"Pastor, You Were Angry"

Today, someone came up after Celebration and said, "Pastor, you were angry."  I had brought to the attention of the congregation an email I had received before church.  Last May, eight of us from Glide went on a mission trip to Kenya. While we were there, we met with Rev. John Makokha, one of the few pro-glbt clergy in Africa.  He introduced us to a gay couple, who told us their story.  They told us how, in Kenya, it is against the law to be gay or lesbian.  One of them had, in fact, done jail time. The other had been fired from a bank because it was suspected that he was gay.

This morning, the email informed me that one of the men had been beaten in his own home. His partner was out of the house when the intruders--who were known to the men--broke in and began to beat him, telling him, between the blows, that he deserved to die.

Yes, I was angry in church this morning. No one should be subjected to violence because of who they are.  I was also extremely sad this morning.  We humans have such a hard time with the diversity found in the human family. Instead of embracing our differences as a mirror of God's greatness, we are frightened and threatened by it.  How can we learn to love the God-given differences that are found in our brothers and our sisters>