My Gay Neighbor
Introduction
Today’s topic is a difficult one. In fact, there are few topics that can be more divisive in our culture than the subject of homosexuality. People on both sides of the subject are passionate about their opinions. The debate has reached fever pitch recently as politicians on both sides of the aisle debate the legality and ethics of gay rights and gay marriages.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t even log onto Facebook without reading something from the LGBT community or seeing a rainbow colored ribbon. And Lord forbid that as a Christian I post any kind of comment seen as negative towards homosexual behavior. If I do, I am immediately labeled a homophobe, judgmental, or a bigot.
Just listen to the voice of actor George Clooney. He says, “At some point in our lifetime, gay marriage won't be an issue and everyone who stood against this civil right will look as outdated as George Wallace standing on the school steps keeping James Hood from entering the University of Alabama because he was black.”
Outdated, intolerant, bigots. And Clooney makes an assumption that being gay is genetically the same as your and my skin color. He’s assuming that “It’s the way people are made.” There’s a reason that in a few short years, homosexuality has made the transition from sexual preference to sexual orientation.
And Christians are seen as backwards in their views. Paul Varnell, a homosexual columnist and writer, says, "It can scarcely be doubted that the primary, and perhaps only sources of our culture's anti-gay hostility are the Christian denominations."
The world wants people to able to be openly and actively gay, and what they are telling religion to do is back out of the discussion. That's the world's view.
But even within Christian culture there is division over this topic. I know that some Christian families are directly impacted by the discussion because they have friends or family who are gay. There are probably even a few who struggle with gay tendencies in the pews today. So I understand that I address a difficult issue today. But if we believe in the truth of God’s word, then this should not be an issue that we should shy away from.
So as we continue our series of messages on living in the world, but not being part of it, we discuss this topic today. We are going to explore how Christians should respond to the political and cultural criticism we receive. We are going to look at how we should respond to our gay neighbor across the street. We are going to further develop what Jesus words mean, “To live in the world, but not be part of the world.”
Text:
Today text is Romans 1:16-2:4
The apostle Paul writes, “16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Paul makes it clear as he starts off this letter that we are made right before God through Jesus Christ. The gospel message has always been and will always be that Jesus died to forgive us for our sins, and that we have eternal life through him because of the empty tomb. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes, regardless of cultural background. It is through faith that a righteous person has life. That’s the good news; that’s the gospel.
The bad news is this. (vs 18)
“18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Illustration Point:
Paul is clearly establishing God as creator. He says, "The evidence of this truth is obvious in the design of the world around us." We know this. The human eye would not function properly without precise design. It's called irreducible complexity. The eye wasn't made by a series of accidental chances. Did you know that our blood needs to maintain a precise ph balance in order to carry oxygen to our cells. If the balance drifts by .2%, our cells would suffocate. Even moderate amounts of food with acidic content (Pizza, spaghetti, jalapeno peppers) should throw off the balance, but it doesn't. In the animal kingdom, the giraffe has to have reinforced blood vessels going from it's heart to it’s head or every time it lowered it’s head, the blood vessels would burst because of the pressure. The giraffe would die from an aneurism every time it lowered it's head if it was not perfectly designed. There is evidence of God as creator. And what Paul established is this.
I. As Creator, God has established what Absolute Truth is.
He has the right to establish what is proper and what is improper to practice. This is important, because one of the questions that Christians are asked is “what gives us the right to protest the practice of homosexuality.” As individuals in humanity, the answer is “Absolutely NOTHING!” If there is no creator, truth is relative. It is decided by culture; it is a majority decision. (And that's scary!) But if God is really the creator, he has the absolute right to say what is healthy to practice and what is not.
I believe that if we see truth in the design of the physical world (which is concrete), then we should be able to see it in things more abstract (like morality.) And those who suppress the truth of God through their wickedness are angering God. Paul warns that to refuse to acknowledge God is to be led into depravity. Listen to what Paul writes.
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
It's the wild look of growing depravity. In depraved thinking, we begin to make up stories about what God is really like. We make up stories of what God looks like to us. And in the process, we distort God’s image. And ....
Eternal Truths
II. The more we distort the image of God, the more depraved our thinking becomes.
We end up worshiping something less than our creator God. We copy and copy and before long the original image becomes blurred, or fuzzy, or grainy. It doesn't look the the original. This is what takes place when we try to make God who We want him to be. We become fools despite thinking how wise we are. Listen to verse 22
22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired....
Underline the beginning of verse 24. God abandoned them. He left them to do the shameful things their hearts desired.
