Two:23

A sketch inspired by Esther’s talk of a robin and a key with a plate of biscuits.

Where there is a pandemic of loneliness we know how to make community and solidarity happens in community. It you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Amen.

We can use our queerness to do something different to the cultures we grew up in. Chosen family is something Jesus valued and promoted, over biological family.

Vertical relationship that Esther spoke about is important, and so are the horizontal relationships with each other. We may have to divest some of the stuff from our backgrounds, our consumer approach to church and community.

Mary and Elizabeth were different ages, life stages, places but came together to support each other in their time of need. There is power where there is unity in diversity. Audre Lorde: there is no such thing as a single issue struggle because we do not have single issue lives.

Would it look like inclusion for people with disability or neurodivergence? The synergy is that when different people come together we are greater than the sum of our parts.

What would it look like for us to move into the neighbourhood? We don’t just have good news we are good news. We build communities across racial barriers, we build inclusive communities like this one, we stand with refugees and asylum seekers.

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood (John 1 the Message) the expressed communication of God became God in our language. He shared in our human experience including suffering.

Mary goes to visit Elizabeth when both of them become pregnant in surprising circumstances. She arrives and Elizabeth said “Blessed is she who believed what the Lord said” Mary gets filled with the Holy Spirit and writes this radical prophetic song we call the Magnificat.

Last of today’s 3: Kate
God is love. The kingdom or kin-dom of God is love and involves solidarity and community as God showed solidarity with us.
Emma Lazarus “Until we are all free we are none of us free.”

God loves us and has blessed us so that we can be a blessing to others.

What can we do? Read the prophets and what they have to say about Israel’s greed and live for empire. Talk to our friends, write to our MPs, act individually and collectively where we can. Christians are about a quarter of the planet. Imagine if we cared for the people for whom Christ died?

We need to be more like John Wesley or William Wilberforce or Martin Luther King looking after the orphan and the widow and the stranger. In medieval times the church was known for caring for the sick and starting hospitals. Do we care for our NHS?

We have many children in poverty and over 2000 billionaires. We don’t tax billionaires properly, but we’re happy to tax the poor and the church says nothing about it. Why? Is it because we don’t want to give up money and comfort?

Supposedly Christian countries have been dominant for centuries and what do we have to show for it? The church supported slavery and many unfair policies that led to impoverishment and stereotyping of Black people.

People love money and power more than they love other people. Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. As a church how can we share wealth and make sure everyone is looked after?

All of these brought us a little bit closer to the kingdom of God and we still need to keep fighting. One of the biggest obstacles is capitalism which increases inequality, leading to violence, poor health and less sense of community. That means dismantling capitalistic structures.

Next up: Lamar. The vision in Revelation of what it will be like when Jesus comes again. What will it look like when the kingdom of God comes? Three revivals I want to speak about: the Wesley revival, the abolition movement and the civil rights movement.

Even when she finds the garden it still needs work and shaping and recreating.

Jesus gives us metaphors, stories, glimpses of the kingdom, spreading everywhere. It’s a beautiful unknown. Like in “The secret garden” when the robin shows Mary the way to the garden, we find the keys to the kingdom and God shows us the way.

What my nana called “that which we call God.” Perhaps we should say “that which we call the kingdom”. We know and we don’t know. Uncertainty and things beyond our understanding, all of these beautiful unknowns can reflect that which we call God.

But I find that helpful because as I’ve stepped into my skin as a queer person I’ve found that many more things make sense - that questions more than answers build my faith, that the unknown of God is what makes God God. What Augustine calls “a mystery beyond words”.

John the Baptist knows the kingdom is near but doesn’t say what it is.
Jesus says it’s good news. Different verses have different clues and it’s like a jigsaw puzzle.

“I don’t know” but I feel the not-knowing is important. Even Jesus says “The kingdom of God is like…” not “The kingdom of God is”.

Such a beautiful sense of the presence of God in worship at today’s Two:23 meeting. Now to the talks. The kingdom of God is… Our three speakers will share their 10 minute take on the prompt. First up: Esther

Exploring the question: what is the Kingdom of God about? Three amazing speakers, the chance to gather for worship. See you this Saturday. www.facebook.com/share/1B8UXL...

The incarnation, the beauty and rebellion and wild tenderness, the mystery of Christ, is queer. Transgressive, transformational, blurring binaries, breaking things that bind. The story of Christmas is a story of queer joy.

Day 24: Jesus
God and baby, human and divine, now and not yet. For literalists, a man with no Y chromosome. For mystics, unknowable intimacy. Bringer-together of heaven and earth. Maker of holy outcasts, water-into-wine, things lost and found.

However, despite being sidelined, he walks into the shadows as required. He risks being an outcast for going against societal rules as a loyal servant of God.

Life doesn't always turn out the way you plan, but it's what we do with what happens that makes all the difference.

Day 23: Joseph
Sometimes in life you have to fight for a cause you didn't choose, but through your experiences and deep love for that person, you can share solidarity with them.
As the story unfolds, Joseph's gender role is reversed, taking second place to Mary as Jesus’ mother.