The ELCA Disability Ministries blog post for this month is a sermon preached by Pastor Mack Patrick at the opening worship at the tAble, a pre-event to the 2024 Youth Gathering. Based on Psalm 139, it grounded attendees and staff in their time together, exploring “how we are created to be wHoly”.

Originally posted at: Created to Be: wHoly You (mackpatrick.blogspot.com) 

Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.

Wow. The day is finally here, the day we have been waiting for, working for, praying for, is finally here. We are gathered here, in this space, with each other because we all share something in common, we are all created to be wholy. We are created to be authentic, created to be free, created to be one, created to be claimed by our Creator as beloved.

Over these next few days, we will take time to explore what it means to be created. What it means to be loved by a God who took such care in creating us that we are not only named but that we are claimed as beloved. Exploring what it means to be created means we will get a chance to explore who we are, who our neighbors are, who we are as a community, and who God is. Each day there will be time and space to move and be and experience new things, each day there will be something to hold on to, something to trust even when everything else seems so different.

Now you may be thinking this is just like church on a Sunday, sometimes a bit boring and stuffy, a place where you might be told you do not belong, or you are told to refrain from leadership or whatever the case may be. But here is the thing, this space, this team, this community, is something that is unlike anything out there. This is a space that is created for you, created for you to experience God’s love, to see that you have a seat at Christ’s table and that no one can take that away.

One of the things that makes this community so unique is that we have all come with different expectations. Some things about this week give us anxiety, and there are other things we are excited about, and for each of us those things may be different, and that is okay. The important thing, the thing we all share is that we came because we wanted to be in a space that fully embraces us as we are, to be in a community that sees the whole person, the person God created us to be, not just our abilities or disabilities or whatever identity we hold true. There is something truly special about being in a community where you are seen as your whole self, and I am so excited that we get to experience it together these next few days in a city that is created to be exactly as it is.

So what exactly does it mean to be created to be wHoly you?

I feel like if you ask any member on our team what it means the answer will differ, we all have different lived experiences, we all come with a different background and passions and that is part of being created wHoly. Answering this question is not like a multiple-choice test with only one right answer but it’s designed to be what we need in the moment, what we need to feel the love that has been poured out for us, what we need to live fully as God has created us to be.

To me part of being created to be wHoly, is being invited to name our identities, not just the ones that we share in common with others but all of our identities, the ones we hold true, the ones who make us who we are. I am a pastor. I am a communicator. I am neurodivergent. I am transgender. I am wHoly. We are created to be authentic, to rip off the mask and live out who we are, even when not everyone agrees with that. It is hard to be authentic when we are in spaces that are not designed for us or spaces that have expectations that do not take account of our needs. Being created to be wHoly, being created to be authentic encourages us to use what we have, to communicate what we need to be successful, to be involved, to be loved.

To me being created to be wHoly means we have been given unmeasurable grace, grace that extends past what is imaginable. This grace, this free gift from God, leads us to look past the limits that others have placed on us, and the assumptions that society has. This grace, this outpouring of endless, transformative love, encourages us to risk something, to try new things, to fail, to get back up again. This grace is what leads us to find spaces like this, spaces that welcome and embrace us, invite us to the table not to be in a place of pity but to be honored guests, to be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else. We are created to be free, free from the limits that we put on ourselves, limits that have been put on us by others. We are created to push those limits, to be free to explore whatever makes us happy, free to try and fail, free to get back up again.

To me being created to be wHoly means living out what I know is true, not so much in the words I say but in my actions. The greatest thing I have ever experienced is being in a community like this that all understands that we come from a variety of places and backgrounds. In a community that understands we carry more than one identity and that there is no need to check them at the door. We are created to be one, created to be in community with each other and with God. We are created to be friends, to have conflict, to work together, and to give praise to God because of who we have been given in our lives. Being created as wHoly, created to be one, invites us to live with God’s love on our sleeves, invites us to live out the joy we have experienced, and invites others into that space.

I wish I could stand up here and say that its easy to live into the promise of being created to be wHoly, to live into the unmeasurable grace that has been poured out, but if I were to do that, then I wouldn’t be living authentically. It is hard to hold what we have been taught about who God is and how we are created with what society tells us. It is hard to believe that we were knitted together with the same care that crafted the smallest seed to the largest galaxies. It is hard to trust that we are the invited guests, that this table is set for us, that this water is for us. It is hard to hold our identity as a child of God with the identity that we are human.

But I think that is the challenge of being created as wHoly, the challenge of being created to be beloved. When we embrace who God is and what God has done and what God is doing, it doesn’t erase what society is doing but it gives us space to wrestle with what is true, to experience love that knows no bounds.

Being created to be wHoly, created to be free, created to be authentic, created to be one, is the truth that we get from our Psalm, the promise that we get through Jesus’ meal with friends, the promise that we are reminded about in the waters of baptism. Being created to be wHoly is not an identity that we ever lose, it is not an identity that we ever have to work for, it has been given to us from the very beginning. It is now our time to live into that identity, to discover what it means for us, to discover where God is calling us to be. Being created to be wHoly, being fearfully and wonderfully made invites us to open ourselves to be part of something bigger than ourselves, part of something that is so special we haven’t experienced it yet.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made, you are created to be wHoly, you are created to be beloved and I am so excited to witness, to experience with you this week as we create something special, something that gives praise to God for all that we have been given, to create something that sustains us when we leave this place.

We are created to be wHoly you and thanks be to God for that!

Pastor Mack Patrick (he/they) serves as an Assistant to the Bishop in the Northern Illinois Synod focusing on communications, stewardship, and works with youth and young adults. As a transgender pastor in the ELCA, Pastor Mack strives to make the church a more inclusive and accessible place for all of God’s beloved children. Outside of work, you can find Pastor Mack reading in a hammock, building things with Legos, tinkering with technology, or riding roller coasters. Pastor Mack is proud to have served on the 2024 tAble Planning Team for the ELCA Youth Gathering.