Who are We - The 1st Congregational UCC of Gaylord

(Based on Mt 5:14-16, Mt 13:24-30a, and Mt 25:31ff – 4/17/16)

Last week, we considered this crucial question of who am I? Who are you? We looked at it from an individual perspective and concluded that we are children of God – all of us, and all people everywhere – period. As I John 3 puts it: “See what love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are!”

            This week, we turn to the corporate dimension of our identity. Today I want to explore who WE are, as the 1^st Congregational UCC Church of Gaylord. What is the particular and unique identity of this congregation, and how can we learn from and be guided by that identity? I want to approach this question by telling a few stories – true stories - of some incredible things that have actually happened right here in my seven months with you – identifying things! So who are we? Let’s look at this important question in three Acts.      

                                    ACT I - WE HELP PEOPLE IN NEED

            Act I. Scene 1 – Over in the Parish Hall… A homeless woman in her 60’s came by at about 8 in the morning. She had all of her earthly possessions in two garbage bags and a box. She had been at the Refuge the last couple nights, but needed a shelter option that was a bit more long-term for her. When our secretary Karla Hawkins arrived, she invited the woman in and asked her if she’d like a cup of hot coffee. She did and Karla made her one and then sat down and shared a cup of coffee with her. The woman explained to Karla that two very nice women over at the Refuge told her they would pick her up here and drive her all the way up to the Mary Margaret House – a 90-day shelter for homeless women up in Petoskey, about an hour’s drive each way. Before long, as promised, two gals from our church pulled up, loaded this woman with all her stuff in their car, and drove her up to get settled at the Mary Margaret House.

           

Act I. Scene 2 – Also at the Parish Hall… Two of our adult members – one male and the other female – sat at a table on a Tuesday afternoon with a high school aged girl with dyed blue hair. She had a baseball hat cocked sideways on her head and wore a hooded sweatshirt that was several sizes too big for her. They were all staring back and forth between a laptop and a math book. It seems they were struggling through some Algebra II problems. As I passed through the room, they asked me for some assistance on a particular group of problems and found that I was no help at all. So they labored on together. This scene, by the way, happened over and over again, as volunteers from this congregation were committed to helping this young high school dropout get her GED. They would not stop until she had it!

           

Act I. Scene 3 – At the Parish Hall. It was a Friday evening, and a crew from our church was working with some folks from a downtown business preparing a meal. The preparations began at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Some cleaned and then set tables, while others labored over the stove. At about 4:45, a steady stream of people came in. It was a colorful crew of guests. Some were homeless, some weren’t. Some were completely on their own; others were couples or even families. Some were black and some were white. Some were there to relieve their hunger; others to relieve their loneliness. At 5:00 sharp, Tony Dockery-Fobar welcomed everyone and led them in prayer. Then table-by-table, the guests came forward to receive a lovingly prepared, balanced meal. Later, the leftover food was distributed to any guests who wanted more.

            Who are we? We are, most definitely, a church who helps local people in need.

            ACT II – WE ARE A CHURCH THAT ASKS TOUGH QUESTIONS

Act II. Scene 1 – The pastor’s office… Back in October and early November, I preached a sermon series entitled “What Christianity Can Learn from Other Religions.” We spent a week each on Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. I tried to honor each faith and celebrate its contributions to the world. Now, as you might imagine, in the current political climate, not everybody was pleased with my positive treatment of other religions in general and of Islam in particular. So one day, that following week, I welcomed a church member into my office, who questioned me – seriously, pointedly, and respectfully. We talked – well, mostly he talked and I listened for over an hour. It was a great conversation. It helped me, and I trust it helped him too.

Act II. Scene 2 – On any Tuesday during Lent, from noon to one p.m., our parish hall was filled with anywhere from 20-30 people, at least five of whom were either from other churches or from no church at all. That group, in addition to digging into some wonderful soup and bread, also dug into the scriptures, asking some incredibly challenging questions. What if “original sin” is not the only way to understand our origin? What if Jesus didn’t come merely to “die for our sins”? Could he have had a larger or different purpose? What if heaven and hell and the traditional understandings of them - are more distortions of God’s truth than manifestations of it? We didn’t always agree or reach consensus during these sessions, but we were always civil. We listened to each other, we raised additional questions, and we knew that our friendships with one another were far more important that a forced uniformity of belief.

