Favored: Queers Full of Grace

Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed.

Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.

Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people,” and do not let the eunuch say, “I am just a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 56:1-5 NRSVUE

Our scripture reading for today is taken from the 3rd part of the book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Testament or 1st Testament. The book of Isaiah is divided into 3 parts which corresponds also to the 3 historical period of the ancient kingdom of Judah – the first part of Isaiah, written either by the prophet himself or one of his closest disciples was written before the Babylonian exile of the kingdom of Judah. The 2nd part of Isaiah was written by one or several anonymous authors, possible 2nd generation disciples of the prophet, and the 3rd part of Isaiah where our text today is taken, was also anonymously written after their exile and upon returning to their homeland when they were trying to rebuild their lives there.

Our scripture reading is the opening chapter of the 3rd Isaiah. As mentioned, they have just returned to their homeland. But notice and it is a curious thing that upon returning to their homeland, the opening chapter of the 3rd Isaiah tells us about God urging the people to maintain justice:

Thus says the LORD: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed.

And then it further tells us that God favors and blesses foreigners and eunuchs. Why? We have just returned to our homeland after being forcibly exiled in a foreign country for 70 years and leaving our homeland with its capital city and temple completely destroyed. Why is God through the writings of the Isaiahic prophetic tradition talk about foreigners and eunuchs?

In the book of Isaiah, as well as the Book of Jeremiah and to some extent, Ezekiel – the authors interprets the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and its temple, and the people’s exile in Babylon as God’s punishment to them because of decades and even centuries of oppression, perversion of justice, government corruption, and idolatry, and also to the extent that the Temple and its priesthood justifies the injustices of both government and Judaic society.

The prophets also speaks about how the kingdom of Judah and its rulers have become arrogant and complacent simply because they saw themselves as God’s chosen. God’s favored people. Afterall, God was with them in and through the Temple in Jerusalem. And yet, despite their arrogant claim to God’s presence and favor, they went out of their way to play political games with much stronger kingdoms and empires which means to say, they do not fully trust God’s power. This sense of being the chosen and favored by God was amplified by the destruction of their cousins, the 10 other tribes in the North when the Assyrian Empire destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel and its capital city of Samaria. Naku kami talagang mga taga Judah ang favorite ni Lord at hindi yung mga pinsan namin na taga-Samaria.

Growing all the more arrogant because they believed they were the favored people of God above all others, together with the injustices and corruption within and around their kingdom, the Prophets rose up to challenge and denounce them and their rulers, and warn them if they do not change their way of thinking, living, ruling, and worshipping, there will be dire consequences. And so when Babylon destroyed Judah and its city of Jerusalem along with its temple, and then exiled the people, this was interpreted by the prophets as the fulfillment of the earlier warnings.

The thing about God’s favor and being “chosen” is not because of anything that the people have done or have. Afterall, they were the least among the nations. They were not even a nation at one point. They were slaves called Hapiru. God’s favor was because God heard their secret crying and wailing as slaves in Egypt. God chose them, the slaves and the weakest of peoples, because of their oppression. And I bet you, wherever oppression, slavery, and injustice happens and to whom, there God is choosing and favoring those who cry out to God.

The theology of being chosen or being favored is not because you are special. It is not because you are Jewish or evangelical Christian, or the first church built upon Peter. The act of God favoring and choosing slaves is God’s act of rebalancing the world. In a civilization where those who claim to be chosen or favored are the powerful, the mighty, and those who dominate with violence and exploitation, God’s favor for the weak and the slave is God’s first act of justice in a world full of injustice. God’s grace – loving kindness and favor – uplifts the poor and lowly, and pulls down the high and mighty as the declared in the song of Mary of Nazareth in the gospel of Luke. Kaya wrong ang mga Christians nagsasabing ayaw ni Lord ng equality and equity.

