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| My Sheep Hear My Voice |  |  |  |
| This sermon was delivered by Rev. Nancy L. Wilson, on April 29, 2007, in Kingston, Jamaica at Sunshine Cathedral Metropolitan Community Church of Jamaica. Gospel of John 10:22-30 Remarks by Rev. Nancy Wilson: Just recently, our LGBT and MCC friends in Moldova, in Eastern Europe, celebrated their very first public Pride event, in an effort to make Moldova safer and more hospitable to an emerging gay community there. I also know the day will come that there will be an open Pride event here in Jamaica, and that as you have the courage to come out and be visible, the truth will set you free! I am humbled to be with you, because I live in a place of safety in Sarasota, Florida, a city that has a human rights ordinance that protects our community. I do not have to worry every day if a mob might attack me at a drug store or at a funeral service in a church, or in my own home. As we increasingly become a global movement, we see that within MCC we live in very different circumstances, in many different places, with so many different challenges to face. The important thing is that we are not facing them alone. My spouse, Paula, and I have been so touched by your hospitality, your stories and the way your have taken us into your hearts and lives. I love the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John, as it is rich with images and words that are full of life. It brings to mind that old hymn that says, "Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life!" In this passage of scripture, Jesus speaks of himself as the "door of the sheep." He talks about the thief, and about thieves and "hirelings," who are failed shepherds. This passage recalls the prophet Ezekiel who railed against the bad shepherds, who cared nothing for the sheep, but who devoured them. Those "shepherds" were religious leaders, who only cared about their positions, who did not care about the people. Ezekiel says that God will come down from heaven and be their shepherd -- this is what we Christians believe happened in Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who would lay down his life for his sheep. Did you know that Jesus would lay down his life for you? For homosexuals? For gay men and lesbians? For drag queens? For transgender people? Jesus never got angry at those whom others called "sinners," at the poor and the outcast. But he did get angry at religious people whose self-righteousness got in the way of God's good news. Did you know that Jesus saved his harshest comments for proper, upstanding, religious people? And he loved being with people that other people thought God had forgotten or rejected. Jesus was the kind of shepherd who didn't want to lose even one sheep! In the passage we read today, Jesus says three things: First, Jesus says: "My sheep hear my voice." Did you know you can hear God's voice on a frequency meant just for you? Did you know you can tune in, and God will be on the right channel, at the right moment? What a great thing it is, that even if our families throw us away, or if the church turns its back on us, or when it seems as though we have no rights, no hope, God is always trying to reach us, to reach out to us. God's voice is the one that sounds out love. Did you know that if it is not love, it is not God? Sometimes God seems so far away, and we may be afraid we will never hear God's voice again, but that is not true! Today, you can hear God's voice - in the music, and in the words and in the prayers and in the silence! We worship together and meet together, because we know God will speak here, among us. This is also true: Some of us have been afraid to listen for the voice of God, we've been afraid it would be full of judgment or hate; or we thought that God would ask us to do something we cannot do - like give up who we are. But God made you, and God is not a sadist or a monster who would create you with feelings and desires and a sexual orientation that God meant for you never to experience! Don't forget that sexuality is God's idea. God made people of all different colors, speaking many different languages, and sexuality is just one more way that God made creation varied and diverse and beautiful. It is God, and Jesus Christ, who can heal us of unnecessary shame and guilt and fear. You can believe today that God will speak through your sisters and brothers, through this worship service. So, draw near today, to the Good Shepherd, and that Voice that leads us homeward! This is the very same voice that Jesus talked about, that he lived, died and rose to make real for us. Second, Jesus says, "And I know them." What a miracle, to really believe that God knows us, through and through. It is a wonderful thing to be known. What would it mean for our lives, for our community, if we really believed that "the One who knows us best loves us most?" I have known my partner, Paula Schoenwether, for a long time - for 30 years, in fact. And sometimes we can read each others thoughts, and even finish each other's sentences. (Though, I should note, Paula does not like me to do that!) And as well and as long as we have known each other, there is still the mystery of the "other." She still surprises me at times, there is always more to know, especially when we love someone deeply. As human beings, we are finite and limited in what we can know, even those of us who are the most brilliant! But the Bible says that God knows the number of hairs on our head, and the number of our days on this earth, and all the secrets of our hearts. An old prayer says God is the One "from Whom no secrets are hid." The philosopher Kierkegaard said that if we could know everything about another person, their hopes and dreams, their sorrows, their losses, their fears and yearnings, all about them, we could not help but love them to death. I don't know about you, but when I hear that, I can think of some people, who off the top of my head, I think I could not love even if I knew them all that well. But the point is, I don't know all about them. Maybe if I did, I could really love them, even unto death. This is how God loves us: completely, absolutely, unconditionally. Maybe you felt that at one time, but now feel as though you've lost contact with that God. Or, maybe you have yet to touch that Divine Heart that offers love and complete acceptance today. Now is the time! Let yourself know the God who knows you, who loves you completely, and who will heal the things that feel broken, lost or unmanageable. Let yourself fall into the arms of this loving Shepherd who risks it all for us, especially those of us who are marginalized, or who feel overwhelmed by life's challenges. And finally, Jesus says: "And they follow me." Truly, this is all the definition of being a Christian we need, is it not? To follow Jesus, to follow that Voice of Love and Justice and Hope. One of my favorite theologians, Georgia Harkness, wrote, "It is easier to praise Jesus than to follow Him." Some churches do a whole lot of praising, but not following! Just the commandment to love one another as Jesus loved us, is a stumbling block for the Church at times. To follow Jesus is to risk. It is to risk blending our voices with the Heavenly Voice, to risk our reputation, our safety, even our lives. As you risk just to be present here today, in this worship service, that's what it means to follow Jesus, "to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause!" There is no cause more heavenly than creating the space and opportunity for people to reconcile with God, to heal their broken hearts, their emotional, psychic and political wounds, to heal from hurtful words and gestures and laws. To change the Church, to change our communities and our world! To follow Jesus means to find the people in our day that the Church says God can't love, and to love them, and be loved by them! It is to learn to turn the other cheek, to bless and not curse, to love and love and love some more. I am inspired by you, Metropolitan Community Church in Jamaica. I hear God's voice in you today. I see Jesus in your faces, in your smiles, in your tears and your questions, in your men and women, in your children, and in your families. God is doing a new thing here in Jamaica, make no mistake about it. In fact, it is time to shout about it, and proclaim it, and believe it. We are the people of God! We are the people of God! We are the sheep of God's pasture, we are the ones Jesus came for, we are the ones the Spirit fills and sets on fire with love and power! I love the Jesus in John 10 who says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand." Hear the strength and power of those words today, and hold them in your heart. We have been given the gift of eternal life, which begins today, right here and now, and no one, not any church, or law or state, or mob or person, can "snatch us out of the hand" of our Beloved, of our God. That is the truth that sets us free today! Amen.
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