Sermons & Pastoral Resources

You Are My Beloved Ones, on Whom My Favor Rests!

St. Francis Lutheran Church
San Francisco, California
February 29 , 2004

by Reverend Ruth Frost, Associate Pastor

Texts: Luke 4:1-3, The Temptation of Christ

Friends and Honored Guests:

In the words of Billy Crystal, "You look marvelous, Dahlings!" In fact, you look married! I suspect many of you have had that married look for a long time now but our fair city has finally recognized the look and, like God, at the beginning of creation, has pronounced it "good!" And that pronouncement has given all marriages an extra special glow.

I can't tell you how honored we are to host you in our midst and celebrate your married love. It has been truly moving to witness the outpouring of love and good will and sheer justice-making at City Hall. And, to use religious language, it has taken a whole cloud of witnesses and a legion of volunteers to bring these gifts into the fullness of time. As one who has both walked down the proverbial isle and as one who has joined couples in matrimony, I have been privileged to be on both sides of the giving and receiving. And I will never forget it! For those of you gathered here today who have not been down to City Hall to see for yourselves the joy being birthed there every day, please allow me to take a few minutes to give you my own account of it before I address the very serious challenges presented to us in the Gospel for today.

My partner, Phyllis Zillhart, is both my spouse and my colleague in ministry at this church. We first became aware of what our Mayor Gavin Newsom (and other justice minded officials) had initiated when we opened our newspaper on Friday the 13th to see a front page story covering the marriage of Phyllis Martin and Del Lyon, longtime lesbian activists, partners in life and now revered elders in our community. Phyllis and Del were wed at City Hall after 51 years of shared life together. Needless to say, we all know that getting married at City Hall isn't the start of their union. But on February 12th, the city recognized their union, celebrated it and legalized it. Phyllis and Del are a powerful symbol of the love that "dares to claim its name" with pride. And Mayor Gavin Newsom stands tall as a symbol of our many allies engaged in the struggle for equal rights on behalf of all LGBT people.

My partner and I debated ever so briefly whether or not to join the droves of astonished couples flocking to City Hall in response to this new opportunity to have their love recognized. We picked up our ten year old daughter, Noelle, from school and beat a hot path to City Hall. We joined a long line of eager applicants which snaked two stories around the rotunda all the way to the basement level. There were an incredible number of couples with children like us—many with babies in strollers and toddlers in arms, and a few with babies in utero. Cell phones were being passed around to those who needed to make alternate arrangements for children stranded at schools in the mad dash to make it to City Hall in time to get married.

The atmosphere was electric with anticipation, appreciation and general ebullience. There were many lusty rounds of "Goin to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Marrrried" sung to the reporters covering the event. There were a handful of bemused straight couples who found themselves in a sea of friendly Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered couples. After hours of waiting, it looked like the Biblical story of the feeding of the five thousand as folks began sharing whatever they had brought--power bars, water bottles, peanuts and even champagne. Someone said to our daughter, "You're very patient. You must be getting a little annoyed with the wait." Noelle replied, "All I am is excited for my moms."

We soon discovered that we were beginning a long pilgrimage involving waiting in three different lines: one for licensing, one for the ceremonies, and another for recording marriages with the registrar. At the top gallery of the rotunda, which was becoming known as the wedding balcony, there were several stations for the ceremonies. One city commissioner, who had come to City Hall for another purpose, took one look at the crowds and exclaimed, "This is marriage triage! Scrub me up, give me a gown and I'm good for the day!" That was the spirit throughout the day.

When we finally reached the head of the ceremonies line, Supervisor Bevan Dufty greeted us warmly and asked, "Would you like me to do your wedding in the Board of Supervisors' chambers?" Delighted, we said "yes," knowing that the elegant chambers was saturated with the history of Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone. A gay male couple whom Phyllis had already married accompanied us as our witnesses, together with a lesbian couple who were their witnesses. The six of us, together with our daughter, shared this experience.

