Homosexuality

The second sexuality sermon (on homosexuality) has now been delivered. A manuscript is available at the BWCOB website: http://bwcob.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/09Oct25ResponsetoHomosexuality.pdf

Several comments have already been offered under the previous post on sexuality, so do check in there to get caught up on the conversation. I will be responding to the comments offered there, but I am hoping that the continuing conversation related to how we as a church respond to homosexually oriented persons shifts to this post.

I am very interested to hear how people are responding and what continuing reflections and reactions are being generated. Hopefully we shall have some good, honest conversation...

Part of the solution

In the summer of 2002, I attended the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference in Louisville, KY. I was finishing my second year as the interim pastor of youth at the Lancaster Church of the Brethren, a newlywed preparing to enter volunteer service with my wife that fall. I confess that I went to conference somewhat disillusioned with the church and looking forward to a year away from it. That fall Amanda and I would begin a year of volunteer service, and I had hopes that that time would help to clarify the growing tension in my love/hate feelings for the church and to discern my calling, whether in the church or out. But what I experienced at conference that year nearly sealed the deal in my contemplated exit from the ministry and potentially the church, and left a sour taste in my mouth that still lingers.

Conference fielded a query that year on the propriety of licensing and ordaining homosexual persons to the ministry. I honestly do not remember whether there were other significant items of business on the agenda that year. What I do remember was the spirit that saturated that conference, a spirit that was palpable to me in not only in the contentious business sessions addressing the query, but also in worship, in the exhibit spaces, even in the hallways of the convention center and the surrounding hotels. It wasn’t pretty. It was a spirit of hatred and fear, of distrust and judgment. Instead of brothers and sisters coming together to discern the mind of Christ, I experienced two sides at war – conservatives verses progressives, BMC verses BRF, us verses them. Instead of searching to understand the scriptures together, I saw our sacred texts used as weapons – words pulled out of context and hurled back and forth with no more love than a pin pulled from a grenade.

I do not know how much of my perception was grounded in my own wrestling with the church at that stage of my life and call. But I do know that I was not alone in my perceptions. And I also know that the tension over the question of homosexuality is in no way unique to our denomination nor to the church. Dan Kimball has named homophobia as one of the 6 negative perceptions consistently cited by those who like Jesus but not the church.

In my continuing love/hate relationship with the church, I sometimes wonder which church will carry the day on this issue -- the church which led the abolition of slavery or the one that saw nothing wrong with one huan being owning another, the church that birthed some of the greatest institutions of higher learning in the western world or the church that has set itself in opposition to science for centuries.

And then I realize that this is the church. And that it's not which church "wins", but whether we as people of faith have the fortitude to stick with an imperfect institution and with imperfect sisters and brothers in the constant journey to reach for and to realize the best of our calling and the best of ourselves -- to be the change that we want to see in the church and in the world. And as much as the debate over homosexuality drives me crazy, and as much as I may be tempted (driven?) to walk away from a church that is tearing itself up over the issue, I believe that we are (or at least can be) better than what I experienced at that 2002 Conference.

And I need to be part of the solution.

Sermon 1

Well, the first sermon on sexuality is in the books. If you missed it, or want to check it out again, a manuscript is available at the BWCOB website: http://bwcob.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/09Oct18HumanSexuality.pdf

As I reflect on the responses I have been getting, I continued to be amazed and humbled by how many have commended me for being "courageous" enough to address the topic. I have been fond of responding that the line between courage and foolishness is thin -- perhaps its not the place to go for an extended walk!

Be that as it may, I am indeed hopeful that these sermons will not be simply 2 weeks and done, but will spark some discussions and conversations that develop depth and continue well beyond the week of delivery. So to that end, I post this sermon excerpt, followed by two questions for us to consider:

...the church has largely surrendered its ability to speak on the subject of sexuality in a meaningful way in our culture, and even in the lives of many Christians. In our overwhelming silence concerning most matters of sexuality, we have left individuals and young people pretty much on their own in expressing and understanding their sexuality. In our overwhelming negativity and judgmentalism when we do speak about sex, we have rendered the church – and by association, the Christian faith – practically irrelevant in sexual decision making for the majority of people whose feelings and life experiences do not confirm a negative attitude toward sex.

But I believe that our faith is relevant to the expression of our sexuality, and that that relevance extends well beyond a laundry list of sexual sins to be avoided. I believe that sex is a precious and beautiful part of our human nature, a gift of God woven into the very fabric of creation. Furthermore, I believe that sex is more than a private matter, and that contrary to much popular rhetoric that would suggest that what we do between the sheets is nobody’s business, sexual expression and ethics is a legitimate community affair – indeed I believe sex is everyone’s business.

So: 1) Do you think that sex/sexuality is indeed everyone's business, or would society and the church be better served by following a policy of "don't ask/don't tell" and/or "to each his/her own"?
And 2) If sex is indeed a legitimate community affair, how does the church claim or reclaim a meaningful role and voice in a context that includes media, science, civil authority, social norms and taboos, etc?

Sexuality

This weekend I will begin a two week sermon series at BWCOB on sexuality. The sermon this week (10/18) will focus on sexuality in general, and the second (10/25) will deal with how the church responds to homosexuality. It is not the first time I have preached on these topics, and I am sure it will not be the last. They stem from two basic convictions: 1) that the church (generally speaking) is/has been sorely negligent in addressing these topics in honest, helpful, and relevant ways and 2) that the church has more to say in the conversation than "thou shalt not". It is my hope that these sermons will help to engage at least our congregation at BWCOB (and maybe some beyond) in a healthy and ongoing conversation about issues of sexuality, sexual ethics, inclusion, justice, morality, biblical interpretation, and more.

I will be posting links to the sermons which will be posted online at the church website after they are delivered, with the hope that this blog will be a place where the conversation can develop and continue. While I have been slow in posting on this blog to date, the opportunity to have continuing coversations in this way is one of the primary reasons I decided to give blogging a try.

I hope you'll be a part of it...