Pentecost - Week Four
LIBERATION LECTIONARY
Pride in Action
“History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions.” -Marsha P Johnson
Nathalie Jolivert artwork
Liberated Action is this week’s theme.
We believe in a God of action who calls us to take action. The goal of all our action is Black Liberation, and it is also the lens through which we interpret scripture, define our values, and shape our politic of Black queer feminism. A politic is a set of activities that make up the foundation of how we move in life, which includes how we answer the call to take action for the safety and benefit of people who are part of oppressed classes. Many people believe liberation theology, feminism, and queerness are unholy, scary, and unacceptable to God, and they will condemn and seek to harm people who have anything to do with feminism and queer life and call it “the Lord’s work.”
We believe that any religion which commands or allows harm to happen is not a godly faith and we are called to protect people who are attacked, judged and segregated. Black queer feminism directs our basic actions as a community. This politic does not require faith in Jesus nor membership in a church for living in community or working in hope for justice and change. We believe that our religion helps us to be better neighbors. We do not believe religion decides who we get to call our neighbors. The Holy Spirit is the source of our right actions and liberates us so that we can stand against harm wherever it is happening, for whomever is being wronged.
Daily Readings
Sunday: Psalm 143.8-10 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my confidence in you. Show me the way I should go, I entrust my life to you! Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, I hide myself in you.
Monday Ezekiel 37.1-3 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. They Lord led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. Then God asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
Tuesday Ezekiel 37.4-6 God said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Wednesday Ezekiel 37.7-10 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then God said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Thursday Ezekiel 37.11-12 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the ancestral land.
Nathalie Jolivert
Friday Ezekiel 37.13-14 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
Saturday Ezekiel 37.26-27 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people forever.
Stonewall 1969 - The Action that Brought us Pride Month
On June 28th, 1969, an uprising challenging police power occurred. It was at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn - located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. In the 1960s, queerness was broadly refered to as homosexuality, and homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association, and queer people were targeted and harassed by police.
Having spaces where queer people could be their whole selves without any shame was so important. The Stonewall Inn was one such space. In New York City neighborhoods like Harlem and Greenwich Village, gay bars were very strictly surveilled to keep liquor license updated and to maintain required capacity of guests. This was one way police found to legally intimidate the gay community. Well one night, they had enough. They responded to police threats with resistance. The first pride was a protest, led by Black trans women like Marsha P. Johnson and others. Queer communities who refuse to be controlled are an example of liberated action.
“Make the action that stops the bleeding…” Angelica Ross
Pentecost during Pride Month is an exciting opportunity for all God’s children to learn how to communicate with each other, and to receive the Holy Ghost power to build a church together. The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and opened up minds, hearts, and languages in order to bring many different people together. God did not use one person’s body to do this. God wants Their Spirit to live in all our bodies! God has built a church full of different ways to express ourselves and name ourselves, and show love to each other.
A special message to our queer and non-binary beloved. No one gender represents God’s image more than the other, no gender is required in order to reflect God’s image, you only need to exist. And we are so glad that you do. Keep on loving and listening to the Spirit. God is proud of you.
Learn the history of Stonewall, June 28-July 3, 1969 // https://www.si.edu/stories/marsha-johnson-sylvia-rivera-and-history-pride-month
Black Music Month: June Jams Playlist
We are listening to and loving the intersections of queer Pride , Black Music Month and the ethic of liberation. Listen to the music of Bessie Smith, Fred Hammond, and more. June Jams Playlist, YouTube
Meditation Prayer for Direct Action
Pray this week’s scripture over your actions and your community.
Oh Holy Spirit of the Sovereign Lord, come and rest on me, and on my people. Anoint us to proclaim good news. Send us to bind up the brokenhearted, that we might work for freedom for the captives, and release for the prisoners; Bless us to proclaim and prepare for the year of your favor and the day of your vengeance.
Let us be a comfort to all who mourn, O God. Show us your provision for those who grieve in Zion—bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Holy Spirit, name all your people the oaks of righteousness, display our divine splendor. Teach us to rebuild the ancient ruins and restore places long devastated. For we believe that you have called us to renew ruined cities, to bring liberation and abundance for our future generations.
Amen. Ashé.
download the full Pentecost x Pride devotional HERE