Collect for Black History Month 

Compassionate God,

who sent Jesus Christ

to deliver us from all manner of injustices and inequalities,

create in us new hearts and enlarged visions,

to see the image of God in every person

irrespective of background, race and ethnicity.

May we be generous in our love of others

as we work towards ending misunderstanding, racism and injustice;

creating communities of human flourishing,

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Readings

Ephesians 1.1-10

Gospel

Luke 11.47-end

Sermon

In our gospel reading Jesus is reminding the Jewish leaders that prophets tell us things that we don’t often want to hear. It is as true today as it was during Jesus’ time and even before the time of Jesus. Prophets challenge our beliefs and make us face the realities of life that we do not want to face. Thinking about prophets made me think of the gay and trans activist Marsha P Johnson. She was born on 24^th August 1945 in New Jersey, assigned male at birth, Johnson grew up in an African American working class Christian family. She attended Mount Texan African Methodist Episcopal church as a child and remained a practicing Christian for the rest of her life. From an early age she enjoyed wearing clothes made for women and felt that this expressed the person that she was. However, bullying and harassment meant that she was not able to wear the clothes that she wanted. As soon as she finished high school at 16 years old, she moved to New York and began dressing as a women full time and adopted the name Marsha P Johnson, the P stood for “Pay It No Mind,’ which was a phrase that became her motto. She described herself as a gay person, a transvestite, and a drag queen and used she/her pronouns; the term transgender only became commonly used after her death. As a gay man who dressed as a woman she experienced a lot of persecution, not just from society at large but even from the Lesbian, gay and bisexual community. LGB people were persecuted daily in New York State and their activities and presence were often criminalise, which is why some gay people would not want to engage with Marsha as it drew more attention to them. Despite this she was determined and always advocated for the LGBTQ community whenever she could. She became a prominent speaker for the rights of all LGBTQ people and was part of the first Pride Parade that took place in 1970. She said in an interview in 1972, that she wanted to see gay people liberated and free and to have equal rights that other people have in America. Like the prophets, Marsha faced much hatred and abuse for the rest of her life, speaking out against inequality and the persecution faced by her gay brothers and sisters. Johnson’s body was found in the Hudson River on 6^th July 1992. To this day it not clear what lead to her death.

As a Christian community we are still struggling to fully accept the LGBTQIA+ community. However, the prophets who share their stories aren’t going away. They are among us sharing their stories of suffering at the hands of other Christian’s. They are among us asking for God’s love and not understanding why we are denying it. God brings prophets to the people to challenge the people. When God sees we are not listening to his call, the prophets come to help us hear his message. Even in the face of persecution.

I believe the Living in Love and Faith process that the Church of England created is a stepping stone to listening to the word of God. It might not be perfect but within it are stories and reflections that encourage us to have conversations that we might find difficult. All I would ask us to do is to be open to listening to the stories of people on the margins like Marsha. Listen and empathise with their life and experience and appreciate they are created by God equally to us. Remember that Jesus’ arms of love on the cross were open wide for all, ready to gather all things from heaven and all things from earth.

Amen