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“Free At Last”
John 8:31-38
A sermon preached by the Rev. Douglas
M. Donley
Coming Out Sunday
This past week or so, I have been mulling over in my
mind about what to say to all of you on this coming out day. We all know of all of the statistics. We know how many people die as a result of
hate crimes. We already know of the
people who die at their own hands because religion has taught them that they
are sinful and beyond redemption because of their sexual orientation. We already know about how the Bible says
nothing about homosexuality as we know it today and a whole lot about loving
those who are outcast.
We know all of that.
And so we are here on Coming Out day, buoyed by a wonderful choir of out
glbt sisters and brothers. And we are
here to say that God loves her gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
children. And we are not afraid to say
it. We are proud to say it. You can see, you can hear and you can feel
the freedom that is here in this room.
It is palpable. And it is
liberating.
God does not want us to live lives scared and locked in
closets. God wants us set free so that
we can live and breathe and imagine a new life together. We can imagine a world where the wolf lies
down with the lamb and the fatling and the calf together. Where nation does not
lift up sword against nation. And
neither do they study war anymore.
And I am not only talking about physical wars. I am also talking about spiritual wars. Wars for the souls of people too afraid to
love themselves because of half-truths that have been thrust upon them by well
meaning, but misguided people.
I have told you before about the quote I used to have as
my screen saver:
“From the cowardice of resisting new
truth,
From the laziness of being satisfied with half truth.
From the arrogance of thinking we
know all truth,
Deliver us o God.”
Many of us exist in closets of some kind. We retreat to
the safe, known world with confining walls as a form of short-term survival.
For many, it works for a while. But at some point, we need to break free from
all that binds us. That's what coming out means. It means setting yourself
free. It also means giving someone else the gift of seeing who we truly are.
Jesus said in today’s scripture,
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” The 8th chapter of John’s gospel
opens with that horrible story of the woman accused of adultery and the angry
mob that is about to inflict the death penalty on her. Jesus scribbles in the sand and says the
truth to those self-righteous would-be executioners, “Whoever is without sin
let them cast the first stone.” Of
course, they all dropped their stones and walked away. Jesus spoke the truth and set free the woman
accused of adultery. I say accused of
adultery instead of caught in adultery because all we really know is that she
was accused. We also know that the truth
set her free. Jesus asked her, “where
are your accusers now?” She answered,
“why, none stand accusing me.” Jesus
then replied, “then I don’t accuse you either.
Go your way and sin no more.” He
was talking to all of us. Don’t sin by
thinking we know all truth or even being satisfied with half-truth. Don’t sin by resisting new truth. But seek the truth and in that search you
will be set free.
A dozen years ago, on October 11th,
my sister came out to me. I was the safe
one since I had already been an activist for the GLBT liberation movement. A year later, she came out to the rest of the
family and it seemed like a huge burden was lifted from her shoulders. It wasn’t easy for all of us to hear those
words. But I am so thankful that she
trusted us enough to let us in to her life.
Coming out day does not only need to
be about revealing one’s sexual orientation.
It’s about knowing the truth and being set free by the truth. It’s about having a conviction and living by
it. It’s about knowing the truth and
being set free as you embrace that truth.
The truth is that God loves all
people.
The truth is that love is stronger than hate.
The truth is that when people have
set themselves free, they find new truth.
My sister was scared to death when
she first came out. Now it’s no big deal
and she tells me I can tell anybody I want.
You’re included in that crowd.
Freedom has benefits as well as its costs.
When one comes out of the closet,
there are the possibility of lost relationships.
There is the rage of closed-minded
family members and co-workers.
There is a leap of faith from a
known world to an unknown world.
There is the possible abuse by an
intolerant society and an unaccepting church.
On the other hand, consider the advantages:
The freedom to be who you are.
The freedom to no longer have to
compartmentalize your life.
The freedom to grow and to be known
for who you are and not simply for your mask.
The fact is that with the more
people who come out, the less power the forces of intolerance have. Look at the popular culture. When Ellen made her announcement on national
television a few years back, there were disclaimers on the broadcast, “This
program deals with adult content, viewer discretion is advised.” Now we have “Will & Grace”, “Queer Eye
for the Straight Guy”, the Log Cabin Republicans have some political clout, One
Voice Mixed Chorus and the Gay Men’s Chorus perform to rave reviews and there
are more churches in the Twin Cities that are Welcoming and Affirming or Open
and Affirming, or Reconciling, or More Light than you can count on your fingers
and toes. This movement is going places.
And you can be free to be who you
are, love as you will and share yourself fully with other people.
When you come out, you give people a
gift. You are the gift.
But what do you do when the world
does not welcome you?
You know, we have a president who
just signed a statement that called for this week to be marriage protection
week. The words he chose were very
careful. He talked about how a healthy
marriage raises the best children. How
his tax package eliminates the marriage penalty. How we need to treat everyone with dignity
and respect. This is all well and
good. But you know, it just sounds like
a thinly veiled attack on nontraditional families. The fact that he declares this week as
Marriage protection week the day after National Coming Out Day sounds a bit
suspicious.
But this is not just a Republican problem, lest you
think I am being too partisan in this sermon.
We are commemorating the 10th anniversary of the “don’t ask,
don’t tell” military policy of the
As many of you know, I have been very involved with an organization called Soulforce. This interfaith movement is committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The means and method of this movement is nonviolence as taught by Jesus and refined by the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King Jr.
This weekend, Soulforce is in
What do you do when it seems the
world is turning against you? Three
things:
1.
Know
your truth and be set free by it.
2.
Know
that Jesus doesn’t accuse you of the things that the closed-minded seek to
condemn.
3.
Cling
to a community that can keep showing you the truth and keep setting you free.
That’s what the church is and can be and should be for
all of God’s people.
A place where people are set free to be who they
are.
A place where people are not afraid to love.
A place of sanctuary, an asylum from the seething hatred
that is out there.
And most of all a place of shalom, peace, a place where
we can garner all of the powers of resistance that we can muster.
A place where we know that we shall not give up the
fight because we have only started.
A place where we can show God’s love to all people and
witness to the wonderful creativity that is relationship.
When we do all of that, then we can sing like Martin
told us at the end of his Dream speech of 40 years ago, “free at last, free at
last, thank God almighty we’re free at last.”