Sermons
Same Sex Marriage, Part 1
Series: HomosexualitySame-Sex Marriage
Examining Arguments from Scripture
Part 1: OT
I. Introduction
You probably saw in the news that the state of Alabama began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples this past week. It’s not that the people of Alabama necessarily change their minds on the issue. In 2006, 81 percent of the state voted for a ban on gay marriage. But that was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge, who ordered that licenses must be granted.
Immediately, on Monday, wedding ceremonies between two men and two women were conducted and celebrated in the news. Well, sadly, that’s not all that surprising, is it? Alabama became the 37th state to legalize same-sex marriage, and it sure seems like it’s just a matter of time before Tennessee and the other remaining are forced by court decisions along the same path. The momentum just seems too great at this point.
And in a way, we shouldn’t be too surprised by what is going on in the world. It’s sad that our country is quickly drifting further and further from it’s original Bible-based standard of morality. But for people who aren’t trying to follow Jesus as Lord, it makes sense that they would ask “why can’t any two consenting adults get married?”
But there’s another dimension of this that hits a little closer to home. Not only are we as a nation embracing homosexuality as normal and good, there are many churches that are beginning to be accepting of same-sex couples. In fact, many church leaders are now beginning to argue that the Bible actually supports gay marriage.
You may have noticed a visitor we had at our last singing. Her name is Kay Campbell, and she was a friend of Maple’s. She was impressed by the singing at Maple’s funeral, and said something to Steven about afterward, since he was the song leader. He invited her to come visit with us, and she did. How cool is that?
Well, Kay is a reporter for the Huntsville Times, and she covers religious stories. She posted a story about a friend of hers, Ellin Jimmerson, a Baptist minister who performed Huntsville’s first same-sex marriage. And Ellin posted on her Facebook page an explanation of why she chose to do so, and why it was the right and loving thing to do. “…On Monday, Feb. 9, the state of Alabama will move as a people even further down the road of love as the only legitimate basis for marriage. We as a people will recognize that God truly does love us all.”
But wait a minute! I know what you’re thinking. Yes, God loves us, but he also says homosexual conduct is wrong. And you’re right. Clear as day. So how do these folks justify accepting and celebrating same-sex marriages as approved by God? Well, believe it or not, some of them try to argue their case from the Scriptures, basically saying that you have misunderstood all this time what the Bible is actually talking about.
There are several books out along these line, but a person who commented on one of Kay’s posts recommended one titled, “The Bible’s YES to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical’s Change of Heart,” by Mark Achtemeier. So I downloaded it and read it to see what he’s saying. And I’ve read some other things, and watched a popular video, and most people seem to be making the same basic arguments.
So tonight I want to take a look at some of these arguments. Because this issue is not going away. I think we will see more and more churches taking these positions. And it’s good to know what they’re saying and what the truth is so we can know it for ourselves, and so we can be ready to answer if a friend or someone else asks you about it.
What we’ll do is first look at the verses that are usually used to condemn homosexual behavior, and their responses to those. Then we’ll look at what appears to be their main argument in support of same-sex marriage.
When it comes to the Old Testament, there are basically three arguments that often come up.
- Sodom and Gomorrah
- Abominations
- Original Design
II. Sodom and Gomorrah
For some people, when they think of homosexuality and the Bible, the first image that comes into their heads is God raining fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah. After all, our word “sodomy” comes from the infamous sin of this city.
When I texted a friend that I was reading that book by Achtemeier, my friend wrote back simply, “What does it say about Sodom and Gomorrah.” So this is obviously a passage that comes to mind. But is it relevant to same-sex marriage today? Let’s take a look.
We find this account in Gen. 18 and 19. The Lord reveals to Abraham that he has come down to judge Sodom and Gomorrah:
Gen. 18:20-21 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”
At this point, the Lord doesn’t explain what the wickedness of these cities is. We just know it is great.
In chapter 19, two angels come to Sodom, and we soon get an idea of the wickedness of the place.
Gen. 19:1-3 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Lot shows them hospitality, and is probably concerned for their safety as well, for good reason. The next scene sounds like something from a horror movie.
Gen. 19:4-5 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”
This mob is not here to roll out the red carpet and have a nice welcome party for the visitors. The phrase “that we may know them” has a sexual meaning. They intend to have sex with the visitors whether they want to or not.
Lot begs them not to give up this evil plan, and even offers his daughters to them if they will leave the visitors alone—a very disturbing detail of the story.
Gen. 19:9-11 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
What a terrifying scene. The angels tell Lot to get his family and get out.
Gen. 19:13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
And sure enough, in the morning Lot and his family escaped just in time:
Gen. 19:24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
So there’s the basic story. And many conclude from this that God destroyed these cities because they were obviously overrun by homosexuals. But that might not be the complete picture.
Those who advocate for same-sex marriage make two points about this. First, they say it doesn’t say anywhere that God destroyed them for homosexuality. They point to what the Lord says about it through Ezekiel:
Ezek. 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
So they make the case that the real sin of Sodom was that they were cruel and didn’t help the poor. And clearly that was part of it. God says so himself. But look at the next verse:
Ezek. 16:50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it.
They also did an abomination. Look at what Jude says about it in the NT:
Jude 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Seems pretty clear, right? They pursued unnatural desire, or as another translation puts it, they went “after strange flesh.”
But Achtemeir says: “This may be a reference to the fact that the foreigners the mob wanted to rape were not human males at all; they were angels.”
