The readings from Lamentations reflect a period when all of Israel was captive to the Babylonians. Their land had been ravaged, their temple destroyed and they had been removed from their homeland. Israel felt a sense of hopelessness. All they could do was weep and lament about what they had lost. It appeared as if nothing could ever be right again.
How can the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and queer (LGBTQ) communities along with our many allies respond to the latest reports about Youths as young as 13 years old feeling as if they had no other way out, than the irreversible decision of suicide? What is worse? Religious communities bear some responsibility for what has been happening. Cody J. Sanders wrote an excellent blog article in Religion Dispatch about why Anti-Gay Bullying Is A Theological issue.
Anti-gay bullying is a theological issue because it has a theological base. I find it difficult to believe that even those among us with a vibrant imagination can muster the creative energy to picture a reality in which anti-gay violence and bullying exist without the anti-gay religious messages that support them.
These messages come in many forms, degrees of virulence, and volumes of expression. The most insidious forms, however, are not those from groups like Westboro Baptist Church. Most people quickly dismiss this fanaticism as the red-faced ranting of a fringe religious leader and his small band of followers.
More difficult to address are the myriad ways in which everyday churches that do a lot of good in the world also perpetuate theologies that undergird and legitimate instrumental violence. The simplistic, black and white lines that are drawn between conceptions of good and evil make it all-too-easy to apply these dualisms to groups of people. When theologies leave no room for ambiguity, mystery and uncertainty, it becomes very easy to identify an “us” (good, heterosexual) versus a “them” (evil, gay).
Additionally, hierarchical conceptions of value and worth are implicit in many of our theological notions. Needless to say, value and worth are not distributed equally in these hierarchies. God is at the top, (white, heterosexual) men come soon after and all those less valued by the culture (women, children, LGBT people, the poor, racial minorities, etc.) fall somewhere down below. And it all makes perfect sense if you support it with a few appropriately (mis)quoted verses from the Bible.
With dualistic conceptions of good and evil and hierarchical notions of value and worth, it becomes easy to know who it is okay to hate or to bully or, seemingly more benignly, to ignore. And no institutions have done more to create and perpetuate the public disapproval of gay and lesbian people than churches.
If anti-gay bullying has, at any level, an embodied undercurrent of tacit theological legitimation, then we simply cannot circumvent our responsibility to provide a clear, decisive, theological response. Aside from its theological base, anti-gay bullying is a theological issue because it calls for acts of solidarity on behalf of the vulnerable and justice on behalf of the oppressed.
But this imperative to respond reminds us that the most dangerous form of theological message comes in the subtlest of forms: silence.
The Longer We Wait, the more young people die.
The optional response from Lamentations talks of the greatness of God's faithfulness. The hymn: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" is based on Lamentations 3:19-26. I ask my readers to please excuse for a moment the lack of inclusive language. The text is so beautiful.
Great Is Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not: Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou has been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy Faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
The tragedy of the recent youth suicides is not just the loss of life as horrific as it is, but the fact that they may have felt that there is no place for them and God in their struggle. As other school students heap horrible name calling and spread rumors, creating at atmosphere where an LGBTQ youth cannot breath free air, nor seek help from those whom they most need, they can find no other air to supply them with comfort. God the Holy Spirit is the ultimate comforter, the God of all consolation. (See 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7). But because of the hostile environment of conservative Christians on sexual and gender diversity, and in many mainline churches a sense of apathy for being welcoming while not talking about LGBTQ related issues, many youth just cannot find a place where they and who they are can be safe.
We cannot bring back the lives of those who have died, but we can console each other and work through out our own lives to help other LGBTQ youth know that God loves them as they are, and they can live holy lives and find peace and freedom in God. We can work in our local communities and churches to help create safe, welcoming and healthy environments for LGBTQ youth to come out. We can show up at School Board meetings, participate in School Board elections to encourage schools to address anti-LGBTQ bullying.
Out in Scripture suggests a good commentary for the New Testament Reading 2 Timothy 1: 1-14.
The reading from 2 Timothy likewise encourages us to wait on God, to be patient through hard times and sorrows. We really have no reason to despair, even when life gets tough, for God has given us power, love and a sound mind. God calls us to holiness, according to God's purposes and grace. Is it possible to name our sexual orientation as part of God's plan and as grace for our lives? We are not to be ashamed, especially those of us who are LGBT and same-gender-loving people, for we only need to know and love the one who gives us power and love and place our trust in the Holy One. This is Good News we may share with the world, as Paul was compelled to do.
In our Gospel of Luke 17: 5-10 Jesus encourages us all to have faith in God so that great things may happen among us. Even as we are facing the tragedies of the LGBTQ youth suicides there is great faith coming from the many places that are holding candle or glow stick vigils for the youth and the LGBTQ communities to come together to pledge ourselves to work against anti-LGBTQ bigotry and bullying. The faith that is bringing people together to protest, pray and remember will help move the mountains of hatred and violence from our communities. Through the faith that exists with in LGBTQ people and those who support us, we will recommit ourselves to rising up in our communities to not let up in our work towards full equality in the Church and society for the good of every woman, man and child. Recalling in our Baptismal Covenant that we promise to "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being." (BCP, page 294). We fulfill such promises as part of our faith when we recommit ourselves over and over again to seek the good of all people. Making no exceptions to who should be protected, valued and respected.
May our grief and lamentation for the events of these past weeks and the inspiration of the Gospel of Jesus lead us all to have the faith necessary to become missionaries of change in these troubled times.
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 22, Book of Common Prayer, page 234).
Awesome God, may we know you as the one who loves us,
the one who is good to us,
the one whose mercy never ends,
and the one who offers us hope.
Even amidst the devastation and desolation today,
you call us to holiness, grace and trust.
In our distress and affliction,
fill our lives with power and strength —
the kind which only you can provide. Let us not be ashamed
to call upon you
and may you empower us to share the Good News
of how you positively affirm our lives and
how you greatly love us with all those we encounter.
Amen. (Prayerfully Out in Scripture).
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