I want to begin today by thanking all of you who have been praying for me during the course of this sermon series. We’ve waded deep into some tough - and at times painful - stuff! I felt your prayers, and I can tell you I needed them – especially this past week. Because I’ve struggled, to a degree beyond the usual, as I asked God what I always ask in preparing a sermon: what do You want to say, Lord, to this people at this time, through this text? And how can I get myself out of the way of it?

Last week I said abortion was perhaps the most painful moral issue facing our society for the last 35 years; but it’s fair to say that the many questions surrounding the issue of homosexuality are the likeliest to tear the Church apart in our lifetime. The American public has profound divisions regarding homosexuality, attested to by the wide (and at times erratic) variety of state laws governing the issue. But in the Church the battle lines have been drawn like nowhere else, and those who feel passionately on both sides of the debate at times have seemed willing “to burn the village in order to save it.” Some churches, such as the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church in America, recently have moved to bless homosexual unions and ordain openly gay persons as clergy leaders. Far from settling the issue, these churches are now rent by schism and political infighting, with many congregations abandoning the mother Church to seek new national or international leadership, including the extraordinary step for rebel Episcopal congregations in the US of submitting to the authority of an Anglican bishop in Africa.

But how has our denomination, the United Methodist Church, attempted to speak and respond to this issue? I like to say: by stubbornly holding to the radical middle. Since our General Conference of 1972, our position on homosexuality has, to date, changed but little. Reflecting our understanding that scriptural teaching is against the practice of homosexuality, the United Methodist Church has affirmed that holy marriage is to be between a man and a woman, and accordingly has refused to allow its clergy to perform marriages or uniting ceremonies for same-sex couples (or to allow such events to take place within our churches). Our Church has also disallowed the ordination of self-avowed, practicing homosexuals, placing us with more conservative Protestant Churches on matters of church government such as these.

At the same time, we Methodists have tended to say more in defense of a place for homosexuals in the Church than have many other denominations, particularly among conservative Churches. Our Book of Discipline makes clear that homosexual persons are, like the rest of us, “individuals of sacred worth” – that is, God loves and values us one and all. As it states, “although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality, and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching, we affirm that God’s grace is available to all” (The Social Principles of the 2004 BOD; Para. 161 Section G; text of this section may be found appended to this manuscript). The statement goes on to implore Methodist “families and churches not to reject or condemn their lesbian and gay members and friends,” committing ourselves as a denomination, and as local congregations, to the spiritual and emotional care of all people, homosexual and heterosexual alike.

Given that this is what our democratically-elected General Conference has affirmed again and again every four years, it may not surprise you that tensions still swirl around our position. For many on both sides of the debate, such statements do not go far enough. Whisperers have for years either warned of or hankered for a split between Methodist Conferences in the western states and those (more conservative) to the east of them. The media eagerly scoop up any such rumor or rumbling, eager to break the news that after nearly 70 years as a united, national Church, the Methodists are again splitting apart over social issues, as we once did over another painful debate, about something called Slavery.

In the face of stakes like these, we might reasonably ask what Jesus has to say about homosexuality. Unfortunately, as we noted last week regarding Abortion, Jesus says nothing explicitly to address what has become this crisis in our day. Certainly he would have known about the issue: homosexuality was a widespread social phenomenon in the Greco-Roman world. But Jesus never, in the Gospels, addresses it. He does, however, speak of marriage, as in our reading from Matthew today, and when he does so he says that marriage is a gift of God, uniquely shared with one man and one woman, two who become one flesh.

What else can Jesus share with us to illumine this debate? Well, when Jesus chooses his companions and friends, we are not told if any among them were homosexual persons. But clearly Jesus came to call sinners, and gather them he did! He called those who had, in many cases, most deeply offended against the morals and standards of their society. We see Jesus repeatedly welcoming and befriending tax collectors, prostitutes, and other shocking, irreligious persons. This signature behavior, perhaps more than any other thing, is what sparked the fury of those who conspired to kill Jesus. This is why one commentator has said, I think very credibly, that the story of the Good Samaritan might yield more insight today if the man beaten and left for dead were rescued by a gay man with HIV. After all, who is offended by Samaritans, these days?

Although Jesus does not speak directly about homosexuality, elsewhere the Bible does do so in a number of places. Most particularly in the Holiness Code of Leviticus, Chapters 18 and 20, homosexual acts between men are explicitly condemned. But despite the prohibition of homosexual behavior in Leviticus, critics have pointed out that while we do still observe some Levitical moral codes, like those regarding murder or incest, we have tended to set aside others – like the laws against eating shellfish (have any of you ever done that?), or the stiff punishments given for pre-marital and extra-marital goings-on (rest assured, I will not ask about that). In any case, appeals to the Old Testament’s condemnation of homosexual behavior as “an abomination before God” have not swayed everyone.

