Send us a text

A simple email from David Keddle with seven words—"I'm going to need to hear your feelings around the LGBTQ issue"—set the stage for one of the most meaningful pastoral relationships I would form during my first year at this church. David, a warm man of deep faith who also happened to be homosexual, challenged me to address LGBTQ issues at least once during the year. On June 29th, nearly one year after my arrival, I fulfilled that promise.

The sermon explores Micah 6:8, a profound passage that cuts through religious pretense to reveal what God truly desires from us. The prophet Micah speaks to a society experiencing both prosperity and uncertainty—much like America today—where cracks are forming and people are anxiously drawing battle lines over complex issues. In this polarized environment, Micah's message is revolutionary: God doesn't want our sacrifices or rituals but asks simply that we "do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God."

For too long, our churches have added conditions to these commands—offering justice, kindness, and community only if people conform to certain expectations. The United Methodist Church has wrestled painfully with LGBTQ inclusion, and our denomination has moved toward honoring the humanity of everyone. This sermon offers a dual invitation: for those who embrace inclusion, to live into grace and unconditional love for all; for those still wrestling, to follow Micah's guidance and see where that journey takes them. Perhaps in doing so, we might rediscover that faith isn't primarily about what we believe, but how we act toward one another—especially toward those whose lives and experiences differ from our own.

Support the show