May 28, 2000

The Power of Change
Acts 10:44-48
May 28, 2000
David Beckett, D.Min.

I did not want to preach this sermon. But when I read the lectionary scripture for today I felt a sermon crying to be heard. I tried to deny it. Too controversial I told myself. People may not like you, and I like to be liked. But the more I prayed and pondered, the more I realized that this was a sermon that I needed to bring to you. I will be up front with you. You may not like it. You may not agree. But part of the preacher’s role is to be prophetic. Prophetic voices have long been a part of our Judeo-Christian tradition. And I would hope that you would want your pastor to be faithful to his own growing faith convictions even though you may strongly disagree.

This message came to me from today’s lectionary scripture from the book of Acts. As Jews, Peter and the disciples of Jesus were steeped in Jewish purity laws which excluded non-Jewish people they called Gentiles. There were laws against touching a Gentile and one about shaking the Gentile dust off one’s feet.

But now the resurrection has happened. The Church was born. And Peter, who felt God speaking to him in a dream, was about to change 2000 years of Jewish tradition. He said to the people, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” This was radical preaching!!! The Jewish Christians who heard Peter say these words were “astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

It saddens me that the ultimate decision-making body of the United Methodist Church, the General Conference, has once again voted that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The issue I want us to address this morning is, “Do homosexual persons who have a vital faith in Jesus Christ have a place at the communion table? Do they have a right to worship with heterosexual persons without being forced to repent of their “sin”? Do they deserve to be welcomed in the church of Jesus Christ?

Gilbert Caldwell is an African-American United Methodist pastor who compares the exclusion of gay persons with the treatment of blacks in this country. He talks about his childhood in North Carolina and writes, “There were in those days, next to each other, a fountain that was labeled “white” and one “colored.” I discovered as a young child that the labels did not describe the color of the water, but rather the color of the persons who drank from the fountains.”

Caldwell goes on to say, “Are the restrictions we impose upon persons in United Methodism who are gay or lesbian suggest that their baptism, their baptismal water, was of a different kind or color, than that of a majority of United Methodists? Are we doing with baptized persons who are homosexual, what those white and colored water fountains did to persons who were white or black? Is there a first class baptism without restrictions and a second class baptism that condones limits on the ministry that some persons can receive from the church or offer within the church?”

Let’s take a look at scripture. The Old Testament and Paul’s writings do refer to homosexuality as “an abomination” and a “perversion.” A Presbyterian pastor, Bob Young, says that “these passages treat homosexuality without any distinctions. Today, I observe such distinctions. I see homosexual persons living in loving, monogamous relationships which seem quite different from promiscuous homosexual sex. Should we say the Bible’s proscription of homosexuality applies equally to all these distinctions, promiscuous and monogamous?”

Another Biblical note: In the Old Testament, homosexuality is not the only thing called “an abomination.” Such things as eating pork and wearing clothes of mixed fiber are also condemned. And there is no mention of homosexuality in the gospels. Jesus does not address this issue.

I grew up in a white, middle class, suburban culture, in an evangelical church who taught me that homosexuality was a sin. I remember a good Christian friend named Bruce. Bruce and I got to know each other through a Christian coffee house in the 60’s. I’ll never forget the night he came out of the closet. We were sitting in the living room in my house. It was Christmas and I remember being surrounded by Christmas decorations and symbols of Christmas love. My response to Bruce’s words about his sexuality was to get a copy of a pamphlet called “The Four Spiritual Laws.” In my culturally shaped mind Bruce was not truly saved as a Christian if he was living in this state of sin. I started to read these laws to him in my desire to set him on the right path. I didn’t get very far because Bruce slapped the pamphlet out of my hand. He was mad and frustrated with me. At the time I just thought he was being hard hearted and stubborn and sinful As I look back on this event I realize I was the one with the hard heart. It has taken me 25 years to do a 180 degree turn on this issue. But I now realize that many homosexual persons do not choose their sexuality just as heterosexual persons do not as well. And I want to say, “I’m sorry, Bruce. Forgive me for putting conditions on my love and friendship with you.”

Jesus often told parables to get people thinking about life and faith. I’d like to tell you the Parable of the Wemmicks.

The Wemmicks were small wooden people. Each of the wooden people was carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill overlooking their village. Every Wemmick was different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the village.

And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the village, people could be seen sticking stars or dots on one another.

The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks gave dots. The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing pretty songs. Everyone gave them stars.

Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star. Others, though, could do little. They got dots.

Punchinello was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around and give him dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more dots. He would try to explain why he fell and say something silly, and the Wemmicks would give him more dots.

One day he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia. It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick. Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But it wouldn't stay either.

'That's the way I want to be,'thought Punchinello. 'I don't want anyone's marks.' So he asked the stickerless Wemmick how she did it.

"It's easy," Lucia replied. "every day I go see Eli."

"Eli?"

"Yes, Eli. The woodcarver. I sit in the workshop with him."

"Why?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He's there." And with that the Wemmick with no marks turned and skipped away.

"But he won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out. Lucia didn't hear. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other stars and dots. "It's not right," he muttered to himself. And he resolved to go see Eli.

He walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big shop. His wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tiptoes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard. "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave.

Then he heard his name. "Punchinello?" The voice was deep and strong.

Punchinello stopped.

"Punchinello! How good to see you. Come and let me have a look at you."

Punchinello turned slowly and looked at the large bearded craftsman. "You know my name?" the little Wemmick asked.

"Of course I do. I made you."

Eli stooped down and picked him up and set him on the bench. "Hmm," the maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles. "Looks like you've been given some bad marks."

"I didn't mean to, Eli. I really tried hard."

"Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think."

"You don't?"

"No, and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They're Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn't matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special."

Punchinello laughed. "Me, special? Why? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?"

Eli looked at Punchinello, put his hands on those small wooden shoulders, and spoke very slowly. "Because you're mine. That's why you matter to me."

Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this‑‑much less his maker. He didn't know what to say.

"Every day I've been hoping you'd come," Eli explained.

"I came because I met someone who had no marks."

"I know. She told me about you."

"Why don't the stickers stay on her?"

"Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them."

"What?"

"The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about the stickers."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You will, but it will take time. You've got a lot of marks. For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care."

Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the ground. "Remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."

Punchinello didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think he really means it." And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.

There are people here today who are homosexual or who have a loved one who is. Both of these groups of folks know what it is like to feel the pain and hurt of being excluded and ostracized from the Church, the same Church whose first leader, Peter, preached that “God shows no partiality.” The time has come to extend full rights and privileges to all persons in the Church of Jesus Christ. The time has come for all of us to fully embrace our mission to be a welcoming family joyfully sharing God’s light and to see it extending to all persons. The time has come to stop putting dots on persons just because their sexual orientation is different from the majority.

Over the years I have developed a principle that guides me in controversial issues facing the church and the world today. It has to do with the unconditional grace of God, love freely given to us without merit. I realize that my understanding on an issue may be in error. But if I am to be in error, I choose to err not on the side of law, but on the side of the immensely deep and profound grace of Almighty God. Because ultimately, the only thing that matters is not what you and I think, but what God thinks. Our power to change comes from the mind of God.

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