Today’s Scripture Reading (August 18, 2012): Numbers 25
I know that
the church’s stand on sexual activity is considered to be archaic by some. It
is an artifact left over by from a time when we did not understand sexually
transmitted diseases and pregnancy to the point that we do now (and yet we
still get caught – go figure. If, as a world, we would follow the Biblical
mandates concerning our sexual lives, we would almost wipe out sexually
transmitted diseases in a single generation.) But when we focus ourselves on
the act of sex think we really miss the point.
Our
sexuality is more than just the physical act of sex. The familiar instruction (and
yes, from the Bible) is that two become one. Somehow, through the sexual act,
we begin to be knitted together. We begin to adopt the life of the other – and the
purposes of the other. There is really no such thing as casual sex. There is
sex where we stop the knitting process early. A number of years ago, a friend
of time spent some time with a prostitute. And I remember him telling me that
after the sexual act they were lying in bed together and he asked the question –
you had fun, right. And her response was that she did (it was an answer dominated
by good business sense), but as I heard him tell the story, I think I realized
what he had missed. The sex had come at cross purposes; my friend was looking
for connection. And he was starting to sow the seeds of that connection; he had
begun the process of becoming one with someone that he was paying to be there.
And I think if there was honesty on her part, the same action had started in
her, but she was a little more practiced than my friend at stopping the “becoming
one” process that was going on. The sexual act involves so much more than just
the physical body – it involves all of us.
Balaam understood
that. So if he was to disrupt the purposes of the God of Israel (a real God
that he believed in) what he needed to do was change the purposes of Israel. It
had to be more than just a thought – it had to be a thought that would be transferred
into an action. And the idea was a simple one – he would get them sexually
involved with the women from Moab. And in that process, their purposes would
change. Even which god that Israel would serve would change in the knitting
process. Everything that made Israel special would be lost. And that is the
danger of the sexual relationship that is entered into on the spur of the
moment. It is why I do not believe in love at first sight, and in fact believe
that sex and marriage should not even be considered within the first eighteen
months of a relationship – because it takes at least that long to get beyond
the chemical and begin to understand the person that you are taking into your
bed. And I understand that that sounds archaic, but it protects who it is that
you are so that when you begin the knitting process you will be knitted
together with someone who, in the special ways, support the special person that
is you.
I am sure
that the men of Israel never intended to lose that which was special about
them. They were not trying to risk their relationship with God, or even
considering changing the God that they served. All they wanted was physical
sex, but they did not understand where that union would eventually take them.
Perry Noble says it this way. “Sin will take you further then you ever intended
to go, stay longer than we intended to stay, and pay a higher price than ever
intended to pay.” Far from being an archaic rule, it is part of the process of
protecting the special person that God has created you to be.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers
26
Note: Tomorrow (Sunday, August 19, 2012),
VantagePoint Community Church will be celebrating their Party at the Point. The
service will start at 11 and be followed by free hot dogs and pop and games and
music. If you are in the Edmonton Area, come and have a hot dog on us – we would
love to meet you. I hope to see you there.
No comments:
Post a Comment