|
What About Us?
by:
The Rev. Randy Jones with The Rev. Mark Cerniglia
Perhaps one of the most difficult and touchy questions any pastor
has to address in their ministry today is the issue of homosexuality.
No matter how enlightened society may profess to be, we must admit
that many of us within the Christian community harbor fear and
apprehension about those we refer to as “those people”, people we
perceive to be different than us. No
matter how hard we may try to suppress or root bigotry out of our lives,
we must admit that it is still present within us
in some form or another. This
sin (and we must call it a sin simply because it is a way of excluding
people from our Lord’s kingdom) is present among us, and as such must be
faced openly and honestly. This
is where the difficulty lies; we don’t like to face these dark facets of
our personality and so we continue a centuries old practice which I do not
believe our Lord ever intended.
When we consider our Lord’s ministry in its entirety we see that
he came to include everyone in his kingdom.
Not just those who society finds acceptable, but more often the
poor, the hungry, the sick, the possessed, the dirty, the oppressed. When
Jesus was challenged by the Pharisees concerning his eating with tax
collectors and sinners, he said, “I have come to call not the righteous
but sinners." (St. Mark 2:17b; NRSV)
A sinner was an outcast of society; a sinner was a poor person who
couldn’t keep the dietary laws because of their financial situation; a
sinner was a sick person who had a contagious disease; a sinner was
someone who was possessed by an unclean spirit.
Thus, a sinner was most often someone who didn’t fit into the
prevailing society’s idea of normal or acceptable.
Yet these were the very people with whom Jesus associated himself;
these were the people who Jesus called to follow him and enter his
kingdom. (This begs the question of who is really in Christ’s
kingdom today doesn’t it?)
Fear
of the unknown
So why do we continue to exclude the gay and lesbian population
from our churches? Rank fear
is, I think, the answer to this simple question.
Fear is often at the root of our prejudices toward any segment of
society we do not understand. Many of us may have never knowingly encountered a gay person
and, so, we don’t know what to expect from them.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we must admit that most of what
we know about the gay community is hearsay, rumor, and/or fictitious
facts; facts which are all too often born in the darkness of our fear of
the unknown. What we don’t
understand, we almost always fear.
The gay community is often perceived as completely different us.
When we see a gay pride march on the news, we often see some rather
flamboyant people walking down the street.
When we watch a movie such as “The Bird Cage”, gay people are
portrayed as transgender and in that light laughable.
And so, from these limited experiences we make assumptions like: “These people
just aren’t like us!”, or “Most
of them are pedophiles?”, and
so we decide that we might like them as
a person but we just don’t want them teaching our children.
And so it goes, when in fact most gay folks are just as normal as
you and I. Yes, most
definitely we fear what we don’t know or understand.
What most people find when they honestly get to know a gay person
is that they are really no different than the rest of humanity.
Yes, they may prefer the same sex when it comes to their soul
mates, but in most other respects they have the same aspirations and needs
as any heterosexual person. So,
yes, they are like us and no most of them aren’t pedophiles.
The simple fact that a person is homosexual does not automatically
make that person a pedophile. Statistics
indicate that a young girl is at a higher risk of being molested by a
“heterosexiual” pedophile than by a homosexual.
So why is it that we feel the need to stereotype groups that we
perceive as being different from ourselves?
Why is it that we must categorize a person and stereotype them
simply because of their sexuality? Sexuality
is only one aspect of anyone’s identity.
So why can’t we just accept that the average gay or lesbian
person is merely another human being created by God in God’s own image?
The
culpable Church
If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that the church has
not helped in this matter. Instead
of offering a counsel of unconditional love for all people, it has taught
that this love is only for those who are like us.
Those who practice what we have labeled as “unnatural acts” are
to be condemned and not allowed to enter our fellowship.
(Perhaps we need to be reminded that even heterosexuals exercise
all four options (oral, anal, manual, and genital sex) open to them when
they engage in sexual activity.) Thus,
the Church has had a hand in making this segment of our society unwelcome
in our fellowships.
Of course the Church has always said, “We don’t condemn the
sinner, just the sin.” For some unknown reason the Church decided that a union
between two people of the same sex is a sin, and yet, the New Testament
never mentions homosexuality as a sin.
