Today, as SF celebrates its 40th anniversary of the Pride Parade, St. Louis also held its own celebration (as I'm sure many other cities have done/are doing). At 10:30ish this morning, we headed to Tower Grove Park and joined a group of Episcopalians who gathered for Mass on the Grass* across the street from St. John's Episcopal. The weather was cooler than yesterday, with frequent breezes, and as we stood under the large elm tree in the park, we listened to the Rev. Mark Sluss preach and to Bishop G. Wayne Smith (of the Diocese of Missouri) who celebrated the Eucharist.
It was a fairly large gathering, and everyone seemed in jovial spirits, ready and willing to gather for worship. We held a full service, with everyone standing, despite the warmth and humidity. We heard the Gospel being read, and deacon Sluss gave the short homily and then we sang rousing songs of faith after the prayer of intercession were given. We then lined up to receive communion in very orderly fashion, with no jostling, pushing, or shoving. It brought back many fond memories of being in the Bay Area.
The one irritation that we endured was the uninvited guest who stood behind us throughout the service. This gentleman was dressed in clerical collar, and while brandishing his Bible like a talisman and shield, shouted at our backs some rather strong words that were meant to convict us to repent of our sins. He said things like "God will kill you" and God will "bring you back to life" if we only turned from our sins. Without knowing anything about any of us, about any of our faith tenets or beliefs, he admonished that God will make "straight what is crooked" and will cleanse sins, etc, etc.
I think he wanted to preach us back to the straight and narrow, and he was very vehement in saying the things he said. To him, every single person standing in that crowd was a sinner, and we needed to be saved. Many people in the crowd were quite irritated; one man muttered "I wish I had a be-be gun", suggesting he wanted to shoot this guy away from this place. The majority of the people who stood up nearer up front ignored the man and chose to focus on the service. Others who were in back of the crowd sang much louder and spoke much more strongly as the service progressed. It was, I assumed, one way of speaking out. It was our way of drowning out his words of hate with words of affirmation and reconciliation. The man's voice was loud, for sure, and his voice carried further than even the microphones from up front. But we all strained to listen to the prayer after Communion, and I found myself boldly and confidently joining in the chorus of voices praying the following:
God of abundance, you have fed us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation; you have united us with Christ and one another; and you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world, and continue forever in the risen life of Christ our Savior. Amen.
At the beginning of the service, I was quite irritated at the man. Of all the places available throughout Tower Grove Park, he selected this location to preach
his gospel, which he tried to pass off as the Gospel of God's unfailing Love. I wanted him to leave, to let us worship in peace. Many times, I was tempted to go to him and ask him -- politely -- to leave. Then, as we began to sing the song "I Love to Tell the Story," it occurred to me that perhaps this is what is meant to happen. Perhaps this is what it means to be challenged in our faith. Living as Christians, serving as faithful disciples, means that we must wrestle on a daily basis with the ignorance and intolerance of the world, and triumph over them as Christ has shown us to do. We are "sent forth in the power of the Spirit" to do what? To proclaim the redeeming love of God to the World. Unlike the man shouting negativities at our backs, as followers in Christ's footsteps, we are to tell the story of love, peace, justice, and reconcilation. We are not just to ignore the stories of hate but to replace them, rewrite them, with something far more restorative and uplifting. It would be easier, much easier, to tell our stories when no one is shouting hate words at us. Yet we are not asked to retreat from the world, to scurry away from people like this man who has warped God's message of love, acceptance, and reconciliation. We are not told to ignore and walk away, but to engage, discuss, reconcile, and transform. We counter words of hate and prejudice with words lifted from songs and stories of Jesus and His love.
As I recall today's scene in the park, I think that man was uninvited but not unwelcomed. Many people came over to speak with him; even the rector of one of the Oasis congregations came to talk with him. No one manhandled him, no bashed him, and I'd like to believe that we treated him more graciously than he treated us. I don't know what was said between him and the other folks, but we might have done better to invite that man to join us at the Open Table. Perhaps some of the folks who came to talk to him did invite him to partake of Communion, and he might have refused. I'm not certain, but I do know that he was vigilant, unrelenting, and strongly convicted by what he believes in -- and he probably didn't believe in breaking bread with us!
After the service, we all departed to take our places in preparation for the parade. My sister and I walked along our own path down Grand Avenue, and cutting across the hot concrete street, we strode into Pho Grand to grab a bite to eat. We later joined the crowds lining the streets to welcome the parade, catching strands of multi-colored beads, t-shirts, wrist-bands, frisbees, etc. After about an hour or so, we walked away from the crowds to head home, and I remembered the man from earlier this morning. I wondered if he was still out there by the parade grounds, trying to preach his gospel to passersby. I wondered if he heard and understood the words that we heard ourselves -- words of opening hearts, words of great fellowship of love, words of disciples of faith joining hands. I hope that he picked up some of those colored beads today, perhaps to remind himself that God's creation is full of richness, depth, and color.
1 comment:
Hi Hat,
I'd like to talk with you about re-publishing this article in the diocesan news. Please call or email when you can!
Beth 255-1387
bfelice@diocesemo.org
Post a Comment