{"id":12828,"date":"2016-05-16T16:46:23","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T23:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=12828"},"modified":"2016-05-16T16:46:23","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T23:46:23","slug":"harvey-wear-the-robe-like-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/harvey-wear-the-robe-like-it-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey: \u2018Wear the robe like it matters\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Betty Backstrom<\/strong>
\nMay 16, 2016 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS)<\/h4>\n

Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey reminded those attending General Conference 2016 that all are called to \u201cbear fruit for God\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preaching from Matthew 22:1-14 and the parable of the king\u2019s wedding banquet, the Louisiana Episcopal Area leader told delegates God invites people to come as they are, but not to stay as they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur showing up at the party, our standing before God, is about our willingness to receive, to put on God\u2019s grace,\u201d Harvey said in her sermon on May 16 at General Conference, the denomination\u2019s top legislative body.<\/p>\n

In the banquet parable, those originally invited to the banquet refused to come. So the king sends his servants out a second time to the \u201cedge of town\u201d with instructions to invite \u201ceveryone to the party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI take that to mean EVERYONE \u2014 the good, the bad, the fit and the misfit, the rich and the poor, those the elite of the day viewed as throwaways!\u00a0The kind of folk that don\u2019t often get invited to many parties!\u201d Harvey said.<\/p>\n

She also pointed out that one of the guests had not put on the expected wedding attire. \u201cThe ill-dressed man had no excuse.\u00a0You see, the host always provided the guests with the appropriate wedding garment or robe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am from Louisiana and we have a party every year that we call Mardi Gras; others call it Carnival,\u201d said Harvey. \u201cThe dress code is clear.\u00a0Women must wear ball gowns to the floor.\u00a0No short dresses, no tea-length dresses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ill-dressed man had committed more than a clothing faux pas, indicated Harvey. \u201cHe had come to the party, but failed to show honor to the host. He makes light of the occasion by failing to put on that garment of righteousness, the robe that is \u2018one size fits all\u2019 and is available to anyone willing to put it one. It\u2019s hanging right there at the entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018God is the host\u2019<\/h4>\n

God is the host for our \u201cbanquet,\u201d be it General Conference or God\u2019s \u201ckingdom on earth,\u201d she added. \u201cOur host is the One who calls us and empowers us to disturb the system.\u00a0Maybe even disturb our own human condition and put on the robe of righteousness, the robe of grace, the robe that is the outward and visible sign of our response to God\u2019s deep faithfulness for God\u2019s people. \u2026 Wear the robe like it matters. This could just turn the world upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvey painted an ideal and hopeful picture of this \u201cbanquet,\u201d where there is \u201cno more crying, no more pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould this be the banquet that\u2019s filled with the things that really, really matter?\u00a0 Like a world free from addiction; where families are built on love and a trust that defies the headlines; where children do not die of diseases that can be prevented; a world where parenting is a joy not a burden; a world where children go to bed with full bellies; a world where women don\u2019t have to sell their bodies or themselves to survive; a world where children are safe in schools; where everyone is paid a fair wage \u2026 where loved ones are free from random mass shootings; where terrorists are no more?\u00a0 A world turned upside down!\u201d<\/p>\n

She challenged delegates by saying, \u201cI am convinced that if we are willing to erase the imaginary line in our imaginary fellowship or conference floor and put on the robe provided for each and every one of us, regardless of where we are from \u2014 central conference, the United States. Whether you are progressive or conservative, gay or straight. Rich, poor.\u00a0Black, white, Latino. Fit or misfit, broken or not, we will experience transformation that will turn the world upside down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauren Hudson, an intern for the Louisiana State University Wesley Foundation in Baton Rouge, provided a graphic recording in chalk during Harvey\u2019s sermon.<\/p>\n

General Conference continues through May 20 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.<\/p>\n

Backstrom is the communications director of the Louisiana Conference.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Betty Backstrom May 16, 2016 | PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS) Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey reminded those attending General Conference 2016 that all are called to \u201cbear fruit for God\u2019s sake.\u201d Preaching from Matthew 22:1-14 and the parable of the king\u2019s wedding banquet, the Louisiana Episcopal Area leader told delegates God invites people to come as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":12852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[449,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12828","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-conference","8":"category-umns"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Harvey-blog.jpg?fit=1100%2C574&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-3kU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12828"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12854,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12828\/revisions\/12854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}