Created in God's Image: Our Faith and Our Transgender Beloveds

 

Service of Worship

Eastern Parkway United Methodist Church

August 1, 2021

Rev. Natalie Bowerman, Pastor

 

Prelude

Greeting and Announcements

Mission Statement: We are a faith community striving to be, to nurture, and to send forth, disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

Call to worship:

Lead a life worthy of the calling
to which you are called:
We cannot do this alone,
we dare not try this alone,
so we gather as God's people.
Lead a life worthy of your calling,
a life filled with service and meekness.
We come to build up Christ's Body,
in humility and gentleness,
with patience and love.
Lead a life which reflects your calling,
that life of peace grounded in the Spirit.
We rejoice in our oneness in Christ;
we would share the grace offered to us.
Live a life worthy of the calling
to which you have been called.
We gather as God's family
at the Table prepared for us,
waiting to be fed by the Bread of life.

 

*Hymn 435, O God of Every Nation

 

O God of every nation,
of every race and land,
redeem the whole creation
with your almighty hand;
where hate and fear divide us
and bitter threats are hurled,
in love and mercy guide us
and heal our strife-torn world.

From search for wealth and power
and scorn of truth and right,
from trust in bombs that shower
destruction through the night,
from pride of race and nation
and blindness to your way,
deliver every nation,
eternal God, we pray!

Lord, strengthen all who labor
that we may find release
from fear of rattling saber,
from dread of war’s increase;
when hope and courage falter,
your still small voice be heard;
with faith that none can alter,
your servants undergird.

Keep bright in us the vision
of days when war shall cease,
when hatred and division
give way to love and peace,
till dawns the morning glorious
when truth and justice reign
and Christ shall rule victorious
o’er all the world’s domain.

 

Prayer of Confession:

God of unity and love,
place within each of us
a spirit of hope and community.
Have mercy upon us
when we speak without love
or act without humility.
Cleanse us with the living water of your grace.
Create in us willing hearts
to live in patience and gentleness.
Raise us up to be your children,
growing toward maturity
in faith and love.
Strengthen this church,
that we may be a model
of ministry and unity
for all the world to see.
In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

 

Assurance

Hear the Good News: God came to us in the flesh, as Jesus, so that we could see perfect love in action. With God every day brings new chances, new possibilities, and new opportunities to love like Jesus. Amen.

 

Galatians 3: 28

 

²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

A Message

“Created in God’s Image: Our Faith and Our Transgender Beloveds”

 

Friends, we’re continuing on in this summer’s “Stump the Preacher” sermon series, topics that you requested and then I started researching. Back in the spring when I put the cardboard suggestion box in the narthex a few people submitted their requests that way, including one stately young gentleman with penmanship so sloppy that I immediately recognized it as the writing of my beloved. Sean had a special request that he’s likely wanted to hear a sermon on for a while, but this is the first congregation we’ve been part of together that would be able to hear such a sermon. Sean’s request was this: what does our faith teach us about our friends who identify as transgender? And, more than that, what wisdom does our faith give us about our trans friends who desire to have gender confirming surgery?

 

United Methodists take our calls through a process called “itineracy”, wherein we go wherever the Bishop sends us. We get appointed to a church, or churches, one year at a time, and though the Bishop doesn’t necessarily want this, we can end up moving rather often in this system to follow the Spirit. That’s been the case for me. This is my tenth year in the ministry, and you guys are the sixth church I’ve served. I’ve been as far west as Rochester, as far east as the Vermont border, as far south as here, and as far north as the Adirondacks. Of all those churches in all those places this is the first church I would have attempted a sermon like this in. The congregations I’ve served in the past are full of loving, Christ-filled people, many of whom are advocates of the LGBTQIA community. But many of those people have also shied away from taking a firm stance on a controversial issue, and the risk of trying to preach this material in a church that’s not ready for it is that I can unwittingly stir up the tension and anger in the transphobic pockets in the community, and then make our trans friends feel unsafe. You guys are the first Reconciling church I’ve served, and I hope you’re not the last. You guys covenanted 12 years ago to take that hard stance, and you proclaim it to the community. So you guys, I trust, are ready to hear a sermon like this one, and, more importantly, are ready to go out from this place and stand up for our beloveds who need us.

 

Y’all know well enough by now that sexuality and gender identity are serious hot button issues in the United Methodist Church. As of right now, the United Methodist Church doesn’t have an official position on gender identity, aside from barring trans folx from marriage and ordination. But our conservative Methodist friends who plan to join the Global Methodist Church have already drafted an official theological position on gender identity—that gender is binary male and female, that God knits your gender identity together in your mother’s womb, that gender is fixed, and that your true gender identity will be determined at birth by your biological sex.

