The Good News Proclaimed
Preached by the Reverend Doctor Mona West at the Sunshine Cathedral on
Pride Sunday, June 28, 2009.
Happy Pride! I have to say, that is an odd greeting when you consider that
Pride is one of the seven deadly sins, and the most deadly one at that! We
don’t go around saying, “Happy Sloth!” “Happy Anger!” “Happy Gluttony!” “Happy
Envy!” “Happy Greed!” “Happy Lust!” Well some of us might go around saying
that one…
Theologians and philosophers alike have noted that
Pride is the virtuous
vice
. On the one hand we have scriptures like the one in Proverbs that
warns against pride because “pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty
spirit before a fall.” And theologians have been quick to point out that pride
is at the root of our alienation from God. On the other hand we know either
from personal experience or the stories of others that it takes a certain
amount of pride to excel at a sport or career, or to create a good product,
and in black communities and queer communities, we know that without pride we
cannot survive.
One writer has said, “It is remarkable how rhetorically pliable pride is,
how it is linguistically and conceptually adaptable to a vast array of
emotional, moral, and intellectual circumstances. There are the sorts of pride
one may experience: lost, wounded, hurt, restored, simple, foolish, lasting,
injured, false, fatherly, mother’s, and justifiable pride. There are
prepositional prides that dot the landscape: pride in, of, for, and over.
There are the conjunctional prides: pride and joy, and pride and sorrow. There
are prides that show action in verbs: shining and beaming pride. There are
prides that speak of loss and plenitude: lack of pride, full of pride. There
are symptoms and manifestations of pride as well: the badge, mark, sign, and
legacy of pride. And there are negative synonyms of pride: arrogance, vanity,
and hubris — and positive cognates for pride, such as self-respect,
self-esteem, and dignity.”
Pride has that double edge to it. Our pride not only separates us from God
and each other, but our pride can separate us from ourselves and keep us from
our healing. How often have we missed an opportunity for reconciliation with a
friend, co-worker, or family member because we have been too proud to reach
out and begin a conversation? How often have we stayed sick physically,
emotionally, or spiritually because our pride has kept us participating in the
cultural lie that healthy bodies and beings must look and act a certain way.
But how often has pride in who we are as God’s good creation caused us to
insist on equal and fair treatment? How often has pride been the motivating
force behind a desire to live authentically and without shame as a lesbian,
gay man, transgender, or bisexual person?
Pride has that double edge to it:
it can keep us from our healing, or it can drive us to it.
Our gospel lesson for today is a story about pride. When the hemorrhaging
woman encounters Jesus he is actually on his way to heal someone else. A few
verses earlier we are told that one of the leaders of the synagogue named
Jairus fell at Jesus feet and begged him repeatedly to come home with him to
heal his daughter who was at the point of death. This synagogue leader
overcame religious pride by coming to Jesus to ask for healing, and he
overcame cultural pride that would shame a man who groveled at another man’s
feet, begging for the healing of a daughter no less, not even a son.
And as Jesus is on his way to Jairus’ house, this woman who has been
hemorrhaging for twelve years reaches out in a crowd that is pressing in on
Jesus to touch him for healing. She must have been a woman of some means, to
be able to keep going to doctor after doctor for twelve years, until finally
after spending her last dime, and being sicker than ever, she reaches out
toward her healing.
I wonder what sort of pride kept her from reaching out
sooner. And I wonder what kind of pride was deep down within her that caused
her not to give up?
Her touch of pride makes her well.
Well, this whole weekend is about pride and as you encounter its double let
me share a Pride parable that is based on a true story.
A Pride Parable
When it came time for the annual Pride events in June a leader from a
local MCC went to the pastor and the pride committee to inquire about a
float for the church in the parade. The leader received approval and began
to work hard at planning the design for the float and who would be invited
to sit on the float on the day of the parade. When the pastor found out that
the leader had only invited people who were close friends to ride on the
float the pastor asked the leader to invite other people who would reflect
more diversity.
Well by this time there were no more seats on the float, so the leader
just decided to ignore the pastor’s request and apologize for it later. When
the great day of the parade came it was very hot and the church float was
near the end of the lineup. Everyone scheduled to ride on the float knew it
was going to be at least an hour before the parade got moving to the point
that they would need to be in their assigned seats on the float. So they
decided to wait in an air-conditioned bar with some adult beverages until
such time. Everyone except the leader. The leader had to stay with the float
at all times according to the parade rules.
As time drug on in the hot sun for the leader on the float, a
heterosexual couple with five children who had recently joined the MCC got
excited when they saw their church’s float as part of the parade. The
children were hot and cranky and at first the mother hesitated because after
all they had not been members long, but she decided to ask anyway if the
children might ride on the float since they were so tired from standing. The
leader hesitated for a moment because there were only so many seats on the
float, but decided to let the children ride on the float thinking they could
sit in someone’s lap.
Then another church member came along — someone the leader had an
argument with last year over what color to paint the fellowship hall. This
person was walking with a cane after her recent knee surgery. She thought
she could make it through the entire parade with just her cane, but she
could barely walk, so even though she thought the leader would say no, she
asked anyway if she could ride on the float. Well, the leader could just
hear the gossip and ridicule if the woman with the cane was denied a seat on
the float because of her knee. So the leader figured it would be better to
have someone who had been promised a seat on the float mad rather than this
woman!
About ten minutes before everyone was supposed to be in their seats on
the float, a couple came by who had been visiting the church. One member of
the couple was really cute and funny and everyone at church loved him, but
the partner was a real pain and had alienated many folks in the gay
community by making a scene at public events. They asked if they could ride
on the float because the cute one had asthma and forgot to bring his
inhaler. The leader just couldn’t say no to such a cute guy, so he decided
that at worst he might have to give up his seat on the float to make room
for two more.
The time came for the folks at the bar to pay their tab and make their
way to the float. Half of them decided they were having too much fun right
where they were — they would rather watch the parade from their
air-conditioned seats than to ride on a hot float and besides that, who
wants to be on a church float anyway?
So that Pride day there were just enough seats on the float and as the
float made its way through the press of the crowd, there was a woman who had
been harboring debilitating hatred and resentment toward religion for twelve
years, who looked up and saw the MCC float pass by. When she saw this float
with children, and gay people and straight people, people dancing, and one
person with a cane… and even that pissy guy who was always making a
spectacle of himself at the HRC townhall meetings… she thought, maybe, just
maybe, there is room on that float for me.