Act II. Scene 3 – This one happened just last week, and it’s going to happen again later this morning, and every Sunday after coffee hour for the foreseeable future. Over at the northwest corner of the Parish Hall, about 12-13 folks entered into a discussion about the morning sermon. People shared what they were thinking during the sermon, what memories or ideas came up in them. Some shared tough struggles they were having trying to see others as children of God. “What about the members of ISIS and other terrorists who would harm others? Are we supposed to consider them children of God too?” “What about family members who continually mistreat us or even abuse us?” “What does drug or alcohol abuse do to someone’s child of God status?” Again, we didn’t all agree or see these complicated issues in the exact same way. But we sure were willing to roll up our sleeves and ask the tough questions together – always together.

            Who are we? We are, most definitely, a church that celebrates questions even more than answers.

           

            ACT III. WE ARE A CHURCH THAT OPENS OUR DOORS TO             EVERYONE – PERIOD.

Act III. Scene 1 – For almost two full years before I came here, this congregation undertook a very difficult but vital process. You worked through the United Church of Christ’s process to become an Open and Affirming Congregation. This “ONA” process, as it’s called, is an incredibly challenging one, but it’s particularly difficult in a small town like Gaylord, Michigan – a town that is almost exclusively white and known for being very conservative politically and theologically. This congregation took on this process, entered it faithfully, saw it through with the full knowledge that you would probably lose some members – which you did. And we will probably lose a few more. I have called upon and visited with several of the people who left this congregation over the ONA decision. I have listened to their opinions and understood them. But I have not tried to talk them out of their opinions nor talk them into coming back. Becoming an open and affirming church was absolutely the right thing for this particular congregation to do. Being as open as we are is not for everyone, and it’s clearly not for every church. But it IS an accurate reflection of who WE are and of what God has put US here in this town to be and to do.

Act III. Scene 2 – (right here in this sanctuary) – Every once in a while, we have a young man who shows up here to worship with us. When the weather is good enough, he often rides up to the door on a bright pink bike. He’s usually late. He can’t read, so we’ve gradually learned that it’s not a good idea to hand him a bulletin when he comes, for that makes him feel insecure, like he doesn’t belong. He feels that way in far too many other places in his life, so we don’t want him to feel that here. He has a really hard time sitting still, so he rarely sits through an entire service, and, yes, he can be a little distracting at times. He struggles with mental illness, but he’s not dangerous and poses no threat. When you ask him his name, he might say “Mike” one Sunday, and he might say “Fred” the next. I’ve even heard him say he doesn’t have a name. So many of us have learned to just say, “I’m glad you’re here! It’s good to see you!” He loves coffee hour and cookie time, and he’s a regular at the Friday evening community meal. But what’s most important is that he’s always welcome here, whatever his name is, and I like that!

            We are a church that welcomes all people – period.

            So who are we? We are a congregation that takes care of people in need, that asks tough questions as we wrestle with traditional theology, and that intentionally welcomes all people, no matter what problems or challenges being so inclusive may present. We have chosen to live as an unweeded garden, and while that’s a challenging way to live at times, it’s definitely the right choice for us. It’s not easy to describe our amazing little community to others. But it’s time we started to try, because we have something truly special here.

            Now some of you have wondered why we have to broadcast or advertise the fact that we are an Open and Affirming Church. Why do we have to put it front and center on our website or put up signs and certificates about it.” I think the answer to that is two-fold. First, we need to do that so that the very LGBT people who have been ostracized, excluded, and kicked out of basically every other religious organization, will know that they’ll be welcomed here. They won’t have to risk yet another rejection, walking into yet another unknown, unidentified church that might mistreat them! The other reason is that there are so many younger generation people and millennials who have written off all churches, often because of how closed most American churches are to people with any sort of differences or alternative backgrounds. Since the vast, vast majority of churches have taken such a negative stand toward our LGBT brothers and sisters, we don’t want anyone assuming that we have taken the same stand. Jesus said that we shouldn’t hide our light under a bushel, but rather put it on a stand. A big part of our light, of what we offer to the world, is our openness to people who have been rejected by other Christian communities.

