The United Church of Christ ran some ads a couple of decades ago.

In one, people were coming to a church that had a velvet rope and bouncers were determining who would be allowed inside. Those turned away included a gay couple and people with darker skin.

Another ad showed people sitting in pews, and some were “ejected” into the air as buttons were pressed:

• A woman with a crying baby.
• A gay couple.
• People with darker skin.
• Someone with a walker.

The last scene was a person who seemed to have shabby clothes and uncombed hair, and a couple in the same pew moved away.

The message at the end of each of these ads was

God doesn’t reject people.

Neither do we.

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Let’s go to God in prayer.

God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, to help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.

Amen.

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Humans are social creatures.

We gather as families, groups of friends, coworkers, teammates, sports and music fans…

…and communities of faith.

Some groups are defined by the people they exclude.

There are places that brag that they are “the most exclusive” clubs, resorts, or communities.

In the 1970s the most popular nightspots were those with a red velvet rope and security people who determined who could come in.

The allure of exclusivity is that NOT being excluded feels like it adds status. It makes one special.

The other side of exclusivity is that being excluded feels like it removes status. At best, it makes one ordinary. At worst, it makes one undesirable. Even worse is the experience of being part of an exclusive group and then being thrown out.

It might be having membership in a country club because of one’s parents, only to have that membership revoked because of whom one married.

It might be having permanent residence status in a country and then having it revoked because of public protest.

It might be membership in a church, and then being turned away from communion for being gay, or having the entire congregation shun you.

Exclusion tears down people and tears apart communities.

Sometimes it even becomes dangerous.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus is warned to leave because Herod wants to kill him. It doesn’t get more dangerous than excluding someone from the living.

Why does Jesus say “it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem”?

Jerusalem is also the seat of power. It’s where the temple is. It’s where the king is. Jerusalem is where exclusion happens: The outskirts of the temple is where gentiles – or non-Jews – can be. As one moves inward, the spaces become more exclusive:

• men only
• priests only
• priests who are unblemished only

Jerusalem is where prophets go to prophesy. They don’t get killed for just being prophets: they get killed for their message. The message Jesus has would dilute the power of those who make the decisions.

These are people whose desire for wealth and power overcomes their compassion for others, or as our reading in Philippians says,

their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.

– Philippians 3:19b, NRSVue

Being within an exclusive space feels good: one may feel safe and loved. And sometimes people will give up a lot to belong.

One might choose to not marry the person they love because they would lose their membership in a privileged club.

One might silence one’s self and not speak out for fear of being arrested and deported.

One might hide one’s true self because they know it is not acceptable to their community of faith and they would lose all of the important connections and friends there.

On the other hand, some groups are defined by the people they include.

• A community sports league that encourages everyone to play.
• An arts space that gives everyone a chance to create, no matter how little experience they have.
• An open mic or jam night where anyone can come and play an instrument.
• A church where all are welcome

What such a space lacks in purity it gains in diversity. It honors those with deep wisdom, encourages those just started out to continue to make an effort. It gains strength through the variety of gifts of many, and avoids the vulnerability of uniformity.

Inclusive groups are less able to eject members. Those who are dangerous or very disruptive may find themselves outside, but conformity is not a requirement to belong.

It’s why this church chose to be Open and Affirming.

It’s one of the reasons it’s important to have an open table for communion.

We don’t ask people to give up who they are to belong, though we would ask people to give up their demands for exclusivity, if they had such ideas. I don’t know why someone who wanted to exclude others would want to be part of an inclusive church.

Jesus said of Jerusalem:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!

How often have I desired to gather your children together

as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

– Luke 13:34, NRSVue

That sounds pretty inclusive to me.

And though we divide ourselves by nation, state, county, and city; we divide ourselves by party and affinity groups; we divide ourselves by faiths and subsets of those faiths; if we are to call ourselves Christians, we may say, as is written in Philippians:

But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

– Philippians 3:20

How we understand who Jesus is, and what ‘Savior’ means in this context, may differ. But if we understand our citizenship as being in the inclusive space of heaven, then we, too, are included and are called to be inclusive of others.

So my challenge to all of us this week is to watch for those times when we feel the urge to exclude: to turn someone away, to not listen to them, to discount their value as a human being.

Be watchful for those opportunities for growth towards inclusion.

Amen.

* Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue

* Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.