god doesn't fit boxes either

Mark 11:1-11 

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

“When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” just say this, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.”’ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

‘Hosanna!    Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.”

Nothing in this story is what it first appears. The poor rabbi from the countryside, the young colt/donkey, the cloaks, the branches: all are transformed and transfigured before our very eyes. The poor rabbi, Jesus, becomes the triumphant victor entering his city. The colt is his noble steed. The cloaks form intricate saddle work and a red carpet. The branches are the noble banners of the King. Yes! This is a head canon. Yes! The rabbi is still poor, his ride is not flashy, the branches are torn from the trees at the side of the road and discarded as soon as he has passed. But like all good head canons it works and it holds true. He is the victorious king, this is his noble steed, and these are his noble, flag-waving subjects.

Trans people get this of course. We’ve all had those closeted days when we’re strutting down the street and in our heads we’re the kings, queens and rulers of our own head-canonned world. 

“This longline t-shirt isn’t a t-shirt, it’s a dress, and it moves gracefully as my feminine hips wiggle as I walk.”

“With my long hair tucked into my snapback I look like any of the other boys swaggering down the street.”

 We get that things aren’t always what they seem. That beauty and identity goes deeper than what we wear, where we’re from, and what we look like.

And here is Jesus - assigned poor, unimportant bastard at birth - strutting his stuff on the mean streets of Jerusalem. 

In the tattered dress she bought second-hand, with the heels she borrowed from a friend, with makeup cheap and smudged, and hair she never grew herself; she marches with head held high into the roughest neighbourhood like the Queen of flippin’ Sheba! 

In baggy jeans he stole from his brother, with bundled up socks in the front of his only pair of boxers, with stubble etched on with a pencil, and a voice he can barely keep from breaking; he kicks open the door of the men’s bathroom like Chuck flippin’ Norris! 

And those that see him, really see him. Head canon is becoming canon as the crowds surround Jesus, knowing him for all that he is and all that he is doing for them. They know a true king when they see one. They know the true beauty and identity of the poor rabbi on a donkey. And in them knowing him, they themselves will be known. Not just noble subjects of the king, they are adopted brothers, sisters and siblings of the one who rides triumphant into Jerusalem. 

And we can know Jesus too. And in knowing him, in seeing past the poor rabbi to the king, we get to see past the smudged makeup or dodgy packers not just to the beautiful, handsome, powerful, delightful trans men, women and nonbinary folk that we are, but to princesses, princes, and nobles in the family of the king who rode into Jerusalem to triumph the day we now call “Palm Sunday.“ 

So may you know that you are much, much, much more than you appear. That you are known, loved and valued by a king who knows what it is like for appearance not to match one’s identity. Who looks upon you and sees you for exactly what you are, and welcomes you into his royal family because of it. 

https://youtu.be/GNnANWIPW6g

Me and the other ex-evangelicals watching this r/n

God sees you for who you are. They know your soul. They created it. They do not hate you, or they would not have made you trans. Your transness is beautiful.

O Wisdom That beautiful girl With the furrowed brow Dark skin, and tightly curled hair with pencils sticking out of it. When she came out, When she revealed herself, She did it with a hundred thinkers at her back, With Sylvia, Marsha, and Lou. The first bar she visited she argued them to a standstill, And still had time to give the girl in the bathroom with trembling hands the number of her local refuge. And when she speaks, It is with passion, And when she listens, Compassion. But her greatest divinity is revealed In revealing the lives of others, In protecting the spaces where they tell their stories, In lifting them up, And shaming the strong into silence. O Wisdom, Come.

A short video in which I pray and read out the names of those trans, nonbinary and gender-variant people who have been murdered around the world this year.

Give us roses while we’re still here <br/> Mary’s roses gather here Holy Mother weep while we hold a tear Holy Mother see us in our fear Holy Mother their spirits fly Holy Mother you’re daughters die

Ruby roses stained with blood Stained with tears and stained with mud While we’re here within the veil Holy Mother do not fail While we’re living, while there’s a chance Protect your daughters, sisters, aunts

Pretty roses, large and bright Settle on their face tonight Ring sleeping beauties round their beds Rosy crowns upon their heads Give them lips that do not shake When charming true love’s kisses take

Thorny roses, sharp and strong Holy Mother don’t be long A solid, high and guarded place Staring lions in the face Hunting harpies with righteous zeal Crushing snakes beneath their heels.

Give us roses while we’re still here And give those who have disappeared Every name upon your chest Eternal power, love and rest.

Luke 9:28-36 (NIV)

“28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and Jameswith him and went up onto a mountain to pray.29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They spoke about his departure,[a] which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)

34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”36 When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.”

Today is the day that the Church celebrates The Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ. The Transfiguration narrative is one of the richest and most mysterious stories passed down by the early Christians. It’s so weird and wonderful that unlike all the other major narratives from the gospels, it wasn’t given its own feast day until the eighth century. 

I love this story. Its mystery is matched only by its realism. All the details, none of them putting the disciples, the ones who pass this story on, in a good light point to a real and tangible event. But it is so beautifully, breathtakingly strange.

Take a moment, step into the shoes of Jesus’ friends. Stand with them on the mountain with their friend as he is surrounded by the glory of the Lord, the actual Lord! His actual face is actually shining! His actual face! And two of the most important people in the history of their faith are right there with him! This is what theologians like to call a Moment of Revelation. Jesus revealed himself entirely. Everything about who he was and where he came from was revealed to his three closest friends on that mountain. His humanity, his divinity, everything was shown to them in that moment. In that moment they saw the very image of God. This was something they were still reflecting on for years to come (see 2 Peter 1:18).

So, we can all agree that the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ is a moment of unsurpassed weirdness and beauty in the history of our faith, but here in a community of LGBT+ Christians, unsurpassed beauty and weirdness is what we’re all about. Each of us engages in profound Moments of Revelation throughout our lives. Created in the image of God, created bi, gay, trans, lesbian, queer, intersex, aspec, nonbinary, when we disclose these aspects of our identity we are disclosing part of the glory of the Lord in us. These are our own personal Moments of Revelation. We stand partially transfigured before those with whom we choose to be our own LGBT+ selves.

Revelation of who we are is our calling. Revelation of who we are as LGBT+ folk is revelation of the glory of the Lord within us. Like Jesus, our transfiguration is not the last Moment of Revelation. Jesus continues to reveal himself in different ways to different people. We come out, normally like Jesus to a few friends at first, and the journey begins, but we are presented with the choice to reveal ourselves to others every single day. We can take great comfort in the fact that we serve a God who did not choose to reveal himself utterly to everyone all the time in the way he did in the Transfiguration.

But like Jesus our Moments of Revelation are not alone. We stand alongside those LGBT+ heroes of our faith, we stand with Ruth and Naomi, the Roman Centurion and his partner; with Felicity and Perpetua, Sergius and Bacchus; with Galla and Benedicta, Venantius Fortunatus; with St Aeldred of Rielvaux, Marbod of Riennes; with all the nameless LGBT+ heroes of our faith throughout history. They are our Moses and Elijah. They are the richness, the background of our own transfiguration.

So go, stand proud with your LGBT+ siblings, as much as you can find space where you can be the weird and beautiful person you were created to be, shine forth the glory of the Lord in the world. Make your own Moments of Revelation and value and treasure those of others.