            As many of you know, I’ve been taking a class for the last 13 weeks about the UCC. One of the most memorable lectures was from the pastor of an incredible UCC congregation in Montclair, NJ. She made the following statement that I think really applies to us. She said, “Far too many progressive churches hide the fact that they are progressive and open, and they do this because they are afraid to lose members. So they try and keep everybody happy.” The pastor continued, “We made that same mistake, especially when our membership numbers fell to their lowest level in years, because we felt we couldn’t afford to lose any more people. But what really helped our church turn the corner and grow was when we flew our rainbow flag, when we broadcast that we were open and affirming, and when we let it be known that we were asking the questions that everybody else was running away from. Sure we lost some members; but we gained far, far more when we celebrated our identity as a progressive church instead of trying to hide it.”

            Folks, the last thing the city of Gaylord needs is another milk-toasty, middle of the road, don’t-rock-the-boat kind of church. This morning we have reaffirmed and celebrated who we are – a church who cares about and serves those in need – a church that asks and wrestles with the theological questions that other churches just blindly accept – and a church that genuinely wants to welcome everybody, because we know that diversity will make us stronger. We are a beautiful, unweeded garden.

            I am so proud to be a part of this little but growing church. Are you? Then let’s get out there and tell people who we are and the amazing things that are happening at The First Congregational UCC Church of Gaylord, Michigan. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Who Are We in the UCC? 3 Things I LOVE about The United Church of Chirst

 (Offered on April 24 - Based on John 17:11-23 & Ephesians 4:1-6)

            I have a confession to make; when I took this job here with you, I knew absolutely nothing about the United Church of Christ. I’ve never been a big fan of denominations or paid much attention to what makes one group Methodist and another one Presbyterian. True story – I was so not into being Presbyterian, that the Presbytery of Mackinaw actually voted to make me their Moderator, in hopes that I might actually come to some of the meetings!

            But unfortunately, with this job in Gaylord, there’s been no avoiding the denominational stuff. As part of the agreement in my contract, I have spent the last 13 weeks spending about 8 hours a week taking a class entitled “The History and Polity of the United Church of Christ.” (Sounds like a real thriller, huh?) But surprisingly, it’s been a great opportunity and I’ve learned a lot. So today, as a part of our April series on Identity – Who are we? - I’d like to share the coolest three things I took away from this class, things that are now a part of my Identity, and, I hope, yours too.

            First, the UCC has a fierce commitment to unifying people, even people who are about as far apart as you can imagine. The first thing you read about when you’re learning about the UCC is the fact that four distinct groups from four distinct parts of the world somehow managed to set aside their differences to form the United Church of Christ in 1957. Those groups, in case you ever want to impress your UCC friends, were the Congregationalist Church, the Reformed Church, The Christian Church, and the German Evangelical Church. I have no idea how these four distinct groups pulled this off, but they did. And the truth is there are even more groups and threads than just these four that flowed into this relatively new and young denomination. In an era that has been and continues to be all about splintering and dividing up (did you know there are over 2200 Christian denominations in America now?), the emerging United Church of Christ pulled four very different groups together.

            The UCC understands itself as a “united and uniting church.” Why, do you suppose we would use both these words – united and uniting? Are we being redundant? No! What we’re saying is that we have already united four major threads in forming our denomination AND we aren’t finished yet! The UCC is still out there, trying to unite with more and more people – uniting in mission, uniting in peace and justice efforts, uniting across national and even international boundaries. Why? Because the UCC believes that God calls us – as our very top priority - to pull people together, to seek and celebrate similarities rather than differences, even when that’s an incredibly hard thing to do. It’s quite a concept to me. How refreshing, in a world so full of divisions, so full of religious conflict and bickering, to have a denomination that truly believes in Christian unity AND works to bring it about! Count me in!

            I’ve grown so tired of Christians and supposed followers of Jesus adopting what I call the “take your ball and go home” approach to life. You know that expression, right? A few kids are playing kickball in the street. They start arguing over who gets to go first or whether somebody was safe or out. And, instead of working things out, the kid just takes his ball and goes home. This is what Christians so often do when we disagree. We take our ball and go home. We find another church or maybe even start a brand new church or denomination, where people will agree with “me” 100% of the time. (Good luck with that!)

