What Does God Say About Homosexuality?

Sunday, June 27, 2004

PASTOR BURCHAM'S SERMON

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The topic of homosexuality is surrounding us in our society and in our culture. You turn on prime-time TV, you flip over to any one of the sitcoms, usually they have a gay character in it. It has become as common as the laugh track. You switch over to the news, and you'll find there are battles going on legislatively. And we have gay marriages happening in several states and people fighting for that and taking things all the way up to the Supreme Court. You switch over from there, and you find out that even the church is not exempt from the ensuing battle because large denominations, thankfully not ours but others, are struggling with the fact of whether they're going to ordain openly gay people into the ministry. Certainly, all of you heard about the Episcopal priest who was appointed as a bishop although he was living an openly gay lifestyle.

And we here in Des Moines don't escape from it either. If you were watching the news a few months ago, you saw the couple who are going to Drake who traveled out to San Francisco and had their same sex marriage done there and then traveled back. If you read the newspapers, you find out there is a young man in Perry who is suing the school officials because he says they tolerated, even encouraged, the bullying he had to endure for his years of high school because he was labeled as being a homosexual.

The topic is all around us. We cannot ignore it. In fact, what we need to do is hear from God's Word. What does God say about homosexuality, and how are we as a church to respond? Now I don't mind telling you that it's an uncomfortable subject for me to be up here talking about, and it's probably an uncomfortable topic for you. I stepped into the pulpit this morning with a little bit of fear and trepidation, but I do that because I fear I could be misunderstood. So I'm going to ask two things of you. The first one is that you would listen to all of the message this morning, that you wouldn't stop short, in other words, that you don't hear one point I may have to make and all of a sudden draw the conclusions of everything else I'm going to say. Listen to all I have to say, if you would. And the second point is to realize that, in the 20 minutes or so you grant me on Sunday morning, there's no way I can cover the whole topic. There's no way I can talk about all the instances and nuances this topic deserves. So just come at it with that realization. We can't cover the whole thing. But, hopefully, prayerfully, and by God's grace, we can address this in a very open and frank matter and hear what God has to say.

As we begin the discussion then, there's a starting point we have to have and that is: What about homosexuality? What are some basic questions, some groundwork we need to do before we can even get into what God has to say? The first thing is terminology. We need to make sure we're on the same playing field as our terminology because, otherwise, there's been a lot of misunderstanding, particularly a lot of misunderstanding between the gay community and the church and its perception of how the church wants to treat it. So when we talk about homosexuality or homosexuals, then I think we need to distinguish between two things, two terms we need to understand. There's homosexual orientation, and there's homosexual behavior. Homosexual orientation is when a person is sexually attracted to a person of the same sex. Homosexual behavior is when someone acts upon that orientation, in other words, when a person is sexually active with someone of the same sex. So there's the difference between orientation and behavior. Orientation is that the person is attracted to someone of the same sex. That's different than behavior.

Unfortunately, the church has been misunderstood throughout the years because the homosexual community hears the church saying homosexuality is a sin, homosexuality is wrong. And what they interpret is their orientation, something which they consider out of their control, something that is not by their choice and they're being condemned because of their orientation. So we need to distinguish between orientation and behavior.

The second thing is we need to talk about the origin of homosexuality. How is it that some people are homosexual and some people are heterosexual? How does that come about? Where does that determination come from? Well, the simple answer to that is there is no simple answer to that. There is no concrete evidence one way or the other. There is no good answer. In other words, there are some on the debate that say really what's happening here is something as far as nature is concerned, that it's a biological thing, that it's something that happens in the gene pool and, when a person is born, they're either heterosexual or they're homosexual. The problem is there is no concrete scientific evidence that backs that up. There's no conclusive evidence that says a person is heterosexual or homosexual because of something in their genes or something in their biological makeup. The other side of the argument then is it's all about nurture, that is, it's about the environment, how the person grew up, the environment they lived in. Maybe it's because of abandonment. Maybe it's because of abuse and a whole list of other things, and they say that's what formed the person and that's why they have gone from heterosexual over to homosexual. Once again, there are no conclusive studies on this. In fact, there's even less study on this than the biological part of it. So one cannot say whether it's nature or whether it's nurture or whether it's a combination of the two. But, ultimately, the answer of why there is homosexuality in the world is because we live in a fallen and sinful world. That is the ultimate answer.

God created a perfect world and, when He created a perfect world, He created a perfect man, Adam, and He created a perfect woman, Eve. And man had an attraction for woman, and woman had an attraction for man. Adam was attracted to Eve, and Eve was attracted to Adam. And that is how God designed it. That's how God created us. He created us as sexual beings, both male and female, and He created us that we would be attracted to one another, that we would be attracted to people of the opposite sex. But sin entered into our world. And when sin entered into our world, it infected every aspect of our world. It infected all of creation and it infected all of who we are, which means it also infected even the natural order of our sexual orientation. Everything has been infected because we're in a fallen and sinful world. Therefore, the ultimate answer of where does homosexuality come from, it comes from the fact that we live in a sin-filled world, a fallen world.

