Warning:  today’s text deals with sex and sexuality and, while by no means graphic, will talk about both positive and negative sexuality and may be a trigger for some people.  Please read on carefully.

When I read scripture in large pieces like we’re doing, I always look for common themes, teachings, or behaviors.  Sometimes by the author’s intention but always by the work of the Holy Spirit (in the author and in the reader), there always seem to be themes that teach.  Today in our Old Testament reading, that theme is sexuality.  All three stories today, Sarah’s promise, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot’s daughters, focus on different uses of sex.

For Abraham and Sarah, it is a blessing from God which brings His promises (in this case His Covenant), new life, and lifts old shames (Sarah had been barren until this time, a shameful thing in their cultural context).  In the city of Sodom, sex was being used as a weapon, a means of exerting power over a stranger.  And in the case of Lot’s daughters, sex was used as a selfish and devious means of fulfilling their own desires for children.  Three examples that translate readily into our own world, for we can all think quickly of those who use sex as a means of receiving God’s blessing, as a weapon of power over another, and as a self-fulfilling tool.

Our society has moved beyond the “sexual revolution” to the point where an active sex life is not even questioned today.  Abstinence until marriage is considered an old-fashioned standard and not realistic.  It is expected that couples, for various reasons, will live together before their wedding though every study has proven again and again that this greatly increases the likelihood of divorce.  Our media continues to be saturated with sexuality (two of our most popular shows, Game of Thrones and Westworld, are essentially soft-core pornography).  And sexual crimes, from sex-slave trafficking to rape and incest, are a normal part of our world.

But God holds His people to a higher standard.  God gave us the gift of sex not as a means of holding power over another, and not as a means of self-fulfillment.  The sexuality that God gave us is about receiving His blessing of children, love, and commitment with thanksgiving.  It is about the deepest intimacy two people can share, an intimacy, if you can understand it, that most closely mirrors the intimacy we have with God.  Everything in this world is about our relationship with God, and something as important as sex all the more so.  We cannot allow sexuality to become diluted in a culture that can’t understand its true purpose.

What do we do with the Old Testament?  When we read about circumcision in today’s text, we have a hard time relating to it because that is not part of our spiritual life.  We don’t require it in order to be part of God’s Family and we certainly don’t require it for church membership.  In Acts 15 it was officially removed as a requirement for God’s People, and Paul talked about “circumcision of the heart”, so we see it as an Old Testament requirement, not a modern one.

And it doesn’t stop at circumcision.  In our New Testament reading for today, Jesus changes many of the OT expectations, though in this case they are made more stringent, not less.  What was a prohibition against murder becomes a prohibition against even being angry with a fellow believer.  Adultery becomes even looking lustfully at another.  Divorce, oaths, revenge, enmity… all of these are shown to be not just sinful acts but sinful attitudes LEADING to sinful acts.  And it is the attitudes God wants to change in us.

So what do we do with the Old Testament?  This is a huge question today as our denomination wrestles with it’s stand on the LGBTQ community.  Many (but by no means all) of the arguments stem from Old Testament prohibitions like Lev. 18:22 or 20:13.  They are almost never countered with Old Testament texts, but instead with New Testament texts like John 8:7-11 and Gal. 5:14.  In this and so many other issues of righteous living, each of us has to come to terms with what we do with the Old Testament, whether it dictates our behavior, informs our New Testament teachings, or simply gives a historical background to the story of Jesus Christ.

In truth, every one of us draws a line through scripture.  On one side are the passages we hold to as rules, stories, parables, and promises by which we live our lives as God’s people.  On the other are rules, stories, parables, and promises which we see as timebound, cultural, or completed and so not binding for God’s people.  The question for us today is which passages are on which side.  This takes great wisdom, prayer, and grace for others and for ourselves.