LGBTQ+ People Are Welcome at the Table Part 1

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We started out this series by looking at the inclusiveness of Jesus’ invitation and how he welcomed everyone to his table. Then we looked specifically at how patriarchy and gender hierarchy led to the subjugation and exclusion of women in the ancient world, and how Jesus completely overturned those boundaries and radically welcomed women to his table.

This week, we begin our look at how patriarchy and nationalism, along with the holiness and purity codes of ancient Israel, not only affected people of differing races and ethnicities, but also sexual minorities in the ancient world as well, and how those themes worked together to form boundaries that marginalized and excluded them from their communities and from approaching God, boundaries that are still used to exclude LGBTQ+ people to this day.

In the next few weeks, we’re going to be taking a closer look at those boundaries and what Jesus and the biblical authors had to say about them. As always, we’ll be considering not only what was written in Scripture, but also why it was written in that way, the context, culture, and language involved, and what that all means for our interpretation today.

But since Jesus is the lens through which we must interpret all of Scripture, we’re going to start first, with what he had to say about it all.

Jesus actually had very little to say about sexual minorities specifically, but what he did say is found in a passage in the Gospel of Matthew. We’ve actually looked at this passage before when we were discussing how Jesus valued women, so let me set the stage.

If you’ll remember, in Matthew 19, Jesus was confronted by a group of religious men asking if they could break their marriage covenants and devalue and discard their wives whenever they grew tired of them as Moses allowed in the law. Jesus responded by quoting Scripture back to them to call their attention to the fact that at the beginning, all of humanity was created equally in the likeness of God as image-bearers, and he reinforced how much God values and blesses all his image-bearers and their committed, covenantal relationships. Later in the passage, when Jesus’ disciples questioned him about this, he elaborated by widening the gender boundaries and moving the trajectory of Scripture forward, toward greater inclusion. The interaction is found in Matthew 19:10-12:

“The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to acceptthis, let him accept it” (Matthew 19:10-12 NASB).

Now, I know he is speaking in the context of the marriage and divorce discussion, but he is also acknowledging two very important things here, first, that celibacy is a gift that is not given to everyone, and second, that eunuchs, those in the sexual minority, those that didn’t fit neatly into gender boundaries, are a part of God’s design. Some people are “born that way from their mother’s womb”, and they are accepted by God like everyone else. Reading these verses with our 21st century western eyes, we miss the fact that this would have been a radical statement, given the cultural context of this time.

The disciples and Jesus’ listeners would have been well aware of the Old Testament law laid out in Leviticus 21:20 and Deuteronomy 23:1. It excluded anyone who had been “emasculated”, eunuchs, sexual minorities, from entering the assembly of the Lord. The patriarchy and purity codes of the time would have viewed eunuchs as being not only “damaged”, “un-whole” and “defiled”, but also “effeminate”. Remember, breaking the cultural gender norms of the day would have been considered “unnatural”. For a man to be associated with anything “womanly”, to be deemed “effeminate”, would have been seen as “unclean”, “shameful” and an “abomination”.

But here’s the fascinating thing. God moves the trajectory of Scripture forward. Later, in the book of Isaiah, we read that instead of eunuchs being excluded from approaching God, they would not only be accepted by God, but they would actually be given a name better than sons and daughters.

“Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will certainly separate me from His people.’ Nor let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For this is what the Lordsays: ‘To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold firmly to My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be eliminated’” (Isaiah 56:3-5 NASB).

And the scriptural trajectory of inclusion continued to advance.

Jesus moved it forward even further in Matthew 19 with his acknowledgement and acceptance of those who don’t fit neatly into the sexual majority. And by the time we get to Acts 8, we see the radical inclusion of God in full swing.

Acts 8:25-40 recounts the story of the baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. It is a prime example not only of God’s acceptance of Gentiles, those who are racially, ethnically, and religiously different, but also of those who are sexually different, those in the sexual minority.

The story begins by telling us that the Ethiopian Eunuch, a court official for the queen of Ethiopia, was returning home after having gone up to Jerusalem to worship. Think about that. Not only was this person racially and ethnically different, a Gentile, and so would not have been welcomed in the Temple, the Eunuch was also a sexual minority and as such, would have been considered an outsider and “unclean” on all counts. So even though the eunuch would have been excluded from worship in the Temple, this person was still seeking God, still reading Scripture on his way home.

Next, we’re told that Philip, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, was led by the Spirit of God specifically to this eunuch who was on the way home. Then, in one of the most moving and challenging verses in Scripture, Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”, to which the eunuch replied, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?”

How could I unless someone guides me. Let that sink in. This person, earnestly seeking after God, had gone up to Jerusalem to worship, and yet had been excluded by the very people tasked with being a light to the nations. How can the eunuch, those in the sexual minority, understand who their good and loving Father is if no one will come alongside them and share the good news? Fortunately, Philip listened to the Spirit’s leading and not only shared the good news about Jesus, but baptized the eunuch as well, throwing open the doors of the church and welcoming those in the sexual minority into the radically inclusive family of God.

From Deuteronomy to Isaiah to Matthew to Acts, we can see the trajectory of Scripture moving forward to a place of complete inclusion for all people, including sexual minorities. I love how Pastor Zach Lambert from Restore Austin Church, puts it in his message on Homophobia and Transphobia. He says these passages show us that the “full inclusion of sexual and gender minorities in the family of God is God’s idea”. When we use Scripture to marginalize and exclude people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, we are actually working in direct opposition to God’s design for his family and for his church.

Jesus and the trajectory of Scripture shows us that God welcomes everyone to his table, and as followers of Jesus, called to love as he loves, we are to do the same.

Next time, we’ll begin our look at the specific scriptural passages that have traditionally been used to exclude LGBTQ+ people. Now that we can see the trajectory of Scripture and God’s heart for all his people, we need to take another look at these passages to see what’s going on, and to rethink how they have been interpreted in the past. We’re going to start with the few passages that are found in the Old Testament: the Sodom and Gomorrah story in Genesis 19 and its counterpart in Judges 19, and a couple of verses in Leviticus. Then we’ll take a look at the three passages that are found in the New Testament, and we’ll finish up with a word about gender and marriage from Matthew 19 and Genesis 1 and 2.

This is such an important conversation for those of us who call ourselves Christians. I hope you’ll join us with open minds and hearts as we rethink these Scripture passages through the lens of Jesus.