April 24, 2011 – Romans 1

Happy Easter

Reading through the introduction and looking at the schedule, the end of May should be interesting.  This is where we will dig into Paul’s teaching on salvation by faith in Christ as opposed to works of law.  Many times this is used to “firmly” establish the theology of faith alone, but we will save that for then.

But here in the first chapter we see a very interesting argument that many may not understand or accept today.  Paul talks about the Gentiles before Christ and what was revealed to them about God.  Even though they were not given the revelation that was given to Israel, they were given all of God’s creation.  Paul says that you can come a great deal of the way to understanding God just by looking at the world around you and seeing how it works and fits together and understand that there is a power behind all that.  Knowing the world is enough, or should be enough, for a person to understand there is a God and they should seek that God. 

But Paul says that they turned their backs on this idea and instead “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.”  They chose idolatry.  By doing so, their lives went down a road of perversity that led to extreme disregard for the natural way of things.  This degradation of their bodies and lives is shown in the example of their sexual immorality, specifically pointing to homosexual actions.  And not only did they participate in actions of a homosexual nature, they suffered for indulging in them and it led to a rash of other sins. 

When people talk about homosexuality being a sin in the Bible, you always hear them talk about Leviticus 18:22 – “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; such a thing is an abomination.”  The problem with focusing on this verse, even though it is there, is that people say that it is old Testament and not really applicable.  There is a great scene from West Wing, one of my very favorite shows, but also from back when I wasn’t too religious.  It makes the “old Testament and not really applicable” argument better for me.  I will put all the Bible quotes below.  Here is the link.

http://youtu.be/eD52OlkKfNs 

Exodus 21:7 - "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go free as male slaves do.”

Exodus 35:2 – “On six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be sacred to you as the Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Anyone who does work on that day shall be put to death.”

Leviticus 11:6-8 – “and the pig, which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud and is therefore unclean for you.  Their flesh you shall not eat, and their dead bodies you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.”

Leviticus 19:19 – “Keep my statutes: do not breed any of your domestic animals with others of a different species; do not sow a field of yours with two different kinds of seed; and do not put on a garment woven with two different kinds of thread.”

He really goes after her and completely wins the argument and she is made to look the fool.  Obviously, the show is about the President, he is the main character, and he won most his arguments.  What is sad about the show, looking back, is that the President in a “Cafeteria Catholic” and doesn’t actually follow Church teaching on many occasions.  The show makes itself very scandalous that way it making it seem to be ok to be Catholic and pro-choice, pro-homosexual, pro-liberal, pretty much.  I don’t know if I would have been a fan of the show if it started now.  I think the acting was great and it was a really smart show, but I see right through all that stuff to what it really did to a vulnerable Catholic back then. 

Anyway, the point is that the Leviticus quote is not the only place in the Bible homosexual activity is said to be a sin.  The bigger point is not the St. Paul says it is wrong, but it is not natural.  Even a person that doesn’t believe in God but can see the world around them and how it works should be able to see that homosexual actions are not natural.  When they chose to ignore this basic instinct in a quest to satisfy what they are after, it only leads to more and more sin and harmful consequences.  What I take from St. Paul in this section is that when a person choses to ignore even the most basic of natural laws that are evident to everyone from the world God created, the genie is out of the bottle and you open yourself and others to a slippery slope where anything can be argued as acceptable.  When you take the most basic of natural laws and say it is not applicable, you open yourself up to a world where there are no laws, and some would say that is what people call the culture of death. 

If you have actually made it this far through, you may be offended.  That isn’t my point.  And I am not condemning anyone.  We are all sinners and have the sins we struggle with.  The Catholic Church does not label homosexuals as condemned persons anymore than anyone else.  It is the action, the homosexual act, that is sinful.  If you look at what St. Paul wrote and what is in Leviticus, the person must act out before the condemnation falls.  A person that struggles with homosexual tendencies has an incredible cross to carry that I cannot comprehend, but it is a cross they must choose to carry if they want to follow Christ.  Giving in to temptation is the sinful part.  Fighting the temptation and being successful with the help of God is the Grace filled part.  Pray for those that bear this burden and pray for our culture that lead and are leading so many astray.