While I was out of town last week, protesters showed up and disrupted worship at Calvary. They came to a Bible study and started yelling terrible things at participants. They yelled at people trying to enter the sanctuary for worship.

We received good support from the SF Police Department, and positive media coverage, which led to an outpouring of support from the community. My heart is full after worship yesterday. So many people came to show support for Calvary. SF Gay Men’s Chorus had a big contingent. Young Women’s Choral Project, the Boy Scouts, SF Interfaith Council, members of other congregations, Fillmore Neighborhood members. We are grateful for all the support.

I did not preach yesterday but here are the remarks I made to welcome people to worship.

Good morning and welcome to worship. 

My name is Marci Glass and I’m the Pastor/Head of Staff here at Calvary. 

Thank you for being here this morning, on this 169th anniversary of the founding of this congregation. While the city of San Francisco is very different than it was in 1854, our commitment to the people of this city remains as strong as it was then. We seek to nurture and inspire people in here so that we can go out into the world to transform lives. 

Last week, protesters came to disrupt and harass. And I’m sorry for the trauma and pain that some of you experienced when they yelled hateful words your way. 

I want to be clear that we aren’t an open and inclusive church to be provocative, to anger neighbors, or to pick fights. We are an open and inclusive church because of God’s grace, which has reached into our lives and changed us. 

Let me share a quick story about this grace. 

Many years ago, I preached the story of Jesus’ baptism. As John baptized him, the heavens were torn apart, the holy spirit descended like a dive-bombing pigeon, and God’s voice cried out from heaven, ‘THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED’.  In the sermon, I said that when we are baptized, we join in Jesus’ own baptism, and God’s voice reaches down from heaven, reminding us that we, too, are God’s beloved children. 

After worship, a high school kid named Christopher came into my office, closed the door, and very seriously asked me, “is it true? What you said about God loving us as children, and does it include the gays?”

Christopher started coming to worship because a friend of his from high school had invited him to church. She knew he was being bullied at their school for being gay. He didn’t have a family he could talk about things with. Somehow she convinced him to give our church a try. And he had found acceptance at this church. 

“Yes”, I replied. “There’s lots I’m not sure of, but I am 1000% confident that God created you and God loves you”. 

“How can that be when I’m such a mess?”

“Well, sure. You’re a mess”, I said.”But not because you’re gay. You’re a mess because you’re a high school aged human. God loves you. I’m a mess, but I’ve learned how to hide it better than you have because I’m older. God loves me. Every member of the congregation is a mess, in their own ways. God loves them too. 

“Why does God love us when we’re such a mess?”

I frantically glanced around my office, trying to think of how to answer. I saw this pot that my son Elliott had made in first or second grade. 

“Have you ever painted a picture or made a piece of art?” I asked him, holding up the pot. 

“Yes.”

“What do you think of your creation?”

“I love it. I made it.”

“Is your art perfect?”

He admitted it was not. 

I said we’re like the little pot Elliott had made me. We aren’t perfect. We’re kind of lumpy and sometimes we crack. But we were made in love and we are treasured by God. 

“Then I want to be baptized. I want God’s voice to speak that I am their beloved child.”

That’s grace, my friends. When the voices of the world try to tell us we aren’t enough, we aren’t worthy, we aren’t accepted, grace is when we hear God’s voice calling us beloved. 

There was not a dry eye in the church the day that Christopher joined the church and was baptized.   

I tell you the story of Christopher because it matters that we remember our beautiful created-ness. It matters that we remember that God created us with a great diverse beauty. And it matters that we see the beautiful created-ness in each other. 

Hear me clearly. Each of you is God’s beloved child. In you, yes, you, God is well pleased. All of who you are is already and always loved by God and you can bring your full authentic selves to church. Not because any of us is perfect but because none of us are. And God loves us. That is grace. 

And so Calvary will continue to welcome people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, not to be provocative, but to be faithful to the gospel. We will continue to advocate so people can live authentic and joyful lives, with access to housing, healthcare, and education. 

If the protesters were here today, I would tell them that God’s voice cries out from heaven for them too. They are also God’s beloved children, which makes us family. And we know that it isn’t always easy to be family. But we’re called to keep at it, to keep in polite and respectful conversation, sharing stories about our experiences until we can find common ground. 

We must remember that people who read scripture differently than we do, and people who vote differently than we do, and people who see the world differently than we do are still people. People created by the same God who made you and me. 

This week, I heard someone say “whoever is under represented in your life will be over exaggerated in your imagination.” (Monica Guzman of Braver Angels, speaking at Chautauqua Institution)

And so, as we gather to worship this morning, we do so with humility, acknowledging we share the responsibility for a world divided, separated, and estranged. God calls us to be in conversation with others. We enter worship with joy and gratitude for 169 years of Calvary Presbyterian Church. And let us enter worship with gratitude, for being able to bring our whole selves to God and to each other. 

+++

After worship, we invited everyone to take a picture on the steps. Thanks to Lisa Schilbe for her photography skills!