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Date:   01/23/2011

Text:   1 Corinthians 13:13 and selected texts

Title:    撥雲見日顯同性 Understanding Homosexuality

Theme: Since God has deeply love us, His followers are to learn how to love each other.

 

Introduction:

  As I was thinking about this message last year, I thought of a young man who was frustrated and struggling with his sexual identity. He felt attracted to people of the same sex but did not engage in those homosexual practices. He was not sure what to do with such feelings. He felt the church was silent on this matter that he and others like him were put into a special category, like the army: don’t ask, don’t tell. There was a part of him that was invisible in this church.

  I also think of individuals with similar struggles attracted to churches that are very warm and welcoming. They met people with similar persuasions. The ministers even offered to bless and officiate same sex unions.

  We often find churches either rejecting people with the same sex desires in order to maintain God’s righteous standard. Or to embrace and encourage to celebrate their same sex desires as a natural expression of how God made them. This morning I want to explore with you how we as a church can, and individually, to embrace God’s unchanging truth and also God’s grace.

  Since some 20 years ago, I began increasingly realize the issue about homosexuality that it is not about facts, theories, scientific data, but about people, real people. I think to most of us, homosexuality has a face to it, that is someone we know. As we discuss this topic, I’ll do my best to be faithful to God’s truth and be sensitive to human conditions.

I •  We are to understand the Basic premises in our discussion.

There are two categories of premise in this discussion.

The first category has to do with how we approach the scriptures. Under this category are two points. First, when we study any passage in the Bible, we should always try to understand both the writer’s intent and what the original audience heard. Then we ask: what does it mean to us today?

The second point is when we deal with different issues, such as, predestination, abortion, creation, divorce and homosexual issues, we are to first determine what is clearly written in the Bible. For example we know for certain that God created the heavens and the earth. Besides what is clear, are there areas the scripture is rather silent? For example, the scripture does not tell us that when Adam first opened his eyes, did he see a mature world, i.e. all the stars in the heaven and trees all fully grown? Or was it a primitive world, taking time for the lights of the stars to come to him, and the trees merely seedlings, slowly maturing. The scriptures are silent on this. In areas where the scripture is clear, we are to be firm. In areas where the scripture is silent, we should be cautious in making conclusions. Instead we are to leave room for discussion, and even agree to disagree.

The other category has to do with who we are.

  First, we’re all human beings made in God’s image. We are to separate a person from what a person does. In light of this, There is no such thing as homosexual, just like you don’t call another person heterosexual. Even though we may not like the homosexual practices, we cannot dehumanize those who practice them.

  Second, we are all sexual beings. When God created humans, he made us male and female. Angels are sexless and not human beings. Our sexuality is something very basic to our personhood. In addition to this, isn’t it true we all have a certain leaning? We don’t know why, but we all have an inclination because we’re all sexual beings.

  Third, we are all sinners. We are all weak and none of us are without sin. Every part of our humanity has been tainted by sin. We each carry our own unique marks of brokenness, constantly fighting our own sinful nature and none of us has conquered it all. If we are to be totally honest with ourselves, don’t we have to acknowledge that we are all sexual sinners? I don’t think anyone can say that Jesus'' teaching on lust does not apply to me. A Harvard Medical School professor said, “In God’s view, I suspect we are all sexual deviants.” We are all desperately in need of God’s grace. And none of us can read or listen to this sermon with a “holier-than-thou” attitude. Beginning with me, we all need to confess our particular sins to God/

  Lastly, we are all under the authority of God and His words. At HCC and many other churches, one of the tenants of our faith is that God’s word in the absolute standard of our faith and conduct.

II •  We are to be clear on Biblical prohibitions.

In the Bible, there are 4 passages that deals with homosexuality.

First, Genesis 13:13, “ 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” 18:20,21, “ 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” So God went down to investigate. In the end, 19:24, “ 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.” This was an act of judgment. What was their sin?

Genesis 19:5, “ 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” the word know can have several meanings in Hebrew. From Genesis 4:1, a commonly used meaning is having sex. Then Jude 7, further clarifies its meaning, “ 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,” The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was homosexual practices.

Secondly, Leviticus passages. Lev. 18:22, “ 22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” 20:13, “ 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” the Leviticus passage is clear in God’s prohibition of homosexual intercourse of every kind.

Thirdly, Paul’s writings. In Romans 1:26-27, “ 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” In this passage, Paul talked about the desire and then the behavior. Their behavior of same sex, sexual practices.

Then the passage in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:8-11 are a listing of sins committed by men. Among them, “men who practiced homosexuality”.

From these passages, it is clear that homosexual practices are prohibited in God’s word. Because of time, I cannot go into all the arguments against what is clearly written.

Having said this, how can we apply God’s grace to individuals who are struggling in this area? What does it mean to be a believer while struggling in such issues?

III •  We are to acknowledge God’s grace to all.

I like for us to take a look at the triads of Christian faith: Faith, Hope and Love. Let’s begin with faith. In our culture, even among the Christians, we often hear that when we believe in Jesus, he will bless us with all kinds of good things. Our diseases will be healed and broken marriages restored. Yet God’s word seems to tell us something different. When we come to follow him, we have to take up our cross and follow him. For the 1 st century believers, the cross meant only one thing: death. When one follows Christ, one must be prepared to die for him. In 1 st Peter 1:2, we also read, “ 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:..” Why are we being called? For obedience to Jesus Christ. To be a Christian is to be obedient to him, to be obedient to his words. As we are obedient to Him, follow his instructions, we’ll become more like him. As we obey him, if we have the same sex orientation, the alternative to heterosexual marriage is to remain single and practice sexual abstinence.

