God is queer. God’s original pronouns are we / they. Genesis 1:26 states that God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness. God incarnates in Jesus a female wisdom in a male logos.
Most historic, mainstream Christian churches in the United States of America by now should be experts in conducting hybrid or multimodal worship services, but, surprisingly, they are not. Some of them were already good at recording and posting or even livestreaming their worship services before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The rest of those churches had the opportunity to learn and develop the art of online worship during the two years COVID kept most churches shut down.
When preachers have read and proclaimed the same texts over and over, preaching the same lectionary for several cycles over the years, we reach a point in which we yearn to find new messages in the same ancient texts.
It’s that time of year. The officer nominating committee has met (repeatedly), the congregational meeting has been held, and newly elected elders are poised to be trained and ordained. At my smallish church, we maintain a session of eight or nine ruling elders, so our slate of nominations often includes both those previously ordained and one “newbie.”
About two years ago, I got ordained. My ordination service happened in the height of COVID. Everything was on Zoom. It was all women. When I say all women, I mean like, only women. Women were the elders. Women were the musicians. We had somebody who was dancing as a part of it. The leader and preacher were women. I gathered all of the women from the classis as ministers of Word and Sacrament.
Friends, this morning, I have a question for you:
What emotions come up for you when you have to ask for help?
Do you feel embarrassed? Nervous? Excited? Guilty? All of these emotions are real!
The Scripture lesson today comes from the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verses 9 through 18. Much of this reading has ties to agriculture, and like I tell everyone, you can always relate anything back to agriculture because it is involved in everything that we do. I chose this Scripture because my interests and career path help me to hear the good news in it.
After Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, a crowd followed him. They saw how he helped the sick. He performed miracles. Jesus went on top of a mountain and sat down with his disciples. He looked up and saw a huge crowd coming towards him, and the first thing he said was, “How are we going to feed this crowd!?” This shows that Jesus cared.
I preach every Sunday, but somehow on the first Sunday of the month, preaching takes a back seat to the proclamation that is the Eucharist. Yes, the Eucharist is a response to the Word, but the Eucharist reshapes the service, pulling itself to the center, even though it takes place nearly at the end. I have always had a sense that the saints who have gone before us come to partake with us at the table.
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