Week 5: The Community that Remembers
We began this week by sharing our experiences with last week's challenge to experiment with thinking about God differently—using feminine or non-gendered images or pronouns to pray or imagine God. We had diverse responses! It was a great exercise in being open to new experiences and new ways of thinking.
Lina led us in an important guided meditation, using the colors of the rainbow to open our hearts and minds. It was a great way to begin our session in a relaxed and creative way.
Eunuchs in the Bible
In our reading for this week, Hartke explores several passages that deal with eunuchs. One is an odd, almost offhand reference to eunuchs in Matt. 19:11-12. It's a very cryptic verse that scholars don't really know what to do with.
The passage begins with a question about divorce, then Jesus responds by quoting the Old Testament: "in the beginning God made them male & female." We've already addressed that verse from Gen. 1. But, interestingly, this passage follows Glen Stassen's formula for the sermon on the mount we mentioned earlier. The sermon on the mount is also in the book of Matthew, but earlier in ch. 5-7. As we saw earlier, Jesus has a pattern of quoting the Old Testament, showing how this traditional understanding is futile or a vicious cycle, then showing the "transforming initiative" or God's better way.
We can see that same pattern here in Matt. 19. The Pharisees raise the question of divorce, and Jesus responds in vs. 4-6: “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’… Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Interestingly, it is not Jesus but the disciples who raise the vicious cycle, objecting in vs. 10 that this teaching is too hard.
Jesus then responds in Matt. 19:11-12: “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
It's an odd passage, one that is as confusing to scholars as it is to us. But the way it mirrors the pattern Stassen identifies in the earlier Sermon on the Mount is intriguing. I still don't know what Jesus means here, or how this reference to eunuchs is an answer to the question of divorce. But whatever Jesus means by his reference to eunuchs, it's positive—which means vs. 4 cannot be a denunciation of gender non-conforming folks. It's also interesting that Jesus refers here both to eunuchs who were "born that way" as well as those "made that way by men." Again, it is a confusing and odd passage—but one that seems positive in the way it is describing eunuchs.
Which is useful for the work we are doing here, because these biblical eunuchs give us a good picture of what it looked like to be gender non-conforming in the ancient world.
A eunuch was a slave or servant who had been castrated before puberty. They were destined for positions of trust, particularly around women. It was a way to get trusted and non-threatening help in positions of power. Often they were keepers of the king’s harem, specifically because there was no chance that a eunuch would threaten the legitimacy of the royal line. They were allowed into spaces generally off-limits to men because they posed no threat to men or to their paternity.
Eunchus were allowed into both female-only and male-only spaces, precisely because they weren’t considered men themselves. Most eunuchs were castrated prior to puberty, meaning they wouldn’t develop secondary sex characteristics like facial hair or a deeper voice, so were visibly different from the people around them. They were often found in positions of influence and power, and yet were usually slaves. Hartke notes: "Many transgender Christians today find themselves in a similar place—living in this in-between space between inclusion and exclusion."
The birth of the queer church: Acts 8:26-39
While eunuchs were often given position of trust and responsibility in many places in the middle east, they were often viewed by Jews with suspicion, if not outright disgust. This dichotomy, this tension between "in" and "out," provides the backdrop for a most beautiful eunuch story in the Bible—one that is treasured among the LGBTQ community as the birth story of the queer church.
The story is found in Acts 8, and begins in vs. 26-29:
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
I love this story. I love the way the Spirit leads the way.
This eunuch was on the road to Gaza—he was returning from Jerusalem. The text says he'd gone there to worship, but quite probably, when he got there he was turned away. Deut. 32:1 states clearly that eunuchs—those who have been castrated—shall not be admitted to the Temple. That harsh rejection is repeated in Lev. 21:20. Eunuchs were "sexual outsiders". They were, both literally and figuratively "cut off."
Hartke notes that the author (Luke) of Acts 8 "goes out of his way to highlight the fact that it all took place on a wilderness road: "The wilderness is often familiar space for transgender Christians. It's a space that holds our doubts and our questions, and a place where we can pitch our tents when all other doors have been closed to us."
As we read on in vs. 30-35, Philip approaches the Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot, and asks if he understands what he is reading. The eunuch asks a very apt question: “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?." So Philip joins him in the chariot, where the eunuch shows him the passage he is reading from Isaiah, asking, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”
Verse 35 tells us: Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.
Philip may have been miraculously led to this wilderness road, but he doesn't come in hot with his own agenda and prepared evangelistic script. Instead, he lets the Ethiopian eunuch take the lead. Everything that follows—this wonderful, grace-filled conversation—is directed and led by the eunuch and his questions, his concerns.
Long before Philip shows up on the scene, the eunuch is reading a messianic prophesy from the book of Isaiah. And so when Philip shows up his first question is: How will I know unless someone guides me?
Hartke writes: “I recognized the desperation in his words. This person had just traveled all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, only to find gates and laws barring the way. He'd had to turn around and head home, and it doesn't take much imagination to feel the way he probably felt—frustrated, disappointed, confused, rejected, and alone. He'd already tried reading Scripture for himself, and things hadn't panned out. It's easy to imagine him wondering what he'd done wrong, or what part of Scripture he'd misunderstood.”
