Pastor Tina created a resource to help work through some of the common scripture passages used to exclude or marginalize people. We had excellent discussion using this packet at our latest Faith Friends & Fellowship group on Sunday. You can join us at "FFF" on the 2nd Sunday of each month, where we discuss various topics related to social justice, equity, and inclusion.
Reconciling Scripture:
Examining Inclusion, Welcome, and Radical Grace
Faith, Fellowship, and Friends
May 2025
Lutherans and the Bible
The Bible is the Word of God
The Bible is our best source for what God wants to say to us. Even ancient messages
can continue to speak to us.Word of God is:
Jesus
Law & Gospel
Written word
Where did the Bible come from?
God: divinely inspired word
The church
The church as an institution is who decided what books were included in the
canon and what was excluded.The books of the Bible ARE NOT the only written examples that we have of
divine stories, but they were the only ones chosen by human institutions to be
included
Humans
Divinely inspired BUT written by humans, dominantly written by and from an
educated, male perspective“Plain sense:” we aim to not wrangle scripture into something that it is not. We
aim to not make it something the original authors didn’t intend
Interpretation
Luther encouraged the church to read the Bible with interpretation, to look at the context
and what was going on while it was being written in order to fully understand the layers
that are at play in scripture. It cannot be taken at black and white face value, but
examined with a critical eye to understand nuance and what cultural, political, and
economic factors were at play.
Lutherans do not believe in the “inerrancy” of scripture
God’s word is perfect, humans are not
There is no way to separate scripture from the human influence upon the text
Creation
“So
God created humans in God’s image, in the image of God, God created
them, male and female God
created them.” ~Genesis 1.27
What else does God create during the Genesis 1 creation story?
Day & Night
Evening & Morning
Sky & Land
Earth & Seas
Plants with seeds, trees with seeds
Stars, Moon, & Sun
Birds & Living Creatures
What about………
Dawn & Dusk
Afternoon
Clouds & Atmospheres
Lakes, Marshes, Estuaries
Root plants, non-fruit bearing trees
Comets, Meteors, Planets
Dualities
are the literary device used in creation, so it isn’t surprising
that the same idea is applied to
humans.
“But
this verse does not discredit other sexes or genders, any more than
the verse about the separation
of day from night rejects the
existence of dawn and dusk. As M Barclay puts it, ‘This chapter
talks about
night and day and land and water, but we have dusk
and we have marshes. These verses don’t mean
‘there’s only
land and water, and there’s nowhere where these two meet.’ These
binaries aren’t meant to
speak to all reality—they invite us
into thinking about everything between and beyond.” ~Transforming,
Austen Hartke, pg. 51
In
the same way that we say God is the Alpha and the Omega, that doesn’t
mean God isn’t also
everything in between, God is more than the
beginning and the end.
The creation story is no exhaustive, but an opening scene on God’s overwhelmingly creative powers.
“I
am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive
it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
~Isaiah 43.19
God is always creating something new…
Let’s Talk About the Law
“A
woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a
woman’s garment, for whoever
does such things is abhorrent to
the Lord your God.” ~Deuteronomy 22.5
This
text is often quoted in direct contrast to the transgender community
and people who engage in
drag culture.
But what about other laws that are also laid out in Deuteronomy?
“You shall not wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.” ~Deut. 22.11
“If
someone has a stubborn or rebellious son who will not obey his father
and mother, who does not
heed them when they discipline him, then
his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out
to
the elders of his town at the gate of that place. They shall say to
the elders of this town, ‘This son of
ours is stubborn and
rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’
Then all the men
of the town shall stone him to death.” ~Deut.
21.18-21a
What would the Jesus and the Parable of the Prodigal Son say to this?
“You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice.” ~Deut. 24.17
“You
shall have only a full and honest weight; you shall have only a full
and honest measure.”
~Deut. 25.15a
“You
shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall
not keep for yourself the wages
of the laborer until morning. You
shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind.”
~Leviticus 19.13-14
“You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin.” ~Lev.19.17a
“When
an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the
alien. The alien who resides with
you shall be to you as the
citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were
aliens in
the land of Egypt.” ~Lev.19.33-34
“You shall not make any gashes in your flesh for the dead or tattoo any marks upon you.” ~Lev.19.28
Each
and every one of us can find something in scripture that speaks
against our lives, experience, and
existence.
Start at Exclusion, End with Inclusion
“No
Ammonite or Moabite
shall
come into the assembly of the Lord even to the tenth
generation. None
of
their descendants shall come into the assembly of
the Lord forever, because
they did not meet you with
food and water on your journey out of
Egypt and because they hired against you Balaam son of Beor, from
Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. (Yet the Lord your
God refused to heed Balaam; the Lord your God
turned
the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your
God loved you.) You shall never
promote
their welfare or their prosperity as long as you live.”
~Deuteronomy 23.3-6
“Then
Naomi started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of
Moab, for she had heard in
the country of Moab that the Lord had
considered the Lord’s people and given them food.” ~Ruth 1.6
Ruth is one of five women named in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew1.5)
“No
one who
testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to
the assembly of the Lord.”
~Deuteronomy 23.1
“As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ Philip commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water and Philip baptized him.” ~Acts 8.36-38
“But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.” ~2 Kings 17.29
“But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.” ~Luke 10.33
Diving Deeper: David & Jonathan
Who? King David (post-anointing, but pre-ascension to the throne
Jonathan, son of King Saul, David’s rival
Where? 1 Samuel 18.1-5, 19.1-7, 20.1-42
What does this story tell us?
What stood out to you?
Is this story new to you?
What was meaningful to you in the story?
Diving Deeper: Philip & the Ethiopian Eunuch
Who? Philip, one of the 12
Court official of the Queen of Ethiopia, in charge of her treasury, a eunuch
Where? Acts 8.26-40
What does this story tell us?
What stood out to you?
Is this story new to you?
What was meaningful to you in the story?
Freedom from Binaries that Bind
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” ~Galatians 3.28
From the time of our baptism, God’s children share the identity and destiny of Christ. We are no longer defined by race, social class, or even gender.
When are some times in your life you have been excluded because of some part of your identity?
How would you feel if you were excluded from baptism? From communion?
Context Matters! Freedom from Violence
“Do you now know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.”
~1 Corinthians 6.9-10
Issues of translation
“Male prostitutes” in Greek “malakos” meaning “soft” or “lacking self-control”
“Sodomites” in Greek “arsenokoites” literally “one who beds a male”
BOTH terms are specific examples of injustice. The “soft” person takes more than his or her due. The “arsenokoites” is a term used for someone who rapes and shames other males to increase his reputation for power.
The issue here is not sex, homosexuality, or who is engaging in intercourse with whom, the issue is violence and unbalanced relationships.
There was a significant issue within Corinth of older men seeking out younger male children for prostitution and taking advantage of them. This does not refer to consensual, loving relationships, but power dynamics.
Jesus as the Last Word
“‘I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ~John 13.34-35
This happens after Jesus has just washed the disciples’ feet, including Judas’ feet. If Jesus calls for love in the hours before his death, even love of the one betraying him, that is the commandment that overrides all.
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