             But the UCC is committed to doing the opposite – to bringing people together – different, differing, and even disagreeing people. The UCC is trying – against incredible odds – to live out Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17: “My prayer for them is not for them alone, but for ALL who hear my message…that ALL of them may be one.” Folks, John 17:21 is the single most important scripture passage in the UCC, Jesus prayer that we all may be one. Can you think of anything – ANYTHING – more important than that in today’s world? I can’t. The UCC is a united and uniting church, and I like that.

            A second thing that really excited me in learning about the UCC is that it is not a doctrinal or dogmatic denomination. The United Church of Christ doesn’t have a list of doctrines or beliefs that we all need to bow down to in order to be accepted into the UCC. The denomination did seek to draft a statement of faith at two or three points in our short history, and do you know what they called it? I love this – they called “A Statement of Faith,” with the emphasis on A. Cause that’s all it is; it’s just a statement of faith, one among many. It’s not “THEE” statement. It’s not even “The UCC’s Statement of faith.” Do you hear the humility in that? Do you sense the resistance to drafting some sort of definitive creedal statement?

            I am SO excited and, yes, relieved, to finally be a part of a religious group that understands that, when it comes to following Jesus, our actions are FAR more important than our words, than our creeds, than our doctrines, and than our statements of faith!

            Now I want to take a moment here to make sure you understand the important connection between the first thing I said I love about my new denomination and this second thing, because the two go hand-in-hand. There is no way those four strands – the Congregational, Christian, Reformed, and Evangelical churches ever could have united if they first had to hammer out some sort of common doctrine or dogma. If they said they first needed to compose a creed or a statement of faith together before they could unite, that unification never would have happened. So instead, they focused on their missions, their actions of love, mercy, and justice in the world. That’s what brought them together, and that is SO brilliant! I can’t tell you how long I’ve been seeking that very thing in a denomination.

            There is a great song by an amazing rock star named John Mayer called “Belief.” One of the verses says: Everyone believes something… And belief is the beautiful armor that makes for the heaviest sword…it’s the chemical weapon of the wars that we wage, Yes everyone believes.” And the chorus goes as follows: “We’re never going to win the world, we’re never going to stop the war, we’re never going to beat this if belief is what we’re fighting for.” John Mayer’s implication is clear and dead-on accurate: everyone’s beliefs are held strongly. Everyone believes what he/she believes for good reason. So if we think that by fighting, arguing, or even preaching, we can change someone’s beliefs, we’re deluding ourselves and actually torpedoing any chance for real unity.

            The UCC is a denomination that seems to grasp that our beliefs are NOT what we should be fighting for. The United Church of Christ is far more concerned about feeding the hungry, taking care of the poor, working toward justice for all people, regardless of their beliefs, their religion, or their nationality. You see, folks, we cannot be a united and uniting church, and, at the same time, be pushing for uniformity of belief. You can’t have it both ways. So the UCC has said, let’s emphasize Jesus as our guiding Lord and seek to live out the teachings he lived out. We don’t need to get bogged down in doctrine and statements of faith. Wow! I can’t tell you how psyched I am to be a part of a denomination that has learned to put actions above beliefs and causes above creeds.

            Third and finally, the United Church of Christ emphasizes that God is still speaking. That’s even what our t-shirts say, right? We place a comma after everything we say about God – not a period – because God is still speaking! And I’m sure glad God is still speaking, because if She’s not, what are we all doing here, anyway? I mean, if everything God ever had to say was already said and recorded in the Bible, then let’s all lock ourselves up in a library or a monastery and read for the rest of our lives. Jesus was incredibly clear, when he was preparing to leave the disciples, and said, “It is good that I am going away, for then the Comforter will come, the Holy Spirit, who will lead you into all truth.” Jesus was going away, but he wanted his followers to know that his departure isn’t even close to being the end of God’s story! And as long as people are being born with hearts and minds that are open to God and that Holy Spirit, God is still going to be speaking, Amen?

            Pope Francis put it this way:

            "If one already has the answers to all the questions, that is the proof that God          is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself.      The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for             doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be        humble."

            Are you leaving room? Am I leaving room for doubt, for questions, for the living God to continue to speak? Certainty is no friend of the UCC, but humility sure is, and I like that. How dreary and mundane life would be as a Christian, if we didn’t get to go through it with our eyes wide open and our ears tuned into the Spirit of the LIVING God! God IS still speaking. God IS still at work! God ISN’T finished – not with you, not with me, not with anyone, and certainly not with the world!

