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NRS Genesis 19:1 The two angels came to
Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw
them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2
He said, "Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant's house and spend
the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your
way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the square." 3
But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house;
and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4
But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and
old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; 5 and
they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them
out to us, so that we may know them." 6 Lot went out of the
door to the men, shut the door after him, 7 and said, "I beg
you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Look, I have two
daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to
them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the
shelter of my roof." 9 But they replied, "Stand
back!" And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and he
would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them."
Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near the door to break it
down. 10 But the men inside reached out their hands and brought Lot
into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck with
blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so
that they were unable to find the door. 12 Then the men said to Lot,
"Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you
have in the city-- bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about
to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great
before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." … 23
The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the
LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25
and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of
the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But Lot's wife, behind
him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham went
early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28
and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the
Plain and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace. 29
So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, God remembered
Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the
cities in which Lot had settled.
Welcome today to what I hope will be the beginning
of fruitful and illuminating discussions. There are plenty of things in this
world that we need to be concerned about including war, illness, inhumanity, to
name just a few. God loves us unconditionally. God does not put conditions on
who we should love and excludes no one from that love. We all agree that God
intended many things differently in the beginning at creation. God created male
and female to be partners, to procreate, to been at one in stewardship with the
world around them and share the love of God with each other and those who came
after them. So is the right question, who should we love? Or is the right
question about if there are more important issues to discuss?
Should we be discussing the decline in
membership of the United Methodist Church who if things don’t change is
projected to decline by over 65 % by 2050. Certainly here is an area that needs
conversation and resurrection. Should we be discussing the decline in young
people, youth and young adults who stay away from the church their parents and
grandparents grew up in? Should we be discussing the areas of mission we as a
church are ignoring, the marginalized who are struggling while affluent
churches thrive? Well the easy answer is yes, yes, yes, yes and more yes. But
those are not the central issues I need to address with you today. John Wesley
tells us, “You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore, spend and be
spent in this work. And go not only to those who need you, but to those who
need you the most.”
I am here to talk about the LBGTQ issue. For
those that may not be aware of what those things stand for it is Lesbian, Gay,
Bi-sexual, Trans-gender and Queer. These terms engender somewhere around 3.8 %
of the US population according to Huffpost in April 2013 and may be as many as
10 % of the US population. There are estimated to be 549,000 same sex couples
in the US or less than 1 % of the total households in the US 2010 census.
Anti-same sex marriage laws were ruled unconstitutional in 2015 with the
Supreme Court decision. Homosexuality possibly can affect 10 % of the
population of the world. “That large a population can hardly be accidental.”
(Debate at Virginia Protestant Episcopal Seminary February 1992)
The reason that we need to have this
discussion is because it affects most of us in this congregation in one way or
the other. Most of us have relationships, family or friends that fit these
categories that I have spoken of. Many of us work with, deal with or may even
struggle with that our friends or family members fall into these categories.
But the most important reason for me to share this topic has to do with what is
coming down the road in 2019 for the United Methodist Church. Today a
commission of our peers has been meeting to suggest how to maintain unity in the
United Methodist Church while recognizing that we don’t all agree on
membership, leadership and same-sex marriage within the United Methodist
Church. This commission which includes Virginia’s Tom Berlin has been working
since 2016 to find a solution that will work going forward. This has been and
will continue to be hard work. Often the voices surrounding this issue can be
loud, unwilling to compromise and difficult to navigate discussion through. But
before we get there, we are here and we need to be able to have clear, honest
discussion.
So why did I choose
this scripture? Maybe because it seems to be the story of our response to
Homosexuality. I so often hear people use this story to justify their view
point about homosexuality. Many believe God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
because of it. But most theologians believe Sodom was destroyed because of it’s
evil, it’s inhospitality to outsiders and that they had turned their back on
God. Male rape which was used in that period of time is still prevalent in
prisons and certain areas of the world and it used to demoralize, to gain
control of and to subordinate those who are they desire to degrade and control.
Interestingly enough depending on the version of the Bible you are reading, the
words translated in the NIV as “bring them so that we may have sex with them”
is based on a verb that is used 810 in the Old Testament. However, we should
note that only three times has it been translated as sexual, all other times it
means to know, to understand, or to be in relationship with. So let us explore
for a moment what the two sides are saying to one another about this subject. Let us deal with
the scripture this morning. Angels had come to Sodom to see for themselves what
evil was lurking within the city walls because of an outcry against them. In
the discussion with Abraham God had determined that if they could find ten that
God would spare the city. In those days’ hospitality toward strangers was
paramount to surviving in a desert climate and keeping peace throughout the
region. Strangers were to be treated with respect. But clearly the people of
Sodom were not intent on treating the strangers, the Angels of God with
respect. Now the passage indicates that all the people of Sodom were a part of
this uprising of sorts but clearly the scriptures indicate that the men were
intending some sort of sexual response and we can glean that they intended to
abuse the Angels of God. Lot even offers his daughters in place of the Angels,
his love for God is that great! This part we are clear though others may argue
the exact intent of the words of scripture for us, we all agree that something
was not as it was intended to be from the creation of the world in Sodom. So
God intended to punish the people by destroying the city and we know from
scripture that God did just that. Was the sin of Sodom homosexuality alone,
probably not! Was the sin of Sodom evil within the hearts of the people,
absolutely!
The traditionalist uses
the scripture as the basis for their position. They point to this scripture in
Genesis, scripture in Leviticus and in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 1
Timothy and Romans. Let us explore that for a moment. We have heard the story
in Genesis that is used to identify homosexuality as a sin. They will point to
Leviticus 18:22 which say that it is an abomination when a man lies with a man
as he would lie with a woman. And Leviticus 20:13 goes further and demands that
they be put to death. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which says, “Do you not know that wrongdoers
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators,
idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the
greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers -- none of these will inherit the kingdom
of God.” Our scripture today is often used to describe the
destruction of Sodom as a result of their lifestyle of homosexuality. Paul in
Romans is often quoted. NRS Romans 1:26 “For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women
exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, 27 and in the same way
also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with
passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in
their own persons the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they
did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to
things that should not be done. 29 They were filled with every kind
of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife,
deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters,1
insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward
parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32
They know God's decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die --
yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.” It’s
a long list! And I suspect all of us have sinned somewhere
in Paul’s list. Proponents of this view will argue that in Genesis, God created
male and female for heterosexual relationships alone. How many of you are
wearing some kind of cotton or polyester blend this morning? You are guilty of
the same set of laws that condemns homosexuality. It is confusing is it not?
There are three
issues before us this morning. First, the issue of acceptance of those who are
LGBTQ as members. Second, the acceptance of those who are LGBTQ as Christian
leaders. And finally the issue of same-sex marriage. There are folks who will
argue that homosexuality is not a choice. Scientific evidence appears to
support that for the 1.6 – 6 % of the population that is gay; a percentage is
genetically born that way. Those that support gay rights will argue that it
should be a civil matter, an issue of equal rights under the law. That there is
no difference between the commitment men and women make in heterosexual
relationships and the commitment between partners in homosexual relationships.
They point to the evidence that is supported by history that gay lifestyles
have been the accepted norm in society form the beginning of time up until the
last four hundred years of history. It was an accepted practice in the time of
Jesus and Paul. Proponents of ‘Gay Rights’ point to Jesus not excluding anyone
in his teachings or his behavior and treating everyone with love. Or they point
to scripture being written before medical and scientific breakthroughs
discovered that much of what we now know about illness, sexual preference and
behavior is genetic. All skin diseases were considered leprosy in Jesus day and
people were shunned and excluded. Women were treated as property with no value
and Jesus railed against that injustice, meanwhile, homosexuality was part of
society probably in the same proportions as it is today and He never said a
word against it. A report of the committee to study homosexuality to the General
Council of Ministries of the United Methodist Church reported that there is scientific evidence sufficient to support the
contention that homosexuality is not pathological or otherwise an inversion,
developmental failure, or deviant form of life as such, but is rather a human
variant, one that can be healthy and whole. The American Physiological
Association reported that most people experience little or no sense of choice
about their sexual preference and LGBTQ issues have been removed from the list
of illnesses reported on by the Medical community.
