St. John’s Lutheran Church
Albany, New York
7 June 2026 + The Second Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 5 / Lectionary 10a
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
The Rev. Josh Evans

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There’s a song I’ve been hearing on repeat for the past few weeks:

All the colors of the rainbow,
all the voices of the wind,
every dream that reaches out,
that reaches out to find where love begins.
Every word of every story,
and every star in every sky,
every corner of creation
lives to testify…

So begins the 1997 hit song by Christian pop ensemble Avalon –
but that’s not the version I’ve been playing on repeat.

The version I’ve been playing on repeat
is the newly re-released single,
nearly three decades later,
by former Avalon founding member Michael Passons,
alongside country music singer and songwriter Ty Herndon
and fellow former Avalon bandmate Melissa Greene,
who sing together in the admittedly catchy refrain:

For as long as I shall live,
I will testify to love.
I’ll be a witness in the silences
when words are not enough.
With every breath I take,
I will give thanks to God above.
For as long as I shall live,
I will testify to love.

“I need to tell you why this is not just a song release,”
writes Melissa Greene in a blog post
on the day the 2026 “Testify to Love” dropped.
“Years ago, Michael and I were in Avalon together.
Testify to Love was our biggest hit.
It is a song about love without exception,
love that reaches every corner of creation,
love that testifies through every star in every sky.
We sang it night after night to arenas of people.
And then Michael was kicked out of the group for being gay.”

Michael himself speaks of the re-recording of their hit song as a restoration:
”For years, I sang these words while hiding who I truly was.
To record this now – standing fully in my truth –
is a full-circle moment I once thought impossible.
It serves as a testimony that love does not exclude.”

It’s a particularly appropriate refrain
as we prepare once again,
one week from today,
to take to the streets and park grounds of downtown Albany
for Capital Pride,
to testify to God’s all-inclusive and wildly expansive love,
in every corner of creation,
for all of God’s beloved children,
no matter who they are or what they look like,
no matter how they identify or what pronouns they use,
no matter who they love.

It’s a particularly appropriate refrain
as we hear today
what it means to be called as a disciple –
no matter their occupation,
no matter the labels thrown at them…

Take Matthew, for example.
I wonder what he must have been thinking,
as Jesus was walking along,
and spotting him,
calls out,
“Follow me.”

Who… me?

I have a strong feeling
there was one heck of a pause
between that invitation to follow
and when Matthew finally got up.

Matthew didn’t go out looking for Jesus.
Jesus found Matthew.
Jesus chose Matthew.
Jesus called Matthew.

Jesus called a tax collector.
Jesus called someone despised by his community.

“Why does your teacher eat with…
tax collectors… and sinners?” (Gross!)

Jesus called one of those people –
the kind of person we turn up our noses at,
the kind of person who doesn’t belong,
the kind of person we’d rather not share a pew with.

Jesus called that person –
challenging our preconceived beliefs
of who “belongs”
and who’s “worthy.”

***

These past two days,
the Metropolitan Chicago Synod met in assembly
to elect a new bishop,
after “losing” their previous bishop, Yehiel Curry,
to Churchwide as presiding bishop.
And because attending just our own synod assembly
clearly wasn’t enough,
I had to tune in,
church nerd and Chicagoan at heart that I am.

On the first ballot,
seeing so many familiar names and beloved colleagues on the screen,
my heart couldn’t help but swell with pride and hope.

Four more ballots later,
what came next was a Holy Spirit surprise
no one saw coming,
as Bishop-elect Erik Christensen,
himself an openly gay pastor “extraordinarily” ordained in 2006
outside the bounds of official ELCA polity
and who was once so instrumental in my own discernment of my call to ministry,
took to the dais to address the assembly:

“We are living in a humanity distorting and defying age,
when the image of God is terribly disrespected in us and in our neighbors,
and I want the church to continue to be a place
where we look on all those whom the world reviles and say,
‘You are precious and beloved in the sight of God,
and you are not alone, and we are walking with you.’”

***

These are the ones whom God calls:
those whom the world reviles,
those who have been kicked out or cast aside,
those who are called names a lot worse than “tax collector” or “sinner,”
those who feel unqualified,
or unworthy,
or question their belonging.

God calls you.

God calls you:
whether you feel like you belong or not,
whether you feel like you have something to offer or not,
whoever you are and whatever you look like,
whatever your background or identity,
no matter the labels thrown at you
by others…or yourself –
too old, too young,
too much, not enough.

God calls you.

God calls you
to testify to love
in every corner of creation,
until all can know and feel
the extraordinary love of God
for this whole world.