Inclusion and Redemption in Scripture
Dear Spirit Garage,
It is one thing to be convinced that historical conclusions about God and God’s work (theology) are not quite right (or are just plain wrong), and it is another thing to state that conclusion in a positive way. Instead of “I do not believe that,” how do we proclaim, “I believe this”? The turn from what we do not ascribe to God’s work (theological deconstruction), toward what we do ascribe to God’s work is constructive theology.
As a Trans Affirming Church, we want to step into stating what we do believe and trust about God’s work related to an expansive understanding of gender (rather than spend all of our time stating what we do not believe and trust).
Recently, I was Dwelling in the Word on John 9:13-34, the story of the Pharisees trying to figure out by what power Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. The man who had been blind makes a constructive theology shift within this story. In verses 31-33, the man says, “We know that God…does listen to one who worships and obeys God’s will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
In other words, the man who was blind does not know the answers to questions about where Jesus gets his power or about how Jesus can do this kind of healing, but he does know why Jesus is able to do this: Jesus is with God in this work. Based on this healing and healing in people’s lives now, we can learn new things about God.
The person who is healed is not as upset about God revealing something new as are those who are tasked with teaching and training others about God. This new revelation about God shows us how the Pharisees (or perhaps, we ourselves) struggle to accept this new teaching! Constructing new understandings of God is rife with struggle.
Constructing our understanding of God’s work in the life and ministry of people who are gender expansive and transgender is fraught with similar questions that we find the Pharisees asking in this story in John 9. “Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.’ Others said, ‘How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?’ And they were divided.” Jesus is revealing something new about God’s work in the world and the Pharisees are unsure where to put this new information in their system of understanding God.
At the end of this story in John, “They answered the man who had been blind, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’ And they drove him out.” The Pharisees could not fit into their understanding of God that someone who was born blind could teach them about God, and so they discounted his testimony. This still happens when we are unsure how a new revelation changes what we understand about God.
For example, there are a set of verses used to negate the witness and testimony of people who are gay. The “clobber verses” are used to dismiss any discussion of sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. There are other verses used to negate the role of women in ordained leadership. The pattern of negating a new revelation, rather than wrestling with it is a long-standing pattern.
There is always a need for constructive theology: sharing what we understand of God’s work in the world. And thankfully, transgender theologians help us to see how Jesus and God’s work in the world are revealed to us through the lives of our transgender siblings, and they remind us of the tremendous promises we can find in God’s word and God’s actions in the world.
How do they do this? By centering the lives and experiences of Transgender people. By asking questions like, “How can the lives and experiences of trans folx give us new theological lenses to understand God, creation, humanity, and the church?”
Our Scripture is filled with Liberating Themes. Early in Genesis we see humans co-creating with God – naming animals and naming human needs to not be alone. Humans are co-creators and there is liberation in this truth.
There is a Trajectory of Inclusion and Redemption in scripture. When we read scripture with this lens, we see the possibilities to be more inclusive rather than less inclusive. For example, in Isaiah 56:3-8 there are promises to eunuchs (those who are cut off from future descendants) to be included in the future: “I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” (Austen Hartke shared about this at a Different Lens worship service at Spirit Garage on June 25, 2023.)
Co-Creating, Inclusion, Redemption, Transformation, Resurrection, Being Made New – these are some of the themes of our Christian faith. When someone who is transgender trusts in these promises, they can find themselves included in what God is doing in the world. They can affirm that God is at work in their lives, and through that work, we all can learn something more about what God is doing.
Our Different Lens series is intended to help us construct more expansive, more inclusive theology because we are listening to the Liberation, Redemption, and Transformation work that God is doing in people’s lives. I invite you to listen to the messages shared in our Different Lens series. Likely you will hear something new and likely you will hear the constructive theology that our guests are building to help us learn more about God and God’s work in the world!
Next time, I will share some things about the importance of intersectionality with you. Until then,
Peace and Joy to you,
Pastor Michelle