I don’t buy it. There’s no indication that Lot nor the townsfolk knew the visitors were angels.
The other point that the other side makes about this, and this may be valid, is that what we see in Gen. 19 is an act of sexual violence. They were trying to force themselves on these visitors. Everyone on all sides of the question will agree that this was a terrible crime. Clearly the city was just as wicked as it could get. But those in favor of same-sex marriage would say that this is nothing like a loving, committed couple. So if you bring up Sodom and Gomorrah, that’s probably what you’ll hear.
So to summarize, two things that the other side will say if you mention Sodom and Gomorrah: 1) the Bible doesn’t specifically say they were destroyed because of homosexuality (although Jude certainly points in that direction). 2) Even if their attempted sexual assault is part of their wickedness, that’s not equivalent to what same-sex marriage is about.
III. Abomination
Another thing that often comes up in this regard is the clear laws against homosexual activity in the book of Leviticus. A different friend of mine sent me a facebook message recently saying, “eric im looking for the text comparing sex with animals and homosexuality.” He couldn’t find it, but he was looking in the New Testament.
Well, that would be Leviticus 18 and 20, which give laws regarding various sexual sins. Here are the parts that are relevant to our study:
Lev. 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
And:
Lev. 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Some would say that’s all they need to see. Shut the book. God hates it.
So what do you think the other side says? Achtemeier wonders how the Jews would have understood this. So he searches for any signs of homosexual activity in the Old Testament and only finds either a sexual assault, as in Sodom, or male prostitutes that were part of idol worship. So he concludes that this is what the Lord had in mind in Leviticus, not loving, committed couples.
But of course, anyone can read it and see that it applies to any man who lies with any man for any reason. You would have to try to misunderstand it. So is the case closed?
Not quite. Another thing that will come up right away is your clothes. And your food. And your hairdo. Because there are a whole lot of other laws in Leviticus.
Right between our two passages about homosexuality are these laws:
Lev. 19:19 “You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.
And this one:
Lev. 19:27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.
So people who have been hearing that the Lord says a man with a man is an abomination now know that there are these other laws as well, and they will bring them up. Why do you ignore these other rules but apply this one to me?
Somebody says, “Yeah, but that was called an abomination. Surely that means God still hates it.” Well… take a look at Deut. 14, where God is giving them dietary rules:
Deut. 14:3 “You shall not eat any abomination.
Then he goes on to say what animals were clean and unclean, which we know do not apply today.
So the bottom line is, we know that Christians are no longer under the Law of Moses, so we would be better off to just not even bring this up.
IV. Original Design
Okay, I’ve saved the best argument for last. Creation. This ultimately is probably the biggest point we need to make from the Old Testament. Look at God’s original design and intent:
Gen. 1:27-28 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
God made them male and female, and told them to reproduce. Obviously, this takes a male and a female. Genesis 2 describes the first marriage:
Gen. 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Gen. 2:21-25 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
So many things to note here. God made a helper suitable for the man. Men and women compliment each other. Obviously this is true biologically, but also emotionally and mentally. Men and women are different, each having strengths that help the other.
Also, we see the first marriage described, when a man leaves his father and is united to a wife. The two parts are united together. It was God who made woman from man, and God unites them.
Furthermore, we see that they were naked but not ashamed. This is before sin enters, but it also points to the fact that there is nothing to be ashamed of in the one-flesh relationship.
So what do the pro-same-sex folks say about this? They really don’t have much of an argument that I have seen. One lady I was discussing this with on Facebook who is a published scholar said:
“My take on the "first marriage" in the garden is perhaps a bit different from yours, which is fine (there is no reference to a wedding, and the terms can, perhaps should, be interpreted in 2:24 without the married status implied).”
OK, so she doesn’t see a wedding here in the Garden. It’s only Adam and Eve and God. God brought Eve to Adam and then joined them in one flesh. If you can’t see a marriage there, you don’t want to see it.
Another argument that sometimes comes up is related to reproduction. People will say, “see, this is God’s plan.” But does that mean that only marriages that produce children are pleasing to God? Obviously not.
And one person said that Eve was suitable for Adam, but that’s because he was heterosexual. But for a gay man, he said, a woman is not a suitable partner. Pretty weak argument. Clearly, if we’re talking about design, it’s obvious what God intended in creating males and females.
There really isn’t a good answer to the argument from Creation. Maybe the best they could say is, “well, it doesn’t say homosexuality is wrong.” And that’s true. We see a picture of God’s perfect creation and original design, but what about future people who would maybe have these other feelings?
For the Jews, that’s where their law came in. For Christians, that’s where the New Testament comes in. Does the New Testament affirm this original design as God’s continued will for marriages? Yes, indeed. And Lord willing, we’ll look into that more next week.
V. Conclusion
Things are constantly changing around us, and that’s going to continue. We just have to be rooted and grounded in the truth.
Today we’ve looked at several scriptural arguments that come up in the same-sex marriage debate. We’ve seen that some of the arguments made by Christians would be better left unsaid. Bringing up Sodom and Gomorrah is probably not going to prove your point because everyone agrees that gang rape of any kind is terrible. And bringing up the abomination passages is not helpful either, since we don’t live under that law today. But if you’re going to make an argument from the Old Testament, Genesis 1 and 2 is the place to go. And we know that is still in force because Jesus appeals to it himself, as we will see next week.
INVITATION
