I am full of joy and gratitude as I stand before you today.

Joy because this is truly a day of celebration. A day that honors the 30 year journey this congregation has been on to fling wide the doors of this church to all people who desire to step into the expressions of community and God’s love that are present here.

I am full of gratitude for that journey. Grateful for the ebb and flow of people who have been present over the years. For the strength and vulnerability of Jim Derstine, an openly gay man, whose desire for membership in the church in 1986 was a mustard seed of love and visionary justice that has, over time, blossomed and grown towards a space of full welcome for all.

I am grateful for the ways this community has and continues to actively engage in the journey, by taking time for reflection, education, and making space for intentional community conversations when called for by new junctures on the path:

• In the mid 80s the journey meant an intense period of study on human sexuality which resulted in the creation of a 1986 statement on human sexuality and the acceptance of Jim Derstine into membership.
• In the 90s it meant a community clarification that the statement created in 1986 allowed the possibility for any faithful LGBTQ person to become a member of the church just like anyone else instead of having to be individually vetted because of their sexual orientation.
• In the early 2000s the journey crossed some rough roads as the congregation gathered together to respond to inquiries from Allegheny Mennonite Conference [our point of connection with Mennonite Church USA] about HMC’s theology and membership practices.
• In 2005 Hyattsville Mennonite Church was placed under discipline by AMC, the discipline removed HMC’s voting voice and opportunity to hold elected offices within the conference or MCUSA.
• In the first years following the discipline of HMC by AMC, the congregation took a period of rest from engaging in congregational conversations about conference relations but sent non-voting delegates to conference and MCUSA gatherings in order to continue to build relationships across the divide of the discipline.
• In 2010, when the District legalized same-sex marriage, the congregation again gathered together for conversations about how we understand marriage and granted HMC pastors free range in decisions to perform same-sex marriages.
• 2010 was also the year HMC officially joined the Supportive Communities Network, a public listing of welcoming communities through Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests. This official joining of SCN came later in the journey than many would have expected.
• In 2013, in the midst of the search for a new Associate Pastor, the congregation gathered again for conversation, this time to discuss the whether the community was open to a qualified LGBTQ candidate. The answer to that query was yes and – voila – here I am. Currently, officially unlicensed by the Mennonite Church but empowered by this congregation to serve as a pastor.
• 2013 also brought about the beginning of reconciliation conversations between Allegheny Mennonite Conference and HMC. An officially appointed Reconciliation Discernment Committee was formed with members representing a spectrum of conference congregations and representatives from HMC. The committee was tasked with finding a way forward for AMC and HMC.
• In 2015 recommendations from the Reconciliation Discernment Committee were voted on and a 50.7% majority vote on a resolution resulted in Hyattsville Mennonite Church being reinstated as full members of AMC.
• Now, in 2016 the community gathered again just last month for a conversation focused on gender identity and exploring ways we can continue to learn and grow so that we may become a place of full and supportive welcome to diverse gender expressions.
• And today – we celebrate this 30 year journey…

Seriously, what a journey.

A few weeks ago my wife Becky, our son Simon, and myself were on vacation with some extended family in Alberta, Canada. We spent several days adventuring around and through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. I know some of you here have been to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper and so you have a sense of where we were, but for those that haven’t all I can say is that the Canadian Rockies offer an immense, awe-inspiring, beauty that is spiritually refreshing.

Every direction you look holds a new perspective on one mountain or another while offering one picturesque vista after another. As I stood trying to take in the beauty and immensity of the mountains, I couldn’t help but think about the process it took to create them. A process that took years and years and was full of turbulent force as tectonic plates shifted in relation to each other causing the land to wrinkle and bulge and with the help of glaciers and erosion mountains were formed. [At least that’s my super simplified explanation of it for you!]

As I considered the magnitude of the force involved in shifting land masses and the creation of mountains, I couldn’t help but think about the journey this congregation has been on since it opened its arms in welcome. As you may sense from the timeline of events we just ran through, the process this church has undergone has not been quick or without pain, but the resulting composition of this community, like the mountains, is beautiful and awe-inspiring. And, at least for those of us LGBTQ folks who are not welcomed as freely in many other churches, this place is spiritually refreshing.

We are who we are [individually and collectively] because of the roads we have travelled. And it is, in part, this congregation’s commitment to a journey of welcome over the past 30 years that has opened this church up to a rich life in the Spirit. A community life full of strong allies and enhanced, over the years, by a host of LGBTQ individuals whose full selves, gifts, and talents have been welcomed, nurtured, and put to use instead of being tolerated or silenced.

For those of us who live and worship within the welcome and community of HMC, it can be easy to momentarily forget that the inclusion of LGBTQ people is still not a standard practice in communities of faith. For many churches, acceptance and welcome have not been the chosen path. MCUSA as an institution is in a place of deep contention over LGBTQ welcome as evidenced most recently by the suspension of credentials and willful resignation of Pastor Isaac Villegas from the Executive Board of the Mennonite Church after performing a same-sex marriage for two of his congregants with the full blessing of his congregation.

