"SEX, SIN & SCANDAL: SUNDAY SCHOOL IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM"

I told you before...and it bears repeating...that when we try to read and use the Bible in our real lives we have to learn how to separate the timeless and universal truths from that which is historically and culturally bound. At the same time, if we are to approach the Scriptures – these writings that are considered sacred in our faith tradition – with integrity and realism, we must also bring with us the truth of the world in which we live. We have to allow our personal experiences, understandings and what is called our "social location" to be a part of how God speaks to us through this book.

Kids are great at doing this. That’s – no doubt – why Jesus said that we have to become like little children in order to receive the truth of God. Kids aren’t afraid to allow the Bible to speak to them in the context of their world.

Psychotherapist David Heller has written several books about children’s perspectives of God. He says that the Bible has meaning to them because they see God as personal and prominent in their lives. Kids seem to be able, in their openness, to not only exhibit a degree of biblical literacy but also a wonderful blend of humor and deep spirituality in the way they interpret the stories of Scripture.

For example, according to some of the children Heller interviewed, the most important commandment is: "Thou shalt not lie. Your mother and God will find out the truth anyway." The moral of the story of Samson and Delilah? 12-year-old Jenny concluded, "Bad relationships can be murder on your hair." And Austin, age 8, explains the relationship between God and Satan: "God is like my mother and the devil is like my brother."

Heller says that, "...their eyes are brimming with hope and faith and love for a God that is beyond the scope of our imaginations and yet can be readily found in a child’s heart and in our own hearts as well." Eyes brimming with hope and faith and love for God are exactly what we need in order to read the Bible in a way that will bring us comfort and not criticism...joy and not judgement.

Unfortunately, the "social location" of our lives and the world we live in tend to make us see the messages of the Bible as being all about criticism and judgement. "Sunday school" in the "new millennium" would seem to be all about sex, sin and scandal. Bad news just waiting to be told. And so we avoid it. But that’s exactly why we need to look at the Bible again. It IS all about sex, sin and scandal...because it’s all about the human condition.

I want to give you a new metaphor for the how the Bible works – three metaphors, actually. Scripture can be a window, a mirror and a lens. A window lets us look at a scene beyond ourselves, and when we look into the Bible we can see what’s "in there" in terms of the stories, teachings, prohibitions, admonitions, etc. A mirror, on the other hand, shows us ourselves; in the pages of this book we will find reflections of our own truth and our own need. A lens, like the lens on a microscope or a camera, lets us "zoom in" on particulars and see them more clearly. The Bible can be a lens for understanding the particulars of our lives in this world and how God fits into it all.

First, look into the window of Scripture. You’ll discover that "scandal" is not reserved to the 21^st century election process or only the society of our day and time. The Bible is filled with scandal. Modern day poet and reluctant theologian Bruce Springsteen said it right: "Way back in the Bible...temptation always comes along. There’s always somebody tempting someone into doing something that they know is wrong."

Think of the very first story involving two human beings. Adam and Eve. They just get created and, right away, they steal fruit, lie to God and develop the first recorded cases of low self-esteem and negative body image!

Then, if you keep reading, you’ll encounter murder, jealousy, cheating, more lying, blatant irreverence for God and a whole lot more...and that’s just in Genesis! Never mind the rest of the Bible! Scandal abounds!

And what about sex? Please! All those preachers and Sunday school teachers who told you quaint little stories about Noah’s ark (what do you think all those pairs of creatures DID all those months on the ark?)...and heroic little David who killed Goliath (yeah...then, after becoming king, he commits adultery with Bathsheba, gets her pregnant and has her husband sent off to war and killed!)? Well, they didn’t quite cover the whole Bible.

Take this morning’s Scripture reading, for example. "Come, my lover, let us go to the countryside...let us go early to the vineyards – there I will give you my love." Now what do you think that’s saying? That passage comes from the Song of Songs – sometimes called the Song of Solomon. Now through the years, folks who were obviously uncomfortable with images of blatant lust in Scripture have asserted that this book is some lofty allegory about Christ and the church. But the truth is...the whole book is just what it seems to be: erotic love poetry. (And that passage we heard isn’t nearly the steamiest one!)

