Following the shooting at Sandy Hook, a few of us gathered for 
prayer in the big church. At that time, I was stunned into silence. I could not find the words, I leaned heavily on our Book of Common Prayer.
This time, I don’t feel stunned, I feel a deep despair and a burning anger over what happened in Orlando this week, over another brutal killing.
But, the words that have been in my head all week, or at least the ones that I choose to meditate on were spoken by Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Broadway musical Hamilton, when he accepted the Tony award a few nights ago –
I’m sure you’ve heard them… he said,
“Nothing here is promised, not one single day, but love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love it cannot be killed or swept aside.”
Love is love. It cannot be killed or swept aside.
And still, there is a world of hatred out there, and our American soil is saturated with the blood of those who have fallen victim to that hatred.
Too many times we have watched the news accounts, listened to all sides of the debate over the selling and owning of guns, too many times we have organized vigils and prayer services and lit candles in a small and meager effort to cast light on the shadow of death.
Until it changes radically, until our country is saved from its own divisions and stubbornness, in the name of love, this is what we will do – we will sing, and pray, and light a candle to remind ourselves that the glimmer of hope comes from our fervent belief that love cannot be killed or swept aside.
The tragedy in Orlando has reminded us of many things. It has reminded us once again that the more than 300 million guns in the United States too easily find their way into the hateful hands of deranged minds. It has reminded us that we have not done nearly enough to mitigate our violent culture, and maybe most heart-breaking, Orlando has reminded us that for some people, and in some places, it is still dangerous to be yourself.
The strides taken in the past few years towards LGBTQ rights by the LGBTQ community are monumental and historical, but those strides alone do not guarantee safety, do not promise that hatred will be eradicated, do not bring about a world where each person is free to be exactly who they are.
And so, for some, it is dangerous to be yourself, and I think about all of the brave and courageous LGTBQ people that I know, and I want to say to them – “Don’t stop.” Don’t stop being exactly who God made you to be. Don’t stop your public demonstrations of love. Don’t stop fighting for what is rightfully yours – to be seen as an average human being, capable of both good and bad, imperfect and blessed.
Don’t stop because you have been showing the rest of us how to stand up to darkness in spite of fear and danger.
Don’t stop because you have been showing the rest of us how to walk a path that is true, and honest, and sacred.
Don’t stop because when you secure your rights, it becomes easier for other marginalized groups to secure their rights.
I think about all those moms and dads who are raising LGBTQ children to love themselves, to honor who they are, to embrace their uniqueness, to stand tall and proud. And of the moms and dads who are raising their children who are not LGBTQ to love, embrace, respect, and see as normal those who are different from them.
I think about all of those gay, lesbian, transgender, bi-sexual, non-conforming people who have been rejected by Christianity and I want to tell them – the story of rejecting your God-given beauty – that is not the story of Jesus Christ. That is not the way of following Christ. The teachings of Jesus have nothing to do with hate.
The story of our faith is that all of God’s creation is beloved, that Jesus came to show us a way of transformation from our human sin, and while that sin comes in many forms, it is NOT who you love or how you express love, and finally, Jesus came to show us that, through his death and resurrection, we know that love cannot be killed or swept aside.
Even today, in 2016, I am still hearing the statement in the media and in interviews, that we need to be more tolerant. Hearing that statement really pushes a button for me. And to that I say, we don’t need to tolerate.
We need to celebrate – celebrate every person seeking to be authentic, celebrate every relationship that is anchored in love.
A colleague related something he observed at a vigil in Oakland earlier this week. A black woman said something like, “African Americans are killed in church. Gays are killed in clubs.” I don’t know what she meant by this statement, whether she meant it to be hurtful or derogatory. I wasn’t there.
But the important part is this. In response, a man said to her, “Sanctuary is Sanctuary.”
Sanctuary – a place of refuge and protection, a place where one is held safe, where one finds others who are the same, where one is free to let all of those false and inauthentic identities fall away, letting one’s true self emerge.
Sanctuary is sanctuary. It comes in various forms, and, there are not enough. We need to create more sanctuaries until there are more places of safety than places of danger.
And so, on this night, let us pray for those whose sanctuary was violated, for the dead and for their loved ones.
Let us pray that all people, especially LGBTQ people, will be seen as being made in God’s holy image, beautiful and loving.
Let us pray that we will have confidence in the promise given to us in the Gospel of John, that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.”
And let each one of us have the courage demonstrated by the LGBTQ community – to speak against discrimination and oppression and to speak for equality and rights.
As Christians, let us stop using the bible as a sorry excuse for our own homophobic darkness, let us speak out against any religious person or leader who uses our sacred texts to spew hatred towards others, towards gays, towards Muslims, towards so many.
Let us be the light that shows that our God is one who was humble enough to be born in a trough, courageous enough to speak against evil forces, compassionate enough to reach his hand to the voiceless and marginalized, and was self-giving enough to endure death to show us that Love is love, it cannot be killed or swept aside.
And let us follow THAT way – the way of humility, courage, compassion, and giving.
Amen.
~The Rev. Lori Walton