            Today, I celebrate with you our common identity as a part of The United Church of Christ – a united and uniting church, an action-oriented church rather than a doctrinal one, and a church in which God is still speaking. I am so grateful for all that God has already done here at 1^st Congregational UCC Church. I am equally grateful for all the God is currently doing here, and I’m especially excited to see what God is going to do next! Thank you for letting me be a part of the living journey of The 1^st Congregational UCC Church of Gaylord, Michigan! Amen.

Who Are You? Reflections on Identity - 4/10/16

    

             (Based on Genesis 1:26-28a, I John 3:1-3, & John 8:1-11)

         So here’s my question for you this week – for you, for me, for all of us: Who are you?… Who ARE you? There are so many ways to answer this question, right? We can answer it by saying our name. “I’m Toby Jones,” or “I’m John Hellenberg.” But our names never truly nor fully capture the essence of who we are. So we might say, “I’m a carpenter,” or “I’m a salesman,” or “I’m a teacher.” But our careers don’t adequately or fully express who we are either, do they?

         If any of us have a drinking problem and have ever attended an AA gathering, we may have grown accustomed to saying, “I’m an alcoholic.” The fact that you have a drinking problem – and can own up to it - is an important part of who you are. It’s something to attack every single day with the 12 steps, with your brothers and sisters in the struggle, and with your Higher Power. But your alcoholism isn’t who you are either; it isn’t your ultimate or defining identity. Each of us is more than all that somehow, aren’t we? We are more than our name, more than our career, more than our addictions or weaknesses, and more than our problems or flaws, right?

         I read a book recently about Pat Tillman, a famous NFL football player who left the NFL at the peak of his career, right after 9/11 to go fight for our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Early in that book, there’s a story about Tillman’s senior year in high school when he and some of his football teammates got into a bit of rumble outside a pizza place with some kids from a rival team. Tillman – an extremely tough kid – really went after one of these rival kids out in the parking lot, putting that kid in the hospital in serious condition. Tillman’s actions landed him in juvenile hall on assault charges. As you can imagine, the injured boy’s parents could have cared less that Pat Tillman was heading to Arizona State on a football scholarship. They were pissed and convinced that Tillman was a thug, and wanted him punished to the fullest extent of the law.

         Now fast forward to about nine years later. That’s when the news broke that Pat Tillman had died fighting for his country in Afghanistan. The father of that boy Tillman had beat up at the pizza joint happened to hear that news report of Tillman’s death, and he had a very interesting reaction to it. That father said, “I learned that who someone “is” at their worst, lowest moment is NOT who someone is.” I want to say that line again and I want you to say it with me until we’ve all got it memorized. “Who someone is at their worst, lowest moment is NOT who someone is.”

         Life has a way of knocking us all down, doesn’t it? Life even has a way of kicking us when we’re down. Life has a way of wearing down our identity. And when we mess up, as all of us have, other people – even those we love – sometimes seek to label us and to tie our identity to our mistakes, to our worst moments. And that kind of judgmentalism from others can eat away at our genuine, authentic identity too. It can make us lose track of who we really are. It's never good for our identity when we can actually start to believe what others say about us, especially others who focus only on our mistakes.

         I think that’s pretty much what happened to that woman we read about in John 8, who was caught in the act of adultery. That woman had lost her way. Life had knocked her down and then kicked her when she was down. The pharisees had caught her in her worst, lowest moment, and then dragged her naked out to the center of the town square, where they could tie her identity to her worst, lowest moment. They wanted everyone to see her with that scarlet letter around her chest, and those haters knew that once the whole town saw her that way…guess what? They’d never be able to see her as anyone other than an adultress, forever and ever, Amen. The pharisees had decided that who this woman had been at her worst, lowest moment WAS who she really was.

         Thank God Jesus was there! Thank God that Jesus had the wisdom, the compassion, and the vision to see passed this woman’s worst and lowest moment to who she REALLY was! And who was she…? You should know from our scriptures this morning and from our children’s sermon…She was a child of the living God.

