Sermon 05.18.2025: Welcome to Sodom & Gomorrah!

A queer preacher takes on a notorious “clobber passage” and its history of pain and death. The sin of Sodom has nothing to do with same-sex marriage or trans children—and everything to do with willfully ignoring God's command to welcome strangers and practice hospitality. Let them know we are Christians by our love.



Scripture

Genesis 19:1-11, 15, 23-26 

And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Sermon

Sodom’s Legacy in Language.

Today we examine no one’s favorite Bible story, Sodom and Gomorrah, because it is foundational in understanding hospitality as a sacred command. You’ve heard this story, or heard of it. LGBT people of faith have had to wrestle with it—and defend ourselves from it—our entire lives. What assumptions do you bring this morning? Was Sodom and Gomorrah the Folsom Street Fair’s ancient evil twin, or can this scripture challenge us to examine our behaviors and become more like Jesus?

The King James Version of today’s passage is the origin of the phrase fire and brimstone. God rains down fire and brimstone on the wicked. This has been the Almighty’s PR nightmare for millennia. I mean, wasn’t it about ten chapters ago that God set a rainbow in the sky, and promise never again to destroy the earth by flood? [1] So fire and brimstone aren’t covered? If Torah was intended [2] to glorify and inspire our trust in God, to establish God’s fame among the nations, then our interpretation of Sodom needs our prayerful attention. Another phrase made famous by today’s reading—to know someone “in the biblical sense.” Such carnal knowledge is what the violent mob of Sodom demanded of the angelic outsiders. I promise to keep this sermon family-friendly today, more so than many TV commercials or any presidential address.

Trigger Warning. The violence in today’s scripture can be triggering. My experience tells me that some of us, whether online or here in person, have experienced sexual violence. You are safe here. You are not alone. Others among us have been the object of intimidation and bullying. How I wish it were not so common, but you attended junior high. That’s where it starts. Those sophomoric urges don’t go away. As we age, we cannot avoid participating in sinful systems, many that reward exploitation. You have heard. You have seen. Here today, let there be security, hope and healing.

All people are welcome in this place. [3] Lest someone get the wrong [4] idea, rest assured that all behaviors are not. In this place, no one is welcome to violate the image of God in another of God’s children. Pastor means shepherd. Shepherds care for the flock and protect the flock from wolves.

Sexual Brutality in the Ancient World.

When I was in seminary, various faculty members led a chapel series called “Bible Stories We Wish Weren’t There.” Our dean, Dr. Mary Ann Tolbert [5] preached a barnburner on Sodom and Gomorrah. She explained that, in the ancient world, sex was a zero sum game—an often-brutal encounter with winners and losers. Back then, sex could not occur between social equals. Sex determined who was more powerful and was often inflicted upon a foe, to commemorate a conquest, to claim power over an enemy. The text makes sure we know it was every man, young and old, who participated in this horrendous evil. The story is often used to condemn same-sex marriage. The men of Sodom were not looking for consensual or loving relationships, let alone marriage. The men of Sodom wanted to demonstrate superior power over these two outsiders. Why are they here? Are they coming to take our stuff, mooch off our bounty, eat our pets, to replace us? Ginning up fear is easy.

Spiritual Abuse of LGBTQIA+ Human Beings.

Quite cynically, this scripture is often used to incite hate and violence against harmless LGBTQ people. One Florida representative has called for our eradication. Harming the harmless is a time-old method to scare your way to power. Statically speaking, roughly one in ten people are LGBTQIA. [6,7] Therefore, it is impossible that every man in Sodom was suddenly gay. Even if Hugh Jackman and Ricky Martin were cast in the roles of those two angels, it couldn’t happen. Assuming Sodom’s men are 100% gay is ridiculous. Queer people are not groomers. The whole groomer scare is a well-orchestrated, defamatory lie. In my opinion, grooming (indoctrination) would include dismantling public education in order to brainwash children into fearing the world and accepting inappropriate behavior. That would be grooming.

Looking Back.

