October 23, 2022

Joel 2:23-32
Luke 18:9-14

“Even On Them?”

As many of you know, I attended the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Karlsruhe, Germany last month, and this morning I thought I would start by sharing a little more about that experience.

Gathered with Christians of many denominations, cultures, languages, colours, genders, ages, abilities, and so many other diverse characteristics, a significant theme in our worship, plenaries, and conversations at the WCC surrounded our diversities and the expressed desire of the Assembly to be a community of welcome for all.

You may know the “call and response” declaration used in some churches that begins with the leader declaring, “God is good.” The people respond, “All the time.” Then the leader says, “All the time,” and the response is, “God is good.”

Many of the Christians at the Assembly were familiar with that one, but we also learned a new call and response declaration that was inspired by the Assembly’s theme: “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity.” Because God has graciously loved us first, accepted us with all our imperfections, and never gives up on us, we are moved by the experience of that love to try to love one another. We are inspired to accept others as they are as well, to forgive each other’s faults, and strive to build unified communities of love and care.

So, at the Assembly, when the leader said, “All are welcome,” we responded with “All means all.” And when the leader said, “All means all,” we replied, “All are welcome.” Let’s try that:

All are welcome.
All means all.
All means all.
All are welcome.

I had known for years that the WCC had adopted targets for various diversities at Assemblies and on the Central Committee, committed to the idea that the voices of young people, women, people with disabilities, and people from all the regions of the world were needed at all the tables of the WCC.

But in spite of the prayers about welcome and the preaching about inclusion and the policies about diversity, one of the significant things that I heard from the people who gathered was that their voices were not being heard, that their concerns were not being addressed, that the words of our thoughts and prayers needed to be transformed into action in a whole variety of significant ways to live into our best intentions.

For example, when I attended the Pre-Assembly program for Indigenous people and their allies, we quickly discovered that the welcome and inclusion of Indigenous people at the Assembly was incomplete.

There were about a hundred of us, meeting together for two days of presentations and discussions in a large room in the conference centre. But the chairs were all set up in neat rows, facing towards the front. It wasn’t long into the meeting before folks were saying “This isn’t how we do things. We can’t listen to one another in community like this.”

The chairs were all in straight rows, linked together so they couldn’t be moved, and we were told that we were not allowed to move them by the rule of the conference centre and even by German law. I’m still not entirely sure if it was something to do with health and safety or maybe union rules. But it was clear, we absolutely COULD NOT move the chairs into a sharing circle formation.

Despite valiant efforts by some of the leaders, the chairs stayed where they were, and the cultures and meeting practices of Indigenous people were not welcomed at the Pre-Assembly.

But in our worship, we sang:
All are welcome, welcome in this place.
You’re invited to come and know God’s grace.
All are welcome, the love of God to share
‘cause all of us are welcome here;
all are welcome in this place.

I really liked that song. A beautiful melody, and a lovely sentiment. But I found my voice shaking and tears in my eyes as I tried to sing it. The song made me cry because as we sang it, I knew that it wasn’t yet true.

Like a sign outside a local church that says, “All are welcome,” but the part that isn’t printed on the sign is the expectation that when you come in, you’ll become like those on the inside. And you’ll be welcome to stay if you can do that.

I thought about the journey that our own denomination has been on over the last several years, a process of learning and growth and change with regard to the welcome and inclusion of members of the Rainbow community. After General Assembly’s Listening Committee spent many months listening to LGBTQI+ people in our church, a video was produced to share some of what was heard. And the title of that video is literally, “NOT all are welcome.” It’s an honest sharing of the experiences of people, some of whom are welcomed and embraced by Presbyterian congregations just as they are, and many of whom are not.

We’re also beginning to recognize that our church (like many others) has a lot of work to do to become a place where everyone is welcome and included no matter their race, culture, or language. Many people in our denomination from non-European backgrounds are speaking up to let us know that they have experienced racism and discrimination in our communities of faith too.

So, we’re in a time of opening our eyes, recognizing the errors of our ways (not only as individuals, but as churches), and asking for forgiveness and for God’s help in learning to do better.

Tomorrow evening our Presbytery of Assiniboia is going to be engaging in the beginning of a learning process with a workshop on racism and hate in the church. And I just came home yesterday from a meeting of the Canadian Council of Church’s Commission on Justice and Peace where the top priority topic is racism and the church. Commission members from a wide variety of denominations are learning and exploring together in order to help all our churches to become anti-racist communities where all are truly welcome.

In the conversations that are taking place, many of the churches are grounding their reflections on racism in a firm belief that every human being is made in the image of God. No matter our age, gender, orientation, race, culture, or language, we are all God’s children. And yes, we’re all imperfect and sinful human beings too, but we are forgiven by God’s grace and filled with the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been poured out on us all.

The Prophet Joel puts it beautifully as he expresses God’s assurance to us:
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

It’s not just that all God’s children are to be welcome in the community of faith. But the most unlikely people actually receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that empowers them to see God’s vision and guide the community in God’s way.

There’s saying I’ve noticed a number of times that clarifies the meanings of the words “diversity, inclusion, and belonging.” “Diversity is having a seat at the table.” Diversity means that when we look around the table, we see different colours, cultures, and identities represented. “Inclusion is having a voice in the conversation.” Inclusion means that those diverse people all get to speak into the conversation and decision-making process. “And belonging is having that voice be heard.” Belonging means that diverse voices and perspectives change the community and help us to grow into new ways of being together in love.

When I think about it that way, I’m aware that even our community at First Church, one that many of us understand to be open, inclusive, and welcoming to all, still has some work to do towards recognizing and making space for the gifts of the Holy Spirit within us all.

Almost a year ago, the Session of First Church set up a “Welcome and Inclusion Team” to do some intentional work on the ministry of welcome in this place. A number of factors including the ongoing pandemic reality has caused us to move a bit slowly, but the group is getting going again and making some plans to engage with the whole congregation in strengthening our welcome and deepening our inclusion.

I wonder if there is anyone inside or outside our church community that you or I might be inclined to doubt God could work through. Is there anyone that we’d find it difficult to imagine being gifted for service or leadership, proclaiming or embodying God’s love in the world? Is there anyone about whom we might say (or even just think) “Thank God that I’m not like them”?

I expect that there is, and perhaps even unconsciously we are acting a little more like the Pharisee in today’s parable than like the tax collector who humbled himself before God.

So we must remember that God has poured out the Holy Spirit on all flesh, even on them. And we must take courage because God has poured out the Holy Spirit on all flesh, even on us – gifting us and empowering us and giving us courage and guidance to do the hard work of becoming a truly welcoming church, an anti-racist church, to become a place where:

All are welcome.
All means all.
All means all.
All are welcome.

I invite you to watch for upcoming announcements from First Church’s Welcome and Inclusion Team, and to participate in the conversations and explorations of how we can grow together into a more welcoming congregation.

Just like we prayed and sang towards full inclusion at the World Council of Churches even though we weren’t there yet, let’s not stop praying and singing and listening and learning here in our community also. Let’s hold on to the hope that with our willingness to learn, and our commitment to work, and with God’s help, our songs and our prayers will one day be fulfilled, and the church will embody and express the fullness of God’s love and welcome for all.

All are welcome, welcome in this place.
You’re invited to come and know God’s grace.
All are welcome, the love of God to share
‘cause all of us are welcome here;
all are welcome in this place.