A sermon preached July 4, 1999, at a joint worship service of the First Baptist Church of Berkeley and the First Congregational Church of Berkeley
By a close vote of 76 yes to 77 no, the General Board of ABC.USA rejected FBCB's appeal to overturn the ABCW decision to disfellowship us. By doing so, they dismissed us from our denomination.
The vote against Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church was 70 - 83; New Community of Faith 71 - 83; San Leandro Community Church was 72 - 82, with the General Board refusing to hear any debate concerning that church's affiliation. Basically, the General Board is split down the middle over whether these churches should be dismissed nationally. Never in the history of the denomination that was the home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has a church be dismissed on theological grounds. There is nothing more unBaptist than this.
The leadership of ABC.USA has failed not only us, but the entire denomination. Our leaders of every stripe were afraid that if they showed any overt partiality our denomination would split. The General Secretary of the denomination even joined another church to show no favoritism. He and every other leader have chosen their words so carefully as to let a gross injustice take place, and then received the "too little too late" award by getting angry with the General Board after the vote was over. Perhaps if he had used his position as a leader to actually lead, this vote would never have happened. In fairness, he is not the only leader who failed us. Too many people at Valley Forge and other places assured us of their support, but were anxious that no one else know about it. Too many people chose their words too carefully, leaving an uninformed General Board at the mercy of what everyone has called inflammatory, incendiary rhetoric against the four churches. Too many General Board members didn't do their homework before the meeting and were vulnerable to irrational appeals to their fear and ignorance.
This decision to dismiss us and our sister churches in the Bay Area happened because too many leaders didn't exercise their responsibility to actually lead. I want you to know that both of the delegates from FBCB, Mark Theodoropoulos and I, told them so.
Our Scripture readings this morning warn against leaders who do not lead. Consider our Old Testament Scripture reading. Jeremiah charges the careless shepherds, the careless leaders, both religious and political leaders of the day, with adulterating the Word of God and destroying the covenantal relationship between Yahweh and Yahweh's people, by allowing Baal worship to infiltrate the peoples' religious practices. Jeremiah says that these leaders, these careless shepherds, have driven away the people from the covenant faith and the covenant community and have not attended to them; the leaders have sold out to an idolatrous culture. The danger is that this remnant of people, by incorporating Baal worship, will gradually begin to disappear, and that there will be no one left of the remnant. Jeremiah warns the careless leaders that they have not been attending to their flock. I believe that the General Board's decision is ultimately about careless shepherds were not attending to the flock.
Because of careless shepherds, false labels, distorted characterizations, and serious misconceptions that were meant to justify people's fears, ignorance, and just plain hatefulness were allowed to rule the day. In this decision the General Board sold out members of the ABC family. They have allowed the religious right to attempt to push us away, drive us from the faith and from the covenant community that is ABC.USA.
But Jeremiah says that God will bring back those who have been pushed away, bring them back into the fold and raise up leaders who will attend to them and they shall not fear or be dismayed. Leaders in the ABC allowed an outrageous injustice to occur. I believe inevitably that decision will be overturned, because it is not just, and because God will make a way for us.
There is also an absence of empathy and compassion in this decision to dismiss these four churches. In the Mark passage, Jesus shows compassion to those who come to him searching for what he has to offer -- healing and wholeness. It seems to me that we are called to follow in Christ's footsteps and offer that healing and wholeness to others. Churches in the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists are attempting to do just that. In response our denomination has treated us in a harsh and shabby manner. Yet we know that this is nothing compared to how people in the gay community have been treated by far too many mainline churches. We need to have leaders who operate out of empathy and compassion.
Jesus proclaimed a message that was for everyone who was in need: the sick, the poor, the hurting, the grieving, the oppressed. Jesus spent time with those who were shunned by society teaching an inclusiveness that the church is still resisting. We don't know what Jesus had to say about homosexuality because we are not told if he said anything at all. But we do know that again and again Jesus overturned social and religious traditions that condemned people. We do know that Jesus got angry about traditions that required people to make costly sacrifices to prove they were faithful. We do know that Jesus refused to affirm traditions that excluded whole groups of people -- such as Gentiles and Samaritans. We do know that Jesus questioned that catalog of sins for which people could be stoned to death. We do know that he negated traditions that defined standards for condemning others and Jesus himself lived a life of love and mercy, responding to others as a neighbor, a friend, in their need. Jesus was the model of compassionate leadership, a model not reflected the actions of ABC leadership. Jesus brings in those who have been scattered and alienated, and we are called to do the same, especially when we serve in leadership positions.
