This is
the fourth and final sermon in our series, “Them.” In this four-week series, we have focused on
the importance of social justice for God.
Again and again and again, God calls his people to be instruments for
social justice for the powerless and marginalized. Over the course of these four weeks, we have
examined “them’s” – groups of people who are marginalized in our society and
how God calls upon his people to work for justice for these marginalized
people.
This Sunday, November 25th, we complete this series by
examining one further marginalized group and what it would mean for them to
receive justice. This group is LGBT+
(Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered/Transsexual, plus others, such as
asexual or questioning, who feel they should be included in the LGBT group). Although the LGBT+ group has made significant strides
towards achieving justice, they continue to be marginalized in some significant
ways—especially within the Church.
Christians are deeply divided over these questions of
human sexuality. There are a few,
scatted Biblical passages which appear to prohibit same sex relationships.[1] Much of the division between Christians
centers on how we interpret these passages of scripture. On the one hand, based primarily upon these
scriptures, some Christians believe that LGBT+ practices are sinful and
inconsistent with Biblical teachings.
Yet, there
are divisions even among Christians who agree that LGBT+ practices are
sinful. At the extreme is a group who
believe that LGBT+ persons should be excluded from the sacraments and life of
the church. Even further to the extreme
are persons and congregations claiming to be Christians who believe that LGBT+
persons are sub-human and that “God hates fags.”[2]
A second
group is less extreme. Although this group
of Christians believes that LGBT+ lifestyles are sinful, they also note that
everyone is sinful in some way, and they suggest that LGBT+ persons are no more
sinful than everyone else.
Representative of this perspective are David Kinnaman and Gabe
Lyons. In their book, unChristian, they take a position that
homosexuality is sinful, based upon the condemnation of homosexuality in those scattered
passages from scripture. Yet, they
hasten to draw a distinction between a “sin” which they hate and the “sinner”
which they continue to love. The two
authors quote Shayne Wheeler, a pastor, who says, “The Bible is clear: homosexual practice is inconsistent with
Christian discipleship. But there is not
special judgment for homosexuals, and there is not special righteousness for
heterosexuals. For all of us, the only
hope for the fracture of our soul is the cross of Christ.”[3]
On the other
hand, many other Christians, do not view homosexuality as “inconsistent with
Christian discipleship,” at all. For
Christians in this group, the authority of scripture is just as important as it
is for Christians who condemn homosexuality as sinful. However, this perspective interprets the
scriptures differently. While these scriptures
condemn homosexuality, it is clear that these scriptural passages are not
focused on a mutually affirming, loving relationship between gay men or
women. For instance, two of the passages
in Genesis 19: 1-11 and Judges 19: 22-26 are about gang rape as acts of
violence towards strangers. Certainly,
Christians would condemn these acts as evil, regardless of whether it was
homosexual or heterosexual rape. Similarly,
in two of the passages from Paul’s letters (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1Timothy
1:10) there is debate among Biblical scholars concerning whether the specific
terms used by Paul should be translated in a way that implies homosexual
behavior.
My own
personal opinion is that the Bible does not condemn mutually loving and
affirming relationships between LGBT+ persons.
First, as noted above, it is clear that the scriptural passages are not
even talking about a mutually affirming, loving relationship between persons. Secondly, there is no “red thread” running
throughout the scriptures which consistently condemns LGBT+ people. Instead, the vibrant “red thread” running
throughout the scriptures is the call to love one another, as exemplified in 1
John 4: 19-20, “We love because God
first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love
God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love
a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not
seen.”
These
issues are certainly confusing, and Christians may disagree on the proper interpretation
of scripture. My denomination, the
United Methodist Church, will try to resolve these questions once and for all
at a General Conference to be held February 23-26, 2019. As we reflect in advance of the General
Conference, my proclamation this Sunday will be grounded in a passage of
scripture from the Gospel of Matthew:
He [Jesus] put before them
another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed
good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds
among the wheat, and then went away. So, when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds
appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him,
“Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds
come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to
him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied,
“No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them
grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn.” ’
Matthew 13:24-30
Since these issues are so confusing,
then perhaps we would do well to remember that only God is in a position to
judge. In this parable, Jesus argues
against building up boundaries, in order to have a “pure” community of faith. Rather, we should leave judgment of who is
good and who is evil to God. In other
words, we should let God be God. We should see the Church as open to all people—both
sinners as well as saints. So, without
pre-judging where or not LGBT+ people are sinners or saints, Jesus says that the
Church should welcome and love everyone.
During my meditation on Sunday, I
intend to distinguish between three important terms concerning the Church’s
stance towards the LGBT+ community:
1.
Welcoming/Accepting.
In this position, the church welcomes and loves LGBT+ people, but at the
same time it judges their lifestyles as sinful.
So, the attitude is one of welcoming and loving LGBT+ persons because “we
want you to get better.” This position
is exemplified by Christians, such as Kinnaman and Lyons, who claim that
homosexuality is sinful, but then insist that it is no more egregious than
other sins which “straight” Christians commit.
2.
Affirming.
In this position, the church not only welcomes the LGBT+ community, but
it also celebrates those persons and who those persons are, even if they are
different from the rest of the congregation.
This perspective could be grounded in Matthew 13:24-30 and 1 John
4: 19-20, which to repeat, says: “We
love because God first loved us. Those
who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those
who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom
they have not seen.”
3.
Reconciling. The reconciling position accepts everything
held by the Affirming
position. But, in addition, it
recognizes that historically the Church has done much harm to LGBT+ persons and to itself. In recognition of this history, a Reconciling community of faith seeks healing and transformation of animosity
into a loving relationship among all God’s children. Authentic reconciliation
requires working for justice and full inclusion of LGBT+ communities, both
within the Church and within society. I
believe that this perspective is also grounded in Matthew 13:24-30 and 1 John
4: 19-20.
In my assessment, my
congregation, Christ United Methodist Church, has moved well beyond Accepting
and is now somewhere between Affirming and Reconciling. In my proclamation, I will challenge our
community of faith to become a Reconciling congregation.
If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a
place of worship, then I invite you to come and join us at Christ United
Methodist Church this Sunday, November 25th, as we reflect on justice for the
LGBT+ community, both within the Church and secular society. Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A” Street in
Lincoln, Nebraska. Our two traditional
Worship Services are at 8:30 and 11:00 on Sunday morning.
Come, join us. Everyone is welcome and accepted because God
loves us all.
[1] These passages are Genesis
19:1-11, Judges 19:22-26, Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1
Corinthians 6:9-10, and 1 Timothy 1:10.
[2] Westboro Baptist Church in
Topeka, Kansas best epitomizes this extreme view. See their website: http://www.godhatesfags.com/. (Here, a caveat is order: Many other Christians—including myself—do not
think that Westboro Baptist and others who share their beliefs are actually
Christian because they fundamentally oppose so much of Christ’s teachings.)
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