         But the Pharisees couldn’t see that! All they could see was a naked woman in a sheet, comitting adultery. That’s all they could see. What if Jesus hadn’t been there? Well, guess what, folks, when the same sort of thing happens in today’s world – and it happens all the time – Jesus isn’t going to be there either. But if you and I are there, I hope to God that we have the wisdom, the compassion, and the vision to see this person at his/her worst and lowest moment as a beloved child of God. That’s our job, now that Jesus is gone. That’s what we have been put on this earth for, and don’t you ever forget it. We are here to remind those who have fallen - and those who want to judge the ones who have fallen that “Who someone is at their worst, lowest moment is NOT who someone is.”

        

         Brothers and sisters, I want you to know - I need you to know - that this question of identity – of who we are - is NOT just some philosophical or theological question for me. For me, it’s personal…about as personal as anything I’ve ever shared with you from this pulpit. Over the last seven years, before I showed up on your church doorstep, I had basically lost everything - all those positive, identifying tags that we all have come to hang our hats on. I had been a minister, but I lost that job…I had been a husband and a step father, but I got divorced and lost my wife and step kids… I had been a person of some means – a house, health insurance, some savings for the future – but suddenly all that is gone. So who am I, after all that has been stripped away? How do I answer that question when everything I had formerly based my identity on was gone? You see, this identity business has not been an easy one for me.

         That’s where these biblical passages I shared earlier come into play. The passages we heard this morning are the ones that I’ve decided to base my identity for the rest of my life.

         Beginning at the beginning, there’s Genesis 1:26-27. This is the creation account: “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness…Then God created humans in his own image. In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” What does that passage say to me? It says that God has put a little of himself in me, that can never be taken away. Genesis 1 teaches that God gave me a core and a spirit that is special, unique and good, the very same core that Jesus had.

         Richard Rohr puts it this way: “In truth, we must change our very self-image, rather than just be told some new things to see or do. To be a Christian is to objectively know that we share the very same identity that Jesus himself enjoyed, as both human and divine, which is what it means to "follow" him. In fact, I believe that this is the whole point of the Gospel and the Incarnation!”

         Then there’s another little gem of a passage from I John 3 that has probably made the biggest single difference to me, in my journey to rethink and reshape my identity. Listen to it again: “See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are.” I’m going to read it again, one more time, so that you can memorize it and say it with me. “See what great love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God and that is what we are.” Say it with me…

         This has become my personal identity statement. I say it over and over again to myself: “I’m a beloved child of God. I’m a beloved child of God! THAT is what I am.” And that’s not only true of me; it’s true of every single one of us! It’s true of all men and all women. It’s true of all children and of all octagenerians. It’s true of everybody everywhere – regardless of their color, creed, religion, and even their criminal record. It’s true of everyone, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. It’s true of everyon inside this room, and it’s equally true of everyone outside this room.

         So I hope all of you will realize this deep and crucial truth, no matter where you are on your journey, no matter where you’ve been, and no matter how badly you’ve screwed up along the way. You have an identity that was given to you by God, it’s the identity we celebrate in our baptism. You are a beloved child of God, and there’s nothing you have done or could ever do to screw that up or lose that God-given identity! Who are you? You are a beloved child of God! THAT is what you are!

         My hope and prayer for each one of you is that you would never let yourself be defined or identified by your lowest moment or by your biggest mistake. My hope is that you will never settle for believing that you are anything less than a beloved child of God, a child of that Higher Power who has created this entire universe.

         But just as importantly, it is also my hope and prayer that we will never identify others by their lowest moments or worst mistakes either. We must never let anyone else out there be identified by their lowest point or worst moment.

         The world can be a pretty tough and unforgiving place. And that’s why I hope that you and everyone of us in this church family will leave this place committed to doing everything in our power to see to it that nothing will ever be able to snuff out that little spark of God that God put in you, in me, and in every other creature on this incredible and beautiful planet.

         Who are you…? You are a beloved child of God, and don’t you EVER forget it! …Who is that person sitting next to you…? A beloved child of God, and don’t you EVER forget it!...Who is that person you are going to pass on the street corner on your way home today…? A beloved child of God, and don’t you EVER forget it! …Who is that neighbor of yours who just got popped for drunk driving…? A beloved child of God, and don’t you EVER forget it!...Who is that man you know who just got caught sleeping with somebody else’s wife? A beloved child of God, and don’t you EVER forget it!...Who is that democrat or that republican who doesn’t see the world quite the same way you do…? A beloved child of God, and don’t you EVER forget it! Never, ever forget who you are…and never ever forget who everyone else is too. Amen.