The leadership of ABC in their decision to dismiss these four churches also demonstrate a lack of understanding Scripture as the living word of God. The Bible is treated as if it were set in stone, a rigid book of rules and regulations. For centuries, the institutional church has promoted the view that the Bible was against homosexuality, holding up about nine passages to support this belief. Much the same way, people have used Scripture to support slavery and segregation in the United States. Much the same way, people have used Scripture to justify the oppression and abuse of women. Much the same way, people have used Scripture to justify and sanction the murder of people in the gay community. When we use Scripture in such a way, we are committing blasphemy. There is no other word for it.
The Bible does contain problematic passages. We surely cannot affirm in Genesis Lot offering up his daughters for gang rape. We surely cannot affirm the death penalty for those who utter a curse. We surely cannot affirm Paul's saying that a woman's head should be shaved if she prays without a veil. Nor can we allow a mere nine passages in the Bible by the same and other authors to overrule Jesus' central message of love and reconciliation. I cannot in this sermon attempt to address all of the Biblical passages that, for some, justify the decision made by the General Board. And it is true that the Bible assumes heterosexual relationships are the norm. But nowhere is there a general principle that denies or condemns loving and faithful homosexual relationships.
The passage in Ephesians talks about estrangement and enmity between human beings and God, and between one another -- Gentiles and Jews, outsiders and insiders. What Christ has done, Paul says, is to reconcile us both to God and to one another. In this passage, Christ is seen as concerned for the other -- the Gentile, the stranger, the sojourner. And Christ is seen as much involved in their lives as in ours.
For Paul, Christ is about inclusiveness -- both universal and evangelical at the same time. The gospel of Christ focusses on grace, and its scope is inclusive and all-encompassing. If we only look at a few passages, then we can continue to support segregation, the oppression of women, and violence against gays. But if we look at Scripture as a whole, as the living word of God, we must rethink old assumptions. God does not divide into we and they; God's grace has been made available to all of us. That love and acceptance are a God-given gift. In our diverse world, we will never reach consensus on all theological issues. What we do know is that reconciliation and grace have come to all of us without exception, as a gift through Jesus Christ. Given that, we cannot justify excluding a whole group of people, which is in effect the decision made in Des Moines concerning not only the four churches, but through them the gay community. In Christ's church, everyone must be welcome.
The leaders I have been criticizing here are some people in leadership positions at Valley Forge and those serving on the General Board who allowed this decision to happen. But, there are leaders who hear God's call for justice, who live out Christ's example of compassion, and who understand Scripture is not just some book that supports our bigotry. Those leaders are found in the four churches that have been dismissed. FBCB and the other three churches are providing a model for our friends who have been paralyzed by their own fear and denial. Now we are receiving invitations from churches, including churches that are not welcoming and affirming, offering us sanctuary; now leaders in several regions are in the process of taking adjudication proceedings against the General Board; now there are other denominations offering us a welcome place to do ministry.
FBCB will be fine. It's the denomination that's in trouble. ABC.USA is a split denomination -- not officially, but essentially. The vote clearly indicates that is so. If the decision to dismiss the four churches is not rescinded, ABC will lose more churches that will be dismissed for any variety of theological position. If the decision to dismiss the four churches is rescinded, ABC will lose churches who will leave in anger because they didn't get their way. I believe there is a good chance that the decision will be rescinded. But whether or not that actually happens, this I know: FBCB will be faithful to its call to live out the good news for all people -- providing leadership that is just, compassionate, and Biblically literate. Sounds like good Baptists to me; sounds like what we Baptists and Congregationalists and all who profess to be Christians are called to be: disciples of Jesus Christ, following his example of what leadership is all about.
The Rev. Esther Hargis
July 4, 1999
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