There is an underside or dark side that we all know. Unwanted pregnancy. Rape. Exploitation of children. Prostitution. Sexual violence and abuse. Sexual activity can be a criminal act, as much as it can be an act of intimacy and love. Is there another human activity or behavior that is both so desirous and so dangerous, so good and so bad, so affirming and so destructive? I suppose it is like the difference between someone who shares a glass of wine with a companion and someone who drinks a bottle of vodka and gets behind the wheel of a car. Not only about moderation and social responsibility, it's also about the content of human relationships and the biology that drives our behaviors. But I am not speaking as a biologist or a psychologist. I speak as a theologian.
How might we come to grips with sexuality and the human condition that can often turn something beautiful into something scarred and ugly?
There are stories in the bible about sex. In the beginning, sex between a male and female are essential to the propagation of the human race. God says, "Be fruitful and multiply." But after that there are few stories about sex in the bible that are good. There are rapes. There is adultery and sexual exploitation as abuse of power that leads to murder. There are unwanted pregnancies. Because the human condition and biology drive sexuality into violence and oppression and abuse, the bible includes laws and prohibitions regarding sexual behavior. For example, sex with livestock is prohibited as is intercourse with a menstruating female. Sexual intercourse is prohibited outside of the public bonds of marriage. And the punishment for these 'sins' or crimes is severe. Adultery, having sex with someone other than one's spouse, is punishable by death. Now, in a male dominant culture this meant that women were held accountable for sexual sins unjustly. Men could accuse women and deny their own responsibility. Women who were raped could be charged with adultery and punished.
Jesus of Nazareth made little reference in his teaching to sexuality. He did not discuss the law's various prohibitions about sexual relations. He speaks of marriage and divorce briefly. On a couple of occasions, Jesus encounters women who are accused of sexual sins. He is accused of eating with tax collectors and sinners. It is implied in the Gospel of Luke that a certain woman who interrupts a dinner party to wash Jesus' feet with her tears is a sexual sinner. Jesus response to her is not to accuse or condemn her,but to forgive her. In the Gospel of John there is an exclusive story of a woman caught in adultery. She is brought to Jesus, who was teaching in the temple, by Pharisees and scribes (the Jewish keepers, interpreters, and practitioners of the religious law of God.) They bring her to him to test him. They say, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. Now in the law (Leviticus 20:10) Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. Now what do you say?" Jesus was bent over mysteriously writing on the ground with his finger. After continued questioning, he finally says to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin throw the first stone." Then he returned to his mysterious writing. The men drop their rocks and walk away. Left alone with the woman, Jesus asks, "Woman, who is it that condemns you?" "No one," she says. "Neither do I condemn you. Now go and sin no more," replies Jesus.
The verse in Leviticus that condemns her to death, also condemns the man. But no man was brought to Jesus, despite the woman having been caught in the very act of adultery. Why would they not accuse the man they caught with her? What prevented them from bringing both the man and the woman to Jesus? Is Jesus a feminist? A protector of women's rights? Does he recognize the sexual injustice perpetrated by the dominant males in that society? Does he perceive her as a victim?
Jesus publicly accuses the accusers, the Pharisees and scribes of private sins. Were they sexual sinners, too? Clearly, they understood by his teaching that their condemnation of her was unjust, unless they themselves stood condemned. Was she a threat to them somehow?
Jesus did not forgive her. But he did not condemn her either. Is there a difference?
I'd like Jesus to take a stronger stance here,denouncing the men's behavior and protecting women even more. He doesn't. But he does reject the law's condemnation in this case, because the witness' testimony was unreliable or biased against the truth. They tried to protect a man and accuse a woman of sexual misconduct. Was she a prostitute? And if she were, does that make her any less a victim of sexual abuse?
Prayer; O Lord, we pray for victims of rape, sexual violence, and abuse, and for their abusers; for prostitutes and those who are forced to sell their bodies; for an end to sex trafficking; for justice to prevail against men who hurt women, use them for sex, and abandon them. For men who father children out of wedlock and abandon the mother and the children. For single moms and children born out of sexual sin. We pray that your son's love and forgiveness would set us on a right pathway to embody the gift of goodness of sexuality, that we might partner with you in the loving work of creation. Amen.
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