In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
[Genesis 1] 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 of reality – they invite us into thinking about everything between and beyond. M Barclay
I long for simplicity. Good & Bad. Up & Down. Water & Land. Sea & Sky. These types of simple organizing thoughts are called ‘dualities’ because there are two elements. Young & Old. Heavens & Earth. Male & Female. Wouldn’t it be nice if all life was organized this way?
In the Hebrew Bible, there are a lot of dualities listed. Genesis 1 is a long list of dualities, and it is poetic. The dualities often provided safety and security for people, but is this a complete list of reality?
Living in Suamico, we are acutely aware of marshes. There are many places where the land isn’t sure if it is land or part of the waters of Green Bay. There is an area that doesn’t fit into the “land & water” duality.
When we turn to the heavens, we are discovering more and more wonders that don’t quite fit into the “heavens & earth” duality. Where do comets and black holes fit?
God’s creation goes beyond dual listings. There is wonder and amazement at places and things and people who don’t fit into the either/or listings. The Bible is a poetic starting place for understanding God’s creation, but it isn’t complete. It’s a tool for pointing us to God and God’s work in the universe.
One of the big issues of our day is the status of people who identify as transgender. For many of us, this group of people is new to us, and we are learning more about them. For some of us, there is an element of confusion, for others a feeling of fear of the unknown. Some leaders are advocating for a variety of public laws that apply only to people who identify as transgender, which sets them apart from other people in our community. Many of us grew up with a duality of male/female, and we were unaware of other gender experiences.
I have been coming to know and understand more about this group of people as I get to know some of them. I have been reading a book called Transforming: The Bible & Lives of Transgender Christians by Austen Hartke, as a way to understand more about their experiences. I have a family member who identifies as transgender, and I want to be able to support my friends and family who experience gender in a different way than I do.
One of the things I have learned is that throughout human history, there are people who have experienced gender in a variety of ways. Some cultures around the world have long identified at least three gender identities, and sometimes as many as seven. It seems that God works between and beyond our dual ideas of male and female. It’s not a fashion trend of today, but an inherent part of human experience.
So how do we respond? Do we reject people who have a different life experience? Do we label them and set them apart? Or does God want them to be part of our faith family, just like anyone else?
In the Old Testament, there is the possibility that Joseph, Jacob’s son with the special coat, may have been someone outside the duality of male & female, based on the Hebrew words used to describe his coat. In Isaiah and Acts, people who were eunuchs and no longer identifying as fully male, were fully welcomed into the faith family. Isaiah 56:4-5 says:
The Lord says:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
choose what I desire,
and remain loyal to my covenant.
In my temple and courts, I will give them
a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.
I will give to them an enduring name
that won’t be removed.
We may not understand all of God’s creation, but God is in the in-between spaces and the out-beyond spaces that fill in around the dual poetry of the Bible and our desire for simplicity. I encourage us to explore these spaces with wonder and curiosity instead of fear and discomfort. Let us reach out as Jesus did, and include all people at the table Jesus sets for us.
Pastor Anna-Lisa Hunter
May 22, 2024
View of Duck Creek as it meets Green Bay. Photo courtesy of UW-Green Bay.