A Shared Call for God’s Beloved

Out of Shame into Dignity, Out of Hostility into Hospitality on Pride Sunday

[Texts]

Matthew 10:40–42 ▪ Jeremiah 28:5–9 ▪ Psalm 89:1–4, 15–18 ▪ Romans 6:12–23

The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

For the past few weeks, many of you have been reading Grace Notes and reflecting on your own call story. Today, as we gather for Pride Sunday, you might be wondering, as I have, how these biblical call stories speak into our lives and how they resonate with this day we dedicate to celebration.

Understanding Pride

Before we dive into the biblical texts, let’s pause and reflect on the word pride.

Pride can signify dignity, worth, and a sense of satisfaction. However, it also carries an older meaning—arrogance that shames others and inflated self-importance that diminishes those around us. This kind of pride divides and inflicts harm. It blinds us to the humanity of others, a warning echoed throughout Scripture.

We see this old pride everywhere. People are divided into categories. Identities become weapons. Communities are pushed into survival mode. Labels are handed out based on economics, ethnicity, language, culture, sexuality, gender, ability, age—the list goes on.

Yet, Scripture also speaks of another kind of pride, the pride of resurrection life. This pride emerges when dignity is restored, when shame is lifted, and when God’s beloved ones stand tall again.

Paul uses this concept when he calls the Philippians his “joy and crown.” He expresses that they are his pride in the Lord.

So today, on Pride Sunday, we celebrate not arrogance but the pride that comes from acknowledging who created us, who redeems us, who sanctifies us, and who shapes us day by day.

A pride rooted in God’s love, not our achievements. A pride that ends in hospitality, not hostility.

The Call Stories in Scripture

With that in mind, let’s turn to the call stories in Scripture.

Jeremiah finds himself in a public conflict with Hananiah. Hananiah speaks a comforting lie, the kind of message that those privileged in status and power love to hear. It’s the old pride: inflated self-importance, a refusal to face the truth that is God, and a denial of what God can do through the Messiah.

Jeremiah speaks a harder message, the message that restores dignity. It’s a call back to God, back to covenant life.

Some of you may know what that call feels like. I certainly do. In one of the previous congregations I served, I faced a choice: resign or sign an endorsement on a document that stood against our LGBTQ+ siblings. That did not align with the values I learned from Jesus.

Nothing in that document reflected the pride of resurrection life—only the old pride that harms, divides, and destroys the dignity God gives. Jeremiah reminds us: God’s call always leads toward truth that restores, not lies that harm.

Lament and Covenant Identity

Psalm 89 is full of lament and grief. Jerusalem has fallen, and the people feel abandoned. Yet, even in the ruins, the psalmist calls them back to their covenant identity—the identity God established with Noah, renewed through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and reaffirmed in David.

The psalmist urges them to remember who they are and to whom they belong. Lament and grief are not new to most of us. Whenever we lose something precious that brings God’s people together, it can feel like we are losing part of ourselves.

But our covenant with God reassures us: We are God’s beloved. We are held by God’s steadfast love. When we live in God’s covenant, our identities find their way back home.

Living as People Set Free

Paul’s call story to the Romans is straightforward: Live as people set free. Free from sin that tries to define us. Free from fear that tries to bury us. Free from shame that tries to drown us. Free from the old powers that separate us from God.

This is a call to live resurrection pride—the pride of being made new, the pride that is only possible through Christ, the pride of belonging to the One who restores us.

Radical Welcome in Matthew

Finally, we come to Matthew 10. Jesus calls the church out of exclusion and into radical welcome. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me,” he says.

Hospitality is not optional. It defines our ministry, shapes our daily life, transforms our conversations, and blesses the Lord's table.

Because every person is invited into the fullness of God’s beloved life, a life that keeps expanding like a ripple on the water. While our individual calls may be unique, our identity restored in Christ is the same.

A Heart of Childlike Trust

Last Sunday, we saw that identity so clearly. Children gathered at the Lord’s Table, their hands holding the bread and the cup, their hearts open and unguarded. There was no agenda, no prejudice, no old pride—just trust, just welcome, just Jesus.

That is the heart Jesus invites us to carry into Pride Sunday. A childlike heart remembers who we are and to whom we belong.

A heart that receives extraordinary hospitality becomes a vessel of that hospitality for others.

That is our call story. That is our covenant identity. That is resurrection pride.

Embracing Our Call

As we reflect on our call stories, let’s remember the importance of embracing our identities in Christ. Each of us has a unique journey, but we are united in our purpose to reflect God’s love and hospitality.

Let’s take a moment to consider how we can embody this message in our daily lives. How can we extend hospitality to those around us? How can we uplift those who feel marginalized?

We are called to be vessels of love, compassion, and acceptance.

Let Us Pray

Holy and gracious God,

You call us out of shame into dignity,

out of hostility into hospitality,

out of fear into the wide-open freedom of Christ.

Give us hearts like children,

curious and trusting,

free from the old pride that divides,

open to the new pride that restores.

Make us people of welcome.

Help us display your table well enough,

speak your words gently enough,

and convey your love and forgiveness tangibly enough

to reflect honestly and faithfully on the extraordinary hospitality of our risen Jesus, the Messiah.

Let your spirit ripple through this community,

renewing our calls in this church season,

deepening our compassion,

and sending us out as vessels of your love.

We belong to you, O God.

And in you, we are made new.

Amen.