In fact, there is no direct reference and very possibly not even an
indirect reference to this “sin” in the entirety of the New Testament.
While our Lord condemns fornication and adultery, he never says a
word concerning homosexuality. Yet, the Church has labeled love between
two people of the same sex as sinful.
(What is truly remarkable is that the Church forgets the committed
relationships of the Bible: Jonathan
and David, Ruth and Naomi, Jesus and John, Jesus and Lazarus.
While these relationships may not have had any sexual component,
there was a very deep sense of love described in each of these cases.)
Of course the first argument against this line of thought is that
the Old Testament prohibits this behavior.
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an
abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22; NRSV) If the Bible says this is an abomination, then it must be a
sin right? Perhaps our
understanding of the word abomination
is part of the problem. We
all too often use this word to describe a situation which is detestable to
us. Yet, the Hebrew word (totseiva)
used here does not carry this connotation.
In fact, it has more to do with being unchaste before God; in other
words, it means that those who practice this form of sexuality have placed
something between themselves and God.
They have reduced the sexual act to an idolatrous practice and thus
have replaced God with an idol. (How
many committed heterosexual relationships fall into this category?)
Idolatry is the root of all sin according to the Hebrew
understanding of humanity’s relationship with God.
Thus, homosexuality in toto is banned as a sin in the Pentateuch (the first five books
of the Old Testament) without any further consideration, and the Church
follows this lead blindly without ever considering why.
What I find most interesting is that the Church has seen fit to
ignore most of the prohibitions we find in the Pentateuch.
Is a man still unfit in the community if he makes love to his wife
during her menstrual period? We
certainly wouldn’t take our child out and stone them because they were
rebellious would we? (cf Leviticus 21:18-21)
Most of us eat pork, shrimp, catfish, and many other foods
prohibited by the Bible. (cf Deuteronomy 14:8ff)
No one would consider making a woman stay secluded when her monthly
period comes. (cf Leviticus 18:19) Why
then is it that the Church has decided that this particular prohibition is
so important? Why has the Church decided that a union between two people of
the same sex constitutes the worst of all sins?
It seems to me that if the Church can make the decision that most
of the other prohibitions found in the Old Testament aren’t sins, then
it most certainly can decide that homosexuality is not a sin.
Yet, the Church requires homosexuals to remain celibate if they
want to be accepted into its fellowship.
This is perhaps the most ludicrous concept ever concocted by the
Church. How can anyone be
asked to deny something that is an integral part of their identity?
When we ask a gay person to deny who they are by abstaining from a
committed relationship, we are essentially asking them to put a part of
themselves to death. When we
ask them to remain celibate, we deny that they have a the same deep
yearning for intimacy that all humans share and thus deny their humanity.
Requiring a person to remain celibate when it conflicts with their
very nature is to do damage to that person.
If they choose this path freely, then so be it, but to impose this
path upon someone is a sin in itself.
When we require someone to deny who they are, we essentially call
God and God’s creative genius into question.
It is God’s Spirit who calls and gathers the saints, not the
Church. The Church is the
gathered host of saints.
Created
in God’s image
Oh, but how do we know that God created these folks in this way?
God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
and before you were born I consecrated you”. (Jeremiah 1:5a; NRSV) If it is indeed God who creates life in the womb, then how
can a part of God’s creation be evil?
In Psalm 139 the psalmist writes of his creation in this way:
“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together
in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.” (Psalm
139:13-14; NRSV) Nothing God
makes is evil, and so how can we arbitrarily decide that this part of
God’s wonderful creation was created to sin?
Well then perhaps these people are the result of humanity’s
corruption by original sin. Their condition is a result of the sins of the first humans.
If this is true, then none of us have a prayer of ever being
acceptable before God. In the
9th chapter of St. John Jesus heals a man who has been blind
from birth. Jesus’
disciples ask him who had sinned that the man had been born blind, and
Jesus answered them saying, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he
was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” (St.
John 9:3; NRSV) It is clear
that Jesus refutes the idea that someone is born with an “abnormality”
or disease because of sin. Thus,
we cannot blame the existence of homosexual orientation on sin.
(The American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from
its list of mental disorders in 1973 and recommended that the practice of
sexual orientation conversion through psychotherapy should no longer be
practiced.)