And as for the supposedly "biblical" teaching that sex was intended solely for procreation? Hear this, straight from a pretty middle-of-the-road biblical commentary on my research shelf: [In the Song of Songs,] "sex is for joy, for union, for relationship, for celebration. Its lyrics contain no aspirations to pregnancy, no anticipations of parenthood. The focus is not on [insuring lineage] but on passion to express commitment...."

The truth of the world we live in tells us that we are all sexual beings. Among us there are a wide range of sexual orientations. Do we really think this is a big shock to God? I don’t think so. I think God knows us as the fully human beings we are...and created us just as we are. Psalm 139 says, "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb." Nothing about us is a surprise to God...including the facts of our sexuality. And the psalmist goes on, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...."

We need to look into the mirror of Scripture and discover that we are not unusual or "bad" because we are human! We’re supposed to be human! In God’s eyes, that’s a good thing! The deal is, of course, that it’s the choices we make within our humanness...how we choose to act (or act out!)...how we treat others, how we honor others...and ourselves...and God...that is important.

The difference between being fully who we are and misusing how we are has come to be known to us as "sin." And the Bible certainly does spend a lot of space addressing the concept of "sin." But hear this: that word, "sin," means "to miss the mark." Like an archer aiming at a target and missing the "bull’s eye." God’s desire and way and will are the "bull’s eye." Often, when we shoot, we miss. We "sin" by what we sometimes do...not by being who we are.

The Bible can be a wonderful lens for helping us focus in on finding that center mark of wholeness that God desires for us. I don’t think it’s meant to be a means of beating us up and making us hate ourselves because we have such lousy aim. I think it’s meant to be an instruction book to help us find the center and correct our aim!

In Hebrews, chapter 4, it says, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it is able to discern the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight."

We are supposed to use the Scriptures to examine the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts; it is a lens through which we must look if we are to live in a relationship of integrity with God, ourselves and others. And that can seem like a hard thing. When we look through that lens we will see our imperfections and notice the ways that we "miss the mark."

But then that will make us just like everyone else, including all the people in the Bible! Clearly, as Romans 3:23 says, "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...." That’s a passage that has been abused in order to make people – even people here this morning – feel guilty and ashamed and then turn to God, not out of love or even need but out of fear. And, frankly, that is, I believe, one of the worst sins of all. To use the Living Word of God to wound and terrorize the children of God!

Read that passage in context! It’s a word of comfort and hope! Yes, all have "missed the mark" and fallen short of the wholeness and perfection of God – that’s true! That’s why we are not reconciled to God through what we do but by faith!

Returning to the book of Hebrews, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Child of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin."

Again, hear this as good news! Jesus Christ – fully human and fully divine – knew what it was to live in this world. God chose to live in this world through Jesus – knowing all the realities of the sex, sin and scandal that surround human existence. God knows what we go through and how we feel – in every way! Yet, in Jesus, we have the hope that life can be better and we can aim better; God, in Jesus Christ, can help us be better human beings!

I don’t think that Jesus was able to "hit the bull’s eye" every time because of his divinity. I think that, in his humanity, Jesus always, always took aim carefully, drawing into himself a deep breath of God before speaking or acting, considering always, first, what would be right and pleasing to God. He didn’t "shoot first and ask questions later." He was "in sync" with God...just as, the Bible says, we can be -- through Christ.

As a window...as a mirror...as a lens: the Bible does have a lot to say to us about our real lives. We need to read it with eyes brimming with hope and faith and love for God so that we might find comfort and joy in its words. We need to reclaim the Bible with the hearts of children who are so clearly able to read the Bible and get what it’s really saying: in the words of 11-year-old Nancy, "Love was created on the first day, and the rest is history." Amen.

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