“Queering
Ethics”
Sermon for MCC
New Haven
October 5,
2014
Rev. Brian
Hutchison, M.Div.
Exodus
20:1-17
Matthew
21:33-46
Charlton
Heston said unto the Israelites with a booming voice, “Woe unto thee O Israel.
You have sinned a great sin in the sight of God. You are not worthy of these
Ten Commandments. There is no freedom without the law. Who is on the Lord’s
side, let him come to me. Blasphemers, idolaters: for this you shall drink bitter
waters! God has set before you this day his laws of life, and good, and death,
and evil. Those who will not live by the law shall die by the law!” Mr. Heston
then threw the tablets of the Ten Commandments at the golden calf and they blew
up, causing an earthquake, and the earth opened up, swallowing up the people.
This 1956 movie called The Ten Commandments is how many of us think of the
story.
If
you think this sounds dramatic, the 32nd chapter of Exodus is
actually more dramatic. As the story goes, Moses had been up on Mount Sinai for
a long time and the people assumed that he would not return. So they decided to
create a golden calf out of gold and worship it instead. God gets really mad
and threatens to kill all the people. Moses convinces God that that’s not such
a good idea. Then Moses goes back down the mountain, chastises the people, and
throws the tablets to the foot of the mountain. He burns the golden calf,
grounds it up, puts it in water, and makes the people drink it. Like Mr.
Heston, Moses said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me!” The sons of Levi
went to him. Moses instructed them to slay “brother, friend, and neighbor.”
They killed about three thousand people. Moses then asks God’s forgiveness for
the people. God promises to punish them and puts a plague on them. But, ya
know, go ahead to the Promised Land.
It’s
not a glamorous or happy story. God is portrayed as moody, mean, fickle, jealous,
and bloodthirsty. This is not the God that I was taught about in Sunday School.
Perhaps that’s because the story would be rated “R,” not rated “G” or even
“PG.” Instead of teaching the people a new way of being and relating in the
world, Moses orders for many to be slaughtered. It seems kind of hypocritical
when he had just brought down a set of commandments that includes, “Do not
murder.”
Even
back then, thousands of years ago, the laws were not as cut and dry as ten
simple sentences. The Book of Exodus lays out in great detail what each of the
commandments meant for the people of Israel. There were many cultural
specifics- things that applied only to the Hebrew people of that time and
place. But as 21st century Progressive Christians, we cannot apply
the entirety of the Mosaic Law to our lives. It just doesn’t make sense, just
as it doesn’t make sense for us to take scriptures like the Book of Leviticus
literally. They were not written for us. The best we can do is take wisdom from
them.
I
find it strange that some fundamentalist Christians
push for the Ten Commandments to be made into statues in front of courthouses
and in public places. They claim that the Ten Commandments are the laws that
all other laws should be based on. One problem with this claim is that our
country is not a theocracy. There is no established religion of our country. We
are free to practice whatever religion we choose. And if we choose to worship a
golden calf, we will not be punished by the law of the land.
So
what should we think of the Ten Commandments? Do they matter to us today? I
think they do matter for us, but only if we see them through the lens of our
own experience. Today, we “queer” the text in order to uncover how it affects
our faith.
The first
commandment is to have no other gods before the God of Israel. As Christians,
we follow the heritage of Jesus, who was a faithful Jew in his time. And so we
claim to serve the same God Jesus served. We believe in one God, the Creator of
the universe, who is the Greatest Good, Divine Love, and the Divine Mind. God
is present in everyone and everything. Other faiths believe in many gods who
have their own personalities and purposes, but our faith is monotheistic- that is, we believe in only one God who
is the Ground of Being, the Source of Life. We do not demonize others for their
beliefs, but we also stand firm in our own convictions.
The second
commandment is to not make any idols. For us, this does not mean to stop making
art. If you are taking a sculpting class, don’t worry; you don’t have to drop
out. The sin of idolatry is about worshipping something other than God. Many
things can be our idols: wealth, fame, celebrities, control, political
principles, sexist or racist ideals, or even the Bible. Yes, many people
worship the Bible, thinking that they are worshipping God. Egos want to be
gods, but following the commandment means pointing instead to the One Great I
AM. When we acknowledge that we did not create ourselves, the ego fades away.
The third
commandment is to not take God’s name in vain. This is not about foul language.
Though it is poor taste to do so, God will not punish you for saying “God damn”
or “Jesus H. Christ.” For us, misusing God’s name means saying things about God
or in God’s name that are unloving. For example, the Westboro Baptist Church
misuses the name of God by saying that God hates particular groups.
