Today's Sermon

 

"Your Sexual Orientation is Not a Sin”

 

First Reading
Genesis 1:26-27
           26 Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’
²⁷So God created humankind in God’s image,
   in the image of God, God created them;
   male and female God created them.

Second Reading
Galatians 5:23-29
           23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. ²⁷As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. 

Your Sexual Orientation is Not a Sin

            If we were to take a poll—and we won’t by the way—I wonder what percentage of us would say we feel personally unsafe.  In an article in American Magazine, Jesuit James Martin cited a study that revealed 57% of LGBT and we would add Q persons report feeling unsafe.  More than half that population feels threatened merely for being who they are.  Imagine if over half of all of us felt that way.  How could we function?  In the US, LGBTQ youth are five times as likely to try and take their own lives because living is made that painful and 40%, 40% of transgender people in our country attempt suicide.[1]  That’s staggering.

            Why talk about this today, other than the fact when so many people of a group suffer in this way it deserves our attention?  Today we continue our series working through the church’s Christian Identity Statement, so we can be clearer what we’re about and better articulate it to the outside world.  The line we are exploring today is “We affirm the importance of diversity and welcome all gender identities, sexual orientations, races, ethnicities, classes, and backgrounds.”  Today we are going to focus primarily on sexual orientation, though in reflection, we should have probably should have given a week for each of these categories. I am particularly troubled by the push for what I can only describe as the whitewashing of history, as I follow a couple of bills around the country.  So, I have some regret about not giving each of these categories more attention.  Hopefully though, today’s somewhat narrower focus can also create a lens through which we can open up our thinking on a number of fronts. Notice, these are all elements of who we are, not choices we make.  Ideas are fair game.  We can debate which positions are more in keeping with the way of Christ, but in terms of identity there are no disqualifiers. 

             We also devote time in the church in this case because on this matter the wider church is part of the problem.  Martin cites a study that revealed that the more religious the family of an LGBTQ person is, the morelikely that person is to attempt suicide.  We could easily say, “Oh, that’s not us.  We came out long ago as not just accepting of LGBTQ persons but affirming them.”  That is a legacy to be cherished, but it’s also something that needs to be tended, needs to be built upon.  How many people in this community know our position on this?  Given that so many are condemned by their religious community, think how many LGBTQ persons are need of a spiritual home and don’t know there is one.  For a place that has taken a positive stand on the issue, not as many of these folks have found their way here as I would have thought.  There’s work to do.

            I’m not going to relitigate the issue in its entirety.  You all did that work long before my time.  In the past year or so I preached through the so-called “clobber passages” the six Scripture passages have been inappropriately used to condemn homosexuality.  That sermon was based largely on the fine book of theologian Jack Rogers, How I Changed My Mind About Homosexuality.  I’m happy to share the sermon or the book with you if it would be helpful. 

           It is worth remembering that with all important issues, we approach them as theological at their core. Our theology speaks to this.  In Genesis account, God declares, “Let us make humankind in our image” (1:26).  That’s it.  No qualifiers.  Notice, by the way, how we blow right by God’s use of the plural.  For those who only want to use the masculine singular pronoun for God, it would be good remember this introduction to God in Genesis.  We are told from the beginning that we can see God in humanity (and some say in all creatures).  The pro-gay group at my seminary, which I co-chaired for a time, was called Imago Dei, the Latin term meaning the image of God.  Let us say simply and clearly, your sexual orientation is not a sin.  Full stop. 

           This is not to erase distinction or difference.  Quite the contrary, difference is one of the places in the created world where the divine shows up.  Even God is…well, diverse.  Recall the opening use of “us” for God.  Consider the traditional doctrine of the Trinity that confesses God is both three and one, three persons in dynamic relationship.  Look at healthy ecosystems, which depend on some measure of diversity.  Our inherit differences can be blessings. 

           What about the Newer Testament reading we just heard?  When Paul writes to the Galatians, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 5:27-28) he is not necessarily eliminating these distinctions.  Paul is arguing these distinctions do not fundamentally separate or rank us.  Our particularities are part of who we are.  They do help define us.  They do not give us ground on which to build social stratification.

           Martin has become a tireless advocate for LGBTQ persons in his tradition, Catholicism.  His reasoning for this work is simple,

Because if we’re not trying to be like Jesus, what’s the point?  And remember that in his public ministry Jesus continually reached out to people who felt like they were on the margins.  The movement for Jesus was from the outside-in.  He was bringing people who felt on the outside into the community.   Because for Jesus there is no “us” and “them.” ” There is only us.[2]

 If we are not trying to be like Jesus, what’s the point? That should be the subtitle of every Christian act, the byline of every statement of Christian identity.  If we are not trying to be like Jesus, and that for which Jesus stood, what is the point of calling oneself or one’s community Christian?

            Unfortunately, so many so-called Christian groups are not doing a very faithful job of trying to be like Jesus with respect to this matter.  We aren’t perfect either.  We have our own room to grow, but we can’t let that stop us from being bold in this, offering an alternative to destructive manifestations of our faith.  We have heard already of families whose churches have pushed their young LGBTQ persons to suicide.  Faith has caused families to ostracize one of their kin.  This kind of religion has pushed people out of the faith altogether. What could be less Christlike? Here’s a grand opportunity.  What will we do to step more fully into the void?

            It is not just making statements, though that helps.  It does signal to the community where we are, and people do notice. The question becomes how to embody our words in our daily activity.  We raised this question with race when a working group over the past couple years asked how our nursery was welcoming with its toys and books.  Did they only display white children?  We can say we are affirming of folks of all ethnicities, and I have no doubt people are met at the door here with equal friendliness. It’s got to go beyond that.  It has to include how we do all we do here, and how we engage in the community out there.  If we are not also working to overcome some of the segregation and inequality in our own county, be it with housing or educational opportunities, who will our welcome reach?  A number of folks have become engaged in standing with residents of the Golden Gate Village, the public housing community in Marin City—I was in a meeting about it just this week—and that is a step in doing just the kind of work that embodies a fuller sense of welcoming.  It means taking steps, getting a little uncomfortable, because that is what a good stretch does.  Jesus calls us to stretch.

            Does the name Jeff Green mean anything to you?  He is a man that has done quite well.  He is the CEO of The Trade Desk and has done quite well though he is still relatively young.  Green has left the religion of his upbringing, which was non-affirming, pulling his money. He has instead pledged to give 90% of his wealth away.  I should specify 90% of $6 billion, starting with over a half million dollars to a pro-gay organization.[3]  I don’t care how much money you have, leaving your religion is an enormous and enormously difficult step.  Imagine how hard that would be for some, particularly if you belong to a tradition where it is the center of your life.  Here’s the good news, the incredible news, we can take such a stand for inclusion without having to leave any of this behind.  What a gift.  What an opportunity.  We are blessed to be in a place that accepts and affirms.  Let us show a fraction of the courage of those who have had to flee have shown to be sure they know, and others like them, that there is a place that they can come and never feel unsafe again.

            Amen.

 

[1]https://www.newwaysministry.org/blog/subscribe-bondings-2-0/fr-james-martin-world-meeting-of-families-2018/

[2]Ibid.

[3]https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/billionaire-utahn-to-give-away-90-of-his-wealth

https://globalnews.ca/news/8469040/jeff-green-billionaire-mormon-church-lgbtq-donation/