Biblical DNA - Or, "Gimme that" Take 2

[Bishop Dave Brauer-Rieke]

Last week I wrote a little about how one might think about welcoming gay and lesbian folk into the Christian fold from a Biblical point of view. Actually it is a really awkward question. I mean how can you not welcome people into faith?! But I write because it is an issue for us in the ELCA right now.

I find two major strands of thought in the Bible when it comes to moral or ethical issues. The first has to do with boundaries, morals, rules and purity codes. It is important to draw a lines in the sand when it comes to human behaviors. Rape is not okay. Child abuse can't be tolerated. Slavery? Inhumane!

Both the Old and New Testaments contain laws, rules or lists of such boundaries. In the Old Testament we usually associate these with the laws of Moses. In the New Testament one finds what scholars call "household codes" sprinkled throughout the letters of Paul. In the Bible these rules serve a couple of purposes. One is moral. A second is identity. "This is who we are and who we aren't." They are also important for health, safety, etc. depending. It is hard to tell which rules serve what purpose as they are often all mixed in together. So, we find in the Bible sexual taboos, food laws, prohibitions against tattoos and interracial marriage, requirements for women to be secluded after childbirth and on and on.

The other strand I usually call the "prophetic" strand. It is often serves to balance the first. Interracial marriage may be forbidden at some points in Jewish history, but Ruth is held up as a hero of the faith - and she was brought in to Israel as a foreign wife. Lepers may be outcast by law and women considered unclean, but Jesus touches and talks to both. Food laws are overturned in the New Testament. In fact the whole Law of Moses is surrendered as a basis for identity by Christians. The covenant of Moses is replaced by the new life found in Jesus. Circumcision gives way to baptism as the sign of what defines us.

We find, then, this ongoing Scriptural dance between two legitimate concerns. We ask, "Where are the lines?" "What's okay and what's not?" And then there is the balance. "Where is mercy and compassion?" "What about those excluded by very lines we believe to be essential?" Care for the weak and vulnerable become the acid test of faithfulness in the Old Testament. Jesus only accentuates this tendency through his life and ministry. Where does that leave us?

Last week I suggested that we in the ELCA are seeking to incorporate new information. "It turns out some people are gay or lesbian." Okay. Now let's take this new information and see what the Bible has to say. Shall we wash this information through the lens of purity codes? Or, does one give compassion for 'the least of these' more weight? Obviously we want to do both. It's my guess, however, that where one ends up depends a lot on which "twin" they find the most compelling.

To be continued . . .

[Bishop Dave Brauer-Rieke]

I'm struggling to articulate how and when those fences and rules are important or appropriate. I tend towards something like "when harm is being done to others" (which I think is not in supporting gay or lesbian partnerships) but the concern of some is what fences does Scripture seem to suggest? We certainly have torn down some Biblical fences such as approval of slavery or restrictions on interracial marriages. But how does one articulate when and why this is okay?

[Carol Adair Law]

This series by Bishop Dave is a great teaching tool. I look forward to reading it each time and am learning consistently. It seems amazing to me that, with all of the translations and all of the differences in cultures in over 2,000 years, we still find the message of love, grace and forgiveness coming through so clearly. Still we continue to make exclusionary rules and set up fences. It helps me understand the meaning of the idea that we are at once saints and sinners. Thanks for this continuing study.
Carol Law