As an exiled people who are now returning to their homeland of Judah, God through the 3 rd section of the book of Isaiah, is reminding them to maintain justice because God listens to the cries of those oppressed by injustice. God reminds them, that his favor is NOT exclusive to them because of their religion or heritage, but can be transferred, given, or extended to those they consider as their enemies or those minorities they consider as unclean, unacceptable, and cut off from the people, which one of those are the eunuchs both literally and figurately.

The term eunuch aside from being literally a castrated servant of the royal family takes care of the harem.- this term has also been used to refer to what we consider today as gay or trans, and when not used in as an official title, it is mostly used as a derogatory term similar to when the word Bakla is used as an insult. The literal eunuchs serving in the palace, they are considered as outsiders kasi hindi sila lalake in a patriarchal society, pero hindi rin sila babae even as may slight na pagtingin sa kanila bilang binabae. You cannot really place them exactly where they should be in a patriarchal society and religion, and therefore, they are outside of God’s grace. Castrated, they are castrated from all things holy. But God, in this scripture from the 3rd part of Isaiah, tells the CHOSEN people – I have chosen also and favored Eunuchs. I will give the eunuchs a name and a memorial far greater than you so called favored sons and daughters. See the contrast a eunuch who could not be considered male nor female is favored and will be given greater honor than the male sons and the female daughters?

There’s this contrasting gender play in this passage where the gender minority is lifted higher than the gender majority of the chosen people. Andun na naman yung pagbabalanse ng Diyos – ang pagtataas sa Eunukong nasa baba at nasa labas at ang pagbababa sa mga mataas at nagmamataaas na mga favored sons and daughters.

Interpreting and saying all of that we can then transpose that to us, queer people of today and to any other sector who are historically marginalized and oppressed.

In a society where there is injustice and oppression and in churches who cast away their eunuchs or try to change them, God’s favor moves over to the eunuchs and foreigners of today – the queer people and foreign immigrants and refugees. We have a promise from the book of Isaiah that God will favor us and give us a blessing, an honor, and a memorial greater than those sons and daughters. There is a promise that queer people, like the eunuchs of old, will be favored by God more than religious groups who are so sure of their favor and salvation despite not caring about the injustices around them and injustices perpetuated by some of them. Do not make the mistake of claiming God’s favor kung wala kang pakielam sa injustice.

The prophet in the first part, Isaiah 1:13-14, 17

Bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation. I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. (v17) learn to do good; seek justice; rescue the oppressed; defend the orphan; plead for the widow.

In a world full of injustice and inequality, God takes the side of slaves, orphans, and widows. In a world full of hatred, violence, and greed, God favors the eunuchs and refugees of today. God’s favor is revealed in and through the lowly and God’s grace flows from them. From us.

Pero ito nga rin yung warning sa atin, lalo na rin dito sa Open Table. God’s favor is also God’s warning. The covenant of being chosen and favored has its duties and obligation. Do we believe that we are favored Open Table? Favored ba tayo as a faith community of eunuchs and the lowly? Are you full of God’s grace? Yes we are. We had our many exodus moments and walking in many several valley of tears and struggles. As an individual gay person you once trembled in fear and constant worry about your sexuality but now some of you are already freed from that. As Open Table we were a queer church without a home and a direction for many years. People looked down on us. People called us kulto. Some of you even wonder then or even now, kung kulto nga ba itong sinisimbahan ko? And yet through it all, like how God journeyed with the slaves from Egypt so did God journey with us and kept our small community alive so that God’s favor and grace will continue to be revealed for Filipino Eunuchs… and now revealed to others, even to straights who also found themselves exiled from their own Christian churches. You are favored Open Table. You full of God’s grace. You are given a new name and a new memorial but you must never lose this favor or grace by becoming high and mighty by losing your commitment to justice, compassion, and the practice of grace. Besides, we only maintain God’s favor – grace – when we live and grow in grace. The favor that God has given this community and to each of you as individuals is both its living warning and continuing promise. Therefore I end this preaching today with both the blessed assurance of God and God’s warning through the prophet:

Thus says the LORD:

Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed. Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.

To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.