God used Amos, a lowly
shepherd from Tekoa, to announce the coming judgment on God’s own people….and it would be caused by GOD!
Can two people
walk together without agreeing on the direction? Amos 3:3(NLT)
The divide was coming and it
was Israel’s fault for turning in the direction of the world and forsaking
obedience to the Word of God. You can’t
walk with God unless you walk the road God has chosen!
There is a lot of talk in
our United Methodist Church these days about the possibility of a split over
the issue of homosexuality. This denomination of 12.5 million people could
become several denominations with splinter groups abounding. Some peg next year’s General Conference as
the place where the great divide in the road just might happen.
While all this is
troublesome, I’m not particularly worried about the church organization; I am, however, intensely concerned about not
having a great divide with the One we are all supposed to be worshipping!
But if it does happen, I
believe God can certainly use the scattered leftovers of Wesley’s fighting
children to God’s glory – even if it means we become like the
inhabitants of ancient Israel taken to the woodshed.
After the decision was
announced there were a myriad of reactions throughout the land. There were gay pride parties, dancing in the
streets and even rainbow displays at the White House.
There was also weeping in
the streets by evangelical traditionalists who sensed that the institution of
marriage God created in Genesis had been tossed in the trash bin.
Rev. Alan Bevere (First UMC, Akron, Ohio)
wrote: According to the state, marriage is a right not to be denied, which is
now extended across the U.S. to gay and lesbian couples. The church has never
viewed marriage as a right, and those Christians who believe it should be so understood by the church
need an introductory course in the theology of marriage. For Christianity
marriage is a gift from God given to
two people.(emphasis mine)
United Methodists are just
as divided as the general public. In our
Annual Conference just weeks ago, the vote on removing all reference in our
Book of Discipline to homosexuality
being incompatible with Christian teaching was split: it was defeated
500 for and 700 against (which is a similar split with a different outcome of
the SCOTUS decision, which was passed 5-4).
What that means is, as a world-wide
church we are as divided as the culture, and that is prime
territory for a move of God.
And if I’m right, it won’t
be a pretty move or a pretty outcome, because God takes no prisoners! You either walk with Him or stand against
Him.
My purpose today is not to
recount grievances, point fingers, or debate whether homosexuality is a sin
that can be forgiven. Nor do I want to
rehearse all the Biblical verses and theories about both sides of the issue.
However, the issue of the SCOTUS decision
brings us to the main thrust of what I want to say to you this morning about
the debate that rages in modern culture, and particularly within the United
Methodist Church:
This debate, for
followers of Jesus Christ, does not hang on the decision of the SCOTUS, nor
does it hang on the cultural choices of good or evil people; it doesn’t even hang
on what is deemed legal or illegal.
Rather, this debate begins and ends with whether or not homosexuality is
sin in the eyes of almighty God, Jehovah, JHWH.
Now, if it is not sin, we are beating a
dead horse, and we ought to shut-up about all of it.
But, if it is sin, and since the Supreme Court of our
nation says it isn’t sin, then we find ourselves at odds with the
government.
And it isn’t the first time! And, truthfully, it’s not all that bad!
One of the sources I read this week quoted District
Superintendent Sky McCracken (Western KY):
…there are some areas that already exist
where church teachings and civil laws differ. He noted that both capital punishment and
abortion are legal but United Methodists challenge both.
Indeed, that is a
short-list; there’s actually a pretty long list of legal activities
in our nation that John Wesley would have fired a preacher OR church
member for, including: use
of recreational drugs and alcohol, tobacco, gambling, gluttony, lying,
backbiting, gossip, and, well, about a ton more in the New Testament
alone, including refusing communion if you’ve not been regular in church!
Friends, listen, there’s no
shortage of times that true followers of Jesus
Christ have been at odds with the government.
And, if the current trend in
culture and American politics drive us back to the catacombs, well, we could do
worse than live like the early church!
Now, with churches and
culture divided, it is tempting to say SCATTER…DIVIDE…PART WAYS!
What I want to say this
morning is, hold-on…that’s NOT the Christian response.
The Sunday after the SCOTUS decision
was announced, Rev. Jeremy Troxler, pastor of Spruce Pine UMC in our Annual
Conference opened worship with these words
from 1 Corinthians 12, where the
Apostle Paul writes to a divided church about how we are all part of the
body of Christ, a body where the eye
cannot say to the hand, I have no
need of you,’ nor can the head say to the feet, I have no need of you. We
are a body, where, paraphrasing what the Bible says about marriage, the many
become one flesh.
He went on to say:
If you celebrated on Friday, you belong
here and are needed here.
If you were upset on Friday, you belong
here and are needed here.
If
you didn’t know how to feel
on Friday, you belong here and are needed here.
The Christian response,
no matter what governments do or don’t do, is to be the body
of Christ, striving in all we do, even when it’s messy – especially
when it’s so messy we can’t see for the mud that’s being slung back and forth –
to BE
that body of Christ Jesus
for the world to see a blood-stained cross and an empty tomb for the likes
of even us!
And so, we come to the
question that fills the air like an invisible elephant in the room…what in the
world should we do; what can we do?
There is a quotation attributed to St. Augustine I
used in a sermon a year and a half ago here to form a response to Bishop Melvin
Talbert’s departure from his ordination vows; I think it is a fitting response
here:
In essentials, Unity;
In non-essentials, Liberty; In all
things, Charity
In essentials – UNITY
No condemnation of others….simple
disagreement will do!
If the “United” part means anything in United
Methodist Church, it means we try at all times to possess a unity of
spirit and kindness towards those whom we believe are wrong. We may not agree, but we do not have to
batter each other.
Let me say it
plainer: It means judge not!
