Are You at the Right Party? | COLBY MARTIN

In this sermon, author Colby Martin explores the concept of God’s “great party” – a metaphor for the Kingdom of God, or God’s dream for creation unfolding on Earth. Martin shares how his own theology was fundamentally changed and expedited towards inclusion and affirmation, a journey he describes as a “hard-fought, been-through-hell hallelujah”. He poses the question: how do we know we are at the “right party”? His answer, supported by four biblical stories, points to a clear “divine preference for diversity”.

Martin illustrates this divine preference by examining Genesis 1 (light creating contrast, not just good vs. bad), Genesis 11 (the Tower of Babel showing God’s aversion to uniformity), Acts 2 (Pentecost and the Holy Spirit “queering” the church by introducing diverse languages), and Acts 10 (Peter’s vision leading him to understand God shows no partiality and to “never call unclean what God has called clean”). He contrasts the path of God’s Kingdom, marked by diversity, difference, and harmony, with the path of empire, which demands uniformity and conformity. Martin encourages the audience to stay on the more difficult, yet good and sacred, path of diversity, where the image of God is truly expressed.