 

I certainly understand how the GMC reached that particular conclusion, because it’s a very popular one. It’s the conclusion espoused by the plethora of “bathroom bills” that have popped up in the last several years, legislature that propose that it should be illegal for a trans person to use the bathroom or locker room that matches their gender identity, and that biological sex is the only appropriate way to determine which facilities are right for you. These bills are written under the pretense of protecting women and girls from predatory men who would lie about being trans just to get into our locker rooms…and hold that thought, because we’ll get back to it later. This is the same conclusion espoused by similar legislation that seeks to ban trans athletes from sports, under the pretense that unscrupulous men might lie about being trans so that they can compete against women and have an unfair advantage. Again…we’ll get back to that in a minute.  It’s a conclusion gaining steady momentum among conservatives in this country—in court rooms as well as in churches—and it’s a conclusion that is making the world a dangerous place for our friends whose gender identity doesn’t match what they were assigned as babies.

 

But I’m using words up here that some of us know and some of us don’t. This could get confusing if we’re not on the same page, so here to help us out is our friend the Genderbread Person.

 

 

How you see yourself, how you express yourself, your physical biology, and who you’re sexually attracted to are all completely different things. When we talk about biological sex we’re talking about which organs and chromosomes you were born with. A lot of us were taught that that determines everything else, but it doesn’t. Your gender identity is about how masculine or feminine you feel your personally are. Do you call yourself a “man”, a “woman”, “nonbinary”, or by another word that matches how you feel? Not everyone born with XY chromosomes identifies as a man, and not everyone born with XX chromosomes identifies as a woman. In addition to that, how you express your gender is another layer to this—what do you like to wear, how do you do your hair, your makeup? What are your mannerisms like, how do you interact with others? And then sexual orientation is about who you’re attracted to, who you have relationships with, who you love. People are complicated. Living in this body and navigating the world is complicated.

 

People of faith, and especially people of Christian faith, have long struggled with how to jive these nuances with our faith. Some of our conservative Christian friends have feared that if we embrace these complexities then we’re somehow denying God’s plan for Creation. If we open our hearts and minds to the vast mystery of humanity then are we defying the God who made us male and female and told us to join together in one man-one woman marriages and be fruitful and multiply? If we personally identify as LGBTQIA, or love someone who does, then it can be super hard for us to have any patience for that argument. I think what we need to understand is that a lot of people who have trouble affirming and supporting our LGBTQIA friends are confused and scared, and possibly wrestling with their own gender identity or sexuality and afraid to face it. And when we lean into our fear it grows into hatred. And then we dig in even deeper and come up with trite phrases like “God made man and woman and had it right the first time.” The harder we lean into our hatred, the more invested we become in it, because in order to consider a different way of thinking we’d have to let go of a lot. It takes tremendous personal discipline and sacrifice to not hate, and a Divine miracle to love. I don’t presume to know everything God planned for humanity, but I feel very confident saying that hatred was not part of the plan. And the miracles that create that love even when we’re bombarded by hatred happen every day.

 

One of the oldest challenges to fighting against transphobic and homophobic theology is that we’ll feel horribly hollow if we drop our harmful old ideas but have nothing to replace them with. We can’t live that way. So if we’re going to toss out “Genesis says God made men and women and that’s it, case closed” then we need some new theology to take its place.

 

When I started planning this sermon I knew immediately what scripture I would use. There was no question in my mind. And I only needed one verse: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. When Paul wrote these words to his church in Galatia he was answering a number of complicated, multi-layered questions about fulfilling ancient words of Scripture in a modern world. More specifically, he had just mediated a very tense discussion about whether Gentile, or non Jewish people, should have to convert to Judaism before they can start following Christ. For Gentile men seeking to join the church in Galatia this meant—gulp, do I have to get circumcised? Paul’s response was that God knows exactly who we are, loves us for who we are, and calls us to service for the Church for exactly who we are. God isn’t engaging in our foolish human fights about circumcision, faith disputes, racism, slavery, and sexism. We’re a people rich in glorious diversity, but one in spirit to God. We don’t have to shoulder the burden of micro-analyzing God’s Law, and shaming ourselves and others when we don’t think we “fit”. We all have a place. And religion, race, freedom, and gender are all human constructs. Love is a God construct. God made our trans friends to be exactly who they are, and to be loved for it. God made humans complex and nuanced in our experiences, identities, and expressions, and we are all precious in God’s sight. To deny our trans friends the sacredness of their identity is truly to deny God. And to not love our friends who identify on the LGBTQIA spectrum is to not love God.

 

Because people are so complex, because we all have to make peace with ourselves and one another in this life, because God sent Jesus to be the Prince of Peace, because to be fully yourself is to be fully alive and Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly—for all of these reasons I think we need to empower our trans friends to make the decision that feels right for them where it comes to gender confirming surgery. If it’s right for you, then it’s right for you.