In his book [8] Unclobber, Colby Martin [9] wonders if Lot’s wife might offer us a new window to view this old story. She’s usually interpreted as the nameless woman who looked back, disobeying God and husband. What if, Martin argues, what if she looked back at the massacre out of concern? Perhaps they didn’t have the means to save themselves? [10] Maybe they were victims of misinformation, indoctrinated to value power and inhospitality. Scripture says God judged them as sinful. All of them, except Lot, Mrs. Lot and daughters, were the opposite of loving, hospitable and welcoming people. But they were her neighbors! Her friends. Of course she looked back. [11] And of course she perished. Who could look upon God’s rage and live? [12]

We carry the wounds of brutal images: the murder of George Floyd, the planes striking the World Trade Center. More recently, we've witnessed immigrants bent over with hands tied brutally forced through the El Salvador mega-prison while a government official poses in front of them, sexily. [13] We see the everyday violence of San Francisco, a daily juxtaposition of human misery alongside obscene prosperity. [14]

Our souls get wounded. We harden ourselves to bear witness to human misery. We turn to salt, bit by bit, not because God is mad at us but because we bear witness. We must. People of faith carry the wounds that love demands, salty scars, the inspiration to put our faith in action. Jesus told Thomas, place your hands in my wounds, feel the scars, and believe. People of faith walk through pain by helping others along the way. People of remove the wolves—but peacefully.

The Shocking Depth of the Command.

Lots offers his virginal daughters to the mob. This illustrates has women were property in the ancient world. It is, of course, disgraceful. Carden suggests that Lot is willing to sacrifice his daughters because of the serious obligation placed on him to demonstrate hospitality. For Lot, the command to welcome outsiders outweighed his obligations as a father. Perhaps the Bible ain’t the best source for modern parenting advice. We do not live in the world of 4,000 years ago. We have progressed. True human advancement comes by the grace and guidance of God. Do our daily choices reflect a commitment to the God of your understanding? Or are we tempted to serve other gods, a god of arrogance, a god unconcerned with the poor, a god of violent greed? To be so profoundly mistaken, says Richard Rohr, is to be seduced by the False Self. [15]

Sodomy: History Lesson.

The church didn't used to vilify same-sex relationships. It took awhile. Two of the oldest existing liturgies of the Early Church celebrate 1) a boy’s first haircut and 2) a same sex union. [16] The term sodomy [17]—as it is used today—wasn’t invented until the Middle Ages. Around the year 925, a devout Christian boy, Pelagius, refused to renounce Christ while insprisnoed by the Emir of Cordoba, a Muslim caliph. [18] The story goes that this Muslim ruler demanded the boy engage in sexual relations with him. Ten-year-old Pelagius refused, the they executed him.

The terms sodomy and sodomites were soon used by Christian Crusaders to vilify their Muslim “infidels”—enemies who, ironically like Pelagius, would not renounce their faith. The story of Sodom was twisted into a pretext for centuries of holy wars, the Crusades, the church’s supreme sin. This is not to downplay the boy’s death but rather to point out how abusive language evolved. Harming the harmless was the sin Sodom. Hospitality requires courage and peacemaking.

Last week, Marci preached on Abraham and Sarah, how they welcomed three strangers to their tent. Like them, we are called to treat strangers as we would treat Jesus himself. The Call to Worship and the Prayer of Confession today are from Matthew 25, words of Jesus commanding us to practice agape love. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, Listen! That’s me at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and break bread with you, and you with me.

Every outsider bears the face of Jesus Christ. Even though their city slogan was “Welcome to Sodom. When will you be leaving?” Abraham’s nephew, Lot, greets these undercover aliens, divine spies sent from the realm of heaven.

Hospitality Saves Lives.

When we practice hospitality, the life you save could be our own. Five years ago, my husband Lou and I opened our home to an asylum seeker from Guatemala. We knew nothing about him. Would he be trusted? Would he get along with us, with the dog? Would he be too traumatized to help? Could he speak English? One thing we did know was that he had survived several violent attacks. After coming out as gay, his parents and fourteen siblings rejected him.

(The medieval Crusaders found cohesion by demonizing their Muslim scapegoats. Every group of people organizes themselves against someone or something. [19] Someday we will confess this truth and find a better way. Until then, step one must be to notice and to admit that we have this problem. Once that idea is widely accepted, our politics will change. Our religion will change that we shall all be one.)