He gave them their heart's desire. And in the process he abandons them. I know this is counter to how we view God. We hear God promises to never leave or forsake us. And that is true, WHEN we are seeking him. God does not play hide and seek with the seeker. However, when we turn to our own heart's desires and make it god, (an idol), the true God LEAVES us stuck in it.
Any image or desire we make greater than God is an idol. When we worship the creation rather than the creator, we are committing idolatry. God does not tolerate idols. He does not accept the worship of what he created. Just look at the pattern of Old Testament Israel. They would succumb to the pressure to worship idols, God would abandon them to captivity. Israel would repent and God would rescue them. They would succumb to the pressure to worship idols, God would abandon them again. The same is true today. God is not opposed to abandon us to our desires (and that is not always a good thing!)
It is clear that when we stay stuck on our own heart's desire, the depravity climbs higher. Listen to how Paul describes the depravity. Remember these are Paul’s words not mine.
“24 ... As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each others bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
Paul describes idolatry leading to homosexual practice. These ideas are intertwined in this passage. We cannot deny that the practice of homosexuality in they eyes of God is idolatry. It is evidence of a mind that is darkened. It is placing one's sexuality (that which God created) above God Himself.
There is a truth that the LGBT community had denied, but it is unmistakable. The LGBT community (those practicing it and trying to normalize it) over the last 30 years have been openly trying to mold American and world culture into whose image … their own. They have set up their sexuality as the image rather than God.
And Paul is saying that any idolatry is not seen in terms of private behavior; not in terms of I don’t have a right to tell you what to do; God sees it AS SIN.
I want to suggest that the discussion of homosexual practice and homosexual marriage is not primarily a social issue. It’s not primarily a political issue. It’s not whether gay people can get married; it’s not whether they can be in committed relationships. According to Scripture, we have to conclude that
Our Response -
The practice of homosexuality at its core is a spiritual issue/ It IS sin.
In practice, it is something shameful. It is evidence of depraved thinking. In fact, underline the phrase, “let them do things that should never be done” at the end of verse 28. This isn't just in the practice of worshiping idols. This is a prohibitive statement … for all time and all cultures.
And I think when we tell people who practice homosexuality that “It’s normal” in order to be seen as “tolerant” (buzz word), we are anything but compassionate according to Scripture. We are telling them that it’s okay, you can live without God.
Our response:
God’s tolerance does not always equal permission (God abandons); and open permissiveness is not always compassionate.
As Christians, if we don’t really care how close people are to God, then we should go ahead and grant permission or simply be silent. We should say, “It’s none of my business what people do in their bedrooms.” But if we believe that God is creator and that God should be supreme, and if we are compassionate, we will tear down idols.
In the rest of Romans 1, Paul addresses the wickedness that comes with idolatry.
29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.
The depravity deepens for those who worship idols. And Paul says (verse 32)
32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
We read this and we can stop and say that any idolatry is a wicked thing. And many Christians will quickly condemn all those who bow at the idol of homosexuality. Be careful! We can't stop there. Listen to what Paul writes in chapter 2. I think this is one cohesive thought carried over from chapter one.
Romans 2:1 You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. 2 And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. 3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?
There are two truths that Paul is trying to establish. The first is that ....
Response One: A Refusal to repent from any idolatry will endanger the soul (believer or not)!
Read verse 2 again. “…we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.”
As the church we can read chapter one and find false security in the fact that we aren’t gay. We can say we are doing okay because we are fighting against the shaping of culture into the homosexual image. And all the time, we have our own idols hidden in the closet. Sin plays itself out in many different forms. Not just the big ones we tend to label as really bad.
Greed, family, pleasure, are all ways we can try to shape our world around us into an image we find acceptable rather than worshipping the true image of God. And while I believe the Bible teaches there are degrees of sin, they all have the same wages. God will abandon us too. He will leave us too; he will allow us to seek the desires of our heart which ultimately leads to death.
The second truth is found in the context of Paul's audience. Paul writes this letter in part to a Jewish audience. The Jews believed that because they were Jews they had it made. They didn’t do the things the Gentiles where doing. They didn’t bow down to idols; they’d learned about God abandoning them. They didn’t perform shameful practices. Paul says, “Yes you do. You are just as bad. And you have no excuse.”
Now don't read this passage and think that by calling homosexuality a sin that we are wrong. Read 2:1-3 again. That is not what Paul is saying. Sin is sin. What Paul is saying in this passage is that we can't judge other people for being evil while all the time believing we have it made because of who we are on our own." Our eternity is not based on who we are, it's based on Jesus. In addressing homosexuality, we must first recognize our own need for God's mercy."