In one of the source
files I read Indiana Area Bishop Mike
Coyner….warned against being
judgmental of couples who sincerely want to be married, committed and faithful.
He noted that plenty of heterosexuals [straight people] have allowed ‘marriage to be violated, ignored, abused, and reduced to
mere convenience.’
That
is like the pot calling the kettle black.
God’s prophet Jonah got ticked-off
that God didn’t destroy Nineveh. The
Ninevites and Israelites hated each other; so do the fringe elements of
traditionalists and progressives.
In the end, all of Nineveh’s people repented and
turned Godward, except for the so-called man of God, Jonah, who wound-up
sitting under a bush in a snit of a pity-party.
Live the good news until you earn
the right to share it
One author I read this week said that people do not
line up to be judged. If we are going to
be evangelistic, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, we will have no-one
listening unless there is kindness in our voices.
In non-essentials – LIBERTY
don’t get bogged-down in outward
appearances or even others’ behavior.
How do YOU
expect pagans to behave?
Lost people
act like lost people, because they’re lost.
If you are put-off by pagan behavior you’re closer to self-righteous
judgment than you are to loving forbearance.
Remember you were once a condemned sinner also.
Canadian
pastor Carey Nieuhof was in my reading resources this week. In writing to pastors, Nieuhof spoke from a position
of having dealt with same-sex marriage as law in his country (Canada) for the
past 10 years. He:
reminds us that there isn’t any kind of difference between same-gender
sex and other sexual sins…You’ve been dealing with
sex outside of traditional marriage for a LONG time. If you believe gay sex is sinful, it’s really
no morally different than straight sex outside of marriage. Be honest, pretty much every unmarried person
in your church is having sex (yes, even the Christians). I know you want to believe that’s not true
(trust me, I want to believe
that’s not true), but why don’t you ask around? You’ll discover that only a few
really surrender their sexuality. Not to
mention the married folks that struggle with porn, lust and a long list of other
dysfunctions. If you believe gay
marriage is not God’s design, you’re really dealing with the same issue you’ve been dealing with
all along—sex outside of its God-given context. You
don’t need to treat it any differently.
By the way, if you don’t deal with straight sex outside of marriage,
don’t start being
inconsistent and speak out against gay sex.
And you may want to start dealing with gluttony and gossip and greed
while you’re at it. At least be
consistent…humbly address all forms
of sex outside of marriage.
Whether you’re a progressive waving the multicolored
LGBTQ flag, or a traditionalist-conservative worried about if God can stand up
to all this sin, we all need to remember that we are all children of Adam’s
race, steeped in the depravity of our sins.
If you‘ve come out of that and can say with the
Aldersgate side of Wesleyan assurance, I’m saved, and going on to perfection in
love, you also need to remember that you have not arrived at perfection in all
things, and God is still in charge of judging – for all the rest of us, that’s
way above our pay grade! Which leads us
to our pay grade….
in all things – CHARITY
How do you
love someone with whom you disagree so strongly?
I would point you to my wife. She has learned to love someone whose views
are so
wrong....Me!
Of course you can love someone who is so
wrong! How do you think the
offer of the cross got here?
Scripture declares we were all sinners, lost, and
enemies of God. But God proved that he
loved us by coming to earth and dying for us while we were yet sinners.
So, it’s what you do for people…not the way you
feel
about people, that conveys the love of Jesus Christ.
be ready to meet needs, and love like Jesus who gave himself
When you come face-to-face with those who hold such
a different view than yours, I hope you’ll remember to speak truth in genuine
love.
David Dorn is a professor who wrote in response to
a confused student’s question, If I
choose to be gay does that mean I can’t go to heaven:
Personally I really wish I could read the biblical text and see the
argument that homosexuality isn’t a sin. Unfortunately I still see that it is.
The way I read it, the sin is not in the orientation but in the act. The same
holds true for heterosexuals who engage in sexual acts outside of what God
calls holy. Culture doesn’t define holiness, God does. And that steps on all
people’s toes.
In the end, this great divide in the road speaks of the
need for the kind of bridge-building God said we can do to bring those who have
taken a wrong turn back together. I
think, and I think God says that includes all of us.
There is only one
God, there is only one King;
There is only one body, that is why I
sing.
Bind us together,
Lord, bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken.
Bind us together,
Lord, bind us together,
Bind us together with love.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Prayer
Father God, our hearts are
torn sometimes. We come to you
confessing our ignorance of how to pray for those we love, but see things so
differently that it causes us to be Cain, killing our
brother.
We kill with words and
sometimes it gets so out of hand there is physical violence, and even murder.
And sometimes we murder Your
church in the name of our way of thinking.
O Lord, how can we speak
peace to a world lost in killing and hedonism when we are no different with our
jihad-holy war attitudes.
Forgive us, Lord; set us on
a right path of understanding, forgiveness and love toward each other.
Give us humility and
forbearance to act like your children.
For those of us who jump
strongly on one side or the other of this issue of homosexuality, despising
both the sin and the sinner, help us to remember you died for sinners so they
could come close and find redemption.
For those lost in the
sensuality of selfish need, grant wisdom – an opening of the mind, so the heart
can be set on Christ, not pleasure.
For the United Methodist
church, steeped in this broiling conflict, we pray for attitudes,
demonstrations and arrogance to be dialed-back, that Your Holy Spirit may be
once again sensed in our holy conferencing and following Christ.
Protect us from the evil
one, and give us the daily bread of holiness to spread across the land.
In the name of Christ.
Note:
There is
some quoted material and ideas throughout this sermon which are not footnoted
(but usually italicized), which are simply a distillation of thought generated
by the “sources” listed below. There is
no intent to utilize any author’s work as if it were my own. There is simply too much to footnote each
word, phrase or idea. I am indebted to
all these contributors for this sermon end-product.
Sources:
