"No more cry of distress, says the Lord!" (November 13 2022)
Transgender Day of Remembrance and candle lightening Service
Location:
United Church of Hyde Park
Scripture: Isaiah
65:17-25
Sermon
title: No more cry of distress, says the Lord!
1. Greetings
When Asher
Garcia died, he was a high school eighth-grade student in Frazee,
Minnesota. He suffered sexual and physical abuse as a child, and those
repressed memories dug their way to the surface, like a bad dream, but he could
not wake up. Asher died at the age of 14, suicide.[1]
While Ace
Scott died, he has been in state custody for five years since 2017. While
awaiting placement, he ran away from the hospital, where he was taken “for
concerns related to a known medical condition.” Ace died at the age of 15. His
body was found in an abandoned lot in Kansas City, Missouri.[2]
When Serena
Brenneman was last seen, it was at a high school football game. Family
members said they had struggled with mental health issues. Serena died at the
age of 16. Their body was found in the Willamette River, Salem, Oregon.[3]
Before Ariyanna
Mitchell died, she was at a house party. A 19-year-old man asked if
Ariyanna was a boy or a girl, then pulled out a rifle from his car. Ariyanna died
at the age of 17, in Hampton, Virginia.[4]
Their
stories are sacred and perplexing to us. Many of us might think their lives
could be different and deserve better. Most of us are wondering why they must
experience any of those.
The Hebrew
people were wondering the same question facing their contexts.
The Book of
Isaiah was composed while the Hebrews were captured by the Babylonian Empire,
and afterward. The incidents included in this book are from the 8th
century BCE, the fallen signs of Judah, the exile to Babylon in the 6th
century BCE, and then the return under the Persian King, Cyrus II the Great. This
period spans around two hundred years. This book also provides us with how the
prophet responded to the challenges in quite different ways from time to time.
Before the
fallen of Judah and Jerusalem, the prophet pointed out that the leaders lied to
the people, and pointed out the injustice in the nation and society. The
judgment of God will come and ruin all the hand-made glory. The prophecy
continued to say God’s temple would be rebuilt, and one day, the survivors of
Zion will return.
When there
was no more Judah, and the Hebrews were exiled from their homeland, the prophet
provided another prophecy. God promised a child to be born to them, “authority
rests upon this child’s shoulders,” and the child will be called “Wonderful
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Abba, and Prince of Peace. “ (Isa 9:6). The mission
of Isaiah is providing hope to the hopeless. Although someone might think that
was surreal and just a dream.
There is
more in this book. Such as, in chapter 66, a vision is provided that women can
give birth without labor (66:7-9), undoing the curse of Eve in the Book of
Genesis (Gen 3:16). We knew that story in Genesis is used to justify women’s
suffering from giving birth and the stereotype of being inferior to men. And in Chapter 60 “You shall suck the milk
of nations; you shall suck the breasts of kings” not from the “queens” “,
and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the
Mighty One of Jacob.” (60:16). All
the enemies of Israel are now the source of nutrition for a renewed place of
salvation and praise. It is quite “un-natural” and in an inspiring way.
In chapter
55, the prophet promises there will be free water for those who are thirsty.
Not only for the male-masculine-royal-Hebrews, the people in Jerusalem, and
those “YHWH”’s worshippers. It is a clear eschatological vision that all people
are freed from the constriction of region, ethnicity, nationality, and gender
roles to enjoy the water. In Christianity, we may call it the living water.
This God (YHWH) Isaiah proclaims is beyond all the barriers; none can control
or put any limitation on God’s doing, even in the darkest hours, being
captured, exiled, or having been oppressed. This God (YHWH) Isaiah proclaims is
the God above all nations and religions, God of peace and justice for all.
One of the
contributors of the Queer Bible Commentary, Timothy Koch, argued that if we also
believe there are (at least) three Isaiahs in this book, each of them connects
to their contexts closely, as most of the biblical scholars show us. It is self-consciousness,
in Timothy Koch’s words, each Isaiah provides their people with a vision of
hope and a kingdom of peace at their time, and points out the causes of the
suffering. Those Prophet Isaiahs [in purls] challenge the long history of
biblical traditions, even literally what was written in Torah, debate with the
popular theological settlements and ideology, in order to bring the light and
hope to the people of God, the suffered children of God, no matter what the
social norms or political environment were.
Then, here
today, we are challenged to be the Fourth Isiah, Timothy Koch argues, “who
shall also self-consciously connect ourselves and our vision to this tapestry
(with the pain as well as the comfort that this entails), we then also begin
making an essential and lasting contribution for everyone who is and who is yet
to come, a Work of Art that is not just woven what has come before but
which in turn becomes a take-off point for the Fifth, the Sixth, and all
subsequent Isaiahs!”[5]
3. No
more cries of distress, says the Lord!
A survey in
2019 regarding the relationship between religion and attitudes toward
transgender and gender-variant people[6]
points out that a “consistent evidence that self-identifying as with either
being ‘religious’ or as Christian was associated with increased trans prejudice
relative to being non-religious. Additionally, we found consistent evidence
that certain forms of religiosity were also related to trans prejudice –
specifically religious fundamentalism, church attendance, and interpretations
of the bible as literal.” Christians, who are supposed to read 27 more books than
Jewish people in our Bible, hold far more conservative and toxic thoughts and
behavior toward transgender and gender varitant folks than Jewish people do. In
other words, Christianity plays the role as major cause of transphobia and
hatred crime toward transgender and gender non-binary people in the US.