But this suggestion that not all the old laws still apply to us Christians tends to overlook the fact that homosexual activity is also repeatedly addressed in the New Testament - in three of Paul’s letters: 1 Timothy, Romans and, as we heard earlier, 1 Corinthians. In these instances, homosexual acts are listed among habits and practices that prevent us from doing God’s will – that is, they’re identified (among other sins) as sins. This is all the more worthy of note when you consider that homosexuality was widely known and socially accepted in the Greek world, and the early Church’s witness against it put Christians at odds with the prevailing culture. Historically, the Church has sustained this witness: that homosexuality does not fulfill God’s desire for human sexuality, as the Scriptures reveal it.

But if the biblical witness is so clear, why are we in the Church so at odds over the issue? There are probably too many reasons to name, or at least to do justice to, in a few scant minutes. We must note that many strongly believe that in some cases, same-sex attraction is not chosen, but innate – that some people are born different in this regard. Others point out that to have gay persons in monogamous, committed relationships would build up the Church, not tear it down or harm the sacredness of marriage. When I think of the hash being made of Christian marriage by adultery, by addiction to pornography, by egocentric and worldly priorities that do not put God first as intended within the marital bond – I find that this argument may be a stronger one than I’d like to admit. At the very least, we who call homosexuals to a life of celibacy in singleness ought to pay attention to our own behavior, and ask: how are we “straight people” doing on living out celibacy in singleness, on expressing Christ’s deep love of the Church by the way we love one another as husbands and wives?

I have tried hard to listen to both sides of this debate. I’ve heard a lot of shouting, and I’ve seen faces that did not look loving – at least not as I could discern it. I confess that I do not understand all that I feel I should understand about this matter. I also confess that some of the most authentic, humble, powerful witnesses for Christ I have known were gay men, lesbian women. And I confess that as a parent, I would be deeply troubled if one of my children were to come to me and share that he was homosexual. So my confession is, some things within me feel “in the way of the Word” on this one.

Of three things, however, I am sure. First, the central question here truly seems to be about marriage – that God has created us, as Jesus said, male and female, one for another. In two becoming one flesh, God invites us to participate in the creative miracle that is life itself. My own view is that we in the Church have to clean up our act by honoring the marriages we have entered into – because I am sure that you, like me, have seen far too many unholy, hellish marriages, that did not, do not fulfill God’s creative purpose.

Second, I hope I remember what Billy Graham said, when on 20/20 Hugh Downs asked him what he would do as a father if one of his children “came out” to him. Without hesitation, Graham replied, “I would love that one all the more.” I think Graham meant that such a son, such a daughter would then need the unconditional love of a parent more than ever. And Billy Graham knows that Jesus loves especially those who’ve reached the edge of what the world can accept.

Lastly, as I recall, all sin is an offense before the righteous and holy God, and therefore we all fall short of the glory of God. Deep down, we know this. I have seen whole congregations that loved and admired brothers and sisters whom they knew to be homosexual in orientation and in some cases in lifestyle. These churches knew – but they also knew that Christ was present among them, present between them, and in some profound way, in Christ they were neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither straight nor gay. The moral issues were still there, yes. But these paled by comparison with the love that was there. After all, when all else has fallen away, the greatest of these will still be love. Since that’s where we’re going, friends, maybe it’s also the place where we should get started.

Thanks be to God.

The Social Principles of the United Methodist Church

Paragraph 161, Section G, The Book of Discipline, 2004

We recognize that sexuality is God’s good gift to all persons. We believe persons may be fully human only when that gift is acknowledged and affirmed by themselves, the church, and society. We call all persons to the disciplined, responsible fulfillment of themselves, others, and society in the stewardship of this gift. We also recognize our limited understanding of this complex gift and encourage the medical, theological, and social science disciplines to combine in a determined effort to understand human sexuality more completely. We call the Church to take the leadership role in bringing together these disciplines to address this most complex issue. Further, within the context of our understanding of this gift of God, we recognize that God challenges us to find responsible, committed, and loving forms of expression.

Although all persons are sexual beings whether or not they are married, sexual relations are only clearly affirmed in the marriage bond. Sex may become exploitative within as well as outside marriage. We reject all sexual expressions that damage or destroy the humanity God has given us as birthright, and we affirm only that sexual expression that enhances that same humanity. We believe that sexual relations where one or both partners are exploitative, abusive, or promiscuous are beyond the parameters of acceptable Christian behavior and are ultimately destructive to individuals, families, and the social order.

We deplore all forms of the commercialization and exploitation of sex, with their consequent cheapening and degradation of human personality. We call for strict global enforcement of laws prohibiting the sexual exploitation or use of children by adults and encourage efforts to hold perpetrators legally and financially responsible. We call for the establishment of adequate protective services, guidance, and counseling opportunities for children thus abused. We insist that all persons, regardless of age, gender, marital status, or sexual orientation, are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured.

We recognize the continuing need for full, positive, age-appropriate and factual sex education opportunities for children, young people, and adults. The Church offers a unique opportunity to give quality guidance and education in this area.

Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth. All persons need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. We affirm that God’s grace is available to all, and we will seek to live together in Christian community. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.