Statement to School Board re: Sex Ed & LGBTQ; Sept 6, 2022

 

My name is Rev. George Miller. I’ve had the honor to serve in Sebring for 12 years. 

 

It’s wonderful to watch the School Board do the work you do, for the sake of our kids.  But I’m concerned about the discussions regarding comprehensive health ed.

 

Few of the decisions seem to be based on fact and research. 

 

Research shows how life-saving sex education is.  Data shows that sex ed reduces teen pregnancy, STI’s, cuts down on depression and suicide attempts.

 

Research from places like Darkness 2 Light show that teens who take sex ed are less likely to be sexually abused and trafficked.

 

Data shows that abstinence-only lessons do NOT keep our kids safe, STD or pregnancy free.

 

Orientation is discussed as if being lesbian or gay is only about sex.  Orientation is about identity.  Who you love, how you see yourself, when you feel the most YOU.

 

To use personal religious views to say that people of the LGBTQ community are evil is wrong.  This puts false words into Jesus’ mouth, going against his teachings of compassion.

 

It’s scary to know that safe havens are not allowed and that children who come to you in confidence can be outed to their parents.

 

Telling a parent that their child has come out as LGBTQ can pose great danger.  40% of our homeless youth identify as LGBTQ and were kicked out by family.  Up 40% of homeless teens are sex trafficked. 

 

What we’ve heard by public speakers are personal takes of their faith, laced with misunderstood interpretations of scripture, often using mistranslated texts. 

 

Folk say “We want to teach a biblical approach to sex,” yet the Bible features polygamy, concubines, marrying your kin.

 

I am concerned about the meanness we have witnessed in this room done by the people identifying as Christians. 

 

LGBTQ youth are discussed at these meetings as inhuman and non-citizens.

 

It's as if the bullies from jr. high have grown up to be bullies at the board meetings.  We know that often those who are bullies are themselves having issues at home.

 

There is a saying that “A hit dog hollers.”  There seem to be folk here today who are overly obsessed with the LGBTQ presence.

 

Perhaps they are worried that someone they care about is gay; perhaps they’re worried that they are gay, so they’re doing all they can to demonize others so they don’t have to look at themselves.

 

If that is you today, please stop.  You are hurting innocent youth; ultimately you are hurting yourself.  If this is you, know that you are worthy of love and there are people who will stand by and support you. 

 

Let us stop this assault on our LGBTQ youth who are simply trying to be their true selves.

 

What If The Book of Tobit was Called Anna?; Tobit 11:1-6

 

Rev. George Miller

Sept 4, 2022

Tobit 11:1-6

 

Today is the last sermon on Tobit, and to be honest none of the messages were what I anticipated.

 

This is a GREAT thing, meaning that instead of TOBIT being used by me to pass an ideology, it was me who was made by TOBIT to look beyond my ego.

 

TOBIT begins as the tale of a man who is kidnapped, tries his best to honor his mother’s faith, and loses his sight.

 

HOW DIFFERENT this book would be if it had a different name.

 

Imagine if this was called SARAH, told from the point of view of Tobit’s relative who is tormented by a demon?

 

She is married 7 times, sees all 7 men die, is mocked by her staff, and wed for an 8^th time to her cousin.  What would Sarah have to say about her life, her family, her faith, her God?

 

Imagine if the book was called EDNA, and it was about Sarah’s mom?

 

It could be about a mother watching her only child have to constantly get her hopes up only to be shattered.

 

Or if the book was called ANNA, after Tobit’s wife?  What if we heard about her experiences, as a woman kidnaped and taken to Nineveh?  What if we heard about the horrors she faced?

 

What if we saw Tobit through her eyes, how he put everything before her? 

 

Tobit once had so much money he leant someone $200,000.  Imagine the life Anna lived; imagine what it was like when they became broke, and she had to take in laundry to pay the bills.

 

I would’ve liked to read ANNA because in many ways she’s the most realized character in this book.  When we first met Anna, she’s cooking big meals for Tobit, not fully appreciated.

 

We see how she comes to family’s rescue, get a job, excels at it, gets a bonus, and puts Tobit in his place when he tries to humiliate her.

