Romans 12:9-18 Common English Bible

Love should be shown without pretending. Hate evil, and hold on to what is good. Love each other like the members of your family. Be the best at showing honor to each other. Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. Contribute to the needs of God’s people, and welcome strangers into your home. Bless people who harass you—bless and don’t curse them. Be happy with those who are happy, and cry with those who are crying. Consider everyone as equal, and don’t think that you’re better than anyone else. Instead, associate with people who have no status. Don’t think that you’re so smart. Don’t pay back anyone for their evil actions with evil actions, but show respect for what everyone else believes is good.

If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.

___

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22

Is anybody here or at home a fan of the television show “The West Wing?”

One of my favorite moments of the entire series is the one in which president Bartlett has a confrontation with a radio talk show host named Jenna Jacobs.

President Bartlett notes that Ms. Jacobs calls homosexuality an abomination.

She responds by saying “I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.”

To which President Bartlett responds,

“Let me ask you a couple of questions while I have you here.

I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, and always does her chores. What would be a good price for her?

My Chief of Staff insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or can I get somebody else to do it?

Touching the skin of a dead pig makes us unclean, Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Football Team still play football?

Does the whole town really have to be there to stone my brother for planting different crops side by side?

Can I keep the crowd small when I burn my mother for wearing garments made from two different threads?

The point that President Bartlett is obviously making is that while people pick out a verse or two in the bible to use against Gay people, there are many other verses that people ignore.

And since there are so few passages that deal with same sex issues, and so many that deal with justice, compassion, truthfulness, and kindness, it all seems out of wack.

As Hebrew scholar Susan Piggot observes “We might note that, without the 2 Leviticus verses, no biblical law bans or even addresses same-sex intimacy. It’s not like it’s in the Ten Commandments—though, growing up (in church), you might think it was all ten.”

Which brings us to one of the peculiarities of the Christian faith. While we believe we are people of the book, and take seriously the words in the book, we have concluded that many of the words don’t apply, like not eating shrimp (I like mine deep fried) or not getting tattoos (I have 3) or not eating meat and dairy together (I love me a cheeseburger).

We justify this blatant disregard for the Law of the Torah by claiming that the New Testament has rendered them non-binding.

Paul writes, “But now we are discharged from the law.”

and again, “For Christ is the end of the law,”

and again, “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.”

and still again, “He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances.”

This is how you, as a person of the book, claim faithfulness to the book while eating Bacon with your breakfast this morning,

And why you could take a long walk Yesterday (on the Sabbath).

You say, based on New Testament words, that the dictates found in the law are not requirements you have to follow.

But even if you are inclined to believe that the Leviticus verses are for some reason binding while others verses are not, you are still in a bit of a pickle as you try to understand what the verses actually say.

A multitude of interesting and legitimate interpretations have been suggested for both Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. I will highlight three different interpretations, but I encourage you to look more deeply, especially helpful is the work of Jewish scholars as they give insight on these verses which at first glance seem straightforward, but are not.

One interpretation,

The English Bible translation is an interpretation.

We read in the NRSV “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 20:13 indicates the punishment, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death.” Yikes!

That’s pretty straightforward.

But is it? When you look into the original language, it gets a bit tricky, but we will get there.

A second interpretation is based on context. The 18th chapter of Leviticus includes a fairly long list of sexual prohibitions.

But the passage takes an interesting turn at verse 21 as it reads “Don’t give any of your children to be burned in sacrifice to the god Molech.”

Molech was a Canaanite God whose religion, for a period, influenced Israelite religious practices. Among the most abhorrent deeds in the worship of Molech was the sacrifice of children.

With the admonition against Molech in mind, be reminded that in many ancient religious cultures same sex prostitutes engaged in what has been called “sacred sex” as religious ritual.

The placing of verses 21 and 22 together has lead some scholars to see verse 22 as a prohibition against same sex acts as part of religious ceremony. This makes sense as a significant motivation behind the holiness code was the eschewing of foreign religions and their practices. So, rather than addressing same sex intimacy, or same gender attraction, or sexual identity, the verse might actually addresses the use of sex in religious rituals.

A third interpretation, based on the original language, is truly extraordinary. We read in English translation “you shall not lie with a male as with a woman.” The actual Hebrew translated word for word says “And with a male you shall not lie down the lyings of woman.” Huh?

Notice that the connector “as with a” “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman.” is not in the original language at all. It is assumed.

And note the strange phrase “the lyings of woman.” This phrase has created a translation kerfuffle. Many Hebrew scholars have concluded that the lyings of woman means a woman’s bed. So, “and with a male, you shall not lie down in the bed of a woman.”

This, and a syntactical change in the word “lyings” to plural, has lead some commentators to rethink and re-translate the words to go something like,

”When one man

joins with another man

forcing sexual intercourse with a woman then both [the men] are guilty of committing an abomination.”

The image in this interpretation is two men forcing their way into a woman’s bed so they can both have sex with her.

In this interpretation of the original language, the passage is not about same sex intimacy, but rather it is a prohibition against gang rape, a clear and present danger for both men and women in ancient cultures as is witnessed in the threatened gang rape in Sodom and the actual gang rape in Judges 19.

So, beyond the question of whether the words of Leviticus are even binding, it is quite possible that the way the verses have been translated has lead us to understand them very differently than they were meant to be understood.

And now we turn our attention for a moment to the story of Sodom. It has long been used as a cautionary tale by people who say God’s judgement comes on account of homosexuality.

Very few scholars and interpreters give credence to this notion, because it doesn’t make sense. And yet, this interpretation is still used by preachers and religious leaders to stoke the flames.

The tale of Genesis 19 and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has nothing to do with same sex attraction, or sexual identity. The holy outrage against Sodom is its brutality, it’s viciousness, and its complete lack of humanity and compassion.

These people were evil, hell-bent on controlling, terrorizing, torturing, raping, and ultimately killing their victims.

The biblical story of Sodom is indeed a cautionary tale but it has nothing to do with LGBTQ people, or sexual identity or same-sex attraction. It is a cautionary tale about the way we treat people especially strangers. As Ezekiel states, “this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty, and did abominable things before me; therefore I removed them when I saw it.”

So that’s it. These are the passages that people generally use, from the Hebrew Bible, to castigate people in same-sex relationships. What I have tried to share with you is that there are more ways to interpret the scripture then we are often taught, Interpretations that are based in integrity, scholarship, cultural context, and original languages. As I read these passages in the Hebrew Bible, I understand that they are about violence and cruelty, and idolatry, and not about two people of the same sex who are attracted to each other or two people of the same gender who love each other, or a person whose gender expression is different than their birth sex.

It is long past time for people to stop using the Bible as a club to beat up Gay people, or trans people, or queer people. The Bible is a doorway offering all of us, regardless of sexual identity or orientation, a pathway to wholeness, peace, and love. And it is imperative that we lay the club down so that we can open the door.

Amen.