This past Thursday, Ben and I handed out freezies on the church lawn for the last day of school. It’s a little intimidating setting up a folding table right at the intersection not knowing how we’ll be received. We also weren’t sure if there would be an early dismissal at the nearby schools and if we’d simply miss the kids. In the meantime we were blasting tunes, setting up signs that said “FREEZIES” and had two pairs of scissors ready and a giant box of freezies to give away. Low and behold by 2:40 PM the middle school students made their way past the church. They saw the signs that said, “FREEZIES” and shouted, “Are they free?” “Yes, they’re free!” we replied. “Hey guys, they’re FREE!” they shouted across the intersection to other kids. I honestly didn’t think we’d give away many freezies on a cool afternoon, starting to rain, but it worked out in the end with over 35 kids stopping by and several adults. Some of the kids loved the Chappell Roan tunes we were playing, with one middle school student who sang most of the song waiting at the red light. It was a great way to cap off the last day of school.
The hardest part of that community engagement, before the kids showed up, before Ben was free to join, was being out on the street corner by myself. And greeting some less than friendly straight white men. Why is it always straight white men? While it’s hard to say for certain with each one, we do have an issue with many straight men not being socialized on how to behave in pubic. Some don’t seem to like the Pride flags. Some don’t seem to like the church sign messages, which have become effective evangelism. The only thing more effective than the church sign for evangelism is each one of you, who are the evangelists of this congregation. You don’t need to be standing on the street corner or knocking on doors to be an evangelist.
Just living your life, witnessing to love and truth is evangelism. Thank you all for your evangelism. Today we need to be evangelists for love as we hear in Galatians. We are reminded of Jesus’ commandment to “love one another.” We need to hear this again and again because we’re living in a time when we can’t take this for granted. I see straight white men out my office window, standing on the sidewalk, driving by, and they’re not all bringing love in their hearts when they see we’re a queer-affirming church.
Their response is a testimony to Jesus’ love. It is an aversion to his unconditional welcome. Jesus is calling into the vulnerability of sharing his love. When we answer his call, it evokes the vulnerability of other people to respond. And to see the openness and love in kids’ hearts with whom we have a short exchange in front of the church. Many said thank you for freezies, and others shouted “Freedom!,” celebrating the end of the school year. It’s important just giving one another room to be ourselves. As a queer-affirming congregation we have the capacity for building community, sharing Jesus’ love. As we affirm this love together with schools, local businesses, neighbours, Luther Court, Shelbourne Community Kitchen, the library, and more, we are creating a different kind of world in this corner of Greater Victoria. Often I hear people ask how we respond to the polarization in the world, how we respond to the hate to queer and racialized people. One important way we address this is by taking up space in public, overt ways for love. And that’s both standing on being weirdos standing on the street corner and in small, everyday acts in our lives with friends, family, neighbours, classmates, colleagues, etc.
Jesus also tells the disciples in Luke to put their hand to the plow and not look back. Jesus’ command is hard, to keep your gaze fixed ahead. We hear about the person who wants to go home first before following Jesus. It sounds like a simple enough request. Jesus comes off sounding mean not letting the person go, before following him. To put it a different way, think about the endless disruptions and distractions that prevent us from heading toward a goal. I know when I head to the office and there is something important to complete and I say, “Just let me check my e-mail first.”
Famous last words. Low and behold that project that requires two hours uninterrupted work doesn’t get completed. Instead I answer eight e-mails and work with Marc on the order of worship and answer a phone call, all important things. And I still need to get that project done! Imagine that disruption at the scale of letting the Spirit transform our whole lives in the love of Christ. It can be so hard to begin or to let the Spirit begin her work with us. It’s easier to say, “tomorrow I will have time, not today.” How many things have we said that for our whole lives. Uncompleted tasks we yearn to complete that never got started because we said, “Not today.” The good news is that today is a new day. Today is a day we say “Yes!” to Jesus’ call. Today is a day the Holy Spirit renews us, transforming us in love, despite our excuses and ways we sabotage things for ourselves.
Jesus says foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of God has nowhere to lay his head. There is a sense of precarity, of never settling down following Jesus. While the movement of the Spirit may be ceaseless, in everyday practice, as humans we benefit from having a fixed address at least for periods of time. Many of us are privileged to have stable housing in Victoria. I include myself in that, living in a building with strata (a homeowners association for people newer to BC). I serve on the strata council. One thing that can be challenging about strata is it works so long as everyone has some give and take. Recently we had people leaving junk for giveaway in front of our complex. That’s a normal thing people do in Victoria. It’s surprising how much junk people are willing to take away. I can only imagine what their yards and garages look like. A couple weeks ago we had one larger object followed by a second, followed by a third, until we had a real junk pile going and it didn’t move for over a week. Then came the inevitable discussion how we are going to solve the problem. One person wanted fines for those breaking the rules. The irony is the fine is $50, which is actually cheaper than the cost of renting a truck and hauling your junk either to the landfill or a recycling depot. Beyond that it reveals a breakdown in community if the first solution we seek are imposing fines on our next door neighbours. —>
It doesn’t really work to get a fine from the person we might need to ask to check our mail while we’re away, to water our plants, to feed our cat. What works better is to get to know our neighbours. When we know one another, it’s easier to say, “Hey Dave, is that your junk on the road? It’s been out there for a week. Can you do something with it?” And typically a neighbour says, “Yes, sure. I’ve been busy and totally forgot about the junk. Sorry about that.” Often we don’t know our neighbours.
The church neighbourhood isn’t the easiest place to get to know people because the traffic is so busy, there are increasingly high rises going up along this commercial corridor. It can feel intimidating. And yet we do know neighbours at Luther Court, in the new development across the street, at the Cedars, at St. Luke’s, at Shelbourne Community Kitchen, at the middle school and elementary school, UVic students, and beyond. We know more people than we think. But it requires work to build relationships, to do the outreach, to look beyond the storefronts and building foyers, and get to know the individual people who live nearby.
Building relationships in the love of Christ is one way we respond to creeping fascism in the US and Canada. When we look at the crackdown on immigrants in both countries. How we’re building a war arsenal while our neighbours don’t have access to sufficient healthcare, housing, affordability, or education. How we feel that the fabric of life is slipping away from the peak of the Post-War boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s when it seemed many people’s dream of having a stable job and owning a house was within reach. When we’re worried about pipelines while we struggle with uncontrolled wildfires. It is community and love of neighbour, filled by the Spirit, that will set us free.
And yet we know that Jesus’ love builds community. We know we can face life’s struggles listening to where the Spirit is leading us. We can trust the Word of God because it is bigger than us. Today, know that Christ loves you. The Spirit is breathing love and life into you, as an ambassador of Christ. May we live into this calling together. Amen.
