This is the final Sunday of Lent (aka Palm Sunday) when Jesus entered Jerusalem to welcoming crowds. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!” There was excitement in the air, anticipating what Jesus would do next. And what did he do? He entered the temple court and flipped the tables of the money changers, reminding everyone that the temple was intended to be a place of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). Jesus feasted on inclusion that day, and so are we. Today, we break down the “Wall of Identities” and the exclusion of people based on their gender identity and orientation. This afternoon at 2:30 pm, we will join the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance, Brave Space Alliance, SOUL and other groups at the Cook County Jail this afternoon to rally for the protection of transgendered inmates held at the jail. For more information about the rally, go to the Facebook Event page. The event will be streamed to the LSEA Facebook page.

Matthew 11:19 When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and everyone said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’ God’s wisdom, however, is shown to be true by its results.”

Jesus got a lot of criticism for spending time with people no one else would associate with. We often make assumptions about people on the basis of their friendships, and we often quote the verse: “Bad company corrupts good morals,” to carefully choose our own close friends. How do you feel about the company Jesus kept? Would you have been critical? Why or why not? Have you ever hesitated to befriend someone (or identify with a group)?  What was it that made you hesitate (or makes you hesitate now)? Reflect on Jesus’ last statement in the verse about God’s wisdom. What do you think it means?

Prayer: Friend of outcasts, I am so often controlled by what others think that I reject those people who are considered “sinners.” Yet you demonstrated a willingness to cross the “acceptable” and “respectable” boundaries to befriend the suspected and rejected. I want to be like you, Jesus, I want to be liberated from my own fears of rejection so I can be open and affirming of others that are different from me. Give me courage to cross the boundaries so I can hang out with you and those you love. Grant me the willingness to risk rejection so that I may hear your affirmation and experience the fullness of your love that includes a sinner like me. Amen.

Isaiah 56:3. Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.”

Foreigners (uncircumcised Gentiles) and Eunuchs (castrated males) were prohibited from entering certain areas of the temple grounds and from making sacrifices – all because of their “inferior” status. But the prophet Isaiah envisions a time when those who were excluded from full participation in the life of God’s people would be welcomed as equals. The book of Acts includes the conversion stories of Gentile Cornelius and the Eunuch from Ethiopia – fulfillment of Isaiah’s vision. What groups are currently excluded from or limited in full participation in the life of the Church? On what basis are these groups excluded? What do you think Isaiah would say about their exclusion?

Wednesday, March 31, is “International Transgender Day of Visibility,” a time to show your support for the trans community. Trans people of color are most likely to experience violence and assault of any group. On Palm Sunday, March 28, the congregations of the Logan Square Ecumenical Alliance will join SOUL – Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation – at the Cook County Jail to demand protection for incarcerated trans folk and access to the facilities of their gender identity. Kimball and Nuestra Señora de las Américas are member congregations of LSEA. The event will be streamed live on the LSEA Facebook page for those unable to attend in-person. For more details about the event, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/133340135370153/

Prayer: Lord of Foreigners and Maker of Eunuchs, open our eyes to the plight of those who are outsiders and those who are mistreated because of their status. Open our hearts to your liberating vision that gives full access to those who have historically been kept behind walls of exclusion. Forgive us for acting out of presumption and ignorance and remind us that we, too, were once considered foreigners and strangers, but have now been reconciled by the cross of Christ. Break down the walls that have been built up within us and within our communities. Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:28-29  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

This is an amazing statement for anyone that has felt discounted, devalued, or diminished. God purposely chose you no matter how lowly you feel (self-hatred) or how despised you’ve been (harassed and hated by others). God delights in taking the people everyone else says are worthless and turning them to gold, humbling the haters.  Have you ever felt worthless or despised?  What led you to feel that way?  How does this verse make you feel about yourself, about others, about God? 

Prayer: O God, your love is amazing. We so often honor those who meet the highest standards of beauty, intelligence, success, and respectability. We so often dishonor the others. But you, Lord, are not like us. You give greatest honor to those who are at the bottom of the standardized scale, choosing them to be your vessels and using them to build your kingdom.  Thank you for extending radical grace to us. Help us to extend that grace to those at the bottom, those that are excluded, and those who are denied fullness of life. Help us to choose like you choose. Amen. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Paul reminds the Corinthians that though there is only one body, it is made up of many diverse parts – Jews, Gentiles, slaves, free – to which we could add women, men, old, young. However, for many people, there is no place for the LGBTQ+ community. The phrase “gay Christian” is as oxymoronic as “Good Samaritan” was in Jesus’s day. Yet, there are many LGBTQ+ folk who have professed faith in Christ and have been baptized into the body of Christ by God’s spirit. Their sexual orientation – like other identifiers such as class, race or status – has not disqualified them from being part of the body. How do you react to the phrase? Why do you think this particular identity marker has made participation in body life so challenging? How would you respond to someone who said, “It is impossible to be gay and Christian at the same time?”

Prayer: Creator of all people, in our amazing diversity of size, shape, color, and giftedness: guide us, by your grace, to recognize the beauty and fitness of all whom you have made in your own image. Give us gifts of humility and generosity of spirit to recognize in all people, the face of our Savior, Jesus, and to practice his commandment to “love one another,” toward the end of bringing harmony and peace among persons of all colors, origins, and abilities, for the sake of your Kingdom. –Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia