07 October 2018
Genesis 2. 18-24
We see Christ and Christ crucified! Period. Exclamation Mark!
End of Sentence
I wish I could say that I’ve read this statement from start to finish. I wish I could say I’ve read, even, most of it. But until this week, I couldn’t. But after seeing the first reading for this morning from the passage from Genesis, I thought I’d give it one more try. Thirty-seven pages, not counting the endnotes. But this time, I have to tell you, I finished it! Start to finish! Beginning to end! ‘A Social Statement on Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.” And it was about as exciting a read as the title. Adopted by the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis, a little over nine years ago.
August nineteenth was a Wednesday, that year. That’s the day it was voted on. It passed by the required two-thirds supermajority. But two days later came, what I call, THE vote. On Friday afternoon, August twenty-first, the assembly decided by a simple majority to allow individual congregations to call people in committed same-sex relationships as pastors. That Sunday morning, some of you may remember, I didn’t preach a sermon. Instead, we just talked.
But I found the statement, this week, and this was the first time I read it through, cover to cover. I’ve read other things. I’ve taken part in discussions. But this was the first time I read it with my own eyes. And to be honest, I don’t think I missed that much. More than once, I would find myself wandering in the high grass. But I kept reading. And frankly, when I finished it, I was impressed. Surprised, actually. Because the bulk of the document wasn’t about human sexuality. It was about the gospel. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God!
You see, I thought I’d be reading something written the way most of the churches around us write things. Rummaging through the bible like I used to rummage through a box of tinker toys or Lincoln logs. Looking for just the right pieces to bolt or stack together to build just the thing I’d imagined. Construct a model of human sexuality made up of many and various bits and pieces of bible. One verse from Exodus. Another from Leviticus. A few more from Romans or one of the gospels. And voilà, a social statement! Black and white! Plain and clear! Simple and straightforward! You know what I mean! That’s the way we are here in the popular religion of the American church. It’s the way we do everything. By chapter and verse. Proof texting, it’s called. We find the verses that appear to support our position, more often than not, take them out of context, weave and knit them together, and corroborate our presuppositions. . . all in the name of god and the bible. It sounds religious. It appears biblical. But it’s not. In reality, it’s far from it. That’s not the way we do theology, here in the E.L.C.A. That’s not the way we do faith.
Anyway, that’s what I though I’d find. And so, I never finished reading the social statement. I never began reading the social statement. But I figured, called and ordained, even a decade later, it was time to suck it up and just do it. So, I sat down, opened to page one, and started reading. And like I said, I was impressed. Surprised. These are among the very first words. . . “This social statement addresses the question: how do we understand human sexuality within the context of Jesus’ invitation to love God and love our neighbor?” Those are important words, so let me read them, again. “This social statement addresses the question: how do we understand human sexuality within the context of Jesus’ invitation to love. . .” Love God. And love our neighbor God.
First and foremost, this document wasn’t about human sexuality. It’s about love! That’s the context, the setting, the framework. As the church – especially as the Lutheran church – In order to understand this passage from Genesis, we must, first, understand the gospel! Christ and Christ crucified! By grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith! In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus! That’s what we have to understand before we even begin looking at human sexuality! “No one understands the Scriptures,” dr. Luther writes, “unless [or until] he – or she – is acquainted with the cross!” “I see nothing in scripture except Christ crucified.” It’s not the bible, it’s the gospel! It’s not the book, it’s Jesus!
Over the years, we’ve faced a lot of criticism for that Friday vote. They say, pressure from the Left influenced us. That creeping humanism made us do it; to each his or her own. And, to be honest, those might, very well, be valid comments. But this statement makes clear, the determining factor is this decision is the birth, death, and rising of Jesus! That’s the lens through which we look at the bible. And that’s the lens through which we look at the world. And that shouldn’t have been a surprise. That’s the way we come to understand everything!
How do we understand baptism? Within the context of Jesus’ invitation to love! How do we understand the Supper? Within the context of Jesus’ invitation to love! How do we understand mission and ministry? Within the context of Jesus’ invitation to love! How do we understand human sexuality? It has to be the same way! Within the context of Christ and the cross! That’s what grounds us! That’s what anchors us! That’s what keeps us rooted as a people of god! And that’s what gives us courage! Courage to live boldly! But even more, courage to live humbly!
Faith isn’t about certainties. Believing isn’t about sure things. It’s not about living on a mountaintop in the bright and shining sun. It’s about living in the valleys of this world, in the fogs and among the shadows. We don’t go to the bible to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s good and who’s bad, who’s saved and who isn’t. We go to the bible for the love! We go to the bible to see Jesus! To see Christ and Christ crucified! And I guess, that’s why we go to the social statements of the church, as well. For the love. To see Jesus. And after all these years, that’s what took me by surprise!
In the second chapter of Genesis, when God says, Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife,” did the storyteller have in mind same-sex marriage? Probably, not. But then, Thomas Jefferson didn’t have in mind slaves or Indians or women when he said that everyone is created equal. It’s the spirit of the words that give life! The breath! The life itself! Not the chapter and verse! Not the syllable and the sentence! At least, that’s what Paul tells us. And we – you and I – look to the spirit! We look to the love! To Jesus! And sometimes, not all the time, not every time, but sometimes, every now and again, love, actually, wins!
LGBT? Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans? What matters is Jesus! What matters is the gospel! What matters is the cross! What matters, when all is done and said, is the love! So the statement begins with a question: “how do we understand human sexuality within the context of Jesus’ invitation [of Jesus’ command to love just like him?” And it ends with a promise: “because of god’s love, we are a people set free. . . to seek the good of all!” My friends, we love! We love, because god, first, loved us!