Redwood City First Congregational Church

First Congregational Church of Redwood City

February 5, 2006

“For the Sake of 10”

Reverend Charlotte Asher<= /o:p>

Scripture: Genesis 18:20-32, Micah 6:8

= 220;The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love heterosexuals. It’s just that they need more supervision.” - Lynn Lavner

I m= ust say that I am going to tackle a difficult subject in this morning’s sermon. My message is a bit l= onger than a Communion Sunday message due to the subject matter.

Let= us pray.

O D= ivine, Lift up our souls – out of darkness into light, out of doubt into fai= th, out of fear into trust, out of despair into hope, out of indifference into joy. Amen.<= /p>

This morning’s message is about thresholds; whether we cross them or not a= nd if we make it clear to others that we are crossing certain thresholds. It’s about understanding the= full impact of what it means for a church to be Open & Affirming and what it means if we are not.

One= of my graduate professors asked us last Monday if there was any other profession where anyone could walk in the door and be welcomed. She was talking to a group of educ= ators and educators to be. She said= that teachers, educate anyone that comes through their doors. Was there any other profession? I wanted to say, “Yes! My church does.” But I could not. As a denomination, we have declared ourselves to be an Open & Affirming denomination. But with our Congregationalist background, it is up to each individual church to declare= on their own if they are or not. Some might say, “But of course we are open, anyone can come through our doors. Why is it important th= at we publicly and vocally declare that all are welcome? Can’t they just tell? The answer is, “No!” They/we cannot just tell! Let me show you why.

In = the just last few weeks, in the newspaper here is what I have found. The murders of Gwen Arrajo, the transgender teen in the E= ast Bay received senten= ces for their killing. At the sam= e time teachers in that same county refused to put up signs in their classrooms supporting a resolution establishing a "Safe Schools for All" pla= n.

Som= e of you have been attending the worship services of The City of Refuge in San Francisco on S= unday afternoon. Their pastor Yvette Flunder was quoted in this article.

= 220;Religion is the biggest obstacle for black gays and lesbians in accepting themselves.” “Bla= ck gay men go to church and have ministers condemning them, beating up on them eve= ry week.” “You could= have a brother strung out on crack, an unmarried sister pregnant with her third child and a cousin getting out of jail, but the gay person with a good job = is the one who is unacceptable.”

In = another article, a columnist was talking positively about “Brokeback Mountain<= /st1:PlaceType>” a touching, mainstream movie about 2 gay cowboys. Here were some of the reactions th= at he received; “…gay films move us back. I don’t hold anything against gays, I’m not one to judge people, they can do what they please, but = to shove their perversions down everyone’s throat, and to try to make it mainstream and teach children homosexuality is a normal thing for people to= do is sick.”

Her= e is another; “It is really hard to believe that people like yourself are gloating over this film and are so proud of the degradation of our country (USA) that you have joined the masses and are HELL BENT on the destruction = of Christianity, family values, and everything that is decent and what our forefathers have fought and died for in this country. Your kind are the real BIGOTS! You are the enemy of everything th= at is decent and good, you love death and destruction (that is what the homosexual lifestyle will lead to)…”

From teachers refusing to make their classrooms safe for all, to churches condem= ning certain segments of our society, to people on the street condemning those t= hat are born as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersexed, queer, sexually ambiguous, or just plain different, we might ask, “Where does this ha= tred come from?”

It = comes from those preaching about our Bible. You have heard today’s scripture about God talking about destroying Sodom & Gomorrah for their “sinfulness.” The following passage is what is most often used for the condemnation of homosexuality. Let me read yo= u the next section after what we have already heard this morning. (Reading from t= he Bible.)

Gen= esis 19 Sodo= m and Gomorrah Destroyed

The= two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, an= d Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he= saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."

"No,&= quot; they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."

But= he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a = meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. Before they had gone to bed, all t= he men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so th= at we can have sex with them."

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him = and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two da= ughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can = do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have = come under the protection of my roof."

"Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forwa= rd to break down the door.

But= the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back i= nto the house and shut the door. = Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

Wha= t are we to do with this Biblical text? Some say that what text is really saying that we must treat the stranger, the traveler with care and respect because if a traveler, a stranger weren̵= 7;t taken in while in the desert of that Biblical time, they would surely die.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> That is one interpretation. Let’s go back to the beginni= ng of this story for a better understanding.