There's one other point we need to make, and this is an important note. The important note is this: It is incorrect to assume all homosexuals have knowingly chosen to be homosexual. It's incorrect to assume that every person who says they have a homosexual orientation chose to be a homosexual. In fact, if you think about that for a moment, who in their right mind would make that choice? Who in their right mind would make that choice and make themselves the brunt of so much abuse? I don't care what the agendas are out there. I don't care how much they're trying to push equality. You and I both know, in the real world, if somebody identifies themselves as being gay, they are going to be abused and they're going to be harassed and they're going to be ostracized by society. I think we need to ask ourselves why would anybody consciously make that choice. It's incorrect to assume that all homosexuals knowingly make that choice.

If we want to bring this all together, pull the facts together, our starting point is this: While a person may not be able to control the inclination they have towards a homosexual orientation, they can control their behavior. While their orientation may not be a decision they make, their behavior is a decision they make. So the distinction between orientation and behavior is very important.

So what does God say? What does God's Word say? God's Word is crystal clear on this, and you can't get around it. No matter how much exegesis you may want to do, no matter how much study you want to do, no matter how many different angles you may want to look at the texts from scripture, you cannot get around the fact that homosexual behavior is wrong and sinful in God's eyes. That's an established fact from scripture, Old Testament, New Testament, they say the same thing. Leviticus 18:22, “Do not lie with a man as you would with a woman.” Romans 1:26-27, we read it a few moments ago. He said they exchanged natural relations for unnatural relations. It is an unnatural relation for a man to be attracted to a man. It's an unnatural relation for a woman to woman. God designed it to be man and woman. God's Word is clear. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, St. Paul has a whole list of sexual sins and, in those sexual sins, he mentions homosexuality. So the first point, but don't stop at the first point, is God is crystal clear, homosexual behavior is wrong. It's sinful. It's against God's order.

God's Word is clear also on another point. God's Word says we are to hate the sin, but we are to love the sinner. So, on the one point, we say God is crystal clear, homosexual behavior is wrong and sinful, but, at the same time, God's Word is equally clear in saying we hate the sin but we are to show love and compassion towards the sinner. God desires all people would be saved, and God wants to call all people to repentance, and He wants all people to know the forgiveness of Jesus. God has chosen to do that through us. In other words, God has chosen us, and we are sinful human beings, to reach out to other sinful human beings and to reach out to them with the saving message of Jesus. All of us fall short of God's glory. All of us are sinful and, in God's mind, there is no distinction between one sin and another sin. It should be important to note, in Leviticus, in Romans, in Corinthians, where God talks about the sin of homosexuality, He talks about it in the context of all the sexual sins. It's no different than adultery. It's no different than fornication. It's no different than perversion. It's no different than stealing, coveting, taking God's name in vain. All of them fall short of what God expects of us. God does not rank one sin above another sin. So all of us are in the same boat, so God says to us, one sinner to another sinner, we are to reach out in love and compassion. We do not condone the sin, but we are still to love the person.

When it comes to homosexuality, I think we have a great challenge. And I think we need to be honest about that. Do we treat homosexuals the same way we do everyone else? Do we show them the same love and compassion God has for all people? Put it this way, and it's a hard question you have to ask. Would you treat a homosexual the same way you would treat an adulterer or would you distinguish between the two? Would you be more accepting of one than the other? God's not. God's Word is clear, clear in both areas. Homosexual behavior is wrong, but all sin is wrong. And all of us are sinners, and all of us need forgiveness through the blood of Jesus.

So what really brings the question is how do we respond as a church? What is going to be the response of God's church? What's going to be the response of our church? God's Word is clear, but how does that get translated into a response to the world? There are two responses that I think are awfully important, in no particular order, so why I put this one first, I don't know. But the first response is this: We will not give into the pressures of this world, and right now there is a great deal of pressure. We cannot stick our head in the sand and pretend there is not a gay agenda out there, because there is. There is an agenda out there that wants to promote a homosexual lifestyle, to promote the fact there's no difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals. It's the same as if a person is right-handed or left-handed. It really doesn't matter, and we should treat them all the same. We're not talking about orientation here. We're talking about behavior, that homosexual behavior should be condoned. It should be blessed. It should be fine. We should welcome it. We should it see no different than the heterosexual. We will not buy into that agenda. We will not succumb to the pressure of society. We will not succumb to the false allegations that we're judgmental, that we're harsh, that we're mean, that we're unloving. We will stand firm on God's Word.

Now let's talk for a minute, because all churches have not. And we need to discuss that. Not all churches have stood firm. Some churches have given in, in one degree or the next, to the society's agenda, to the gay agenda of promoting and saying that homosexuality is accepted, it's fine, and there's nothing wrong with it. There are some churches, in their eyes, it is no different whether a person is right-handed or left-handed or whether they're heterosexual or homosexual. Some churches have gone on to say God has made us who we are, and God made each one of us individually. So He made some of us heterosexual, and He made some of us homosexual and we are to accept all of God's people for the way He made them. In fact, some have even gone so far as to say homosexuality is a gift from God and the homosexual person should rejoice and be glad in this gift God has given to them. This viewpoint fails in two important areas, and hear both of them. It fails because it fails to respect the authority of God's Word in scripture. No amount of exegesis, no amount of study, no amount of different translations, no amount of looking at society can change the meaning of God's Word. Homosexual behavior is forbidden by God. It is sinful. It is wrong. To do anything less than that is going against God's Word. To men, it betrays exactly what St. Paul was talking about in the lesson we read for today. It was the end of Chapter 1. He said this, “Although they know God's righteous decree and that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Approve of those who practice them. They have fallen short in respecting God's authority and God's Word.