Now, lest I sound less than hopeful about the state of MCUSA I also joyfully remember that beyond the walls of this beautiful community there have been others doing the work of welcome for more than 30 years and there continues to be an ever-growing band of travelling companions also choosing the path of welcome. Yet even with companions on the road, the path of welcome can be very bumpy. For HMC, the choice to take the path towards full welcome has not been without its unique challenges, nor without its trials and errors.

Yet throughout the journey, Hyattsville has time and again chosen that, for us, being faithful witnesses to the love of God calls us to acts of hospitality, justice, healing, and peacemaking even when [and sometimes especially when] those actions are counter to the status quo expected by the broader church. This act of choosing to faithfully live into the mysterious and expansive love of God, a love that often pushes us humans beyond our perceived comfort zones, is what we are called to as followers of Christ.

We see that call affirmed in the story we heard from Luke 7 today. In the scripture we meet an un-named woman, held in low esteem by her neighbors, who chooses to enter the house of Simon the Pharisee hoping for a chance to see Jesus.

What stories this woman must have heard about Jesus to cause her to willingly step into a potentially un-safe space for the chance to encounter him. What a reservoir of courage she must have had welled up within her to allow her to join in with the crowd of curious, uninvited townsfolk who would have come to the gathering to see the Pharisee and his guests at table.

Yet this woman comes not just to see Jesus, she brings along with her an alabaster jar of perfumed oil. She has come to the place with a precious gift to offer and she doesn’t linger on the periphery but seeks out a space to stand right next to Jesus.

It is there in the direct presence of Jesus that she cries. Tears of relief, joy, sorrow, regret, hope? Whatever the complicated combination of reasons for them, her tears fall on Jesus’ feet, she bends down to wipe them up with her hair, kisses his feet and anoints them with oil. This is an embodied act of audacious, lavish love.

The act of coming out as an LGBTQ person is an embodied act of audacious, lavish love. It is a moment of simultaneous empowerment and extreme vulnerability. To come out as an individual is first an act of love for oneself. Then, as one begins to live into a new expression of wholeness, love naturally begins to radiate outward enhancing life for others as well.

The act of coming out as an LGBTQ friendly congregation is a reciprocal act of audacious, lavish love. It is an act of spiritual courage and an ongoing test of the community’s resilience. A community that opens its arms in welcome is one that puts its own ego aside, offering love to others first. This choice of action affirms that in this place, the fullness of a person’s identity is valuable and welcome. Then, as the community receives the presence and gifts of LGBTQ individuals it too begins to experience a new expression of wholeness and love.

Gene Miller’s collected history of HMC records this witness of blessings received by the community:

“At [the] time [of Jim Derstine’s membership vote], Marian Franz slipped a note to [Jim], penned on the back of a sheet containing the evening’s agenda, saying ‘Someday (thank God) we will look back on this evening and wonder at our narrowness back in 1986 that has put you through the trauma and stress leading up to your membership. The Church in past years struggled with the question of slavery and whether or not women could vote (or preach). Thanks for your patience. It’s a Christian model. I love you. It’s an honor that you chose us and welcome us also’.”

Unfortunately, when an individual or a supportive congregation comes out, not everyone is initially open to the freedom, forgiveness, healing, and peace that ultimately flow from expressions of lavish love.

Back in the Luke text we see Simon the Pharisee, host of the party and representative of the religious establishment, witness the encounter between the woman and Jesus from across the circle. Instead of seeing an act of love, he is silently horrified. In Simon’s tidy framework of understanding, if Jesus really were a great prophet, or possibly the long-awaited Prophet, there is no way Jesus would let this woman interact with him in this way. At the very least Jesus should be aware of her low reputation so as to protect himself from being defiled by her touch.

Simon, in this moment, cannot see past his own assumptions about this woman and how she should be treated based on his understanding of cultural and religious rules and regulations. He does not see that she has brought her full self to Jesus with an open heart, requesting nothing of Jesus, just freely offering him lavish love. He doesn’t understand that the forgiveness she receives from Jesus is not because she is ashamed of who she is or what others have declared her to be, but is instead a reflection of the love she chooses to offer. Simon doesn’t grasp the love present in this audacious act, but Jesus does.

Jesus, who willingly receives love from anyone, is moved by the outpouring of love he has received. And it is Jesus who then breaks open Simon’s vision, helping Simon see just how much valuable love this woman he is ready to write off has to offer. Jesus, through riddles and observations, offers a glimpse of how much love Simon, and indeed all of us, might have to offer if we too would choose to put aside our condemnation and assumptions of others and instead approach everyone from a place of lavish love. It is in the offering of love that we begin to experience forgiveness for ourselves and receive the freedom to go forth in peace.

And we must go forth. Just as Jesus, after that evening encounter at Simon’s house, continued to journey through towns and villages proclaiming the Good news of God’s reign, we too must continue to go forth. The journey we have been on for 30 years doesn’t end here with this celebration. There is still work of welcome and hospitality waiting for us ahead in this community, in the broader church, and beyond.

The seed of love and visionary justice planted in 1986 has blossomed, bloomed, been trimmed and pruned, and has burst forth in new growth and blossoms again and again. To all of you who have been present at any point on this journey – thank you for being courageous gardeners on the path.

As we continue to grow in welcome may we have the courage to offer lavish love to all we meet and may the Spirit grant us strength to offer it lavishly.