The eunuch's second question is equally poignant: Who is this man? The Ethiopian eunuch wants to know more about the suffering servant Isaiah describes, because he so identified with him. Hartke reminds us: “The eunuch too had experienced humiliation, specifically in the form of castration, and possibly also in the form of slavery. He had been denied justice as someone whom God invited to worship in the temple, but who was nevertheless barred by human gatekeepers. He must have been asking himself if somehow this passage was about people like him… The eunuch was not asking these questions because he had a vague interest. The eunuch was poring over Scripture and teasing out answers because he had to in order to survive as a gender-nonconforming, racially marginalized, royally subjugated person outside the bounds of the faith he sought to join.”
Can you relate to that feeling of desperation? Have you ever felt that same urgency when you were searching Scripture for guidance or answers about a personal problem? Have you ever held your breath as you poured over the words of the Bible, waiting to see if they brought condemnation and rejection, or welcome and life?
What will prevent me?
As the story concludes in Acts 8:36-39, the Ethiopian eunuch's final question is particularly apt: What will prevent me?
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
As the chariot carrying them draws near a small body of water, the eunuch raises the question of baptism—the sign and symbol of God's grace and love, but also of inclusion in the Christian church. And so the eunuch asks: What will prevent me?
It's a good question.
In the ancient world, reproducing and carrying on your legacy was considered of prime importance. So eunuchs, because they were infertile, were considered "cursed." And yet, the Bible is full of reversals. And here, in this story, we have a reversal most beautiful and profound.
The community that remembers: Isaiah 56:3-5
It's significant that the eunuch is reading from the book of Isaiah. In the suffering servant passage he is reading, Isaiah is speaking to a people who have been exiled to a foreign land—to Babylon. As Isaiah's prophesy continues, a few chapters later we come to a prophesy of life for Israel after the exile, when they finally return home.
It's a prophesy about the new kingdom they will build in Jerusalem, but many Christians believe it is also a prophesy about life in the coming Kingdom that Jesus, the suffering servant, will bring. About the great reversals to come—and the ways the coming of Christ into our world changes things.
And so the prophet tells us in Isaiah 56:3-5:
Foreigners who would follow YHWH should not say, “YHWH will surely exclude me from this people.” Nor should the eunuch say, “And I am a dried-up tree.” For thus says YHWH: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath, who choose that which pleases me and hold fast to my Covenant— to them I will create within my Temple and its walls a memorial, and a name better than that of children and grandchildren. I will give them an everlasting name that will not be excised."
This is an extraordinary reversal. Being childless in the ancient world was a curse because your name, your life, will be forgotten. Yet the promise in vs. 5 reverses that. The childless eunuchs will be given a monument, a name, an everlasting name even, that will never be cut off.
Hartke writes: “What God was giving the eunuchs, through Isaiah's proclamation, was not just a place in society, and not just hope for a future. By giving the eunuchs the same kinds of gifts given to Abraham and Sarah—a name, legacy, family, acceptance and blessing—God was consciously associating the two stories in the minds of the people. God was giving the eunuchs a story to connect to—a story that set a precedent, grounded in divine grace.”
“…through Isaiah God gave me a sense of belonging that I couldn't shake. I believed that by declaring those outside the gender binary to be acceptable, God declared me acceptable… when I read that eunuchs would be made joyful in God's house of prayer, I found myself convinced that transgender people are meant not only to survive in Christian community, but to thrive.”
“….God did not ask the eunuchs to pour themselves into the mold of Israel's previous societal norms, nor to bend themselves to fit by taking on specifically gendered roles in the current system. Instead, God called for a transformed community that looked like the nothing the people had ever seen.”
The profound reversal in vs. 5 is one of community. Those who have been “cut off”—both literally and figuratively—are now welcomed in. Walter Bruggemann writes, “The community of Judaism is to be a community that remembers, cherishes, and preserves the name and identity of those otherwise nullified in an uncaring world.”
We can be that community. We can celebrate and proclaim that the prophesies of Isaiah have been revealed and fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. We can be a community that welcomes in all those who have been turned away.
The word “evangelism” comes from the Greek word evangel or “good news.” And the news of Jesus that Philip shares is definitely Good News. And yet, for most trans and non-binary folks, the news that they hear from the Christian church is Bad News. It is the Bad News of shame, of exclusion, of having to hide their true selves.
The center of the gospel is love. Jesus is opening the door wider and truly welcoming in ALL people without asterisks, exclusions or exceptions. That is Good News. Let us insure that the true Good News of God's great love is heard as loudly and clearly as those who are proclaiming a false gospel of hate.
Homework assignment/ look ahead at next week
The Ethiopian eunuch was a multiple minority: he differed from Philip in race, ethnicity, nationality, economic status, and gender identity.
Make a list of your social and physical identities—where you are on spectrums of age, ability, race, ethnicity, class, education level, language, orientation, and gender. This week practice looking at the spaces you're in (e.g. church, work, shopping) and asking yourself, "is there anyone here who doesn't share my identities?" If you don't see people with different identities in your space, ask yourself what invisible barriers might be at play. Optional: read Hartke ch. 10-12.
Invitation: one of Haven's most fun and quirky traditions is All Queer Saints Day. We build on the ancient tradition of Nov. 1st as All Saints Day to celebrate all who have followed the example of Philip in this story. All who have opened doors of faith for us, welcoming us in. Haven will host our joyful All Queer Saints Day celebration this Sunday, Nov. 5th at 5:00 pm at Saint Luke's Episcopal Church in Monrovia.
Loving God,
We remember with gratitude the people in our lives who opened doors and welcomed us in. Let us follow Philip's example in being people who say yes to the unexpected, ready to go to surprising places and people with a message of hope and inclusion. Let us be a community that welcomes with joy all those who have been turned away. In the grace of Jesus, Amen.