We are pretty much at
the same place in the church today, as those Roman Christians long ago. What do we do
with those who go to scripture and say, let us show grace, mercy and compassion
to our gay sisters and brothers, aunts and nephews, sons and daughters? Did Jesus not lay down the golden rule
of treating others the way we would want to be treated if we were them? How does judgment and exclusion fit
with that aspect of the gospel?
Or what do we do with
those who go back to specific prohibitions and say that same sex relationships
are judged and found wanting to God? Does the gospel not call upon us to “speak the truth
in love” to one another? Where
does the call to holiness fit into all of this?
Pastor Ken Wilson’s Open
Letter To My Congregation has been a very helpful resource for me. Listen as he tries to point to a gospel
oriented away of dealing with our same sex relationship debate as a disputable
matter.
“The
rejection of all homosexual acts is rooted in a desire to uphold what is
understood to be the meaning of the prohibitive Scriptures and the tradition of
heterosexual marriage. It is an
attempt to be careful to walk in faithfulness to God.
Wilson goes on, “The rejection of exclusionary practices aimed at gay and
lesbian people is rooted in a desire to uphold Scriptures by seeking to
carefully understand its meaning in the original historical context and to
apply Scripture’s teaching carefully.
It is an attempt to uphold Scripture’s caution against religious zeal
that unintentionally accepts harm of the neighbor or fails to love the neighbor
well.
Both positions are principled positions seeking to uphold
important goods.”
Our current debate
seems to always divide into two positions:
There are those who
call upon the church to be “open and affirming” of all people—but
especially gay and lesbian people who have been marginalized for so long in our
culture and by the church.
And on the other
side there are those who espouse:
“love the sinner, hate
the sin” to care enough about gay and lesbian neighbors to
hold them accountable to what these Christians believe to be sinfulness in
their lives.
But I believe, along with Wilson and others, that it is time for us
to lay out another way, the apostle Paul’s Third Way. We need to accept
one another as brothers and sisters in Christ who disagree, who together go
back to the same scripture but who either put various passages in different
buckets, or who see the scriptures in smaller or larger contexts. Acceptance does not require us
to reach consensus—it doesn’t require full moral approval on the one hand, or
condemnation on the other hand, but it asks us to accept the other in the same
way we ourselves have been accepted by Jesus himself.
In this disputable matter we have the opportunity to witness to the world the gospel power
of acceptance, first and foremost to one another. But don’t kid yourselves, denominations are fracturing and
dividing over this, individuals are leaving or joining congregations based on
this, and of course there are all kinds of folks who are unconnected with
Christ who are hanging back watching all this going on, trying to determine if
there is anything to this Jesus message and the people who claim to live their
lives by it.
Of course we
can. We are committed, more than
ever, to live our lives by “this Jesus message.” Learning to practice acceptance within the church over our
divisions on gay and lesbian relationships is not a small step. It is not an
inconsequential thing. What we do
with that acceptance as we look outward to our larger community—Alas, that is
the subject of next week’s sermon.
Benediction:
There is more
anxiety around this issue than any other in the larger American church—at least
over those issues which we have wrestled with for some time. I have always wondered why. Ken Wilson, the Vineyard pastor from
Ann Arbor I quoted earlier offers this guess:
“Where
does this anxiety come from? Much
of it comes from the fear that our relationships with people wee care about
will suffer. It comes, more
precisely, from our fear that we won’t be accepted by those who disagree with
us. Our belonging will be threatened. The gospel imperative to accept each
other despite our differences over disputable matters is very good news indeed,
if we walk in it. It’s good for
us. It’s a relief to let go of all
the pressure that comes with having to judge this matter correctly. It’s a relief to know that we can hold
to our own convictions without our belonging being threatened.”
That, brothers and
sisters, is the unheralded glory of the gospel. You and I can hold our own convictions, in this church,
without our belonging in this community of faith being threatened
whatsoever. That, I believe is a
glimpse into the Kingdom of God that is breaking into this world. May it break in with even greater power
through us and our congregation—now and always. Amen.
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