 

Now for the issues I told you we’d get back to later: this notion that unscrupulous and dangerous men will lie about being trans in order to disenfranchise and harm women. I wanted to make sure we talked about this for at least a minute because I’ve had that argument posed to me recently. We can’t talk about trans issues unless we talk about this. A conservative friend of the faith who knows very well that I’m a great big super duper feminist asked me if I thought I’d ever have to “choose” between women’s rights and LGBTQIA rights, and if so which would I choose? I told him that women’s rights are human rights. LGBTQIA rights are human rights. We’re talking about human rights. There’s no conflict here. Our trans friends make up about 1% of the human population, and they’re not here to hurt us, they just want to live their lives in peace. I told my friend that the scenario he imagined in his head where a bunch of trans men take over a sports team is not a statistical probability. I told him that the man pretending to be trans to gain entry to the women’s locker room is not a statistical probability. But then I told him that a trans person being denied the life experience of playing sports is a very real possibility. That a trans person being harmed for using the bathroom they felt more comfortable in is a very real possibility. That trans people face harm and violence at catastrophically high rates. I take the time to say all of this because there’s a softer, nicer ending to this sermon I could deliver, one about how God loves everyone so let’s just abide in that love. It would be easy for me to say that, make us all feel good, and then say alright let’s go sing a hymn. But those of us who don’t identify as LGBTQIA, those of us in the majority, those of us who live in relative safety, who can go where we want, do what we want, and marry who we love without fear of violence and discrimination—we have some very real work to do. We have hatred to fight. We have violent hearts to soften with Jesus’ love. We have unjust laws to vote against. So, please, by all means, let’s rejoice and find infinite comfort in our Creator’s unconditional love. And then let’s use that love to transform a world that desperately needs it.

 

Amen.

 

 

 

 

*Hymn 441: What Does the Lord Require

What does the Lord require for praise and offering?
What sacrifice of praise or tribute bid you bring?
Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.

Rulers of men, give ear! should you not justice know?
Will God your pleading hear while crime and cruelty grow?
Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.

Masters of wealth and trade, all you for whom men toil,
Think not to win God's aid if lies your commerce soiled.
Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.

Still down the ages ring the prophet's stern commands:
To merchant, worker, king, he brings God's high demands:
Do justly love mercy, walk humbly with your God.

How shall our lives fulfil God's law so hard and high?
Let Christ endue our will with grace to fortify.
Then justly, in mercy, we'll humbly walk with God.

 

Time of Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

 

Let us pray.

Take us from where we are, to where you want us to be;
make us not merely guardians of a heritage,
but living signs of your coming Kingdom;
fire us with passion for justice and peace between all people;
fill us with that faith, hope and love which embody the Gospel;
and through the power of the Holy Spirit make us one.

That the world may believe, that your name may be enthroned in our nation,
that your church may more effectively be your body,
we commit ourselves to love you, serve you,
and follow you as pilgrims not strangers.

 

Our Father, Mother, and Creator God, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.

 

Offering, doxology, and prayer of dedication

 

The Lord’s Supper

 

Come to God’s table now, come lift your hearts up.

Come to the table and give God your praise.

Come and receive now the gifts God would give you.

Come now and follow for all of your days.

Great is God’s faithfulness. Great is God’s faithfulness.

Here at the table God’s grace we receive.

Here at the table we lay down our burdens.

Here at the table we share in Christ’s peace.

 

God we remember the night of the supper,

Jesus took bread and then gave thanks to you.

Breaking, he shared it with all the disciples,

“Take, eat, remember whenever you do.”

Great is God’s faithfulness. Great is God’s faithfulness.

Come and receive bread of life, gift of grace.

Here we partake of the bounty Christ offers.

Here at God’s table we all have a place.

 

Christ shared the cup as a sign of forgiveness.

“This is my gift of life poured out for you.”

Pardon for sin, and a peace that’s enduring.

“Drink and remember whenever you do.”

Great is God’s faithfulness. Great is God’s faithfulness.

Take now the cup that will truly quench thirst.

Here we are called by Christ to living waters.

Here at the table, in love we’re immersed.

 

Pour out your Spirit, God, on us your servants.

Pour out your Spirit and transform this meal.

Make it for us into Christ’s sacred body,

And may we go forth as Christ for the world.

Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness.

Morning by morning new life we receive.

All we have needed your hands have provided.

Great is your faithfulness in all we see.

 

 

*Hymn 138, The King of Love My Shepherd Is

 

The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never,
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul He leadeth,
And where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death's dark vale I fear no ill
With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread'st a table in my sight;
Thy unction grace bestoweth;
And O what transport of delight
From Thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.

 

Benediction

Our God: Our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, will guard our going out and our coming in, from this time on and forevermore. And as all of God’s people we say together: Amen.