Presbyterian Pastrix Insists: ‘LGTBQIA siblings..your faith has saved the church’
The Rev. Jenny McDevitt is the Senior Pastor & Head of Staff of Shandon Presbyterian Church. According to her church bio, she is “frequently invited to write liturgy and lead worship for national conferences and large gatherings” and “serves on the Boards of Union Presbyterian Seminary and the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, both of which give her hope and enthusiasm for the Church.”
During a message for the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which is basically the “whose who” of progressive Presbies, she compares the healing of the woman who bled for 12 years but whose faith made her well to “LGTBQIA siblings” who have endured hardship for so long, but whose faith has made them well, and saved the church because of it:
I cannot help but see a corollary in the faith of our LGTBQIA siblings. (to the women with the issue of blood) And to be perfectly clear, this is not because they, you, are sick and in need of healing. It’s because of your remarkable faithfulness to the church, an institution that for years upon years, for lifetimes even, told you there is no place for you here. Or at least there is no equal place for you here.
Your faith in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ has been so strong, you have endured the church at its worst to you. And you have trusted that eventually the institution would catch up with the one it claimed to follow… that sort of faith, to me, it is a miracle.
And just like the faith of both Jairus and the unnamed woman, your faith paves the way for even more miracles….And so hear this clearly: LGBBQIA siblings…you are a miracle.
When Jesus heals the unnamed woman, the woman who had been but is no longer bleeding, he praises her. And he claims her as family by calling her ‘daughter’. And he says, ‘your faith has made you well. Your faith has saved you. Great is your faith. Go in peace.’ And again, to our LGTBQIA siblings, your faith may have saved you. That’s what Jesus says and I’m not here to argue with the man. Your faith may have saved you.
But your faith has also saved the church, our church, our beautiful, broken, stumbling, imperfect church. Because you reached out and you held on. You held on to God and the church, and along the way, your faithful grip on both has brought them closer together. That is a miracle.
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Reminds me of the man who swore never to say anything bad about anyone. One day, someone asked him, “what about the Devil?”, and he replied “Well, he’s a hard worker”.
About like a murderer having “faith” that his planning will result in his not being caught. A liar having “faith” that people will believe the lie. Like the men of Sodom having “faith” that persistent beating on Lot’s door would produce the desired results. The wicked having “faith” that their working of iniquity will produce the desired results, then praising themselves for the success of their persistent efforts.
Yet total lack of faith in Jesus Christ, with the trust that He will judge those who refuse to repent and turn from sin exactly how He said that He will judge (Rev. 21:8, Rev. 22:15-16)