Out In Scripture Archive

You don’t have to leave your mind, heart and body behind when you encounter the Bible. This Human Rights Campaign resource places comments about the Bible alongside the real life experiences and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith and our allies.

Out In Scripture is a collection of over 175 conversations about the Bible. With the skilled help of 100 diverse scholars and pastors, from over 11 different denominations, you will discover a fresh approach to Scripture. Here you can be honest, question and go deeper.

Out in Scripture is a great devotional resource as you consider your life of faith and put that faith into action. It is also especially helpful for preachers preparing sermons based on the Revised Common Lectionary.

The Bible’s not about beating you up, but lifting us all up. It includes the seeds of liberation and justice. You, too, can be out in Scripture.

The lectionary is a three-year plan of selected Bible readings for each Sunday of the year. To figure out what are the assigned passages for a particular week in the Church Year, check out the 2009-2011 Lectionary Calendar. Find out even more about the lectionary at the Consultation on Common Texts

Select Bible conversations from the following seasons. The conversation will appear at the bottom of the page.

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8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Coming Out to Hope

In the passages for today, the Bible speaks of coming out. Yet, what are distinctive characteristics of this coming out? What has God to do with it? What is called from us?

This week's lectionary Bible passages:

Isaiah 49:8-16a; Psalm 131; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34

Who's Out in the Conversation
What's Out in the Conversation
Prayerfully Out in Scripture

Who's in the Conversation
A conversation among the following scholars and pastors

“Hope is necessary for all people who need to come out of difficult circum-
stances, and not only for those who are leaving closets of sexual or gender oppression."

Ken Stone

“Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-
gender people often do not feel cared for. Matthew’s gospel comforts by affirming just the opposite."

Valerie
Bridgeman Davis

“Whenever I ex-
perience feelings of being over-
whelmed, frightened and forgotten, the comforting message of hope and trust in these texts has been a constant to still my rest-
lessness.”

Bentley
de Bardelaben

“Even lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender folks who are no longer in exile need to be encouraged to refocus our priorities, first by looking Godward, and then by redirecting our concerns outward to those who are shut out, overlooked or abused."

Holly Toensing

What's Out in the Conversation
A conversation about this week's lectionary Bible passages

The call to “Come Out” has long been a rallying point in the LGBT movement. Thus Isaiah 49:8-16, with its explicit admonition to “Come Out” (49:9) and its promises of freedom would seem to be an ideal passage for a welcoming and affirming Christian community.

Of course, “coming out” in the face of social, political and individual prejudice continues to be difficult. Given such realities as employment discrimination, religious intolerance, and family rejection, LGBT folks have many justifiable reasons for worrying about possible consequences of “coming out.”

The exiled Israelites addressed in Isaiah 49 apparently had reasons for worrying about their future as well. Indeed, verse 14 indicates that they felt “forsaken” and “forgotten” by God. Yet the author of Isaiah 49 responds to such despair by “transgendering” Israel’s deity. Although God is most often represented as a male deity in the Hebrew Bible, the prophet here characterizes God as a compassionate mother who cares for the child that she nurses (verse 15). Even if mothers do occasionally forget their children, the prophet continues, God will never forget the Israelites. The message of this gender bending oracle is therefore one of hope and encouragement.

The reader is invited to trust God even in the most difficult circumstances, in a passage that resonates with the words of the psalmist who asserts, in Psalm 131, that “I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother” (verse 2). Such hope, trust and care continue to be important for all people of faith who “come out” from any set of difficult circumstances in order to journey into an uncertain future.


	How does the image of God as nurturing mother assist people of faith who are trying to leave oppressive circumstances?

Hope and trust are also emphasized in Matthew 6:24-34. Jesus’ admonition against worrying “about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear,” is well-known but difficult to follow. Yet it can be crucial advice for those who struggle against injustice or support unpopular causes, since excessive anxiety about the future can prevent one from taking any action at all. By calling attention to birds, flowers, and other living elements of God’s vibrant creation, Jesus reminds us of God’s care for God’s creatures and that worry often gets us nowhere. Moreover, such reflection on creation offers one route for re-centering ourselves in the face of challenges.

This re-centering may be helpful to people who are coming out of all sorts of difficult circumstances, as will Paul’s confident assertion in 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 that only God’s judgments about us finally matter. Neither the opinions of others, nor even (as Paul suggests in verse 3) our own tendencies to judge ourselves, should cause us to turn aside from the tasks to which we are called.

However, while Isaiah 49’s admonition to “come out” may encourage today’s people of faith, it is important to keep differences of context and situation in mind. Isaiah 49 was written to real people in the ancient world who were dealing with geographical displacement in the wake of military occupation by an imperial power. Those who are invited to “come out” are referred to explicitly as “prisoners” (verse 9). Far from making this passage irrelevant for contemporary readers, recognition of the chapter’s historical context may encourage us to broaden our understanding of the various struggles faced by different peoples around the world, in the past as in the present. After all, geographical displacement, military occupation and physical imprisonment are as real today as they were in the ancient world. All people who live with such realities need to hear words of encouragement and hope. Thus, careful reflection on Isaiah 49 offers welcoming churches an opportunity to find connections and make alliances among multiple movements for justice, peace and compassion.


	What links do we as LGBT people of faith make with other communities who suffer injustice and violence? How might LGBT people be called to minister to or be in solidarity with those communities?

Prayerfully Out in Scripture

	God of Hope and Care, and Mother to us all, we look for your support while coming out from our own difficult situations. Help us to remember and support others who are also coming out from difficult circumstances that are often very different from our own. Held in your strong arms, we pray, Amen.

Bible passages are selected based on the Revised Common Lectionary, copyright © 1992 by Consultation on Common Text (CCT). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Year A

Year B

Year C

8th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Coming Out to Hope