Just as You Are
Isaiah 43:1-7
Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan
Isaiah 43 is the perfect scripture for Open and Affirming Sunday, to celebrate God’s loving acceptance of every person and to encourage us to spread the news. We’ll hear from a section of Isaiah today written when Judah had been invaded and captured by the Babylonian Empire. Civic and religious leaders and various movers and shakers of Judah had been dragged off into exile. Babylonian captivity threatened to eradicate Israel, by wiping out the culture, and their self-understanding as God’s chosen people. To the world, the people of Judah were an insignificant little nation of former slaves, but they happened to occupy a military-political sweet spot in the Mid-East. Most of the world couldn’t care less if the people Judah disappeared. But into that scene, Isaiah writes how God feels about the people of Judah. Those wasting away in exile are reminded of God’s fierce commitment to them. Exile is real, but YHWH God promises the exile will come to an end. “You are not abandoned!” Isaiah reminds them. The events of life not only matter to God; God is at work in them, for your benefit. From the 43rd chapter of the book of the Prophet Isaiah, listen for the word of God.
But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 43 is a breath-taking love poem, written to God’s beloved during the worst season of their communal existence. A fitting scripture for today because the people of Judah/Israel are not the only ones to experience exile. Look around. People of color, disabled persons, those with mental illnesses, women, former inmates, seniors, and the entire queer community have been locked out of positions of safety, power, and authority for centuries, essentially exiling people in their own country. So Isaiah is the perfect scripture for today.
Today is Open and Affirming Sunday. On the last Sunday of Pride month, we celebrate the acceptance of people as people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Although we are open and affirming every day of the year, our national organization encourages each congregation to reaffirm the commitment each year, which we did as worship began today. Reaffirming full inclusion not only witnesses to justice; it helps us remember who we are and what being open and affirming means.
We admit some churches made horrible statements condemning people in the queer community, clobbering them with misinterpretations of scripture passages, thus inviting Christians to consider LGBTQ+ people as less than human. So Open and Affirming Sunday is a perfect time to reject that hatred and prejudice and to remind ourselves of who we are as the family of St. Andrew, and as part of the whole United Church of Christ. Today we remember gay men and lesbians who first organized in 1972, who spoke out in Synods and council meetings, who wrote letters, who refused to be silent until the denomination listened. And we thank the allies who spoke from their positions of privilege to call the church to full inclusion of homosexual persons. Those voices, gay and straight together, demanded justice and equality – and little success by little success, the church moved. Back in 1985, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ encouraged congregations to welcome gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons. As of today, over 1700 UCC congregations have become fully ONA. To be open and affirming means more than merely saying that any person is welcome to come worship with us. ONA means we believe God made each person who they are on purpose. Each person has a place in the church, with full rights and responsibilities. Each deserves respect and full inclusion. We are one church together. So we happily celebrate Open and Affirming Sunday.
Isaiah gives an important word for you to stand on today. Namely, you belong to God. The One who created you claims you. God will never let you go. Isaiah uses very unusual language here. He uses all second person singular references: “I, God, have redeemed you (individually). You (each one) are mine.” Individually, you are God’s beloved; God has claimed you.
One of my favorite images is to think of God like the parent who shows up when your school bus breaks down on an out-of-town trip, where the kids had to walk several miles, where you all got caught in the rain, so you arrive at the pick-up spot: weary, wet, dirty, cold, hungry. And the Parent grabs you, saying: “This one is mine.” Except God doesn’t only arrive with pizza and a warm car after the fact; God promises always to be with you, every step of the cold, wet way. LORD Yahweh points a divine finger at you to say, “That one. I’m with that one. I love that one, no matter what.”
Isaiah uses breath-taking language to describe God’s actions towards the chosen people. Not only are they created and formed into a people. Yahweh tells them, “Do not fear, I have redeemed you – which is what only someone’s closest kin may do, when a family member gets into financial crisis and has to sell themselves into servitude. In that awful situation God says, “I have redeemed you.” But then this amazing additional string – I have called you by name. No matter what you’ve done or haven’t done, God calls you by name, and redeems you; says with a fierce love, “You are mine.” Hear it? You are mine. I will give everything in my power to keep ahold of you, because you are precious to me. And not just that. “I love you.” The entire oracle exists to confirm God’s participatory affection. God is not an absent parent, but the Heavenly Parent who is lovingly present, no matter what you do. The Eternal God of the Universe shows up, claims you, today and forever. No one will be lost. Isaiah spells it out: God will gather “Every-one whom I formed and made.” No one is excluded. God says, “You are precious, and honored, and I love you.” Here, in the bluntest place in all scripture, God lays it on the line. God says to you: “I love you.” “You are mine.” Get it? You belong to God.
And when we get it, then the church becomes more faithful. With all of us together, the church gets better. Congregations are enriched by living out the claims they make. There are churches all over the country with signs out front that say, “All are welcome.” But if you come into worship holding hands with someone of the same gender or in a full beard and evening gown, many churches realize they don’t actually mean “All.” But some churches, like St. Andrew, believe “All means all.” All are welcome! If our claims are never tested, then we are never actually forced to grow or change.
Back in the early 1990’s, a partner church in the North had that “All are welcome” sign out front and the pastor received a call from a funeral home asking if she would be willing to lead a funeral for a young man who had died of AIDS. He had friends, but no church home and no pastor. Of course she said she would. The funeral director told her he had tried a number of other churches and all the pastors turned him down. [shameful] The best part of the story is that the minister called up several of the pillars of the congregation – some of those we might call “the little ole’ ladies” of the congregation. She asked them to join her at the funeral the next day, because the man didn’t have a church home and she wanted the church to be there. So a group showed up. Six or seven ladies, expressing their condolences, showing God’s loving acceptance, and inviting them to worship. You guessed it. The next Sunday, a couple of the guys cautiously showed up to see if the welcome words were just words. And they found a loving, welcoming, church home. A final part of the story is when Easter rolled around and plans were being made for the breakfast between the sunrise and 11:00 services, several of the men asked if they could help. Henrietta, the kitchen lady, who had run the kitchen for years, asked if they wanted to lead it. She and the usual workers would help in any way they needed. Hear that? The old guard stepped down and invited the new people, not just to help but to lead. What kind of church does that? A church that realizes the gifts of every person enrich the church, no matter who they are. With all of us working and witnessing together, the entire church becomes more faithful.
Isaiah tells us YHWH God loves every person. We were created in love. But not just created and set out to fend for ourselves. No, God claims us in love every day – strengthening us, blessing our gifts, over and over. Just as God created St. Andrew Church some decades ago, so has God been busy creating us now, strengthening us, adding new gifts among us to build us anew as church, day after day for all those years. And God is strengthening and helping each of us to mature in the faith, day after day. So, we can have confidence that the loving, creative power of Almighty God is absolutely available to us, because God is holding each of us, saying you are precious to me, honored, … and I love you, on this ONA Sunday, and tomorrow and forever.