Rev. George Miller
June 11, 2023
Acts 18:9-17
Years ago, when my Mom was still alive, and living in Arizona, she was telling
me about her church, how much she loved going there, and she told the people
about me.
When asked if she told them that I was gay, she said “no.” I asked “why?” and her response was-
“I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to monitor what they say
around me, like if they say a joke, they don’t have to stop.”
Being a pastor, I understood her reasoning.
BUT, the older I get, I think “My Mom chose their comfort over me!” AND-
“Just WHAT kind of jokes were these people saying at this church!”
Like, were people singing “Hallelujah” and then saying “How many drag
queen does it take to screw in a light bulb?”
Which brings me back to one of the 1st lessons learned when I
came out in 1991- that homophobia affects everyone, even those who are
straight.
The fear, the hatred of gays, lesbians, those who identify as bi, trans, does affect
their family, their friends, those they work for, work with, and those in
legislature.
We are witnessing that right now, as members of City Council are
receiving mean-spirited correspondence because they gave the OK for PRIDE to
take place.
We saw that a few months ago when our County Commissioners were verbally
attacked for allowing me to give an invocation.
For 13 years the faithful members of Emmanuel UCC have lived with the
reality of what does it mean to call an openly gay pastor and the occasional
comments they hear.
Hate is hate is hate regardless if you are gay, Black, Haitian, Hispanic,
immigrant or SnowBird.
And as we witness, even if you are none of those things, but care about,
live with, love, are friends with someone in that group, you can experience the
injustice of hate as well.
That’s what we witness in today’s reading.
It’s a few years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul feels called to share the Good News with
as many folk as he can, but he is not always well received.
He spends about 18 months in Corinth, a city that sees itself as educated
and high-minded.
He loves to debate, to educate, to share his side of the story, sometimes
a little too forceful.
One day the members of the main religious group have had enough with Paul
and his new ideas.
They attack him, bring him before the council.
“We don’t like his view. We want
the city government to stop him from what he’s saying.”
But the proconsul says-
“If this was a true crime, we would do something, but since it’s about words
and contradicting beliefs, this has nothing to do with us.”
So what does the crowd do? They grab
a man named Sosthenes and beat the heck out of him.
Now…who is Sosthenes? No one
really knows. His name means “Strong Protector.”
There is a good chance he was a leader of the local synagogue.
There might be a chance that he was a Jewish leader that was beginning to
follow Jesus, and that’s why he was beat.
There’s a chance that in the group there were Christians who were anti-Semitic
and that’s why they beat him.
There is a chance that he was a Jew beat by other Jews because he agreed
that Paul had the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion.
There is a chance that he was called to be the lawyer who persecuted Paul,
and he is beaten by the mob because he didn’t do a good enough job defending
their case against him.
No one fully knows who Sosthenes is, or why he was beaten or who made up
the mob that beat him.
What we do know is this- an angry group of people were so focused
on their religious beliefs being the right one that they sought to arrest and
harm someone, and it didn’t matter who nor did it matter if that person was on their side
or not.
In other words- in today’s reading we get the perfect example of how unchecked
hate against any group of people can lead to harm to anyone.
Sosthenes could have been 100% Jew or 100% Jewish-Christian, it did not
matter to the group that wanted to punish Paul.
And we see this today.
Hate is hate is hate regardless if you are gay, Black, Haitian, Hispanic,
immigrant or SnowBird.
And one does not have to be a member of any of those groups to feel the effect
of harmful words or harmful actions served their way.
…so now you may be wondering “But where is the Good News? Where is God in all of this and what does God
have to say?”
The Good News is that God is all over this narrative and God has a lot to
say.
And what God says is “Speak.”
In Acts 18:9-11, before all this chaos comes down, the Creator of All
comes to Paul and says –
“You were not given a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Do NOT be afraid. Use your voice, use your words, use whatever
means of communication you have.”
God says to Paul during these difficult times, “Do not be afraid. Speak.
Don’t be silent. For I AM with
you…
…and there are so many, many people here in this city who think just like
you.”
In a time of uncertainty, at a time in which it seems like an angry mob
has complete control, and the final say, God says-
“Don’t be afraid. Use your words. Know that I AM with you. Others believe as you believe. You are NOT alone.”
And with that experience, Paul finds the ability, Paul finds the courage
to keep carrying on.
With that experience, Paul finds his own way to say “I Will Survive.” Paul finds his own way to say “You Won’t Break
My Soul.”
Paul finds his own way to be a rainbow EVEN as it is storming.
Paul finds his own way to be GOLDEN, to be BRAVE, to FAN HIMSELF OFF and
face the hate.
Paul faces the injustice. Faces
the ones who wish to silence him.
Hate is real. Hate not only harms
the ones who are despised, but it also harms those who are close to them.
Hate gets in the way of progress; hate gets in the way of the Good News. But Hate does not have the final say.
Hate does not get the right to silence anyone’s presence or anyone’s
voice.
Just as Paul experienced 2,000 years ago, the God of Creation, the God
who set the Israelites Free, who raised Jesus from the tomb…
Is the God who speaks to us, the God who says “Do not be afraid, speak…for
I AM with you always, until the end of time.”
Amen and amen.
