I LISTENED TO A SERMON YESTERDAY ABOUT SEX.
That was odd.
The pastors even warned off the kids, grade 6 and under, inviting parents to send them to the children’s program, which is probably where kids should be anyway if they hope to get anything age-appropriate out of the day.
We’ve been in a sermon series called “Wrestling with the Bible.” The pastor, Adam Hamilton, had surveyed the congregation before the series, to get sermon ideas. He said the top vote-getter was homosexuality…specifically, what we’re to make of the Bible’s stern take on the matter.
“If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense” (Leviticus 20:13, NLT).
Even Paul, in the New Testament, seems to take his cue from Jewish laws like this. He said “men who have sexual relations with other men. . . will not inherit God’s kingdom” (1 Corinthians 6:10 NCV).
Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, the Kansas City area, said he wondered if the Jewish law reflected more of ancient thinking and culture that it reflects the attitude of an unchanging God.
One of his many questions for us: Would God really want us to go out and kill our gay brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews?
Jesus went on the record sparing a woman caught in the act of adultery, though it was another capital offense, according to Jewish law.
Jewish Law:
“If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10 NLT).
Jesus:
“Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you…Neither do I. Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).
The pastor said he didn’t believe that rethinking the Bible’s teaching about homosexuality is a matter that undermines Scripture. Instead, he said it’s a matter of how to understand and interpret Scripture.
He said his church, my church, welcomes gay worshipers as it does any other worshipers. But the denomination stops short of ordaining gay ministers. He said if American pastors voted on whether or not to do that, the Methodist Church would be pretty well split in two. A 50/50 vote.
In the week leading up to this sermon, the infamous Fred Phelps stopped by with his infamous signs: God Hates Fags. Mr. Phelps, a disbarred lawyer, pastors mainly members of his gene pool at Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.
So. Who got it right? Adam Hamilton? Fred Phelps? Or none of the above?
I’ll post a link to Rev. Hamilton’s sermon once it goes up on the church’s website.
I personally believe God loves us all. Having said that I also believe he expects us to behave in a manner befitting His will. To me, that indicates we will love and accept everyone, regardless of their life style and/or beliefs. We aren’t required to agree with them necessarily but we should as Christians we willing to welcome them into our lives and hearts. If we are unwilling to do this speaks much more to our character than theirs in my humble opinion
The tough part for many Christians is trying to figure out how accepting to be.
Do we take the position that the gay lifestyle is compatible with Christianity, and go so far as to ordain gay ministers?
To many Christians, that seems like reversing the Bible teaching. As though we’re saying gay is okay when the Bible says it’s not okay at all.
The matter gets down to how literally we interpret the Bible as God’s message to us. Some take the Bible fairly literally, all the way through. Others read humanity into much of the history and even some of the teachings.
Steve,
I’m glad yorare referenced the verses about adultery. As I listened to the same sermon, I could not stop thinking about the question of adultery. Every argument that Adam made about homosexuality would also seem to apply to adultery as well. The Bible treats them the same, in both the Old and the New Testaments. Leviticus 20:10 condemns adulterers to death, the same as homosexuals are condemned. In addition to the passage you cited in John 8, here’s how the Apostle Paul describes these two activities:
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality” 1 Corinthians 6:9
To Paul, there was no difference. But just because we recognize the ancient Levitical penalties for these activities are no longer appropriate (I don’t think they were often applied during the time Jesus lived either), does that *really* mean the activities themselves are no longer considered a sin in the eyes of God? I don’t think so.
Because we no longer burn prostitutes, don’t you think God continues to consider prostitution a sin? Because we no longer throw large rocks at our disobedient children until they die, don’t you think God still wants children to honor our parents? Just because we no longer kill adulterers, don’t you think God’s heart breaks when people’s lives and hearts are broken because of this activity?
For the people who struggle with the sin of homosexuality, I love them, I pray for them, I welcome them to come and sit with as we worship God together. Both of us broken sinners in desperate need of God’s grace and mercy. But I would never try to convince them their choices were not a sin in the eyes of God, and I pray they wouldn’t try to deceive me into thinking my sins were “OK” with God either. That wouldn’t be Christian love. It would be quite the opposite – namely fear.
On sunday, Adam reviewed the Bible verses that reference this issue, but he did not discuss the most amazing one. In Genesis 1:27, God reveals that He made us in His own image:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
And amazingly, in this same verse, He reveals that this Imago Dei has something to do with being created “male and female”. Man and woman, together within our divinely ordained marriage relationships, reflect some aspect of of the image of God. His identity as a Triunity in relationship, Father Son and Holy Spirit. In Genesis 2:24 we are further told, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Isn’t it amazing that God reveals to us that in some mysterious way, through our marriage relationships, multiple things become one thing (!) Just as He is one, even in His Triune community (Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD -Deut. 6:4)
Through these two verses, God has absolutely filled the marriage relationship between one man and one woman with astonishing meaning and importance. To God, our marriage relationships are meant to be a portal through which we can peer and catch a tiny glimpse of God Himself. Wow!
That’s the tough question, Rick. Even tougher than deciding whether or not to ordain gay ministers. Even if you consider the gay lifestyle sinful, a gay minister would be just another flawed human in the pulpit.
The real question that divides churches is whether or not the Bible writers got it right by calling homosexuality a sin.
I wonder what John Wesley would say about it today if he examined the matter on the basis of scripture, reason, tradition, and experience (the Wesleyan Quadrilateral).
On the basis of scripture and tradition, I suspect he’d call it a sin. But on the basis of reason (which includes evidence from science) along with experience (which would include some understanding of his gay relatives and friends) I’m not sure where he would come out on the matter.
Excellent sermon by Rev. Adam Hamilton…very good series Stephen! I feel another book “stirring” on top of those picket fences for you. I really am enjoying these sermons!
Thanks Wayne. I wondered what you’d make of his approach.
Adam’s sermons are available to many other churches each Sunday. At my church, we watch his sermons on video, as do several congregations throughout the area. His church is a multi-site church, with campus pastors at the outlying congregations. I attend one of those outlying campus churches.
But there are also churches around the country that link up with his church to get his sermons each week.
I say that in case you really get to liking his approach to the Bible, and you have a group of people you worship with who need engaging sermons. His church might be able to work out something with you. Otherwise, his sermons run live and free on the internet, too.