You= might remember, earlier in Genesis, strangers/angels visit Abraham and tell Sarah that she will have children and she laughs because she is so old, in 1 year= she has a son. The story goes on = with the strangers and God talking and wondering if they should tell Abraham what they are going to do about Sodom & Gomorrah. That is this morning’s passage. The next part of the= story is what I just read about the men wanting the strangers and Lot, Abraham’s son offering up his virgin daughters instead.

The= story goes on that the strangers/the angels tell Lot that he must leave the city and not look back. But Lot’s wife does look back and she is turned to a pillar of salt. Lot hides in the mountains with hi= s 2 daughters because he is afraid of being blamed for what happened to Sodom & Gomorrah.

But= the story doesn’t end there for the daughters worry that their father is getting old. They are stuck i= n the mountains with no men around and therefore cannot have any children to foll= ow the law and “preserve the family line.” So they get their father drunk and= each sleep with him. They become pregnant and their sons become the peoples called the Moabites and the Ammo= nites. Quite a story!

As = I said earlier, some have said that there is a misunderstanding of the actual mean= ing of the words and that the villagers did not want toy have sex with the strangers. But there is anoth= er story where a similar thing happens. It is Judges 19: 16-30. I would not advise any young girls to read this story; for, as a tee= nager myself newly “Born Again” and wanting to read and follow the Bi= ble cover-to-cover; it gave me nightmares for years. I didn’t even realize = that anything was being said about homosexuality because I was so disturbed by t= he terrible things that happened to a girl, one that was probably the same age= as I was when I read this as a teenager. These passages are crude and cruel and a part of our Biblical herita= ge.

From Judges; An old judge comes into the village square, sees a stranger/a trave= ler, and invites him to stay in his home rather than sleep in the square. At night, the men from the village= come and want to have sex with this traveler.&n= bsp; The old judge says no; take my virgin daughter and the concubine of = the stranger instead. The village= rs would not listen. So, the judge put= s the concubine out the front door. The villagers rape her and abuse her throughout the night. She survives until daybreak when s= he makes her way to the threshold of the house where her master was staying, a= nd falls at the threshold.

Let= me quote (Reading from the bible.) Judges 19: 25 – 28.

The= y had intercourse with her and outraged her throughout the night till morning; wh= en dawn was breaking they let her go. At daybreak the girl came and fell on the threshold of her husband&#= 8217;s host and she stayed there till it was full day. In the morning the traveler got up= and opened the door of the house; he was coming out to continue his journey whe= n he saw the woman who had been his concubine lying at the door of the house wit= h her hands on the threshold. He sa= id to her, ‘Stand up, we must go.’&n= bsp; There was no answer. (= For she was dead.)

The= people mentioned in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah were inte= nding to do homosexual violence to these visitors as were those in the book of Judge= s. These are indeed 2 of 6 passages u= sed to condemn homosexuals. What do = we do with passages like this?

Ano= ther interpretation of this passage could be that it does not matter the gender = of the adult that we intend to have sex with, it has more to do with willingne= ss on the part of each person. In these passages the people on one side of the door intended to commit violen= ce on people on the other side of the door.&n= bsp; Still, many are hung up on these passages being against homosexuality.

So, let’s say that we follow that interpretation of what this passage says. We would condemn homosexuality. We would turn = our children, our daughters over for torture to protect men. We would have sex slaves or concubines. If daughters were childless and without their husbands, they would get their fathers drunk and have sex with them to continue their lineage as the Bible says. Children would not be considered.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This is what would happen if we wo= uld say that we believe in these passages.&nbs= p;

But= in fact, there are practices that the Bible condones that the church rejects today. The Bible condones the practice of polygamy. The Bib= le condones sex slavery or concubinage. The Bible condones women as property. The Bible condones slavery. The Bible condones Levirate marria= ge, which is if a woman’s husband dies, then her brother-in-law must marry her and give her children. Th= ese are just some of the things that the Bible condones that today’s chur= ch rejects.

