by Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher
“Flee Sodom and Gomorrah. Flee the flame of every irrational appetite.” (Ode 3, Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete) We pray this during the first week of Lent.
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah exemplify the depth of humanity’s sin especially practiced as sexual perversion. The story of these cities situated at the south end of the Dead Sea is recorded in the Book of Genesis, chapters 18 and 19. “Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah has been completed, and their sins are exceedingly great’” (18:20). At the prayer of Abraham, God sent two angels to rescue Abraham’s nephew Lot from Sodom before the destruction of the cities according to God’s judgment of them.
The angels who appeared as men entered Lot’s home to lodge there, which is where the nature of Sodom’s sin was revealed. “[B]oth old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. Thus they called to Lot and said to him, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have (sexual) relations with them’” (19:4-5). Lot could not dissuade the Sodomites from their desire, so the angels struck the inhabitants with blindness and in the morning mercifully pulled Lot, his wife, and their two daughters out of the city, eventually taking refuge in the city of Zoar (Heb., meaning “little, insignificant”).
“Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven. Thus He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground” (19:24-25). Ignoring the angels’ warning, Lot’s wife famously looked back to see and became a pillar of salt. Hence our Lord’s warning concerning the judgment to come: “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk. 17:32).
Likening the city of Jerusalem to Sodom, the prophet writes: “Surely this was the lawless action of your sister Sodom, namely, arrogance. For in the fullness of bread and abundance of wine, she and her daughter lived in self-indulgence. This belonged to her and her daughters, but they did not give a helping hand to the poor and needy. So they were haughty and committed acts of lawlessness before Me; therefore I removed them as I saw fit” (Ez. 16:49-50). These acts of lawlessness are described earlier in the same chapter: fornication and prostitution indicative of the worship of false gods (idolatry), born from pride and resulting in self-gratification and inhospitality. Indeed, throughout the prophets, idolatry is likened to sexual immorality and adultery, that is, unfaithfulness to God (cf. Jer. 3:6-10; Hos. 2:2-5).
The Apostle Paul links the perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah – homosexuality – specifically to idolatry. “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature (i.e., lesbianism). Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful (i.e., homosexuality), and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (Rom. 1:24-27; italics mine).
The Apostle Jude calls this perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah “sexual immorality (fornication) and go[ing] after strange flesh (i.e., unnatural), set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (v. 7). The Apostle Paul warns, among other unrighteous practices, “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites…will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9, 10). The particular terms used here refer to both the passive (Gk., malakos; “soft/effeminate”) and active (Gk., arsenokoite; “male-copulater”; cf. 1 Tim. 1:10) partners in a homosexual act.
This is language reminiscent of God’s instruction through Moses. “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman (Gk., meta arsenos ou koimethisi koiten gynaikos). It is an abomination…Do not defile yourselves with any of these things (i.e., any number of sexual sins listed); for by all these ways of life the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before your face. For the land is defiled and on its account I am repaying them for their wrongdoing. Thus the land became vexed with those dwelling upon it. You shall therefore keep all My ordinances and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any resident alien who dwells among you” (Lev. 18:22, 24-26).
“Flee Sodom and Gomorrah. Flee the flame of every irrational desire.”
How can we do this, especially in a society in which every kind of sexual immorality and perversion is not only tolerated but celebrated and promoted?
First, as Christians we cannot practice or participate in such perversion in our own personal lives and thus, like Israel of old, become Sodom and Gomorrah ourselves (see Isa. 1:9-10). We must flee Sodom and Gomorrah in our own hearts, minds, and bodies. We cannot engage in homosexuality or accept it as normal. We cannot excuse as acceptable any sexual activity outside of the God-blessed relationship of husband and wife which is, by definition, marriage between a man and woman. We must avoid, as far as possible and within our own control to do so, all sexual temptation purposely presented in all forms of pornography, whether through visual or written media.
Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah means reaching a place of chastity, purity, and holiness in thought, word, and deed. “Flee sexual immorality…your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Cor. 6:18-20). “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. We are of God…Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4, 17).
We put off perversion by putting on Christ. We overcome the love of sinful desire by loving God instead, and the love of God leads us to seek and do His will, no matter how pleasurable satisfying our sinful lusts might be. “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:16-17).
Second, we Christians have a place of refuge from the perversion of this world. Though like Lot we might be vexed by the sight and sounds of wickedness all around us, “the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment” (2 Pet. 2:7-9). Our refuge is God Himself enthroned in our hearts through faith, especially as we take refuge in Christ in the Church, His Body.
Our Lord says, “[O]n this rock (i.e., Christ Himself) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). And earlier in the same Gospel: “And you, Capernaum (Jesus’ Galilean home-base for His ministry), who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained to this day” (Matt. 11:23); in other words, even the Sodomites can have salvation by acknowledging the Person of Christ Jesus in true repentance and faith.
The Church is the one place in this world where godliness in holiness prevails, if indeed, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit dwell among Christians, and Christians, in fact, follow their Lord and Shepherd to the eternal Kingdom of God. The Book of Revelation expresses it this way: “Blessed are those who do [Christ’s] commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev. 22:14-15).