 

Then we discover how strong a love she has for her only son, Tobias.  When Tobit sends her son away to collect the $200,000, she breaks into sobs.

 

“Why do you send my child away?  He is not a plaything to be used.  Don’t let money get in the way of our child’s life.  He’s a gift from God and he is enough.”

 

Anna weeps and weeps.  Her heart is torn.  She doesn’t care about the cash.  This is her son.  Her baby.

 

Anna is living in a dangerous place during a dangerous time, and Tobit has sent her son into danger all for an IOU.

 

This would be like a parent in Cuba or Haiti sending their only son to Miami to collect a debt.  This is like the Civil War and a son of Virginia is trying to get to New York and back unnoticed.

 

Although Anna’s son is safe as he travels along the way, there is no way for Anna to know this.  There’s no cell phone, no telegram, no post office.

 

Tobias should only be gone for 6 days, 7 at most.  But one week goes by, two weeks go by, three weeks.

 

Nothing.  Anna hears nothing about her son. 

 

She says to Tobit “My child has perished and is no longer among the living.”  She weeps, she moans.  “My child, the light of my eyes.  Damn you for taking my child.”

 

Tobit can’t handle her grief.  He tries to smooth over it.  “Be quiet,” he says.  “Stop worrying.  It’s probably nothing.”

 

Anna yells back “Be quiet yourself!  Stop lying to me- my child is dead.”

 

Every day, Anna would run out to watch the road; when the sun sets she’d go back in, crying all night, not sleeping.

 

That’s where today’s reading comes in- another day has come, another long morning of Anna waiting for her son to return.  She is staring at the road, the path her child had taken weeks ago.

 

She’s on about day 14, 21, 28 of no sleep.  Still, she waits; still she watches.

 

…and there, just there, in the horizon, she sees his shape.  It is unmistakable.  As a Mother, she knows, she know.  She shouts to her husband “Look, your son is coming!”

 

Then…she runs.  She runs and she runs, and she does not stop running until she sees the light of her eyes.  She throws her arms around him.  “Now that I see you, my child, I can die.”

 

She weeps.  As if 12, 21, 28 days of weeping isn’t enough, she weeps tears of joy, the tears only a mother can shed for a child she thought was dead.

 

Tobit stumbling through the courtyard door and the family is reunited.

 

We don’t hear any more words from Anna.  We know she lived her life as a contented mother and grandmother, and she outlives Tobit.

 

How intriguing it would have been if today’s book was called ANNA and all that occurred, we got to see from her lens.  How unique the story would be.

 

Unique, and yet not unfamiliar.

 

Anyone notice how much today’s story sounds like another story in the Bible?

 

We heard of a mother watching for a son she fears is dead.  He appears on the horizon; she joyfully runs to him.

 

About 300 years later, Jesus tells a similar story in Luke 15.  Except this time it’s about a Dad who is watching for his son, a Dad who runs out to him.

 

According to Jesus, the Dad says, “Let us celebrate, for my son was dead and is alive again, lost and is found!”

 

How interesting that 2 such stories can exist, different and yet so similar.  Both featuring a missing child, a waiting parent, both ending with a joyful reunion.

 

Makes one wonder- did Jesus borrow from Tobit?  If so, what would have happened if he kept the parent as a mother?

 

We ask because although there are images in scripture that refer to the feminine aspect of God, and there are parts of the Bible that feature feminine imagery, there is not enough, and one has to really search for it, and not many male preachers preach about it.

 

So often people refer to God as He, see God as a He, refer to God as Father, but how would it have been if this time, in Luke 15, Jesus had taken a clue from TOBIT and made the story about a mother who waits?

 

How different would our theology, our lives, our world be?

 

How different would our faith and our vision of God be if Jesus gave us a story in which we see God as the Heavenly

-Mother Who Waits?

-the Mother Who Runs?

-the Mother Who Weeps?

-the Mother Who Fights for her Kid?

-the Mother Who Never Gives Up?

 

How cool it would’ve been if Jesus made the Dad in his story a Mom, because then we’d have one more image of the Lord.

