because as the late Father Peters preached, Martha got into good trouble. Even if we do not understand drag queens or trans people, we are still supposed to love them, because they are children of God and the kingdom of heaven will be a sea of wildflowers next to a sea of blue hydrangeas. Beauty is found in all of us.
I am humbled to walk into a church where the flag that represents my queerness is welcomed. For myself and for others who identify as queer, we are welcomed here as children of God. So many of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters run away from the church because for so many years, they have been told that they were not welcomed; that they were not living as God intended. I am truly blessed that my godparents, who raised me, appreciated the wildflowers as much as the hydrangeas. Continue to pray for those children whose parents do not yet see the beauty in who God made their children to be. Pray that they find a chosen family who welcomes them and saves them just as they are. Pray for our youth, the future of our church, that they are loved so that they do not become a statistic. Pray that they never think something is the matter with them. According to Trevor Project, suicide attempts by LGB youth are almost five times higher than their heterosexual counterparts. As Christians, we should continue to spread love and acceptance of all of God’s children; we are all part of His plan. We all deserve to love and be loved.
In 1986, lyricist Howard Ashman wrote the song “Part of Your World” for the Disney classic, The Little Mermaid. At the beginning of the song, Ariel asks herself “Maybe he’s right. Maybe there is something the matter with me. I just don’t see how a world that makes beautiful things could be bad.” Howard Ashman used his gift to not only inspire audiences, but also speak his truth. The song is an allegory for the LGBTQ community who continues to this day to look for a community of acceptance and a place in which they feel they belong. If we do not achieve that community in this life, God will provide that in his Kingdom, where scattered seed has value. Finally, a place where we can be “Part of Your World”.
Amen.
