Micah 6:6-8 Common English Bible

With what should I approach the Lord and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit?

He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.

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What does the Bible say about LGBTQ people? What specifically does the Scripture have to say about same-gender attraction, sexual orientation and sexual identity?

I will give you my answer in a moment, but first I need to chat with you about how we read and interpret the Bible.

I read this piece recently,

Two people read the same Bible.

On sees reasons to Love.

The other reasons to hate.

One sees unity.

The other division.

One finds prejudice.

The other equality.

One discovers compassion.

The other malice.

Two people. One book.

One book. Two interpretations.

A very simple thing to declare is

“The Bible says it,

I believe it,

that settles it.”

You’ve heard that. Maybe you’ve said it.

The problem with this mantra is that it is not quite right. To be correct, it would need to be “I, or somebody I listen to, interprets the Bible to say such and such, and I believe that, and that settles it.” (It doesn’t fit as well on a bumper sticker, but it’s more accurate.) When we declare that the Bible says something, we are really saying that the Bible has been interpreted as saying something.

And truth be told, people often interpret the Bible to say what they want it to say.

The Bible, a book which I find to be full of love, grace, mercy and acceptance has been used to justify

slavery,

racism,

child abuse,

war,

prejudice,

white supremacy,

violence against women,

xenophobia,

nationalism,

and hate.

One of my favorite professors in college, Earl Stuckenbruck, used to tell, “To interpret the Bible correctly one must understand it the way it was meant to be understood.”

To understand the Scripture the way it was meant to be understood without imposing our personal biases and preconceived notions is hard.

To try to get there, it is imperative that we interpret the Bible in its context. We can make the Bible say almost anything we want by pulling out a verse here and there.

To truly understand what is meant to be understood, it is also imperative that we interpret the Bible in its cultural context. What was culturally relevant in the first century may not be culturally relevant in the 21st century.

To truly understand what is meant to be understood, it is imperative that we interpret the words of the Bible in the context of its original languages. Modern English definitions might be very different than the nuanced meaning of ancient Hebrew or Koine Greek words or phrases.

But With these things being said, in the end, we still interpret Scripture as we choose to interpret it. It’s that simple. We may pray about it, and claim the Holy Spirit’s leading, and do the hard work of study but, ultimately, we choose how we interpret the Bible.

When I disagree with someone over what the Bible says about LGBTQ people, I am choosing to interpret the Bible differently than they do.

Don’t hear me wrong,

I have confidence in the way I interpret it,

I believe my interpretation is based in sound scholarship,

I have looked carefully at the original languages,

I have striven to understand the passages in their cultural context,

but I am not so foolish as to think my interpretation of Scripture is always the only one, because interpretation is a matter of choice.

So, perhaps one of the points of this sermon series is simply to say, “just because you usually hear a particular interpretation of a passage or verse does not mean its the only interpretation, or the correct one. Be willing to dig in, to question, to be challenged, to learn, to come to new understandings.”

Now, back to the original question, What does the Bible say about LGBTQ people?

As I interpret the Bible, I don’t find that it says anything about LGBTQ people except that it lumps all of us human beings together as people who are loved by God and given worth and value by God.

What? Wait a minute! What about those passages? You know,

Sodom and Gomorrah,

the abomination verses,

the unnatural passage,

and those lists that seem to claim same-sex attraction disqualifies you from the Kingdom?

After reading, studying, digging, interpreting, I will say that I am not sure that what we have always been told the Bible says is what the Bible actually says.

I don’t think the Bible says anything specifically about same-gender attraction, or sexual orientation, or sexual identity, but I do believe it says some things about some same-sex acts.

For instance,

Same-sex rape has been used throughout history as an tool of control, as an tool of terror, as an tool of domination. Same-sex violation has been used to put those who have been conquered to shame. It is a way to declare total victory, to place the vanquished in a position of submission.

The Bible stands against same-sex rape. Know this, same-sex copulation as a tool of control, a way to shame is very different than a same-sex consensual physical relationship.

Same-sex activity, throughout history, up to the present time, has been an reality in the world of prostitution.

And in the ancient world, quite often prostitution was tied to religious temples and activities. And so, in these settings, same-sex encounters with a prostitute were condoned as religious experiences. One wasn’t necessarily attracted to the gender of prostitute, one simply participated in sex as a erotic religious act. The Bible speaks out against same-sex prostitution, especially as an act of religious expression. This is very different than same-sex attraction, or consensual sexual intimacy between two people.

Same-sex activity has, throughout history, been an act of exploitation between slave owners and slaves.

And an especially abhorrent practice in the ancient world was the circumstance wherein male slave owners would choose a younger male slave, often a teenager, to be their sex partner. The Greeks had a word for it παιδεραστία, pederasty in English.

The Bible condemns same sex exploitative relationships.This is very different than a same-sex relationship between two consenting people.

My contention is that the passages in the Bible that people often use to disavow LGBTQ relationships of any kind are not actually about same-sex attraction, or sexual identity or same-sex consensual relationships but rather, refer to activities that are exploitative, cruel, violent, or demeaning.

On occasion, people ask me, “is homosexuality a sin? Is it wrong? After all, the Bible says it is,” they say. I have learned to respond to their question with this question, “Is heterosexuality a sin?”

Their response is almost always, “no.”

So then I ask, is it wrong when a man rapes a woman? Of course it is.

Is the molestation of a minor by a person of the opposite sex a sin? Of course it is.

Is heterosexual sex without consent wrong? Of course it is.

The point is that while heterosexuality is not in itself sinful, or wrong, it can be if it is exploitative, violent and forced without consent.

My argument is that homosexuality is not in itself sinful or wrong, but same-gender sexual acts that are exploitative, violent or forced without consent are certainly wrong. And those are the same-sex acts that the Bible is generally talking about in the “clobber” passages.

I believe that what the Bible says about LGBTQ people is the exact same thing that it says about every person, regardless of sexual orientation, or sexual identity, or sexual attraction-

And This is what the I interpret the Bible to say,

You are loved by God whether you are gay, trans, queer, or hetero.

You, whether you are gay, trans, queer or hetero have immense worth as a child of God.

You deserve to be treated with respect.

And, Realizing that we are all created in God’s image,

Don’t be a knucklehead toward others,

Don’t mistreat people,

And for God’s sake,

Love one another!!!!!

Amen.

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Pastoral Prayer/ Lectio Divina

Acts 2

The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers.

A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles.

All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them.

Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.

Amen.