🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride, and welcome to the very first installment of “One from the Vaults” — a recurring segment of The Musical Midrash Podcast where we revisit earlier sermons with fresh eyes and sacred context.

This week, we open the vault and travel back to 2017. The Trump administration was seven months in. Transgender military service members were under attack. And I was a 34-year-old talent agent — not yet an elder, not yet imagining ministry — preaching my very first sermon in a small but fiercely loving congregation in Seattle.

The passage: Ephesians 6:10–20, the “armor of God.”

The theme: what it means to stand — not in violence, but in courage.

The call: to come out, not only as queer, but as Christian.

Originally broadcast live on Facebook, this sermon was meant to be both a spiritual act and a public witness. The video quality is grainy. The intro was lost to time. But this episode includes a full restoration of the manuscript and a new reflection on what this moment meant then — and what it might still mean now.

While this isn’t a sermon about musical theatre, it lives in the spirit of La Cage aux Folles, and was originally paired with a performance of “I Am What I Am” sung by my husband, Jeffrey. We also visit Marie’s Crisis Café in a moment of post-Obergefell celebration. Theatricality. Testimony. Transformation. It’s all here.

📌 Highlights

– Reflecting on queer Christian witness in the Trump era

– Wrestling with the battle imagery of Ephesians

– Stonewall, ACT UP, and the spiritual discipline of standing

– Facebook Live as a pulpit

– Why sometimes it’s harder to come out as Christian than as queer

📖 Scripture: Ephesians 6:10–20

🎭 Musical Reference: La Cage aux Folles – “I Am What I Am”

📍 Location: Woodland Park Presbyterian Church, Seattle, WA

🧡 Wherever this finds you — may you find the strength to stand. May it be so. Thanks be to God.

This week, I had something quieter planned. But the world changed again. In this episode, I turn to the musicals that don’t offer escape — they offer resistance.

From the seductive silence of Cabaret, to the resurrected rage of Parade, to the looped lament of A Strange Loop, these stories don’t just entertain. They protest. They prophesy. They pray.

This is a theology of theatre-as-truth-telling. Of sacred memory and unfiltered survival. Of musicals that refuse to stay silent.

📖 Based on the essay published on Musical Midrash:

https://dustinwilsor.substack.com

Featuring:

🎭 Cabaret, Parade, A Strange Loop

🕊 Jeremiah, James Cone, and Black prophetic lament

🎶 “This Is Not Over Yet,” Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, and psalms in survival mode

💡 Themes of memory, queer theology, fascism, and sacred refusal

With quotes from Prepare Ye, the Way of the Lord: A Theology of Musical Theatre for the Church, the Stage, and the Sanctuary

🔖 Topics: Musical Theatre | Protest | Process Theology | Lament | Queer Survival | Sacred Storytelling

🔔 Like, subscribe, and share if the revolution is already singing.

Not directly a musical…they can’t all be - but I could argue that the structure of many superhero movies mirrors musicals in many ways — but we’ll save that for another time. All are worthy of Love.

What do a first-century fisherman and a Marvel anti-hero have in common? More than you might think.

This sermon weaves together the story of Simon Peter—impulsive, loyal, flawed—and the Marvel character Bob Reynolds, a.k.a. Sentry and The Void. Through Scripture and pop culture, we explore themes of shame, unworthiness, and the unexpected grace that still calls us.

✨ Whether you’re a Bible nerd, a Marvel fan, a spiritual seeker, or someone who’s ever felt “too broken” to be called by God—this message is for you.

📖 Key texts:

Luke 5:1–11, Mark 14:66–72, John 21:15–19

💥 Featuring:

The Thunderbolts

Bob/Sentry/Void

Peter the Rock… and the Betrayer

The unforgettable call: “Stop Val. Save Bob.”

🔔 Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe if this message speaks to you. You can also find more sermons and reflections on faith, storytelling, and sacred performance at my Substack: dustinwilsor.substack.com

#StopValSaveBob #SimonPeter #MarvelSermon #ProgressiveChristianity #Discipleship #TheThunderbolts #SentryAndTheVoid #QueerTheology #GospelAndPopCulture