Of Sodom and sight

       The Bible is certainly a magnificent work of God; a collection of texts written by his beloved creations to spell out our faithful and sometimes troublesome and not so faithful journey of love in relationship with our Creator. This accounts for the myriad stories, repetitive stories and styles from litanies to love songs, to poetry to parables. It really is a master work, no pun intended.

          Yesterday, by tweaking a few words her and there, I tried to bring one of the texts up to a modern attentions. Sadly though, sighted people remain blind to reality while the sight challenged sometimes see more than anyone.  It's an interesting dynamic. People can, and often do, cherry pick passages to suit their own agendas, blind and often willfully ignorant of the realities of the world around them.

           Today in Revelation there is a quote that easily could be brought into the present without any tweaking. “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.”  Is that how we feel in these United States?  What we need is to start taking care of each other. The arrogance and blind willful ignorance of wealth is as much as debilitating sin as it was 2000 years ago.

            Before the Incarnation, the Bible was not the Bible so much as the Scriptures and by that it referred to Hebrew Scriptures.  Long before there was exegesis of Christian passages and before Christians perhaps overwhelmed the Jewish community, there were Jewish scholars, Rabbi's and teachers who looked at , studied and interpreted what Christians call Hebrew scriptures. 

         One such example is what Christians did to interpretation of that part of Genesis          ( 19:1-38). Hebrew interpretation of the passage indicates it deals with a lack of hospitality.  After Jesus walked the earth and rose and the Church seemed to develop a penchant for puritanical sexual male dominated mores, the meaning of that passage changed. It became an anti-gay tract against homosexuality. A real reader of the passage would know however that it refers to, not any kind of real relationship but, two forms of rape. Rape of two men        ( angels actually ) to demean and subdue them and then the rape of Lot's two daughters whom Lot freely puts forth in place of the two men. Lot says  "Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please."   How long is it that Christian leaders and so called scholars point to this very passage as a stricture against homosexuality. Early Rabbinic scholars pointed to these passages to point out that the problem with Sodom and Gomorrah was that they were well off and not charitable. That is the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is not dissimilar from the condemnation that God writes of the Laodicians in today's Revelation passage. 

            One of the others passages today is about Jesus creating mud with spittle and curing the blind man. What do we need to be willing to see for ourselves? When Fox news is spewing fake facts and  propaganda that plays to one's fears and judgments; when so called holy men rail from the pulpit unjustly against homosexuals for their deviant lifestyle, are you willing to lay yourself bare for God, open your eyes and arms to all of humanity? Will we be judged as Sodom and Gomorrah was for their arrogance, selfishness and lack of hospitality? Can we see that it is not any kind of gay agenda ( of living decent loving lives ) that is evil but instead the self righteous who molest, commit adultery, sexting and carrying on and living immoral lives all while they rail against everyone else from the gays to immigrants?

              The old native American admonition to not judge until you have walked a mile in their moccasins may be a really noble effort to open one's eyes. How can we open our eyes to the truth of God's love, true scriptural scholarship and the unrestricted and all encompassing love of God. Lord, help us to open our eyes.

Revelation 3:14-22

 ‘And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation:

 ‘I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.’