The second area which they fail is I believe they fail the homosexual community. I think they fail to realize the complexity and the struggles every homosexual person has to endure, that they have oversimplified something and tried to gloss over something that cannot be simplified and cannot be glossed over. To say to a homosexual, God made you this way, if they're not saying it outwardly, they're saying it inwardly, then what kind of a cruel joke is that God played on me? What kind of a cruel joke would that be of God that 97% of the population is heterosexual and now He made me homosexual? What kind of a cruel joke would that be because every person knows, every person, whether they're straight or whether they're gay, they know homosexuality is a distortion of our sexuality. It is distorted. It is not how God designed it. Let me be real up front about something. Every person knows one of the primary fundamental purposes of our sexuality, not the only one, but a primary one, is biological reproduction. That means every homosexual knows they are distorted. They will never know the complimentary love of the opposite sex, and they will never know the joy of having children. I think it is unfair and it is uncaring to say God made you that way and rejoice in that. That is disrespectful to them and the struggle they face every day. To pretend all is well when all is not well, that may be the most insensitive thing the church can do. Out of respect for God's Word and even out of respect for the homosexual community, we will not give in to the agenda of society. We will stay firm on God's Word.

The second response is we will be sensitive to the struggles of the homosexual community. We need to be sensitive to the struggles because, if a homosexual wants to be faithful to God, they are in for a struggle. And we need to be sensitive and be aware of the struggles they have, and we dare not oversimplify it. And oversimplification would be to say to the homosexual, “Well, you just need to repent of your sin, receive God's forgiveness, and know God has the power to change your orientation.” We dare not stop there and oversimplify the whole matter for them as if that's going to cure everything and everything is going to be fine. Now don't get me wrong. Do I believe God has the power to change a person's orientation? You bet I do. In fact, I know He's done it. But do I also believe God has the power to remove cancer from a person? You bet I do, and I've seen it done. But does God remove the cancer from a person each and every time they pray for it? No. Does God cure the diabetic each and every time they pray for a cure? No, he doesn't. Sometimes, God allows us to struggle with something, and He doesn't take it away. Just because a person prays to God to change their orientation doesn't mean God's going to do it. God indeed will strengthen them and will empower them not to have the behavior, but their orientation may not change. God, in His wisdom, may decide to let them struggle with that in the same way God lets St. Paul struggle with what he called a thorn in the flesh. In scripture, he says he prayed God would remove it three times. But God says, “My grace is sufficient.” St. Paul concluded from those words that he would have this thorn in the flesh so he would know he had to rely on God and God would use it to strengthen his faith. Sometimes God doesn't remove the thorn. God indeed will empower the person to control their behavior, but God may or may not change their orientation.

We have to be honest in our message to the homosexual community. Our message needs to be clear, and it needs to be honest and up front with them. We need to let them know God says this behavior is wrong and it's sinful. We need to let them know there is forgiveness for that as there is forgiveness for every sin, because there's no difference between that sin and the rest of the sins we commit. But we also need to be open and honest with them in saying God may or may not change the orientation. In other words, you may have a lifetime of struggle, a lifetime of struggling with who you are in your sexual identity. But then we better follow that up by saying we're going to walk beside you and we're going to help carry that burden along with you, the church is not going to turn its back, the church isn't going to want to push them over into a corner and ostracize them or be repulsed by them. But the church should be one place where they would be welcomed, where God's Word is preached clearly and the sin, like any sin, is not condoned but the fellowship of believers comes together to help support them in the struggle they're in for and to give them the encouragement and the power they need in their lives.

How are we going to do that? I don't know. We have to wrestle with this, and we're not going to finish it this morning. How is it we can reach out with God's love, the homosexual community? I don't know. Because in reaching out to them, we will be honest with them about God's Word. And what I suspect happens is they misunderstand or they don't hear the whole thing and all they hear is God condemns and does not condone the behavior and, at that point, they walk away ashamed, saying they're being judged and ostracized and it's the same old thing again. So how do we reach out also with the gospel message and the power God wants for their lives? I don't know, but I know we have to try because it's only going to get more prevalent, because the agenda is being pushed forward in society. It's happening in the government. It's happening in our schools, and it's going to happen even more. And we have to be ready and willing with our response, and we need to reach out with compassion and love and, at the same time, remain true to what God has said. We're going to have to wrestle with it. How can we not condone the sin and still love the sinner? How can we walk along side and help them in their struggle? At this point, pray that by God's grace He reveals that to us because I believe that's what we need. Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church