A Sermon from the Gospel according to St. Andrew of the May

This is a work of fiction in homiletic style. Short stories have been written as newspaper reports, magazine articles, diaries, log entries, emails, and letters. Then why not write one in the style of a sermon or homily?

Please note my thanks to Andrea Lena DiMaggio, whose previous short work, "Adara's Story," provides the background for mine.

In the +Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today's sermon is based on a remarkable pericope that came to light recently from the apocryphal Gospel according to St. Andrew of the May. Although this apocryphal document is of unknown provenance and rather dubious origins, it may be the only example of ancient Christian literature to address directly the modern theme of transgenderism, but is yet contemporary with our Lord's sojourn among us.

An interesting note about the Gospel according to St. Andrew of the May, is that scholars disagree over its authorship, and quite a few hold that it was written by St. Andrea of the May. These maintain that only an educated woman of that time could have written it with the stylistic emphasis that appears, while others hold that only someone with a man's experience in that day could have written most of its content. But I wonder, has any scholar considered that its author may have been a eunuch, or a hermaphrodite, or otherwise, in more modern terms, intersexed or transgendered?

In our reading, a boy named Mahlon, who dresses and apparently would live as a girl, comes to see Jesus. But the boy's older brother Simon, embarassed by Mahlon's crossdressing, tries to prevent him from meeting Jesus, who has come to Simon's house. But Jesus seems to have gone there precisely to intervene in this situation. And when He addresses the younger brother by name as "Adara," He shows both His omniscience as Lord, and an intimate understanding of His followers as Teacher.

Perhaps to Simon and their neighbors, friends, and family, Mahlon was just a dimwitted boy dressing like a girl, because looking from the outside, that's exactly what they saw, what anyone would see. But the Lord can see who we are on the inside, who we really are. So Jesus, looking on the heart, does not call Mahlon by his boy's name, but chooses to address her as Adara, instead.

Always, we need to remember that Jesus is the Lord of Second Chances. Think, now! Do you remember the woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, the tax collector Zaccheus, the centurion Darius' daughter, those whom he cleansed of diseases and unclean spirits, and Lazarus. Every one of them received a new life after their meetings with Jesus. He offered each a second chance.

Also, remember the rich young man who had sought out Jesus, but went away sad, unable to part with his wealth? He was unwilling to do what he needed to make a fresh start. So this fresh start in life, a second chance is offered, but not always taken. We must claim it for ourselves when due.

Our Lord can also be more forceful about it. Remember Saul on the road to Damascus? He had been complicit in the murder of St. Stephen and had received a general warrant to arrest the belivers in Christ and haul them into court as heretics. He was a self-righteous man on his way to inflict grief and pain on those who would follow the Way of Jesus. But our Lord had other plans for Saul, and rather big plans at that. Saul— or now Paul, as he would be known, got a second chance with gusto! St. Paul would be the author of much of the New Testament.

In our story from St. Andrew of the May, Simon wants to be seen as someone who's "with it," among the avant-garde of his day. He wished to be seen and known to have entertained Jesus. Now, Jesus agrees to go to his place for dinner, no doubt knowing that he'd be engaged in one of his lower-key miracles of healing a wounded family. I call it "lower-key" only because it's not so spectacular as turning water to wine, healing the sick, raising the dead, or such. But if it were your family, then I can assure you that nothing whatever would be low-key about it. The greatest miracles, in my opinion, are not those so much those that appear to deviate from the laws of natural science as we understand them, but those that produce love and harmony from the unfathomably murky chaos of human nature.

Such is the way of human arrogance, that Simon can't seem quite to "get it right," even after he agrees to forgive Mahlon, whom he still thinks of as his younger brother. He promises to "forgive him."

But that's not what's needed.

Jesus points out that Adara was not the one in need of forgiveness in this circumstance, rather that Simon had sinned. He then throws himself at Jesus' feet, begging forgiveness.

Wrong again!

Jesus has already forgiven Simon, but that's not the end of the matter with Adara. Simon has sinned not only against God, but against his sister. So, Jesus tells Simon that he needs to ask Adara's forgiveness as well. He has hurt his sister and this requires healing. We call this "making amends."

When we hurt one another, indeed yes, God forgives us sinners and has done so already. Yet the human and material consequences of our actions can remain. We must take responsibility for whatever we've done, and whenever possible, however we can, seek to heal the hurt, to fix the damage, to restore what our sister or brother has lost because of our own sin. This is what Simon needs to acknowledge in our reading.

Thus Jesus gives Simon a second chance, next a third, and then yet a fourth. Our Saviour seems predisposed to offer him as many chances as he needs. Likewise, He seems today predisposed to offer us as many chances as we need, so many chances to get it right. As St. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13:4, love is long-suffering. The Lord gives us so many chances out of His love for us.

Now, Adara has to be suprised, confused, and maybe even overwhelmed, when someone she's never before met, not only addresses her by name, but also comes to her defense. Yet she comes to Jesus because she knows that He will have an answer for her. And she must also believe that He will accept her as she is.

In today's reading, Jesus prophesies how Simon's parents would have seen Adara, for this, too, is how He sees her. He sees the blessings of love and industry that she offers to her brother and family, and also to her village. Remarkably, they all have rejected the happiness that she can bring them. Not a one of them understand that Adara's role, her purpose, it to engender greater love in her community, showing kindness to small children and animals. She's there to model love and caring while working hard for her brother and family.

Maybe she cannot fulfill her role in this world as Mahlon, but only as Adara. So perhaps Mahlon's role is to discover, to nourish and to protect his inner sister until she is ready to emerge. Then he gives up who he is so that the girl within him may live. So maybe, he acts in accordance with a Will greater then his own. We can't always know. But sometimes we are called to do things that others will not understand and must seek to read the influence of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

An important point to remember at the end of Adara's story is that Jesus knew her name for He had named her. She was there in God's plan all along. Perhaps the only reason that she had been born as a boy, might have been, so that such a miracle be seen, and its attendant lesson learned. Again, we cannot always know all the answers ourselves. Sometimes we must accept that God has a way and that He shall make things right in His own way and time.

In the +Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.