For those of us who push at the boundaries of “normality,” Abraham’s call in Genesis 12:1-4a sets the stage for understanding these Bible passages. Charles Allen is intrigued by the fact that, while Abraham has no Bible to authorize his calling with a few choice proof-texts, he ventures forth from the only family values he knows. He follows a voice that apparently only he has heard. But this is not a choice for private spirituality, for as Helene Russell points out, his decision is meant to bring blessing to all families everywhere. His family may not have gone with him, but they were not forgotten.

Holly Hearon is struck by two aspects of this Genesis passage:  First, the passage can describe the experience of many LGBT persons – we leave behind the “house” of our parents (verse 1) to go to a new land (somewhere over the rainbow?) where God shows us our identity as GLBT persons. We are taken to a new land not only in terms of our identity, but also in terms of the communities we belong to and a way of being in the world. But it is a place that God’s own self reveals to us.

Second (echoing Helene Russell’s point), God tells Abram that he will be blessed so that he may be a blessing. It invites LGBT people to consider the particular blessing that they bring to the world. Such blessings include qualities like hospitality, welcoming the stranger, the importance of community, and the capacity to celebrate life with joy and humor. Similarly, Michael Miller finds it important to stress that whatever might have been the familial, social and religious pressures placed upon Abram, his growth involved a new understanding of God and of self in relation to the rest of the world. With confidence in Abram’s new understanding of God and self, he was able to stand against the status quo and set out on a risky journey of self-discovery, other-discovery and further God-discovery

	When have you had to strike out on your own, without any guarantees from your family or faith community? What voice did you hear? How might this be a blessing for everybody — even those who did not go with you?

Paul’s reflection in Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 on Abraham’s faith has been used by later Christians to downplay the importance of Torah – Jewish Scripture and tradition. But Holly Hearon and Charles Allen both insist on remembering that Paul’s attitude toward Torah is complex. Here he is trying to show why non-Jews are and always were included in God’s promises.

Abraham, Holly points out, was still in a sense a Gentile when he believed God — he had not yet received the sign of circumcision. For Charles, Paul’s point that the promise did not come through the law is another reminder that Abraham had no Bible to back up his risky decision. It doesn’t mean that Torah, or the Bible, is unimportant, but it suggests that even they do not confine God’s voice. Michael Miller concurs that Torah points not to a constricting orthodoxy, but to an ideal way of being that reflects God’s common life with us. It is not meant to confine God’s working or God’s voice.

Like many of us today, Paul is wrestling with how to honor his own Scripture in a way that leaves room for God to speak in new, seemingly unprecedented ways. God spoke before Torah. God spoke through Torah. God spoke after Torah. And God still speaks.

	How do we honor the voice of God in the Bible and still listen for God to speak in unprecedented ways? What room do we make for other voices? What room do we make for God’s voice?