Transcript Vasa Lutheran Church Caring Conversations October 28, 2012

HEARING THE SCRIPTURES
& SAME SEX RELATIONSHIPS:
BOUND TOGETHER IN CHRIST
LIVING WITH DIVERSITY
What is the Bible for?
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. But
these are written so that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
through believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:30-31
Martin Luther and Reformation Insights
I believe that it has now become clear that it is not enough or in
any sense Christian to preach the works, life, and words of Christ as
historical facts, as if the knowledge of these would suffice for the conduct
of life. …
Far less is it sufficient or Christian to say nothing at all about
Christ and to teach instead the laws of men and the decrees of the fathers.
…
Rather ought Christ to be preached to the end that faith in him
may be established and that he may not only be Christ, but be Christ for
you and me, and that what is said of him and is denoted in his name may be
effectual in us.
Such faith is produced and preserved in us by preaching why
Christ came, what he brought and bestowed, what benefit it is to us to
accept him. This is done when that Christian liberty which he bestows is
rightly taught and we are told in what way we Christians are kings and
priests and therefore lords of all and may firmly believe that whatever we
have done is pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God.
(Martin Luther, Freedom of the Christian, 1520)
ELCA Constitution -- Word of God
This church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the
Gospel as the power of God for the salvation of all who believe.
a)
Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate, through whom
everything was made and through whose life, death, and
resurrection God fashions a new creation.
b)
The proclamation of God's message to us as both Law and
Gospel is the Word of God, revealing judgment and mercy through
word and deed, beginning with the Word in creation, continuing in
the history of Israel, and centering in all its fullness in the person
and work of Jesus Christ.
c)
The canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments
are the written Word of God. Inspired by God's Spirit speaking
through their authors, they record and announce God's revelation
centering in Jesus Christ. Through them God's Spirit speaks to us
to create and sustain Christian faith and fellowship for service in
the world.
How Do We Read?
1. The Bible is our Norm because of what it does.
2. God uses Human means of Grace to Create & Nurture
Faith
4. Through Hearing God’s Promises we recognize:
● Our Unity in Christ
● Diversity and Differences in Secondary Matters
•
Our Reading is Dynamic–Communal–Personal
•
Guided by Tradition / Reason / Experience
5. We read Theologically: What is God about?
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor
are your ways my ways, says the LORD….
For as the rain and the snow come down from
heaven, and do not return there until they
have watered the earth, making it bring forth
and sprout, giving seed to the sower and
bread to the eater, so shall my word be that
goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to
me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I
purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I
sent it.
Isaiah 55:8, 10-11
Hearing God’s Word: Assumptions
• We all interpret when we read
• The church has from the beginning and still regularly
differs in its interpretation of Scripture
• Debates over proper interpretation include careful
Reading, changing Experience, and new consensus about
how we read the Bible (cf. Reformation)
• Experience and Knowledge matter
• Bible is not first about ethics. Ethics are conditioned by
context as we are drawn into the story of God’s people, and
our stories are shaped in faithful hearing and experience
The Reformation Tradition:
How Lutherans Read
Scripture Interprets Scripture
Unclear passages in light of clear ones
Interpret texts in their literary context
Texts must be read in wider context
Interpret texts in their historical context
How is historical and cultural context like or unlike our own
Recognize the varieties of biblical literature
narrative, poetry, parables, prayer, history, laws, etc.
Read in terms of Law and Gospel
Law accuses and shows need for Christ; the Gospel proclaims
forgiveness and salvation in Christ
Christ is at the Center
All scripture interpreted in ways consistent with the witness to salvation
in Jesus Christ as understood through the lens of Law and Gospel
7. Two Kingdoms
In the “left”hand kingdom, God works in the structures of
creation to promote justice and care of the neighbor;
In the “right” hand kingdom, God works through the gospel
of grace to give “forgiveness, life, and salvation.”
Our decisions and actions on social issues, including matters
of sexual ethics, belong to the kingdom on the left in which
we are guided by reason in concern and care for our
neighbor’s good.
They are not a matter of the gospel and are matters on
which responsible Christians will and do disagree.
The Bible & Issues of Sexuality
Factors affecting Attitudes & Actions
• Attending to biblical texts about homosexuality
• Hearing these texts within the broader biblical
witness
• Range of Christian tradition on these matters
• Role of experience and the types of experiences
we bring to the conversation
Biblical Texts on Same-Sex Intercourse
A word of caution about translation and
interpretation:
Term “homosexuality” first appears - 1869
Earliest OED entries for both “homosexuality”
and “homosexual” are from 1892
Two Old Testament Stories
(1) Genesis 19:1-11, Sodom and Gomorrah
(2) Judges 19:16-30, Gibeah Event
Relevance?
Stories refer to actions of humiliation, violence,
and domination rather than to same-sex activity
per se
Two Old Testament Legal Texts
Leviticus 18:22: You shall not lie with a male as
with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13: If a man lies with a male as with
a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood
is upon them.
