Why is Affirming significant to me?

Why are you here today? What brought you to this place? What might bring you back here? I happen to attend Hillhurst because it is a place that celebrates diversity. This church doesn't exist to decide who is "in" and who is "out". Hillhurst United does not have the mandate to say who is "us" and who is "them". The vision here is one of hospitality, spirituality and justice, which, to me, clearly includes celebrating our difference. Do you disagree with something John says from the pulpit? Bring it up at lunch! Are you embarrassed because you don't think you fit in? I say flaunt that difference! Tell others how they can fit in with you! Do you look or feel different from me? Tell me so I can understand how you think! It is only when we seek to understand each other that we will understand the sacredness between us. I believe that diversity itself is a very sacred thing.

But the injustices that prevent us from celebrating diversity are still pervasive in our society. Alberta Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett is only now explicitly adding homosexuality to the list of characteristics that are legally protected from discrimination. I believe the injustices that stifle diversity will be broken down, but only if we actively break them down.

One of my favourite scenes from Milk is where [character's name] gets on the phone and within a couple of hours there are thousands of people demonstrating in the streets against a particular piece of legislation. I compare those times to the present; where has the sense of take-it-to-streets gone? Have we resolved that certain injustices are just a part of life?

What is the one issue over which you would "take it to the streets"? What injustice would move you to paint a banner and publicly state your case? Over what injustice would you risk angering the pharisees of our day on the off-chance that they might change their minds? Maybe "taking it to the streets" looks different for you. Maybe, like those in our midst who worked to make this affirming thing a reality at Hillhurst, you prefer to work behind the scenes to rid our society of injustice. The outreach / social justice committee here at Hillhurst is working on four things right now: affirming (which we are celebrating today), homelessness, environmental sustainability and international poverty. These are our "take-it-to-the-streets" issues, at least for now. There are injustices behind each of these that prevent us from celebrating the diversity of life and humanity. The injustices behind homelessness, environmental sustainability and international poverty prevent us from recognizing and celebrating the sacredness that surrounds us. We believe taking on these challenges will bring us a few steps closer to the heaven on earth about which Jesus "took it to the streets".

We can rid our society of injustice. But only if each of us refuses to be complicit with injustice and actively "takes it to the streets", whatever that looks like for you.