The Bible Comes "OUT"

by Rev. Tessie Mandeville

Devotion for October 22, 2003, Cathedral of Hope

There is no book I love more nor one that has shaped my life more dramatically than the Bible. This is probably true for many of us. The stories in the Bible have filled many of my days and really, are part of my very soul. I have come to realize that the Bible can liberate us but there are times when we must liberate the Bible.

Last week we celebrated "National Coming Out Day" for gay people all over the world and we encouraged people to come out of the closet. I preached a sermon about how the Bible needs to come out! When you think about it, there are many coming out stories in the Bible. As a matter of fact, in the beginning, God came out through the heavens, the earth, and all of creation. The children of Israel came out of bondage in Egypt and into the promised land. God came out of a closet of laws and commandments and became flesh, in the person of Jesus. Jesus came out and proclaimed that God loved everyone. Lazarus came out of the tomb and received new life. Jesus came out of his own tomb on Easter morning. God doesn't like tombs. God doesn't like the tombs we build for ourselves, nor does God like the tombs that others build for us, so God calls us out of them because God doesn't like anything that holds us back from being who we have been created to be. There are many coming out stories in the Bible and yet it's this very Bible that has been used to bind people over the centuries--and not just gay people. I think gay people are just the most recent victims of biblical abuse, but the Jews have been victims of rejection, torture, and death for a long time because of the New Testament. Native Americans, Africans, Latin Americans, and Pacific Islanders had their lands and cultures ripped away by people wielding the Bible. African-Americans were kept in slavery by Christians who believed that the Bible justified the abomination of owning another human being; and generations of women and children have been abused by people quoting biblical passages to justify their oppression.

It is time for the Bible to come out of the tombs that have held it for centuries. The first tomb that the Bible needs to come out of is the tomb of fundamentalism which is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. If people only interpret the Bible literally, then what they are saying is that God literally speaks no more. This canon, this Bible, was pieced together in the 4th century. That was over 1600 years ago. Do you mean to tell me that God hasn't spoken since then? That's not what my Bible says. If the Bible would come out of the tomb of fundamentalism, people the world over would understand that God spoke then, and that God still speaks today because in the book of Hebrews it says that "the word of God is living and active."

Another tomb the Bible needs to come out of is the tomb of injustice. I believe one of the common threads that holds the Bible together is its teaching about justice. In fact, I believe God demands justice above all. In the book of Micah, the people ask this: "With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? God has told you, O mortal, what is good: and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Justice is the basic word used by Micah and all the prophets to describe the fairness and equality they believed should govern all social relationships. And like all prophets, Micah asserts that religious rituals, our worship, our prayers, are meaningless without the pursuit of justice in all areas of life.

The final tomb that the Bible needs to come out of is the tomb of exclusion. The Bible has been used over and over again to exclude people from church and from the communion table. Isaiah tells us that God's house is "a house of prayer for all people" (Isaiah 56:7) and yet, we often exclude based on race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, class, and gender. Jesus lived in the world in a radically different way. He ate with tax collectors, lepers, women, prostitutes, eunuchs and many more people that the religious leaders tried desperately to exclude. The Bible needs to come out of the tomb of exclusion and into the world of inclusion, into a world where all of God's creation is honored and respected. All of us have been created in the image of God.

When we really get down to it, the Bible is in the tomb of fundamentalism, injustice, and exclusion but it's not the Bible's fault. It's the fault of all of us who use the Bible to justify and codify our prejudices. It doesn't only happen to gay people. Gay people ourselves can use the Bible to justify our privileges based on gender, race and economics.

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out! Come out and live. Come out and claim your life - the abundant life that I have given you." Lazarus came out and then Jesus said to the community, "Unbind him and let him go." It's the same today. Today, God calls out in a loud voice, "Let the living, active Word of God come out and live! Come out and offer life to my people--an abundant life." Today the Bible comes out. Now God says to all of us, "Unbind it and let it go. Unbind it and let it tell us of a God who created us all in the divine image, a Christ who values each of us infinitely, and a Holy Spirit who calls us into the fullness of our humanity. Unbind it and let it's power be used to heal, not wound. Unbind it and let it be used as an instrument of peace and not a weapon. Unbind it and let it go." Amen.

Devotion by Rev. Tessie Mandeville
Pastor, Cathedral of Hope Oklahoma City
tmandeville@cathedralofhope.com

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