One night, he came to us, sheepishly. As he held the phone, an artificial voice read his words in English. “I have been asked to leave other places I stayed because of my secret, and I will understand if you want me to leave. I have to tell you something important. I have HIV.” Lou and I responded with our own stories, both of us HIV positive like him, Lou for over 40 years now, me over 30. We shared how we both had given up many times, given into the voices that told us we deserve it. Through hospitality, we saved him, and he continues to save us. We love and trust one another.

The Holy Spirit does some mighty fine work when we get out of her way. In this country HIV-positive people can live long lives thanks to medication, the same medication our country provided to poorer countries. Until recently. Our government has cancelled that life-saving USAID to save money and is withdrawing medical support for millions of poor people. Which does God call us to save—people or dollars?

Ezekiel 16:49-50 Defines Sodom’s Sin.

On the bulletin cover, Ezekiel explains the sin of Sodom. The people were arrogant, too wealthy, and unconcerned with the poor. Not one word about sexuality! Our current government is dominated by people who self-identity as Christians, but Rev. Raphael Warnock says, Jesus is a victim of identity theft.

True Christians welcome strangers. This land is your land, this land is my land; that’s hospitality. Christians do not traffic human bodies, shuffling them to faraway prisons. while abandoning our nation’s version of God-inspired justice and due process. People who follow Jesus will not perpetuate lies about their queer neighbors or ban children’s books that teach kindness and empathy. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Love does not prefer one race over another. Love does not scapegoat trans children. Love does not fly around in a palace made by human hands. [20]

Today’s story suggests that God will remove the wicked. Until then, what do we do? Humble us, God, out of our self-obsession and inspire the billionaires among us to help. Lead our church to spend our money on the healing of hospitality, to offer respite from the violence of this world, and we will do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with you, our God. For at the heart of our faith is a love that makes room for everyone. If we have real love we don’t just watch the destruction of cities. Real love rebuilds them. Amen.

1 Genesis 9:8-17, After the Flood

2 The Torah’s goals were (in-part) to identify, define and establish the monotheistic Jewish faith against the faiths of non-Jews (“pagans”). Torah sets the rules for God’s early people.

3 For a decade, a sign hung on the exterior of the church “We welcome everyone. Really.” This sign proved to be hugely welcoming to new member, but it provoked those who clutched the benefits of social status into fits of privilege. Likewise, the sign invited as many boundarytesting individuals whose behavior proved just as unacceptable for the shepherds of this flock.

4 A longstanding bit of misinformation regarding liberal Protestantism is “anything goes.”

5 “Dr. Mary A. Tolbert | Profile”, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed May 14, 2025, https://lgbtqreligiousarchives.org/profiles/mary-atolbert.

6 Claire Cain Miller & Francesca Paris, “Nearly One in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as L.G.B.T.Q., Survey Finds” New York Times, February 20, 2025. accessed online at (May 15. 2025)

7 Using this statistic as a guide: 800,000,000 queer people worldwide, 34,000,000 in the USA.

8 Colby Martin, Unclobber: Rethinking our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality, Louisville, Kentucky USA: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022. Read this book.

9 I misspoke when I preached this sermon the first time. My apologies to both Martin and Carden.

10 Michael Carden, The Queer Bible Commentary 2nd edition (London: SCM Press, 2022), 20.

11 This poem is brilliant. https://onbeing.org/poetry/of-course-she-looked-back/

12 Exodus 33:20 illustrates YHWH as one whose glory must not be witnessed.

13 Christi Noem’s display of power over illustrates exactly the sin of Sodom, in this preacher’s opinion.

14 There are at least 58 billionaires in San Francisco (pop. 809,000). https://www.forbes.com/sites/gennacontino/2025/04/02/the-cities-with-themost-billionaires-2025/

15 https://cac.org/daily-meditations/what-is-the-false-self-2023-08-08/

16 John Boswell, Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe, Vintage Press, 1995.

17 Mark Jordan, The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology (University of Chicago Press, 1997), 10.

18 ‘Abd al-Rahmân III of Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain/Iberia

19 See René Girard’s book The Scapegoat

20 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-poised-accept-palace-sky-gift-trump/story?id=121680511