While waiting in line, Noelle had salvaged a floral bouquet discarded in a garbage bin but still in perfectly good shape. She quickly became the official flower girl for all three of us couples. For our marriage rite, she stood in the middle with our arms around her as Phyllis and I clasped hands. It was a sweet opportunity to exchange vows with her in our embrace. Afterwards, she pelted all of us with flower petals from her bouquet. Hugs were exchanged all around, together with telephone numbers as we all realized we were no longer strangers to one another, but had become friends who shared a special anniversary. (And it's my joy to see both these couples here today.)

By the end of the day our Mayor had lost his voice and simply had to listen to the crowds chanting "Thank-you, thank-you!" at him. A member of the press asked us why we got married after nearly twenty years of being together. We answered that we did it for a number of reasons. First, we did it to stand in solidarity with our city and our mayor in this risk-taking action on our behalf. Second, we did it to solidify a written record of who we are as family to one another for our daughter's sake. Third, we did it to claim the future now in anticipation of that time when basic civil rights for all populations will no longer be a debate, but a free-flowing expression of a society based in justice.

Finally, we did it to say "yes!" to love between us and among us. And in so doing, I believe all of us have been participating in a great healing which is taking place in this city. There haven't been so many queer people assembled at City Hall since the assassinations of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor Moscone. Thank God—and Mayor Newsom—the wound from that sad event is now finally being healed! We come together today not to remember and mourn what is past, but to dream of the future and celebrate what is present. It was—and is—a joyous turn of events and one that makes us all proud to be San Franciscans and grateful for bold civic leadership.

The city of San Francisco has been challenging the state of California to live out the principles of equality outlined in our state's constitution. Soon, because of our president's actions, the people of the United States will be challenged to uphold the principles of equality articulated in our nation's constitution. It is not heterosexual marriage that needs protecting these days, but the constitution itself, that charter of freedom for all citizens of this great country. This should not surprise us. Those of us who are people of faith know that whenever the Spirit moves to create something wonderful which challenges the status quo, there are forces waiting to rush in to disrupt and destroy the Spirit's work. We have trials and temptations ahead of us, as our Gospel text for today reminds us.

The story of the testing of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke happens within the larger context of Jesus' baptism. In baptism, the Spirit anoints Jesus for the healing work God has planned for the world. If this were a movie, the scene you would see directly before this would be Jesus in the River Jordan being baptized by his cousin John. As Jesus is being baptized, the heavens open, the clouds part, a dove descends over his head and the divine voice pronounces: "You are my Beloved Son, on whom my favor rests." This is the dramatic beginning of Jesus' public life and ministry. But the Spirit knows Jesus needs strengthening against the forces of evil that will try to destroy his ministry by corrupting his intentions for good. Directly following his baptismal blessing, Jesus is taken out into the wilderness, as many holy ones have been before him, to withstand some testing.

In the wilderness, Jesus encounters an enemy which most of us know popularly as "the devil," but what is best translated from the Greek as "The Worthless One" or "The Obstructer." In a series of visions, Jesus is presented with three temptations. The first test is an economic temptation. Taking advantage of Jesus' hunger, the Worthless One says to him, "If you really are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread and eat it." his is the test that invites Jesus to use God's favor for economic security, to join the Forbes Four Hundred Club and forget the other ninety five percent of the population that struggles for daily bread." Take your divine inheritance and use it to build wealth, Jesus, or at least freedom from discomfort. But Jesus refuses, saying, "It takes more than bread to keep a Child of God alive."

Then the Worthless One shows Jesus in a flash all the kingdoms of the inhabited world and presents Jesus with his second test. The Worthless One says, "I will give you control over all these, and I will give you glory, for it is mine to give to anyone I wish. If you worship me, all of this will be yours." This was the political test, the power and control over others test, with a lot of glory thrown in. The lure is: You get all the heads of government and the White House too. Of what use is a Kingdom of Love without power? But Jesus answers, "Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and you must serve only God." So the political test fails.

