"O Lord, you have searched me and known me."

One of the benefits of following the lectionary in preaching and in personal devotions is that it helps one to struggle with scripture texts that one might otherwise avoid. This Sunday's text from I Corinthians 6: 12-20 brings us into the near context of one of the passages that lesbian and gay Christians often call "the clobber passages" because we find them so often used to condemn and exclude us from the church. I've always found it insulting when people suggest to lesbian and gay Christians that they do not know or have not read these passages. I believe every gay and lesbian Christian knows these passages all too well, and has had to struggle with them one way or another, and has had to seriously and prayerfully search their own consciences about their relationship to God and to their own sexuality. (And reading further along in I Corinthians suggests that heterosexual married folks should be searching their consciences in these matters as well.)

The lectionary also gives us another context--the context of the other readings that are brought together for a given Sunday. Psalm 139 is one of the other readings for this Sunday, and I quote it in the title of this post. The psalmist is aware that he or she can hide nothing from God, that God knows us through and through. There is an ambiguity in the Psalm. On the one hand the psalmist seems to righteously condemn "the wicked" and professes to "hate" those he or she identifies as God's enemies. On the other hand the psalmist then has to ask "is there any wicked way in me?" It is as though the psalmist senses that his/her "righteous hatred" may not be so righteous after all.

We can never be absolutely certain of our righteousness. We must always open our hearts to God's searching and be open to admit our selfish, self-serving and even hateful motives. And, yes, we must be always open to repent and amend our attitudes and behaviors. Lust, selfishness, greed can be present even in those relationships that are outwardly the most socially acceptable--even in "traditional" heterosexual marriages. And, even though Paul may rightly condemn prostitution--scripture gives us examples of righteous prostitutes like Tamar and Rahab. (The same may not be said for their clients, however.)

I Samuel 3:1-20, another of this Sunday's readings also addresses the issue of being open to God's voice. Eli the priest insists that Samuel not hesitate to tell him the truth, even though it seems that he suspects that the truth may not be welcome news. Eli hears the bad news (for his descendants) and accepts it as the word of God. It is always wise to let the light of truth shine into every corner of our lives.