REFLECTION ONE: RADICAL INCLUSIVITYThere is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)How far can Paul's statement of Christian inclusivity be taken? After all, it addressed specific issues, within a specific community, during the first century, when the requirement to follow Jewish life-style and the Torah (Law) became an issue for Paul's Gentile churches. At a time when most Jewish Christians assumed that one must become a Jew in order to be part of the new community, Paul argued against marks of distinction such as circumcision and adherence to the Law (Torah). Paul argues that all baptised Christians are free from discriminating differences, such as gender, class or ethnic origin. They are "one in Christ" through faith. Faith in Christ is seen as being all sufficient for both salvation and sacramental incorporation into the body of Christ. Faith and baptism enable participation in the life of the church, according to one's gifts and talents through grace. This interpretation stands contrary to the Levitical law. Levitical Law discriminated against foreigners (Gentiles) and women. It gave exclusive leadership and participation rights to most adult, Jewish males, to the exclusion of women and Gentiles in the affairs of the temple. From the time of the return of the Exiles (539 BCE), the three-fold task, of rebuilding the temple, the religion and the people, was fraught with frustration and division. Later, under the leadership of Nehemiah (445-433 BCE) and Ezra (from 439 BCE), the purity codes for race and religion were developed, upheld and enforced. Men rejected their foreign wives and minority groups, such as eunuchs, were excluded from temple worship as rejected people. Such exclusive practices were not without challenge. The prophet of Isaiah 56, called the post restoration community to be compassionate and considerate of foreigners and eunuchs (Isa.56:1-8). The Laws that ostracised men whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off (Deut.23:1) are specifically challenged from within Isaiah 56:1-5, where faithful eunuchs are counted among the righteous. Those people who were excluded from participation, by strict application of the Law (Torah), were given acceptable status by the prophet, through their faith. Thus says the LORD: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil. ...for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. (Isa.56:1-2, 7b-8) Yet, it is no exaggeration to say, the prophetic vision of Isaiah 56 did not win the day. Israel turned inward, upon itself, absorbed in the letter of the Law and the pursuit of holiness, during difficult times. Five and a half centuries later, Jesus challenged the Law, even those relating to the sabbath. He openly supported women and outcasts. He upheld the poor, the sick and those ostracised to the margins of the Jewish community. He reached beyond his own community, to serve foreigners. In Jesus, we see the return of the prophetic vision of justice and compassion, voicing opposition to the letter of the Law and refocussing upon the grace of God, upon which the Law rests. Where there was division, Jesus preached love and wholeness. Yet Jesus also caused division, a deep and profound division, between those who stood for Law and exclusivity and those who embraced a spirit of love and justice. If the Law could be set aside for the sake of faithful foreigners and eunuchs, why not also set the code aside for gay and lesbian people of faith? Is the issue any different? Each group represents those seen as outcasts by the Law. The cause of justice, on behalf of eunuchs, was taken up by prophet of Isaiah 56. Jesus took up the cause of outcasts and "sinners, even to the cross. Gay and lesbian Christians in our time call for justice, as people of God, already fully redeemed by Christ (Rom.8:1-2). They seek a place in our churches, as fully affirmed and welcomed members of Christian communities. They claim freedom in Christ, to work in and for the church, even in positions of leadership, as faithful servants, free from discrimination and prejudice. It is clear that Paul opposed application of Law (Torah) to the new life in Christ. He saw the church as a new creation, in which all baptised Christians share unity in Christ (Gal.3:28). The Jewish understanding of salvation, seen exclusively in terms of chosen people, saving history and Law, is broken down by Paul. Paul teaches that salvation in Christ, for all, regardless of human marks of distinction, means that the Law has ended as a means of salvation. If the Law is of no consequence for those in Christ, all distinctions under the Law are also of no consequence. Can we exclude modern marks of distinction as well as those of ethnic origin, race, social status and gender? Can we say also, that there is no longer a distinction, in Christ, between rich and poor, employed and unemployed, homosexual and heterosexual or any other mark of human distinction? Can homosexual Christians fully participate in the body of Christ, without distinction, as men and women who are one in Christ Jesus? In the spirit of Isaiah 56, are those people who are excluded from participation by strict application of the Law, given acceptable status through their faith in Christ? I believe that it is vital for Christians to examine the Gospel, and themselves, to determine how they see the extent of God's Grace. Throughout history, people have selected verses from the Bible to discriminate against others and to exclude them from church participation. Biblical authority was once claimed for condoning slavery and the suppression of black people. Similarly, the suppression of women and the limitation of their participation within the church was also supported by the application of Scriptural precedent and claims of Scriptural authority for doing so. In our post-modern world, these former Christian positions of exclusion are held valid no longer, by the majority of people. I qualify my statement here, because women still fight for acceptance within our churches, particularly for recognition in positions of leadership. With regard to sexuality, there are several Biblical anachronisms that still stand in the Scriptures, yet practice and later Scriptural developments contradict or challenge those Laws. For example, polygamy is characteristic of the Old Testament and is protected by Torah (Deut.21:15-17). When cultural shifts to monogamy occurred, the Torah was not altered to accommodate the shift in values and custom. Jesus, of course, made His stand against sabbath laws, dietary laws and laws against fellowship with women and foreigners, challenging the injustices of Torah, as practised in His time. As the concept of sexual orientation was not known in Biblical times, homosexual Christians call the church to consider its opinion regarding the Levitical Laws against same sex intercourse (Lev. 18:22; Lev. 20:13), as also being an anachronism. The assumption in Leviticus is that the proscribed acts are between heterosexual persons. Is it just to apply that Law to homosexual persons, to deny sexual intimacy or to limit their church participation because of that intimacy? Are Christian homosexual persons still held under Levitical Law (Lev.18:18), while other aspects of the purity code are no longer followed? Do we still apply Paul's understanding, that all Christians are no longer under the Law? Is that understanding of freedom, for heterosexual people, only? wla 6/98 In the other reflections, I explore the questions raised above, by looking at Old Testament models of the 'image of God' and Pauline visions of inclusivity under the grace of God, in Christ.   |