So where exactly does that leave us? As a United
Methodist pastor I live by two books, the Bible and the United Methodist Book
of Discipline. I want to read you what the BOD says about this matter. In
paragraph 161 the BOD states, “We affirm that all
persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God…The United
Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider
this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God’s grace
is available to all… We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn
lesbian and gay members of friends.”[i]
And
in paragraph 304.3 it states that practicing homosexuals cannot be ordained or
appointed as ministers. In Paragraph 341.6 it says that United Methodist
ministers may not perform or participate in same sex marriage ceremonies and
paragraph 806.9 that no funds of the United Methodist church may be given to
any group or caucus that promotes the acceptance of homosexuality.
As a church we are taught to love one another above all things except
loving God. That love is paramount to everything we must do in the world,
loving one another. And we are called to that love inclusively. But my heart
and mind struggle with creation where it clearly was God’s intent for man and
woman to be in heterosexual relationships. It is how we were created in the
beginning. But we know that somewhere something went against God’s plan for
humanity. God intended the world without sin but we all sin. Is it possible
that being genetically predisposed to a sexual preference is a sin. That is one
of the questions is it not? I do know that one sin we all share is our desire
too often to judge others.
I know that within this church we have family members and actively
attending folk who are gay or have friends who are gay. I have a friend who is
United Methodist minister who has a daughter who is gay and he says that though
he struggles with her lifestyle he does not struggle with loving her unconditionally.
Does God love those who were born with homosexual tendencies any less than
those born into heterosexual lifestyles? We believe not! Did Paul intend to
address an issue in his day of older men who subjected young men into
homosexual relationships against their will? Clearly that was a practice of his
day that he reaches out to. Do the original rules of Leviticus still hold true
today? If so, we violate them every time we eat seafood or pork. Adulterers are
no longer stoned to death nor are those who steal losing their hands in our
culture. Is it possible that God’s guidelines for living three to four thousand
years ago are no longer as relevant as they were in that day and time? And
whether we accept it or not, medical advances have changed how we view genetic
makeup and illness. Masters and Johnson did a study that said that 67 % of
homosexuals could be brought back into heterosexual relationships. But what
that means is that 33 % cannot. My study says that there are three ways to
become homosexual. One is that you are born that way. The other is that there
are men who are more feminine or women who are more masculine and the opposite
sex shuns them for their differences. And some come to that preference through
abuse. The last two are likely the 67 % in the Masters and Johnson study. But
truthfully if someone would say to me that they are gay, I cannot determine how
they became that way and frankly I don’t care how they became gay. I also
understand that the issue of leadership is about trust and protection for our
youth. Statistics tell us that homosexual behavior does not lead to sexual
predator behavior at a greater rate than heterosexuals.
So what then is the question? I think it would be hard pressed for us to say
it is as simple as only one question to be answered. I like the way Adam
Hamilton sums it up. He reminds us that Paul spoke about seeing things dimly in
a mirror that one day we will see clearly, but only when we are truly in the
presence of God. I think for all of us this issue is complicated. Will the
church split over it and divide? Maybe! Where will Sydenstricker fall in the
future United Methodist understanding? These are questions we need to ask. Are
we, each of us a traditionalist who cannot accept LGBTQ folks in membership,
leadership or marriage? Are we, each of us progressive who cannot accept a
traditional stance by the church? Or are we, each of us somewhere in the middle
where the church can be church regardless of the position taken at General
Conference? Over the next twelve months we will explore these questions in
Pastor Chat moments. Would you join me in discussion?
[i]
Smith, Judith E, ed.
(2008). The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church 2008. Nashville
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