Slow News Night
So my thoughts remain on this morning's sermon (I know--for some of you this is second nature; for me it's a fairly recent meditative process), which, coincidentally, had much to do with news.
Pastor John is a very effective speaker. Today, he drew our attention to the theme of today's sermon as published in the bulletin--Human Sexuality--and then segued by saying "God's first commandment to man in the Bible is 'Go and have sex'" to much laughter. He followed by reminding us that a.) God used a little different language (Be fruitful and multiply) and 2.) God immediately put a fence around this activity: For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. (Gen 2:24) From chapter two, through several Old Testament passages, to the Gospel of Matthew (ch. 5:5-6) into Romans and Jude, he took us through a scholarly, Biblical foundation for preaching on the subject of homosexuality. The obvious conclusion, to any who believe in the efficacy of Scripture at all, is that marriage is an institution that predates governments and consists strictly of one man and one woman. My favorite point of his was, when referencing a common argument of the left that heterosexual infidelity is a far greater problem to society, when he said "And speaking in stictly volume of the problem terms, yes, that is true; but you don't hear anybody trying to legitimize heterosexual infidelity."
Pastor John then spent the second half of the sermon reminding the congregation that all people--homosexuals, bisexuals, heterosexuals--are God's children, created by Him to serve Him. He spoke of the various opportunities he's had over the years to minister to homosexuals, and how he tries--and encouraged us to try in no uncertain terms--to remember that God's Grace is abundant, and that our ministry should be grounded in love and grace.
It was a very effective reminder, at least to me. Often, in the goofiness that the cultural wars have become, it's easy to look at the activist homosexual element and see them as the enemy. And, perhaps,there is enough vitriol and offense coming from that corner to understand why it's easy to see them as the enemy; but we are called to love them. I think it is a mistake for people on the far right to get so engaged in the "war" aspect of it that they forget the Great Commission and fail to minister to those who need it.
That said, there is also quite clearly a mandate in the Bible to view marriage in a certain, limited way. This is one aspect of the cultural war that the center-right can win, as the vote in Missouri this week demonstrates. The actions of the Circuit Judge in Washington one day later give us--in a political sense--the foundation from which to move the argument forward. Simply put: if you want to have a voice, through your legislatures or the ballot process, in what your state defines as "marriage," then you cannot reasonably vote for a Democrat. No matter what their personal view (when you can pin them down on it (ahem, Sen. Kerry)), a Democrat will always appoint or vote to confirm a judge more likely to redefine this issue against your will than a Republican. | |