 

And the more images of God, the more we fully experience and understand who God is.  And the more diverse an image we have of God, the more we see God in the diversity around us.

 

I am thankful for this journey we took with Tobit.  It was unexpected.  It was short.  It was rich.

 

And I hope it has empowered us to rethink how we see God, how we see scripture, and how we see ourselves. 

 

Amen and amen.

For Anyone Who's Felt Displaced; Tobit 8:1-15

 

Rev. George Miller

August 28, 2022

Tobit 8:1-15

 

Before our last big hurricane, Rev. Manierre shared some great advice-

stick to your daily rituals as much as you can.

 

As an ordained minister who works for the Red Cross, Rev. Manierre is a treasure trove of information on how to respond to and live through trauma.

 

Her advice made sure that when the hurricane hit and electricity was off for 4 days, I found a way to cope.

 

Still started each morning with the paper and coffee, even if it was cold.  Still spent Wednesday writing the sermon even as I was sweating.

 

Still fed the cats a can of tuna when the sermon was done and I took a nap.

 

Not only did it bring calm to me, but to the cats who were used to the routine; sticking to is said to them ‘You’re safe.’

 

Rev. Manierre’s advice about routine has been shared with so many others.

 

For those who have received an unwelcome diagnosis or watching a loved one suffer, for those who come down to assist a family member, or anyone living in “in-between time.”

 

Waiting is one of the worst experiences; ritual is one way to really cope with that anxiety.

 

My life since July has been 8 weeks of waiting.  Waiting for a check that was 3 weeks late.  2 weeks of jury duty where each day I had to wait until 5:30 pm to find out if I needed to show up.

 

2 days of sleep study.  Submitting a grant for next year’s sabbatical and waiting to hear back.

 

Then the biggest waiting- having my home tented for termites.  What worried me was thinking  “How do I grab 2 fast cats, get them in a crate and then 3 days later do it again?”

 

Fortunately, I was staying at the Air BB next to my home, so I only had to travel a few feet, but the truth is…

 

...anytime you have to bag up your stuff, pack up your pets, gather your valuables and leave, you are displaced.

 

20 feet, 2 miles, 2 states, makes no matter- your home is your home, and when you’re not there…

 

…when you CAN’T be there, it is hard, it is heartbreaking, and it hurts.

 

So after a day of being down, I did exactly what Rev. Manierre taught- stuck to rituals:

-paper and coffee in the morning

-gym on Tuesday

-sermon on Wednesday.

 

By the 2^nd day the cats were no longer hiding under the bed.  By sermon time, they were soundly asleep, with images of canned tuna in their head. 

 

Not home…but at least some peace.

 

This is an underlying theme of TOBIT- how to be home when you are no longer in Kansas, and how to live as if you are in the Promised Land even if you know you’ll never see it again.

 

Last week we had a fun time with Tobit and his Archie Bunker ways. 

 

We watched as Anna turned traditional conventions on its head, unapologetic for being great at what she does.

 

We celebrated women who broke from political oppression and used technicolor to challenge injustice.

 

Today’s message focuses on the somber reality of where this fairy-tale story takes place.

 

Once upon a time, Tobit and his people were kidnapped and taken far away.  The Northern part of Israel had split from the rest of the nation and was oh so vulnerable.  Assyria swooped in, killing, plundering, taking folk away from the land God had promised them.

 

Tobit portrays himself as someone sooo righteous.  He prayed the right way, tithed the right amount, paid the right wages, ate the right foods, observed the right religious holidays.

 

Right, right, right.  It can sound so sickening and self-congratulatory.

 

But then we step back and think-maybe doing the right things the right way was the only way Tobit knew how to survive. 

 

Maybe doing the right things the right way was the only way Tobit knew how to keep his memories alive.

 

Everything Tobit knew about God, everything he knew about being a faithful Jew was taught to him by his mother Deborah.  But Deborah died when he was still a child, so she’s barely a memory.

 

Everything Tobit  knew about praising God involved going to the Temple during high holy days with offerings.

 

He boasts of all the giving he gave, all the people he helped: all the orphans and widows and hungry.

