Seeking the Margins

the ramblings of a queer pastor

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Krumau Town Crescent I, Egon Schiele, 1915, Vienna, Austria. Public Domain

Our text for this Sunday is 1 Samuel 16:1-13. This is the story of Samuel singling out David, the least likely of Jesse’s sons to be chosen and anointed by God. To me, it seems like this is one more time that God turns expectations on their head.

That being said, when I look at this text from a queer perspective, I also see this as one more time that God goes out of God’s way to push to the margins and lay claim to the humanity that lives there.

Think about it. David wasn’t even there at first. Of the sons of Jesse, he stayed behind to tend to the sheep. I wonder if this was his preferred place or if the others forced it upon him. He was sent for. This must have taken some time to do. He probably wasn’t right there, keeping the sheep close by. It’s possible that fetching him could have taken half the day.

But I don’t think that matters when one is finding one who is chosen by God. It doesn’t matter if they are close by or far away; if they are popular or a loner; if they are well to do or living day by day on the margins. To God, all are important. God see the heart.

I wonder if sometimes it seems like those who “have it all” are somehow blessed by God with a good life, while those who struggle and live outside the norms of society are less so.

And then I wonder if sometimes the opposite is true. Perhaps those with little or nothing going for them are sought by God and blessed, while those who have what they need fend for themselves.

To me this feels like an issue of perspective, and the trouble with perspective is that it is limited to us. We have our own perspective, others have theirs. Sometimes they connect or intertwine or are related or are even the same, but it’s really difficult to see from someone else’s perspective when we don’t have a real connection to it.

God, of course, can see all perspectives. That’s why Samuel relied on God in this story. How do we rely on God’s perspectives to help us in life?

I think that’s why we are called to live in community. If we live with others around us, we are bound to learn from them. We are bound to pick up on their perspectives. 

And the way I see it, making sure that your community includes a grand representation of humanity leads to a much more well-rounded communal perspective. And I think that’s one key to hearing from God.

So let’s embrace others and invite them into our community. Let’s go out to the margins and seek the perspectives of those who are not like us. Let’s go where God leads.