What to Make of Laws in Leviticus?
a) Is concern religious? Reference to “homosexual”
activity or about cultic religious practice?
b) Cultural concerns? Issues of procreation for a
nomadic people concerned for survival?
c) Are Christians bound by these Levitical codes?
Does the Holiness Code Apply Today?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Death penalty for:
Idolatry (20:2-5)
Cursing one’s parents (20:9)
Adultery (20:10)
Being a medium or wizard (20:27)
Blasphemy (24:13-16)
• There is only one law in Leviticus that we take seriously:
“you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18)
• Repeated by Jesus, Paul, and the Letter of James in the
New Testament (Mark 12:31; Matt 19:19; Luke 10:27;
Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14; James 2:8).
The farmer must not reap the entire crop but leave a portion for the poor (Lev
19:9-10).
Mixing two kinds of cloth in a garment is forbidden (Lev 19:19).
Tattoos are forbidden (Lev 19:28).
The Sabbath (seventh day, Saturday) must be observed as a day of rest (Lev
23:3).
The Sabbatical Year (seventh year) must be observed: “in the seventh year there
shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land…you shall not sow your field or
prune your land” (Lev 25:3-4).
Every fiftieth year is to be a Jubilee: debts must be canceled, and there is no
sowing and harvesting (Lev 25:8-24).
New Testament Texts
Romans 1:26-27
For this reason [worship of false gods] God gave
them [the Gentiles] up to degrading passions.
Their women exchanged natural intercourse for
unnatural, 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.
Comments:
1. Context: A diatribe in which Paul accuses samesex conduct as a manifestation of sinful, violent &
abusive behavior that is the result of idolatry.
2. Paul is talking about ALL Gentiles, not just a few
3. What is precise meaning of “natural” and
“unnatural”?
4. What is addressed: consensual practice; cultic
prostitution; pederasty (adult males with
younger boys)?
5. Wider context? All are sinners and need God’s
grace and forgiveness (Romans
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-10
(NRSV and Greek)
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, malakoi,, avrsenokoi/tai,
thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers―none of these will
inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But
you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent
but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the
unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for
murderers, sexually immoral people, avrsenokoi,taij, kidnappers, liars,
perjurers―in fact, for any who live contrary to sound teaching that
conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to
me.
Who Are the “malakoi,”?
Literal Meaning: “soft ones.”
Extended Meanings in Translations or
Suggestions:
-King James Bible: “the effeminate.”
-Luther (1522): “Weichlinge” (= weaklings).
- NIV (1973): “male prostitutes.”
-NRSV (1989): “male prostitutes.”
Who Are the “avrsenokoi/tai”?
Literal Meaning ? The word does not exist in Greek literature prior
to Paul. Paul may have coined it.
Etymology: a;rsen = “male” + koi,th = “bed”
Extended Meanings or Suggestions:
Luther’s NT (1522): Knabenschänder (= “pederasts” in English).
KJV (1611): “abusers of themselves with mankind.”
NIV (1973): “homosexual offenders.”
NRSV (1989): “sodomites.”
Bauer, Danker, Arndt, & Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon (2000),
page 135: “pederasts.”
Translations of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
KJV 1(611): 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
NIV, 1973: 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male
prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor
slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
NRSV, 1989: 9 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.
Summary: A Diverse Community Response
Four Views
1) The passages in question refer to homosexual practice in all times
and cultures and so universally prohibit such practice.
2) The passages do not refer to homosexuality as we know it and so
cannot be seen as prohibiting it. Other passages therefore need to
inform our discussions about homosexual relationships.
3) The passages may or may not refer to homosexuality as we know it,
but they - and the larger witness of Scripture - imply a view of nature and
creation that only support and allows sexual relationship and union
between and man and woman, and so homosexual practice is
prohibited.
4) The passages may or may not refer to homosexuality as we know it,
but they - and all of Scripture - are conditioned by the cultural and
historical realities of the authors and so offer an incomplete and
insufficient understanding of creation and nature as so cannot be used to
prohibit homosexual practice.
Remaining Questions
1) Do the passages refer to anything like the phenomena of
life-long, monogamous same-gendered relationships that we
know of today? (our word “homosexual” and the notion of
“homosexual orientation” not present in the ancient world; first
appears in the nineteenth century)
2) In any case, are we bound to ethical determinations made
by persons living in vastly different cultures and times and
whose understanding of the world and of God’s activity was
shaped and limited by their own cultural viewpoints?
Hearing the Broader Witness of Scriptures
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he said, "what must I do to
inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you
read there?" 27 He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You have given
the right answer; do this, and you will live."
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into
the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half
dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw
him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the
place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while
traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then
he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The
next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care
of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' 36
Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the
hands of the robbers?" 37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said
to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:25-37