Who Were The Eunuchs? Is there "Courage" to find out?

Matt: 19: 11 and 12 (NRSV)

Jesus said to them, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can."

Christian history has moved quite a few milestones over these many centuries.  At one point in time the eunuchs referred to here in Matthew's Gospel as those men who were castrated. In the Old Testament the eunuchs were definitely understood to be those who were unable to share male seed, as such they were rejected in the worship of the community.  "No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD." (Deut. 23:1).  When we get into the Prophet Isaiah where we are hearing about the coming of a new Covenant, the eunuch will be recognized as an important member of the community.  "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: 4,5).

John J. McNeil in his book "The Church and the Homosexual" writes about the eunuchs.

"The application of this prophecy to the homosexual can be defended, because the term "eunuch" in the New Testament is used not only in its literal sense--i.e., those who have been physically castrated--but also in a symbolic sense for all those who for various reasons do not marry and bear children.  For example in Matthew 19:12, Jesus discussing marriage and divorce, says to his apostles: "There are eunuchs who have been so from birth,and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

The first category-those eunuchs who have been so from birth--is the closest description we have in the Bible of what we understand today as a homosexual.  It should come as no surprise, then, that the first group of outcasts of Israel that the Holy Spirit includes within the new covenant community is symbolized by the Ethiopian eunuch.  It is the Spirit who takes the initiative by leading Philip to the encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch of the Court of Candace.  The eunuch believes in Christ as the Messiah and receives baptism and the Spirit and rides on into history "full of joy."  The symbolism of the passage is quite obvious.  The Holy Spirit takes the initiative in leading the new Christian community to include among its members those who were excluded for sexual reasons from the Old Testament community." (Pages 64, 65).

I also want to include here a quote from the blog of Fr. Paul Bresnahan a semi-retired Episcopal Priest from Massachusetts.  In his Invitation to an Inclusive Church, Fr. Paul writes:

"There was a special place in his (Jesus) heart too for the “eunuchs” of his time. I wonder what he meant by the following startling saying; But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can." (Matthew 19:11-12) You can define that term as you like, but they clearly were not a threat to folks of the opposite sex. There is considerable evidence that when the biblical material refers to “eunuchs” we were talking of folks whose interests lay with folks of the same sex. We now refer to this group as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered, LGBT for short. And isn't it interesting to note that even Jesus realized that there were those who would find this teaching a hard one to accept. The radical love of Jesus is often hard to take because it includes our enemies.

I believe that Jesus stood up for this crowd too as he stood up for us all, and I am convinced that is why they put him to death on the cross. Jesus was not a liberal. He merely loved everyone! That’s why God died. That’s why God is Risen. That’s why God will come again!"

As God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit has raised the eunuch, the homosexual to a place of honor, acceptance and even pride, why then are so many Christians working to denigrate and smear us, in the Name of God?  And why are so many LGBT people giving into the pressures of Christians and accepting that we must not be good holy people and therefore throw away our relationship with God?  I understand that there are many church communities that do not welcome LGBT people and they are worth avoiding.  However, all people including LGBT people need God close to us so that we can find our way through this world of prejudice, fear and religious oppression.  Contrary to the words of fundamentalist Christians who have read the Bible, but never studied it to save their own lives, LGBT people are created out of the love of God as we are, and are called to love God, one another and even those who hate us, just as much as anyone else.

Yesterday in Lavendar Magazine there was a terrific article written about the local Courage Chapter.  This is a chapter of the Courage Apostolate that was started by the Late Cardinal Cook.  Anyone reading my blog can find that article here.  As I read through the article I was most intrigued by the following paragraph and please note the text that I am printing in bold.

"During the only time I heard the Catholic priest pedophile scandals mentioned, it was Catholicism that was being persecuted, not the kids. One middle-aged man insisted with great indignation that he was “sick of everyone trying to destroy my church!” The University of St. Catherine, St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis, and President Barack Obama, along with a man who had defected from the group and started a progay self-esteem website, were referred to with sarcastic derision."  

If the line in bold is suppose to refer to me, as I am a guy who left the group and started writing this blog, I am very interested in how a blog that supports the full inclusion of LGBT people in the Church and society through the use of Bible readings is referred to a "pro gay, self-esteem website."  If this is meant to suggest that those of us who are gay and for LGBT equality in the Church and society are seeking our own self-esteem because our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression does not allow us to have any, it is very interesting to hear that from an ex gay ministry that encourages people who "have the disorder of same-sex attraction" to change it suggesting that it is low self-esteem that may have created it in the first place.  Self-esteem can be very damaged by suggesting that if we are LGBT, the only way we can be happy is to abstain from all romantic and physical relationships. When we are told not to love other people in the way we are created and we suppress our feelings for people of the same-sex, low self-esteem is an inevitable and damaging consequence.  It is also very interesting to me that a group such as the Courage Apostolate suggests that people like myself who are gay are so because of rejection by our parents, culture and the like. Yet, among the many things that group has been called together to do, is to "help" us reject that very part of ourselves that is the core of how we are created by God to love other people.  Exactly how is an individual suppose to grow any level of self-esteem with a philosophy like that?  If my blog which encourages LGBT individuals to seek out a relationship with the one Triune God who created us all out of love for love and find their self-esteem in the process, I am so honored by such a title.  The fact that such individuals have to stoop so low as to refer to me or whoever they are referring to with sarcasm to make yourselves feel better about the whole thing, I think it is time someone in that group went out on a date to find some real happiness in their life.  But to call yourselves a "ministry" when you encourage low self-esteem for LGBT individuals is hardly a group that leads people to a true understanding of yourselves and our relationship to God.

In his interview with Bishop Robinson, Bishop Christopher Senyonjo said that his litmus test for what is truly of God is love.  When we express love for each other and when love honors each other and finds it's hope and mercy in God, it is a love that is not only worth expressing through the greatest means possible, it is also a love worth defending and promoting equal rights for.  Therefore, let all Christians including LGBT accept the reality that all of us are created as good people by God and loved by Jesus Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill what we have been placed on this good earth to do.  Love one another as God loves us.

Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion; for the sake of our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 6, Book of Common Prayer, Page 230).

O heavenly Father, who has filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for Joy in God's Creation, Book of Common Prayer, Page 814).

God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, Page 815).