SERMONS > February 1, 2026

Celebrating Diversity as God’s Children

Today we are celebrating Reconciling in Christ Sunday. We set aside this Sunday each year to recall the commitment that the people of this faith community overwhelmingly voted to adopt in 2016 (and expanded a few years ago), after a process of mutual conversation and discernment:

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation and recognizes that every individual is unique, beloved, and made in the image of God. We proclaim ourselves to be an Open and Affirming congregation, welcoming all God’s creatures of every race, ethnicity, heritage, culture, age, gender, identity, gender expression, sexuality, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic status, or where you are on your faith journey. You are embraced by us and God exactly as you are. We commit to the difficult work of antiracism, social and economic justice, and environmental care. You are invited to join us in Christ to joyfully and inclusively serve our community.

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) is a program of Reconciling Works: Lutherans for Full Participation. Since 1974, Reconciling Works “has advocated for the full welcome, inclusion, and equity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual/aromantic (LGBTQIA+) Lutherans in all aspects of the life of their Church, congregations, and community.” (reconcilingworks.org/about/)

The RIC program began in 1983 and it is a way “for faith communities to see, name, celebrate, and advocate for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions in the Lutheran church…and to work for racial justice and to commit to antiracism work…The RIC Program is made up of congregations, synods, colleges, seminaries, outdoor ministries, and other Lutheran organizations.” (reconcilingworks.org/ric/becomeric/)

Our New England Synod, is a RIC synod. Our beloved Camp Calumet, on the shores of Ossipee Lake in New Hampshire, is a RIC Lutheran outdoor ministry.

Being a RIC congregation is a big deal in Lutheran circles. I know people of faith who will not fully participate in worship in a Lutheran congregation that is not RIC, because they do not feel safe; they do not feel seen or recognized or accepted as the full human being that they are. Too often LGBTQIA+ people are rejected and excluded from church, even as they come to worship in God’s house and eat at the table Jesus has prepared for all people. That’s not right.

WhenLGBTQIA+ people see the RIC logo (above) prominently displayed in a congregation’s printed material and they see the Progressive Pride Flag prominently flying outside a church building, they see signs that this community of faith is a safe place where they will be welcomed; they see signs that say this is a community that celebrates the diversity of God’s created world and recognizes all people as beloved children of God.

They see signs that this is a safe place where they can come and…

  • know they are loved by God and embraced by the people of this community exactly as they are
  • be their full selves, as God created them to be
  • worship God and be in community with other people of faith and serve their neighbor and work for justice with other people of faith.
  • share the beautiful gifts they have been given by the Holy Spirit for the building up of the church; the body of Christ.

Being a RIC congregation – displaying the logo, flying the flag, embracing all people – is a public sign – a public witness –  to all people who pass by this building – and all who enter this community of faith – that God’s love reigns in this place –  and God’s people gathered in this place are doing their best to reflect and share that love with all of God’s people, everyone of whom is created in God’s own image.

Being a RIC congregation is a deeply faithful response to God’s call, spoken to God’s people through the prophet Micah – to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.

Yet, still, sadly, the world outside the community of faith is not safe for LGBTQIA+ people and it’s not safe for people of the Global Majority. The world loves to separate people by dividing them into categories- by race, ethnicity, heritage, culture, age, gender identity and expression, sexuality, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic status – and then to judge people based on those categories and to treat some people as if they are less worthy than others. The world continues to persecute LGBTQIA+ people.

That is not the way of Jesus. Listen closely to the words Jesus shares with his disciples today. Listen to what he teaches, as he begins the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, 7), with the Beatitudes; his list of who is favored by God.

Here’s what Jesus says. Blessed are…

  • The poor in spirit
  • Those who mourn
  • The meek
  • Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (who do the right thing; to do justice)
  • The merciful
  • The pure in heart (who love kindness)
  • The peacemakers (who walk humbly with God)
  • Those who are persecuted…for doing what is right (justice)

In this teaching, Jesus turns the whole world upside down. The attributes that the world loves – money, power, intelligence, white privilege, binary thinking – have little value in the world in which God reigns through the Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Under God’s reign, people are loved as they. Jesus gathers the people located on the edges of society around him and blesses them. They are the ones who inherit the earth; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I don’t know about you – but for me – as person of faith – I want to be where Jesus is. I want to be one of the people on the edges of the society; sitting with Jesus, listening to Jesus, learning from Jesus as he teaches us a different way of living in this world; a way of doing (acting for) justice and loving kindness and walking humbly with God; a way of loving and celebrating and welcoming the vast and beautiful diversity of all God’s beloved children.

In our celebration of Reconciling Christ Sunday today – in the scripture readings we have heard – we are proclaiming the good news that God’s love is for all people.

As people of God who have been gathered by the Holy Spirit into this community of faith known as Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, you have been called by God to follow the example of Jesus and act boldly to build community with diverse people and to nurture creation. I give thanks and praise to God for your commitment to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God, as you celebrate diversity as God’s children.