Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
“The Queer is Here”

“The Queer is Here”

Last updated on: June 2, 2013 at 1:24 pm by Jeff Hood

“The Queer is Here” 2013-06-02T13:24:55-06:00 Jeff Hood

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This is not just the beginning of a study for our church.

This is a journey to the very heart of who we believe God to be.

Queer folk have consistently been read, translated and interpreted out of the Bible since the beginning. This was not the message of Jesus. The message of Jesus is one of radical love for all people. Such a message is queer or not normative. How do we open the scriptures to speak as such?

We open our hearts and minds to hope beyond our traditional boundaries of fear.

This book, The Queer, is an attempt to open the Gospel of John to a modern queer audience. It is a path to discover Jesus anew. Though it will not be out in print version for a few weeks, I wanted us to go ahead and begin this journey down the path of incarnation with the first chapter of this interpretation of the Gospel of John.

The Queer is Jesus.

“In the beginning was the Queer, and the Queer was with God, and the Queer was God.” John 1

God is not normative! God’s love extends far beyond the boundaries of what we would consider normative. When we think about God as a queer construct, we begin to realize that the uniqueness of every living being is a result of their having been created in the very image of God. God is queer and so is everyone made in God’s image. Jesus was and is the complete earthly embodiment of queerness. When Jesus is described as the Queer, I am describing an entity that has fully recognized the queer within in order to become the queer that the world needs or the God within to become the God that the world needs.

The Queer is God.

“Light shines in darkness…”

Your queerness or difference is your light. Discovering who you have been made to be in the image of God lights the way for others to discover who they have been made to be in the image of God. Be the reflection of light that you have been called to be. God loves you. Be who you are. Share that love. Share that light.

The Queer is light.

“God sent a man to Texas named John…”

John was the forbearer of the light. Sometimes in our lives there are forbearers who cannot go all the way with us, perhaps they can only give us directions. We need to listen to those who offer directions so that we might reach that destination of light that we have longed for and become the queer that God has created us to be.

The Queer is destination.

“The Queer became flesh and dwelt here among us in Texas.”

This is a God that continues consistently to become a human being. This is the nature of the incarnation of the Queer. When you hurt God hurts. When you are pain God is in pain. When you are oppressed God is oppressed. This is the God who is right here with you in Texas. You are queer and God is queer.

The Queer is here.

“The Queer was rejected by family and those who claim to know God the best.”

We just spent an entire evening hearing numerous stories of rejection, when we released our book, Stories from The Church at Mable Peabody’s. The Queer knows what it means to be rejected by family and loved ones. This is the God who came out and was kicked out. The Queer knows what it means to be rejected by religious establishments. This is the God that was killed by them. In the same way that you were and are oppressed by your families and religious folk, so too was the Queer.

The Queer is a survivor.

“The leaders of the Church of the Bible sent numerous elders and deacons from Denton to ask John, ‘Who the hell are you? What the hell are you? What is your identification?’”

When are we going to have the courage to live beyond the boundaries of labels and identifications? We live in a society that is constantly asking for such things? What are you? How do you identify? The problem with such thinking is that we become slaves to labels and identities that do not allow us to be individuals. You are a queer child of God, be who God has created you to be. You do not have to fit. You just have to be.

The Queer is queer.

and

The Queer is here.

Amen.

fresh writings

Sermon

Previous Post

June 1, 2013

Killing Jesus

Next Post

June 9, 2013 "A Sermonic Eulogy for Ray Emory Hood"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Danny & Jeff fresh writings latest poetics north texas fellowship of reconciliation Sermon theology from death row Thoughts Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 1 John, how do we know what love is?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Holy Spirit teaches us God first loved us Jesus Christ laid down his life for us God sent his Son