In 2021,
Time Magazine revealed a survey pointing out that 26% of LGBTQ youths
identified themselves as “gender non-binary,” and an additional 20% of the
youth are unsure or are questioning themselves as transgender.[7]
The Pew Research Center also revealed a survey this year that “About 5% of
young adults in the U.S. say their gender is different from their sex assigned
at birth.”[8]
A 4th-grade
child, Kai Shappley, testified in front of the Texas Senate on April 2,
2021,[9]
regarding State Bill, SB-1646. This is a
bill that “would redefine child abuse to include ‘consenting to or assisting in
the administering or supplying of, a puberty suppression prescription drug or
cross-sex hormone to a child.’”[10]
The result will criminalize parents, guardians, medical workers and pharmacists
who try to help a trans kind obtain medically approved treatment. In her
testimony, Kai Shappley rebuked legislators who supported this bill on
religious grounds, saying, " I love ballet, math, science and geology. I spend my free
time with my cats, and chickens, facetiming my friends, and dreaming of when I
will finally meet Dolly Parton. I do not
like spending my free time asking adults to make good choices. Texas
legislators have been attacking me since Pre-K. I am in fourth grade now. God
made me. God loves me for who I am, and God does not make mistakes. Please listen
to me. Listen to everybody." “If a child has to become an activist, we
have already failed that child,” quote from John Oliver.[11]
We failed the trans kids, Asher Garcia, Ace Scott, Serena Brenneman, and Ariyanna
Mitchell, and the 60-plus names we heard today.
Today, we
lighten the candles for 67 of our transgender siblings. We hope we have made a difference,
although it might still be too tiny and not enough.
Like the
prophet, we consciously provide a vision of hope and seek the peace, not only
for the lives we lost, but also a reminder: there shall be no more cries of
distress. The systematic oppression toward our trans siblings shall stop here
and now from ourselves. In the U.S., there are only around 6% of the Christian
churches that open arms to embrace LGBTQ people. You hear me right, 6%. Since
January, our church has responded to the call from three denominations to
recognize the pain of marginalized and oppressed groups. We declare ourselves
as an Open and Affirming congregation, a member of Reconciling Ministries
Network, and More Light Presbyterians. We are on the journey of becoming more
inclusive and engaging followers, and the body of Jesus Christ. Some of us
attended the event yesterday at the church library. We learned more from the
HBO documentary, The Trans List, and we shared how we could do more
together. I believe this is the ministry of transformation that WE, as the
fourth Isaiah, are called to do in context. Not only for the Open and Affirming
Team, not only for our younger adults among us, but also for people outside our
church and generations to come. We, as a collective, are expanding the Kingdom
of Peace.
“The
people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a
land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” (Isa 9:2). This vision is
from God, through Isaiah, through Jesus, to us and through us, to our community
and generations to come.
In Hyde
Park, we have lots of fantastic groups doing incredible work. I have had the
opportunity to visit one of our neighbors, Brave Space Alliance on 52nd
Place, in person two months ago. The Health and Wellness Program Manager, Niya
Mona greeted me at the front door. She gave me a tour. “Brave Space
Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center […] dedicated to
creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources,
programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of
the city. [They] strive to empower, embolden, and educate each other through
mutual aid, knowledge-sharing, and the creation of community-sourced resources
as [they] build toward the liberation of all oppressed peoples.” (revised from
Our Approach)[12]
I saw the
make-up room, dressing room, consulting room, room for hot shower and bath,
free clothes, and food pantry. I asked Niya, how is the food pantry going?
She told me anyone who is in need could come over here; they could take an
entire bag of food with them. We check in with them too. We also have a list of
names to be delivered. Two thousand meals a week, they deliver to people of
color, trans folks. They are also hosting a three-day event, “Trans Weekend
of Resilience,” this week, from November 18 to 20. They connect the Chicago
Therapy collective, the Human Rights Campaign, the Chicago Department of Public
Health, and Equality Illinois. I was surprised and impressed by their work. It
seemed to me two months ago, it was the six-wings seraph that I encountered at
the door, and the seraph guided me to the sanctuary of God, the sacred mountain
for all God’s children (Isa 6 and 2).
I want to
use the scripture today to give a note and comma. The following vision might be
strange, but I can see it coming, through our congregation and community, in
Hyde Park, on Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“Before
they call, I will answer, while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf
and the lamb shall feed together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, but the
serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy
mountain, says the Lord.” (Isa 65:24)
Amen.
[1] https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/reports/2022/04/21/asher-garcia_frazee-minnesota-usa_9d235150
[2] https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/reports/2022/04/15/ace-scott_kansas-city-missouri-usa_425feca5
[3] https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/reports/2022/09/24/serena-brenneman_salem-oregon-usa_c90ed9db
[4] https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/reports/2022/04/02/ariyanna-mitchell_hampton-virginia-usa_4525fe12
[5]
Timothy Koch, Isaiah in The Queer Bible Commentary (SCM 2007), p.384-385
[6] Campbell
M, Hinton JDX, Anderson JR. A systematic review of the relationship between
religion and attitudes toward transgender and gender-variant people. Int J
Transgend. 2019 Feb 19;20(1):21-38. doi: 10.1080/15532739.2018.1545149. PMID:
32999592; PMCID: PMC6830999.
[7] https://time.com/6079326/nonbinary-lgbtq-youth/
[8] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl3yJyzyp3w
[10] https://www.newsweek.com/transgender-4th-grader-kai-shappley-gets-death-threats-after-testifying-before-texas-legislature-1585571
[11] https://youtu.be/Ns8NvPPHX5Y
[12] https://bravespacealliance.org/who-we-are/mission-values/
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