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Today is the 7th in our 8 part series on
difficult and controversial issues before us in our society.
Two to go—today and next Sunday—then I’m taking a vacation! It
has been a difficult series—for me and for you—and I
appreciate you hanging in there with me. The only way this is
possible is by following the command to love found in 1
Corinthians 13:1-3, which has served as our basic text for this
entire series. In a moment I’ll be reading from two other
passages, difficult passages related to our topic for today, but
at the core of this series and our conversations on these topics
is 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 which, if I may paraphrase it for
today, says “You may have great things to
say, good arguments for your position, you may even be dead on
right about the subject, but if you do not have love in
your words and deeds you are nothing but a noisy gong and
crashing cymbal.” Or, in other words, without love at the core,
no one’s hearing you and you are not effective or constructive
in any way in the conversation.
That is especially true with
today’s topic—sexuality. And, you’ll note it’s not just the
topic of homosexuality because I’ll be talking also about how we
express our heterosexuality. Too often in this discussion we
target the behavior of homosexuals while ignoring, or worse yet,
winking at the behavior of heterosexuals. We must stop doing
that. So today, the topic of sexuality—both homo and
heterosexuality.
The first place of struggle
with this topic—or any topic for that matter—is the area of
authority. By what standard are we guided as THE authority for
what we say and do about any matter in life, and especially for
today, sexuality? For the Christian, the line of authority
looks like this. The first and ultimate authority is the
Bible. Whatever the topic is, the starting place for our
understanding of what God’s will is for us on that topic is Holy
Scripture. Then, building on that foundation would be—the
teachings and traditions of the Church and our discerning of
God’s prompting us through His Holy Spirit at work in us. Some
of you will recognize that in another form I often refer to—the
Authority Triangle.
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SCRIPTURE |
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CHURCH TEACHING
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HOLY SPIRIT
PROMPTINGS |
Whatever you put at the top of the triangle
is the primary authority for what you say and do about a
particular topic. For Christians, and especially for us as
products of the Reformation, the ultimate authority is
Scripture, with the teachings of the Church and the promptings
of God’s Holy Spirit guiding us as secondary authorities. John
Wesley added a fourth block to sources of authority for
us—reason. All four “blocks,” if you will, provide
authoritative guidance to us for determining God’s best for us
on all matters in life. Add to that the goal of balancing
“grace and truth” on all matters and you have some idea of the
pathway to walk in discussing and living out any topic we face
in life. But, the primary authority is Scripture. We must
first wrestle with Scripture, we must harmonize whatever we
might say or do about a particular topic by what Scripture leads
us to believe—all within a spirit of grace and truth. And, it
is indeed a wrestling match. Like Jacob with God (Genesis
32:22-32, where Jacob’s name gets changed to Israel which
means “wrestles with God!”), we wrestle with God’s word for us
in Holy Scripture.
Regarding matters of sexuality,
the Bible has a lot to say. Which reminds me of the error of
Madeline Murry O’Hare, the vocal atheist And the clear teaching
of Scripture regarding sex is that God created it, designed it
and gives it to humanity as a gift…but only within the
parameters of marriage between a man and a woman. Within the
creation story, and later affirmed by Jesus himself, “For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united
to his wife, and they will become one flesh,” (Genesis 2:24
and Mark 10:7, 8). The two, a man and a woman, become through
marriage one flesh—and that oneness is not just physical, but
spiritually and emotionally as well. But it is also certainly
physical through the act of sex as God designed it. That is
what Scripture clearly leads us to believe. The Bible has
nothing positive to say about sex outside of the parameter of
marriage between a man and a woman. Whether heterosexual: In
the Old Testament—Abraham and Sarah “helping God out” in His
promise of a son to be born to them by offering Sarah’s servant,
Hagar, to Abraham to bear him a son (Genesis16); or Judah’s
dalliance with what he thinks is a temple prostitute but turns
out to be his widowed daughter-in-law, Tamar (Genesis 38); or
David’s seduction of Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11); In the New
Testament—Paul’s admonitions against sexual immorality (cf. 1
Corinthians 6:12-19; Ephesians 5:3), and Peter’s (1 Peter 4:3).
Or homosexual:
In the Old Testament the prohibitions in
the Holiness Code of Leviticus (Leviticus 18 and 20); In the New
Testament—Paul (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). The
clear and unequivocal teaching of Scripture—and the traditions
of the Church for that matter—is sexual relations outside of
marriage between a man and a woman fall outside the created
order God intended before sin entered the world.
Now, let’s be clear about
something. There are many acts that fall outside God’s intended
order for His creation—some that we would immediately recognize
in our own lives. A partial list would include Galatians
5:19-21, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual
immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the
like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Or, in 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, “Or do you
not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolators
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
All of us can find ourselves somewhere on
that list. And if that was the end of the story, none of us
would have a hope or a prayer. But that is not the end of the
story. For Galatians 5 goes on to speak of the fruit of the
Spirit at work in those who diligently and faithfully seek
Christ: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its
passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep
in step with the Spirit.”
Or, as Paul immediately continues after
those difficult words of 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10, “And that
is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God,” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
The point is this: All of us can identify
some area of brokenness in us that falls outside the created
will of God. But we are not left with that brokenness. For
there is redemption and transformation possible through the
power of Christ at work in us. The fruit of the Spirit, the
washing, sanctifying and justifying work of Christ is available
to us. God seeks to redeem us from our brokenness—and the
Church ought not condone any behavior from which God seeks to
redeem.
So, how do we appropriately
respond as Christians and as the Church to this difficult topic
of sexuality?
First, we must admit and acknowledge
our own brokenness. Much of the verbiage on this topic comes
from an “holier-than-thou” attitude. That must change. All of
us are broken in some way and we ought to readily admit that and
approach any conversation on someone else’s brokenness with
humble awareness and acknowledgement of our own brokenness. You
know…that “remove the log from your own eye before removing the
speck from your neighbor’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5) stuff.
Second, the Church must speak to a
confused world a clear word about God’s intended order for
sexual relationships. Not just in matters of homosexuality, but
also in matters of heterosexuality. The sexual revolution of
the ‘60’s hit and the Church didn’t know how to respond. The
arrival of more effective birth control weakened the admonition
that one didn’t engage in such activity because one might get
pregnant. We lost our voice in calling for purity and chastity
toward building a truly loving relationship with the one person
we would eventually marry. Like all good things in creation, a
counterfeit exists for the gift of sex as God intended it. The
consequence is the confusion of lust for love—and countless
numbers of people committing to relationships in the midst of
that confusion, experiencing the physical becoming one flesh
without the intended coinciding spiritual and emotional
oneness. And as great as the gift of sex is, it was never
intended to be, nor will it ever be the glue that holds a
relationship together. The world needs the Church to be a clear
voice about matters of sexuality, about all the boundary lines
for that matter, that God designed, created and intended for His
people—faithfully doing so regardless of the cynicism or
ridicule that will come. And it will come…because during the
time of the Church’s lost voice the world has strayed far away
from God’s best for their lives.
Third, the Church, specifically
individual Christians that make up the Church, must stand with
those who struggle with this issue—and stand against those who
vilify them. Without condoning behavior from which God seeks to
redeem, we must walk with those who struggle with the issue of
sexuality in all its expressions.
And, finally, we must do so always
proclaiming the good news of God’s cleansing power that
justifies and sanctifies all who follow Christ.
Let’s take a
moment for silent reflection.
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