The= Bible also condemns practices that the church now readily accepts. The Bible condemns intercour= se during menstruation. The church does not condemn this.&n= bsp; (I don’t think that this is in our by-laws.) The Bible condemns the sin of onan= ism, or the practice of non-procreative sex.&nb= sp; The church does not. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> And the big one, the huge one; the = Bible condemns remarriage following divorce; it is very, very clear about this. We can see by the actions of our h= ighest church leaders in many denominations, that this is not followed. I would venture a guess that some sitting right here this morning have remarried after a divorce.<= /span>

Obv= iously, we are not Biblical literalists. That is, we do not believe that the Bible speaks to us literally. We are Biblical selectionists. We select, we pick what parts of t= he Bible we will follow and what parts we will not.

If = we have the ability to decide what passages to follow and what not to follow, how d= o we select responsibly? There are= many wonderful texts in the Old Testament. This morning’s text from Micah is one of them.

= 220;This is what God asks of you:

onl= y this, to act justly,

to = love tenderly

and= to walk humbly with your God.”

I a= lso suggest that we look to Jesus as our example. Jesus didn’= ;t necessarily follow the laws that ALL good Jewish men should follow. In Matthew 12, Jesus and the disci= ples pick grain from the field on the Sabbath, because they are hungry, against = the law. In Matthew 12:46, Jesus = denies his mother and his brothers saying that anyone who does the work of God are= his mother and brothers. Jesus didn’t have the traditional family. We certainly can’t say that Jesus’ parents or the events surrounding his birth are your tradition= al Jewish family. Jesus did not,= by his example, have a traditional family or follow the laws.

I b= elieve that we are called as Christians to follow the Biblical mandate for justice= and love. In John 13:34 Jesus said, “I give you a = new commandment; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all people will kn= ow that you are my disciples.” &nb= sp; By THIS – THIS LOVE - ALL WILL KNOW. It’s plain, it’s simpl= e in wordage, but it is not simple in action.&n= bsp; It is a huge order to fill, this loving others business.<= /span>

In = talking to others about the Sodom & Gomorrah passage a= nd others like it, some have told me that they just didn’t believe that these things could have actually been done. That is only way that they could w= ork out these passages in the Bible. They had to believe that they weren’t true. Unfortunately, we know that these = things and things like them are true. It happens today. We also know t= hat things like what happened in these passages are done to people because they= are gay or perceived as being homosexual. We know that people are physically tortured and have endured pain of Biblical proportion because they are gay or perceived as being homosexual.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> We know that they have been murdered. We know that childr= en and youth are taunted and abused on a daily basis at school. We know that the homeless rate amo= ng gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered teens is higher than their heterosexual counterparts because of the abuse. These children and teens are kicke= d out of their homes because their parents follow what their church leaders have said. Their suicide rate is a= lso much higher. And why, because= of these passages and the others that are used to condemn them.

Peo= ple choose to use a sliver of the Bible to kill others. We know it’s a sliver becaus= e we don’t see those that condemn homosexuality following all of the other laws in this passage or in the Bible. We don’t see them following Jesus’ new law, “To lo= ve one another.”

I h= ave a confession to make. Once I wa= s able to read the entire story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and not = shy away from it or ignore it, I knew what I was.&n= bsp; And here before God and this congregation, I will confess that I am a Biblical selectionalist! I ch= oose to uphold parts of the Bible that promote what Jesus said and lived, to love one another. I cannot agree w= ith or agree to follow ALL that was written. I cannot account for all of the things that are in the Bible or all = of the things that have been done in the name of the Bible. For the sake of 10, 10 percent tha= t is and for all of humanity, I choose to say that there some parts of the Bible that I do not agree with.

My = faith and my denomination is where we can say that God is still speaking. God still speaks to each of us. God did not stop. There is no end to what might break forth in love, in God’s love for everyone. Each one of us is a child of God, = created in the goodness of God. Each = one of us has a connection with God. This congregation is one place where we can be in conversation about the scriptu= re. It is one where we can seek guidan= ce and strength. It is one where we believe, as the UCC quotes, “Never place a period where God has place= d a comma.” Because “= God is still speaking. “ This congregation is a place where we can live with the questions. It is one where we can go through = the process to decide if we are up to the task of becoming Open & Affirming= and all the work that goes with spreading the message of love and hope to all.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> During the Open & Affirming pr= ocess we will decide what passages in the Bible represent us, who we are and what= we hope to become. We are transf= orming as individuals and as a congregation. We seek to do this with the guidance and love of our God and each other. Amen.