Rev. Kevin M. Pleas

Exodus 20:8-11 November 1, 2009

Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work - you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

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When I first planned out what I wanted to say today, I had in mind continuing the series I've been working on. "The Practice of Saying No" is yet another chapter of Barbara Brown Taylor's wonderful book, An Altar in the World. I love the case she builds, that spirituality is the stuff of the whole of our lives and not just what happens at church. Which is not to say that what happens here isn't important, but if God truly is everywhere then the whole idea of a split between the sacred and the secular doesn't really make much sense. We already know that's true, but it's still good to be reminded.

If I can give you a thumbnail sketch of the point she makes in the current chapter, it is that saying no is a Sabbath discipline. According to the creation stories in Genesis, God worked for six days and at the end of each day said that what he had created was "good." But on the seventh day God rested, and God said not that the resting was good, but that it was "holy." The quote is, "God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation." (Genesis 2:3) For us, to practice the resting of Sabbath, therefore, is to participate in God's holiness. And doing that, Taylor says, is largely a matter of saying no to all the things that clamor for our attention day in and day out.

It is very important, I think, for us to find ways to turn off the noise and confusion in our lives in order to find our center in God. Taylor makes a very good point. One we all need to hear since hardly any of us do it very well. As much as we need Sabbath though, that isn't what's really on my mind this morning. You know what they say about the best laid plans. Jesus was talking about the Spirit of God when he said "the wind blows where it chooses." Every once in awhile I get up Sunday morning and find the Spirit blowing in a different direction than the one I had planned on.

In the ministry we sometimes say that we should preach whatever "the Lord lays on our hearts." In the last two weeks, I've found my heart almost completely wrapped up in the upcoming vote on Marriage Equality. I know that you know this is a very personal issue for me. It strikes right to the heart of my own family, so I'm hardly unbiased. In the interests of not being too "political" in my preaching, I've been very intentional about staying away from the subject. But this last week I had an experience that made me change my mind and I want to share with you what happened.

It started a couple of weeks ago. As some of you know, my wife Pam is now working at the high school as the "School to Career Coordinator," for the Midcoast School of Technology in Rockland. One of the duties she's taken on at work is to be one of two people leading the Diversity Club after school. The club recently decided that they wanted to invite a speaker in to talk about the No on 1 campaign. As a club, this was entirely within their rights, but when word got out it was blown completely out of proportion. One of the parents called the local press and told them the entire student body was being subjected to a mandatory after school assembly for the purpose of convincing them to support the No on 1 campaign. The morning the club meeting was to take place, the principal received calls from the press asking when the assembly was happening so they could attend. The upshot was that the speaker was cancelled and the club had to fall back and regroup.

It was decided that the Diversity club could still have people come to speak on the topic as long as the presentation was balanced. A lawyer from Damariscotta was invited to come speak on the Yes side. He agreed, saying he would be making his arguments from the standpoint of his faith. At that point, Pam called me and asked if I would speak on the No side, also based on my faith. When we finally got down to it, this last Wednesday, only three students showed up, of which one had to leave after about ten minutes. There were also three teachers, Pam, the lawyer, myself and, significantly, no press.

Now folks, I know most of you have already made up your minds about this issue. I'm certainly not trying to tell any of you how to vote. I trust you to follow your conscience and do what you believe is right. Since this is sort of last minute, what I thought I would do is make myself available in the Mayflower Room after church if anyone would like to talk specifically about how the conversation went. For now, let me just say that he made his case and I made mine and then we opened it up for questions. And that's when it really got interesting.

The kids had two questions for us, but they were really asking the same question in two different ways. I can't quote them exactly, but the gist of it was this, "Can you explain to us why you think the church should have any say in this? Why should we base our decisions about what is essentially a private matter on what the church thinks?" Both of the students directed their questions at the Lawyer, which was interesting all by itself. He said something about God's role in creation and what the Bible had to say on the subject, which, by the way, I completely disagree with. Then there were thank-you's all around and the students left, leaving the six adults behind.

After the students had gone, I made the comment that I found their questions interesting. I said that for people in that age group to be asking why they should pay any attention at all to what the church has to say is a good indication of how marginalized the church has become in our society. And that's when the lawyer turned to me and said, essentially, that the church has become marginalized in our society and it's because of people who think like we do.

At the time, I just sat there a bit stunned thinking, "Did he really just say that?" But I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. There are lots of people who believe that homosexuals and their liberal minded supporters - like me - are to blame for the breakdown of western civilization. It's part of a long-standing, time-honored tradition. AIDS breaks out, blame the gays. The twin towers are taken down, blame the lesbians. Katrina blows New Orleans away, blame the liberals. You know, even if we were to blame, which is just hog wash, doesn't it seem like all the people who think of themselves as the only true Christians would be at least somewhat inclined to love their enemies? Seems to me Jesus was pretty clear on that subject.

But, I understand. Loving your enemies is particularly difficult if the faith you're wrapped up in is based on fear. A good bit of the church has been behaving as though they have to hold the line against the end of the world. They've gotten into the habit of seeing the enemies of God behind every bush. They believe they are an embattled minority, holding on for dear life against the servants of evil. I get it. I think it's sad, but I do get it. And part of what I get is that the kids are getting it too. Many of them have come to the conclusion that fear, arrogance, intolerance and self-righteousness are what the church is all about. A narrow minded homophobia is what the church has to offer. And that being the case, why, some of them are asking, would anyone want that?

It's a darn good question. And I'm afraid, for many people these days, we are just another part of that same church. We are guilty by association. For those who don't know us, we can be perceived to be just as intolerant and self-righteous as any other Christian organization. That's why, when I began my comments last Wednesday, the first thing I said was that I was there representing my own beliefs and not those of our church. I said I come from a tradition that does not expect everyone to think alike, but that respects the honest differences of opinion that naturally occur among intelligent and faithful people. But, having said that, I wanted them to know that personally, I had wanted to be there speaking to them because I am a Christian minister. I want people to know that there are Christian ministers who do not believe that homosexuality is an abomination, who are not threatened either by gay people or gay marriage, and who do not believe the wrath of God will fall on Tuesday if Same Sex Marriage becomes legal in the state of Maine.

My friends, I know we like to think of ourselves as different, but thinking it isn't enough. We have to be different. We have to resist giving in to our fears. We have to live our love. We have to walk the same path of tolerance and loving-kindness that was walked by the man who's name we bear, if we are to deserve to bear that name. That doesn't mean we all have to believe exactly the same things, but it does mean we need to respect one another's differences. It means we need to disagree, when we disagree, out of a larger faith and conviction that the living Spirit of God is moving within our community, leading us together toward the future God would have us embrace.

FDR was right. Fear is the only thing we have to fear. This time next week, Marriage Equality may or may not be the law in the state of Maine. Either way, I predict that the world will still be turning. Either way, I predict that life will continue. And most importantly, either way, God will still be holding us in the palm of his hand.

Amen