When God finished the creation of humans, God sat back and said,
“This is very good.” If God considered the creation of humanity to be very good,
then why should we as humans decide that this part of creation is bad or
corrupt? To do so calls
God’s wisdom and, therefore, God into question.
To do so says that we as humans are wiser than God, which is to say
that we have set ourselves up as God; perhaps therein lies the problem.
We are not God and, therefore, are not qualified to judge whether
God’s creation is good or bad. Only
God has that right. How dare
we, then, criticize God. “Were
you there when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me if you have understanding.” (Job 38:4, NRSV)
What
about love?
What about love? Isn’t
that what we’re talking about here?
Love is at the heart of the entirety of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus spent the entirety of his mission here on earth showing us
what it truly means to love another.
Jesus said, “No one has greater
love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.” (St. John
15:13, NRSV) Love is about
giving and Jesus gave to the extreme to illustrate for us see the true
meaning of love. Love is not
based upon sex as the prevailing attitudes of society tell us, but rather
upon giving of self.
When we consider the relationship of the Holy Trinity, we see in
that relationship a continuous giving of each person to the others.
In the baptism of our Lord, we see the Father pouring out his love,
all that he is, upon the Son through the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is given to the Son by the Father with the Spirit’s
consent. The Son gives all
that he is and has back to the Father as he gives up his Spirit to the
Father in his death. Thus,
the Holy Trinity is about love in its purest form.
The Trinity is an
endless procession of self giving, the epitome of love.
All that love can be and is, is wrapped up in the endless dance of
the three persons of God. In
God we see the limitless, boundless, passionate truth of who God is shown
to us in all his glory. To
use a worn expression: God is
love.
If love is the giving of oneself to another, then why must the
church limit the possibilities for the expression of this love?
Could it be that when the writer of Genesis says that humanity was
created in the image of God that this image includes gay and lesbian
expressions of love? This would after all complete the three possibilities for the
expression of committed relationships.
God is most certainly complete and we see this in the complete
expression of love within the Triune relationship of the three persons of
God as each person of the Trinity gives all they are to the other.
Why then should we as humans decide that there is only one valid
possibility for the expression of love between two people?
Conclusion
There is never a time when God does not love all of creation.
Even when we act like children and exclude others who aren’t like
us, God still extends his love to us.
If we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (cf St.
Matthew 5:48), then we must learn to love and accept this
part of God’s creation, a part we have heretofore rejected.
If we are to be faithful to God’s own display of love for us,
then we must be open to passing that love on to all people and not just
those who are like us. If God
were to do that, we would be lost. God
loves all of creation, not just that part, albeit the majority, which has
set itself as the norm.
As the Church we are called to be inclusive just as Jesus was
inclusive. We are called to
welcome all people into Christ’s sheepfold, whether they are like us or
not. Jesus once said, “I
have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
I must bring them also . . .” (St. John 10:16, NRSV)
If it is Jesus’ will that all people be brought into the fold,
then how dare we reject them. To
do so is to reject Christ himself and, thus, as Christ’s body to reject
ourselves. We call the
veracity of the Gospel into question and, thus, our very being into
question when we exclude a part of God’s creation.
The church is not about exclusion; it is not about inflicting pain;
it is not about denying anyone the greatest gift of all — Jesus the
Christ, love incarnate.
What is being asked for is an opportunity by our gay and lesbian
brothers and sisters is to have the opportunity to be more AUTHENTIC.
Perhaps we should admit to ourselves that this is something that
straight people need as well. It
is time that we recognize that there are gays and lesbians who are a part
of the body of Christ, and it is most certainly time that we give them the
same opportunity to find love and dignity within the body. God said, “It is not good for a person to be alone.”
In fact it is “being alone” that is the unnatural condition.
The
Reverend Randy Jones is a graduate of Lutheran Theological Southern
Seminary of Columbia, South Carolina. He
is the pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church, ELCA in Montgomery, Alabama
where he has served since August of 1999.
The
Reverend Mark Cerniglia is a graduate of Lutheran Theological Southern
Seminary of Columbia, South Carolina and has been a parish pastor for many years and the Executive Director of Lutheran Ministries of Alabama. |
