Today’s scripture: Isaiah 56:1-8; Acts 8:26-40 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (John Seksay):
Connecting the scriptural dots can be a frustrating process at times. The writings go on for pages and pages, each with its own little bit of history and wisdom to convey. Often different sections lead to opposing conclusions; sometimes I just sit there and wonder what a given passage has to do with anything! Some days I wonder if it was even written with me in mind. After all, it’s about the future of the “chosen people.” When I look at my personal history, what have these people to do with me?
Let’s start with the fact that I’m gay. Conventional wisdom puts me outside the inner circle of the chosen, the kind of person that should never be admitted to the ranks of the elect. It was generally recognized among the ancient Jews that these “odd-fellows” should be banned from the inner chambers of the temple, and respectable society, since they were not in harmony with the “order” of God’s creation. This tradition has taken deep root in most Christian denominations during the past few centuries.
Even worse, I come from a long line of Hungarian peasants. I sometimes run out the joke that if someone finds it difficult being gay, he should try being Hungarian! Magyar vagyok! (I am a Hungarian!)
If the language seems unfamiliar, it is because our native language is not related to any other tongue spoken anywhere in Europe. My people began as a migratory tribe near the Ural mountains that border the Russian steppes. We moved eastward, separating into two distinct branches: the Hungarians (Magyars) and the Finns. We were a nomadic people who gradually became more pastoral on the plains and surrounding mountains of modern-day Hungary. Our position along a major river trade route (the Danube) ensured repeated ravaging by the recurring plagues of Europe up into the 1800’s. Our national blood type bears some odd links closer to Native American Indians rather than to other Europeans, possibly due to our Eurasian ancestry being enhanced by recurrent pillaging at the hands of the Mongol hordes on their repeated forays into Europe.
Ever since we Hungarians settled along the Danube, we have been ruled by Pagan, Roman Catholic, Byzantine Orthodox, Islamic, and Protestant powers. We have been a constant target for, and subject to, every imperial power — Romans, Byzantine Christians, Ottoman Turks, Prussian monarchs, Hitler’s armies, and Stalin’s occupying “liberators.” The footnote most often assigned to us in history is as part of the Austro-Hungarian empire that started World War I by picking on Serbia. I am surprised that the word “outcast” in the dictionary doesn’t include the word Hungarian as a definition! Along with the Israelites, we have been a people rather low on the pecking order of world priorities, and still seem to be there today. Why? Nem tudom! (I don’t know!)
As you can see, I don’t feel part of the “chosen” in any real sense. Yet I find that there are very specific passages that speak quite deeply to all the outsiders like me. Every time I read the beginning of Isaiah 56, I see a path reserved for the outcast, the rejected in any society. The passage is timed to the restoration of Israel from exile, its own period of being outcast. The passage seems to translate the promise of Abraham’s covenant from a biological heritage to a spiritual heritage open to all who willingly strive to honor it.
But can we actually see this premise of spiritual heritage being fulfilled? Yes, right in the Book of Acts in the New Testament. The message of Christ permeated society by expanding outward to all who would receive it. It took Saul, the Jewish purist and persecutor of outcasts, and transformed him into Paul, the premier outcast advocate of the gospel reaching outside the traditional Jewish communities. It directed Philip, a Hellenized Jew, to carry the good news to the traditionally despised Samaritans. While there, the Spirit summons him off to the wilderness to meet an Ethiopian eunuch. Who could be more “foreign” to the traditional religious community than this exotic figure? This eunuch has read Isaiah and come all the way from Ethiopia seeking God. God made sure that he didn’t return home unanswered or unwelcomed. By that act I know that I, too, can choose to be “chosen”!
Thought for the day: Do I feel like an outcast today? What am I allowing to keep me from seeing that I’m among the beloved of God?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.