Televangelists misuse the name of God when they say that God sent natural
disasters and diseases as punishment for sin. And since the name of God given
to us in the Book of Exodus is “I AM,” we misuse the name of God whenever we say,
“I am” followed by something unloving toward ourselves. Whenever we say, “I am
worthless, I am bad, I am sinful, I am not worthy of love, I am shameful”, or
any other negative thing, we are misusing the name of God.
The fourth
commandment is to remember the Sabbath day and to treat it as holy. For us,
this does not mean refraining from any work whatsoever on Sundays. The Sabbath
is different for each person. We each need to take the time to commune with
God. Having Christian faith is about listening to God more than we speak to
God. It’s about letting go of the cares of the world to build trust in our
loving God who takes care of us in all the ways we allow Her to. Sabbath time
is essential to the Christian journey. Self-care is so important that it made it
to the “top ten”!
The fifth
commandment is to honor your parents. This does not mean that we have to agree
with them all the time. We know that’s impossible even if we tried. In the LGBT
community, our parents sometimes disown us, saying that our identities are
evil. It would not be loving to ourselves to agree with them. We have many
people we look up to as parental figures within our chosen families. We honor biological
or chosen parents by loving them and taking care of them when they are
sick. We honor them by owning and
sharing the wisdom they have to give us.
The sixth
commandment is to not murder. Our society seems to be obsessed with murder.
Many television shows glorify violence and killing. Children play video games in
which they slaughter people. We teach that it is okay to kill in certain
contexts, whether it is in war or through the death penalty. Should we never
kill another human being? This is a very complex ethical question that we have
been debating for millennia. The scripture that I think of in pondering this
question is Matthew 26:52 where Jesus says, “Put your sword back in its place,
for all who take the sword will die by the sword.”
The seventh
commandment is to not commit adultery. In ancient times, this was a law against
taking another man’s property. Since women were property in those times, having
sex with another man’s wife was violating his property. In modern times, women
are not property, though they are still often treated as such. Conservative
Christians teach that sex is reserved for marriage between one man and for one
woman. This ethic obviously does not work for us. So we must apply the
question, “What does it mean to show love through sex?” If a person has agreed
to not have sex outside of a two-person relationship, then that agreement
should be honored. But if a married couple agrees to consensual sex with
others, this is not adultery. Adultery is about using sex with others to hurt
our partners. And that does not sound very loving.
The eighth
commandment is to not steal. I have to question once again if this should be
taken literally all of the time. If someone is starving in a society like ours
where the rich have exponentially more than they need for survival, is it wrong
for him or her to steal food for their family? Also, are corporations not stealing
from people by hoarding money and getting tax cuts? We all work for what we
have and should not have to worry about someone taking our belongings without
consequences. But theft is much bigger than that. Continue to question who
is being exploited and who is benefitting from exploitation in our world.
The ninth
commandment is to not testify falsely against your neighbor. The extreme of
this is to make someone face financial penalties or jail time by testifying in
court that they are guilty when you know they are not. More commonly, we
testify against neighbors when we spread gossip. Our tongues can be as sharp as
swords. They can cut strangers, but they can also cut those who are closest to
us. I’m okay with a commandment against misusing the word against others.
The tenth
commandment is to not desire other people’s belongings. This seems strange to
us in our culture because every commercial we see on television uses envy. We
want that dress because so-and-so has it. We want that car because so-and-so
drives it. We watch so-called “reality” TV shows about people with extravagant
wealth. It’s not wrong to have nice things. But we must ask ourselves “Why do I
want this thing?” If things foster relationship with others and with God, they
are good. If the money would be better spent on helping others or on planning
for a secure future, we should question our purchases. The writers of Exodus
knew that humans tend to want more and better things. They knew that the desire
for those things could get in the way of fostering relationships and community.
So this one made it to the “top ten.” Be grateful for what you have and be
mindful about where the fruits of your labor are going.
After
analyzing all Ten Commandments, it seems that only three of them make sense for
use in government: do not kill, do not steal, and do not bear false witness
(perjury). The others are either personal matters or theological matters. So we
have no business imposing these ancient laws onto our government. But we should
hold onto their wisdom. And as Christians, we should view all of these things
through what we call The Greatest Commandment. Jesus quoted the Hebrew
Scriptures in saying “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…
and love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments” (Matt. 22:37-40). This is the big picture of what it means to
live out the Gospel of Jesus. It’s not about a legalistic religion of dos and
don’ts. It’s rather about growing in faith by practicing the Greatest
Commandment. We make many mistakes on the journey, but God’s grace is
sufficient in our times of weakness. So don’t fear commandments; some preacher
is not going to throw stone tablets at you. Keep calm and live in God’s love.
Amen.