 

When they are attacked and taken away, Tobit has no family home, he is unable to honor the family tradition of going to the Temple.

 

Tobit also knows he will never, ever, go back HOME again.

 

Maybe that’s why he’s so hyper-righteous.  Maybe that’s why he did sooo much and boasted about it.

 

Maybe he was coping with the trauma he endured and was coping with all he had forever lost, so he compensated by doing more, more, more than maybe he would have otherwise.

 

Maybe it was RITUAL which kept Tobit focused enough to wake up each day.

 

Since he had been kidnapped, he could not make the ritual trips to the Temple to perform in the ritual of alms giving.

 

BUT HE COULD still give, he could still worship, he could still give to God the gifts of justice and kindness with his actions, even if he wasn’t very humble.

 

Ritual may be what kept Tobit going.

 

Ritual is part of today’s story.  Anna and Tobit’s son Tobias has gone on a journey to collect some money.  On the way he meets his 2^nd cousins, and he marries their daughter, Sarah.

 

But here’s the issue- Sarah’s been wed 7 times before; all 7 wedding nights a demon has killed her groom.

 

What to do, what to do?

 

Well the common thing of course- Tobias sets fire to the insides of a fish he caught and the demon runs away!

 

And before they can even kiss, Tobias has Sarah kneel on the floor.  They pray to God for safety and mercy.  He blesses the God of their ancestors, he recalls the creation of Eve and Adam.

He asks for safety and mercy, he says he is about to make love not out of lust but with sincerity.

 

Sarah and Tobias say “Amen, Amen,” and they go…to… ‘sleep’.

 

Later, Sarah’s father peeks into their room.  When he sees them both snoring in bliss, he calls his wife, he calls his servants and they make plans for a wedding celebration.

 

Not just a regular celebration, but a 14 day event full of wine drinking, bread eating, barbeque goodness with enough food to make Fe look stingy.

 

Everyone from town is invited and for 2 weeks there is music, merriment, with no limit to the money spent.

 

It’s all joy, joy, joy…but remember who the people are, where they are, and what they have went through.

 

Sarah’s parents, and most likely their friends and neighbors were also kidnapped and far from home.

 

This wedding feast is most likely made up of stolen people and their children.

 

So this wedding is more than just a wedding.  It is a ‘ritual’.  A ritual that allowed Sarah and her people to remember who they really are and where they are from.

 

This wedding was a way to break the gloominess, sadness, and trauma of what it meant to not be HOME.

 

This wedding would’ve featured the traditional sacred words, sacred songs, traditional symbolizes that were used before long before being taken away.

 

We read about this wedding and can respond to it as we might to coffee in the morning or church on Sunday.

 

This marriage ceremony is not just about 2 people being wed, but a whole community coming together to recall who they are, where they are from, and that God is still present.

 

This is 1 way to look at what’s happening;  the wedding, the wedding night prayer, Tobit’s acts of charity-

 

They are ways in which the characters remind themselves and each other that God is still present.  They are ways they remind themselves that hope is not lost.

 

Tobit can come across as self-righteous, but his reason for giving is to remind himself that God is not dead.

 

Tobias and Sarah may pray so they can properly enjoy their wedding night, but they’re also reminding themselves that the God of their ancestors is still here.

 

Sarah’s family may spare no expense, stuffing everyone’s face with food, but they are also making a public confessional that God is still alive.

 

For people who have lost a lot, who have endured trauma, for anyone who has ever felt homeless and helpless, this announcement that God is still here, and God is still acting is HUGE.

 

Therefore any ritual, any daily task that one can do to convey this, embrace this, share this, is so, so important.

 

Friends and people of Emmanuel UCC- what are the rituals you do?  What are the things you do on a daily or weekly basis that give you comfort?

 

Know what they are- because they are also the very things that give you life.

 

When there is comfort, when there is life, there is most certainly God.

 

We thank God

for the rituals that shape us,

the rituals that mold our day,

the rituals that mark the

passage of time,

because sometimes

those are the very rituals

that save our lives

and soothe our soul.

 

Thank God for our rituals, because within our rituals we can find God.

Amen and amen.