Our society will say, how cruel it is to deny a person’s sexual fulfillment. But God’s word says something different. While sexuality is a part of who we are, we don’t need to be sexually active in order to be fulfilled. Eating is a part of us and it doesn’t mean that we are to do away with our restrictions. Look at Jesus. He was single, he was tempted in every way (Hebrew 4:15) as we are, but he did not sin. When we take Jesus' humanity seriously, even though He is God, yet He was in every way human, this temptation will include power, sex and wealth. He was tempted just like us, but he did not sin.

If you are a single person, in order to be obedient to Christ you have to stand firm against the various sexual temptations. If you are a single with same sex desires, you too need to stand firm and not yield to those sexual temptations. If you are married, you too are not to yield to those sexual temptations that will lead to extra-marital sexual relations that can ruin your marriage.

We know it is difficult. I can still remember 17 years ago when a well-known pastor in my former city committed suicide on a Saturday morning. The elders of his church found a suicide note: the struggle is too intense and I just can’t resist it anymore. To this day I still remember his face and his ministry.

Remember Paul? He said he had a thorn on his side and 3 times asked God to remove it. Have you ever wondered, what if this is a same sex desire? God did not listen to him to remove it. Instead, God said, 2 Corinthians 12:9, “ 9 But he said to me, "“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” In our weaknesses and brokenness, there is God’s power that will enable us to overcome those temptations, no matter how strong they are. It is important to remember we are not victims, but with God’s power, we are victors.

Second, Hope. What kind of hope is there for change for one struggling with same sex desire? Is there a cure, is there healing? Can they change? I feel we have to be careful on this. One extreme is that if there is a true repentance, then one will be healed of this same sex desire immediately. Although it is possible it rarely happens. Another extreme is that there is no cure, no hope of change, and you just have to accept it and fully express this desire.

The scripture tells us that sanctification is a life long process. Like many other sins, we may never completely rid ourselves of the same sex desires until we see Christ and are transformed into his likeness. But this hope will make our present day suffering bearable. A person writes, “one of the most wretched things about this condition is that when you look ahead, there seems to be no limit to it. it will just continue on and on. But to remember God’s promise that one day this will all come to an end, is a great comfort.”

However, there is hope to change. In the 1 Corinthian passage that included homosexual behaviors, we noticed the words, “you were”. You were living a homosexual life style, but not anymore. Why? Because of God’s grace and power. In the book, Portraits of Freedom, are testimonies of 14 believers who came out of that life-style. Many of them are happily and heterosexually married. For all of them, it did not happen overnight. It was a process, but it was progress. Did they rid their same sex desires? Many of them shared that it was still there, but with God’s grace they would not yield to them.

One of the keys to change is the development of deep, loving, lasting and honest friendships, both with the members of the same and opposite sex. Where can we find this? This leads to the 3 rd triad of our Christian faith:

Love. Where can one find a place where one can develop deep, loving, lasting and honest friendship? The church. But we don’t do it well at all. We label people; he is divorced, he or she is a gay or lesbian. We treat them the same way the Pharisees treated the lepers. We are afraid of them.

To love means that we need to know many of the homosexuals (there is still a lot of discussions on this) are not solely responsible for their conditions. Yes, there are times family upbringing may be a cause, but not always. They may not be responsible for their desires but they are responsible for their behaviors.

To love means that we are to stop and not to participate in those jokes that demean a gay or lesbian; just as we should not engage in those racial jokes. We should ask ourselves why do we react so emotionally to the gays and lesbians. Are there any issues we have to deal with? We are to embrace, eat with, hug and pray for a man or woman with such same sex feelings. And even more important, everyone in this church should determine to make HCC a place where a person struggling to be obedient to Christ in the midst of same sex desire can be welcome, embraced and prayed for.

Conclusion:

  Few months ago, on a college campus, a group of 50 students held a meeting. A young man shared his Christian faith. He also shared his struggles with same sex desire. He knew that homosexual practices are clearly forbidden in the Bible and refused to give in to such a desire. So he asked the group to pray for him and to hold him accountable that in the midst of those desires, he would be obedient to God and not yield to temptations.

  John Stott wrote, “at the heart of the homosexual condition is a deep loneliness, the natural human hunger for mutual love, a search for identity, and a longing for completeness. If homosexual people cannot find these things in the local church family, we have no business to go on using that expression love in a church.

  This is especially applicable to us. This year, our ministry and teaching theme is connecting with God in Family. It is in our own family and the family of God that we are to make all people feel welcome and loved. By doing so, we are pointing people, no matter who they are, to the Christ who loves us so deeply.

  In closing I would like to say a few words to those who are struggling in this area. If the pastors and this church, had made you feel rejected and condemned, I sincerely apologize and ask for your forgiveness. We’ll do our best to love and accept everyone that God has brought into this community. To help everyone to grow in God’s grace and truth.

 




http://archive.hcchome.org/

English Service:

Mandarin Service:

Cantonese Service:

2014 |2013 |2012 |2011 |2010 |2009 |2008 |2007
2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999

2014|2013|2012|2011|2010|2009|2008 |2007
2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999
Cantonese audio translation available up to 2011

2014 |2013 |2012 |2011

 


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