But there's one more test, the most important one- the spiritual test. The Worthless One takes Jesus to the highest pinnacle of the Temple, a place said to be the habitation of Almighty God here on earth. "If you really are the Son of God, fling yourself down for God will give the angels orders to guard you through all dangers." They will carry you in their arms to ensure that you never strike your foot against a stone." This was the ultimate test, that of spiritual invulnerability. The Worthless One invites Jesus to be on a spiritual plane above it all, removed from the suffering and cares of the world, protected from all hurt and all danger. He could live a safe, risk-free life. He would never lose home, friends, family or life. He would never have to fear anything. He would no longer be human, but he would be safe. Jesus answers, "It has been said, 'You must not test the Lord your God.'" And having exhausted all these ways of tempting him, the Worthless One leaves him until another opportunity should present itself.

Every ordeal of testing is calculated to remove Jesus from the human family, to sever the bonds of solidarity with the poor, with the vulnerable, with the dispossessed. And if they had succeeded, Jesus would have been removed from God's reach as well, for God's plan is to reside wherever there are suffering or forgotten people in the world; wherever there are people joyfully doing the work of healing in the world; wherever there are people engaged in the work of love, whatever the cost in comfort, power or worldly recognition.

The Gospel reading for this day certainly brings out a sober dimension to our celebration of love and commitment. And yet how prophetic this text is. For we have already seen the dark shadow of fear and hate issue forth from this administration's promise to work for a constitutional amendment barring LGBT people from the right to marry. We have already heard our governor equate what this city's leadership is doing with fomenting anarchy and lawlessness. The specter of rioting and death has been suggested as the natural accompaniment to such lawless actions as our civil marriages. We know that there are a great many people who want to shut down the joy we have experienced in this miracle at City Hall. They will be- in the long run- unsuccessful, for love is a greater power than fear. Perfect love, Jesus assures us, casts out fear, even the fear we carry within us.

But we must be watchful of our own hearts in this process, lest we fail the tests that must surely await us. We must not give in to fear of legal reprisals; we must not grow faint in our efforts to create, support and nurture sound and loving unions; we must not forget those of our brothers and sisters who live in places that are hostile to their loving commitments; we must not choose what's comfortable or what's political over what's right; we must not forget the sufferings of others in our focus on our own struggles; most importantly, we must not create further divisions in our common life on this earth by returning hatred for hatred.

A wise visitor to our community recently reminded us that the best response to those who have grown calcified in their hatred of our relationships is not more hate, but love. Mary Tolbert, a recent guest speaker at St. Francis, suggested, "What if we took our bouquets of flowers from these joyous unions and passed them out to the protestors outside City Hall saying, 'God loves you'? Would not that be better than countering anger with more anger?" She went on to say, "Just as Jesus knew that trouble lay ahead of him, so the first Christians living in the time of the Roman empire knew that as long as evil powers were in charge of the world, the path of faith would lead them into suffering as well as joy. This is because it is part of the movement of the Spirit to disrupt authoritarian power structures that are bent on maintaining privilege for one segment of the population at the expense of justice for another segment of the population."

We know that the health of a country and its government is evidenced in its ability to care for and learn from the most vulnerable of its population. We Christians are called to be in solidarity with those who benefit least by our systems of power. That is why hospitality to the stranger starts first with foreigners, immigrants and the poor among us. Those of us who have been married in City Hall over this past week and a half and those of you who have surrounded us with your support have experienced the amazing grace of hospitality where there had been none before.

Today, this congregation extends its hospitality to all who worship here but most particularly to those of you who have found little hospitality in God's house in the past. May you be blessed in your life and in your love. May you be given the grace to convert fear into love and tears into shouts of gladness. Today we will anoint you who have been joined in marriage with a blessing from God. In receiving this blessing, we pray that, in some mysterious way you, too, may experience the heavens opening to your relationship, the wind of the Spirit blowing the breath of God into your love, and the Divine voice saying, "You are my beloved ones, on whom my favor rests."

Blessed Be!

back to top