Given the breadth and depth of the hurt, discrimination, and senseless deaths brought about by the homophobic reading of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is critical to go back to what Jesus said about the matter. And what other Biblical passages say.
Sunday's lection has Jesus telling the disciples, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town."
The prophetic tradition describe what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah as God's judgment against the people's pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease while neglecting the poor, the needy, and strangers.
One word: inhospitality. Over and over in the Bible, God calls God's people to always care for and to welcome widows, orphans, and strangers. Sodom and Gomorrah failed to do these. Many in Jesus's time failed as well.
Are we guilty of the real sin of Sodom and Gomorrah?
*art, "Sarah and Abraham offer hospitality to the Visitors," mosaic, Ravenna, Italy (from the vanderbilt divinity library digital archives).
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