Response Two: To imply we are sinless is not just offensive; it’s sinful
This is one area where I think we fail as the church. We either fail to communicate that we are imperfect and in need of Jesus; or worse yet, we really don’t believe we are that bad! We like to focus on the other guy and his or her problems. I may be cheating someone in my business practices, but I'm not a homosexual.
Church when dealing with those struggling with homosexuality, we must acknowledge that we sin too. We acknowledge our imperfections; we acknowledge our own idols. This is important to a humble faith. Without realizing our own sinfulness, we will simply not be able to repeat what Paul writes in Romans 2:4.
4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?
This is a wonderful description of God's grace. God's grace is kind, TOLERANT, patient. His grace is intended to turn us from sin back to him.
There are those who will teach that God accepts us where we are. Can I suggest that I don't like that. It isn't precise enough. It can give us a false perception that God CONSENTS to where we are. And that leaves too much room for a worldly definition of tolerance. I don’t think God Consents to where we are. That’s the world's view of tolerance. If God consents to where we are, we wouldn’t need Jesus; the cross would have been unnecessary.
Instead, I believe that God agrees to take us where we are … from where we started with him….He allows us to seek him again, but he still demands repentance.
Eternal Truth
God’s compassion and kindness doesn’t tolerate sin, but deals with it so that we can be close to him again.
That’s the power of the cross; that’s God’s grace in action. God brings the sinner back into his presence when we acknowledge our sin. For the one who doesn't see sin as that bad, verse 4 won't mean much, but for the one who understands the depravity of his/her sinfulness, that verse has power. So our response as Christians it to invite people back into God’s presence.
How to Respond:
In light of this topic then, how should we respond to homosexuality?
Let me tell you how I am going to respond. I would divide my response into three groups. There are those who a proud of their homosexuality. You openly practice it. There are those who struggle with it as sinful; and then there is the church. Let me offer a response to each.
For those who openly practice homosexuality and ask me to be “tolerant” let me say I believe God’s word is true. I believe that because of who He is, he has the right to set standards. I will continue to address homosexual activity as sin. It is a spiritual problem. If my children say "I am gay" I will tell them it is a spiritual problem. They are not identified by their sexuality; they are identified in Christ.
I am not blind to other factors. There is environment when growing up, physiological (hormones, etc), there are even some genetic factors. But in the end, the practice of homosexuality is sin. And those who continue to practice the same sin without repentance are endangering the precious gift of eternal life.
I know how this statement stings; my wife and I both have friends and family members who ARE openly gay. I still have to trust God’s word and who He is. He doesn’t change. His truth doesn’t change no matter how much culture does. I want to be in the world, but I can not be a participant in it.
So, if you come to me as a practicing homosexual couple, and you ask me to do the wedding, I will say no. Please know you aren’t the only one’s I have refused (and not just for reasons of Homosexuality.) I understand that you may be really good people. You may be committed to each other. You may even believe in God, but I cannot in good conscience help you set up your idol.
I say this knowing that there will those who won’t appreciate it. There will certainly even those who will want to force me to concede through legal action. There will be those who are so lost in the fog of depravity that they won’t hear. In their claim to be open- minded they will shut off the truth and will try to gain approval through whatever means necessary. I rest assured in God’s justice. And I will strive to love you anyway. In compassion, I do not want God to abandon you to the desires of your heart.
To those who are still struggling and still trying to honor God, I say this realizing I’m a sinner too. It’s probably the church’s greatest failure to admit this. I say it realizing I have tried to set up my own idols in my life. I know the awful things I have done. I say this knowing how kind, and patient, and tolerant God has been with me and how he has allowed me to turn back to him.
To those who struggle with homosexual thoughts (or any OTHER idols), I want you to know that this is a place where we can be open about it. We have a Celebrate Recovery Group that meets every Tuesday night. I challenge you to join us. It is a place where we all deal with our idols. Why don’t you come?!
To the church I want to say that a time is coming when the church that sticks to its convictions won’t be able to do ANY weddings. It’s the price we may have to pay for being in the world but not of it. That’s what Paul promises at the end of Romans 1.
But when I realize it is primarily a spiritual problem, I deal with it primarily through prayer.
-- Prayers that God will use me as an instrument to share his mercy and his grace.
-- Prayers that my story of being invited back into the presence of God might be the one that helps someone who has chosen to be abandoned by God, might find his/her way back, too.
It is evident that God doesn’t desire to abandon us to our own depravity (whatever that looks like). Instead he invites us into his presence through Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:16 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes
It is the gospel we share every week; it’s in the invitation we share with you today.
