Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Sexuality: Grace Makes the Difference!

Come August, the ELCA will gather in assembly to address whether two lesbian or homosexual people, living in a committed, loving relationship, having completed all of the theological education requirements, having demonstrated a solid confessional commitment to Jesus and love for the church and people, will be able to serve as pastors to a congregation.

Since 2001, the ELCA has been disciplined in its study of this question. There has been theological, psychological, sociological, and medical conversation at the highest levels. It is now time to decide.

If I were a delegate to the Assembly, I would vote to allow their service to Christ and the Church. Why? Because there are many theological reasons.

1. WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH. Grace is for all. Grace liberates. Grace transforms. Grace refocuses us to the absolute essentials of the Christ life. Grace makes the heart, mind, and body new. Grace gives the gift of faith. Grace makes Christ alive in our person. Where Christ is, there is grace, there is faith. The homosexual and lesbian are given this same grace, this same faith as are all.

2. THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT SAYS: YOU SHALL LOVE GOD, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, AND LOVE YOURSELF. This love is for the sake of God, the other, as well as for yourself. Our self love is shaped by God's grace which makes complete each member only in light of love for the other. There is one love expressed in three expressions. ALL are called to love, no exceptions. As for all, the USE of the other for self gratification is not of God. We are to gratify each other out of love for each other.

3. MALE AND FEMALE WERE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. God created our sexuality as an expression of God's gracious divinity wrapped in humanity.

4. IN CHRIST WE ARE RECONCILED TO GOD AND EACH OTHER. Christ unites all humanity that we may recognize the Image of God in each other, and recognize the presence of Christ through each other. Reconciliation means we are given the gifts of forgiveness and repentance. Forgiveness and repentance in Christ make all things new. In Christ we recognize our sexual uniqueness as a part of our personhood, to be respected, accepted, and affirmed, shaped and reshaped daily through renewal and reconciliation.

5. THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GREEK, SLAVE NOR FREE, MALE NOR FEMALE, FOR WE ALL ARE ONE IN JESUS CHRIST. Jesus has come to remove barriers to faith, to God, and to each other. In Christ, we are openned to see and honor the Image of God in the other. In Christ we are a new creation. In Christ, human sexuality is seen in its fulness, as reflected through the cross, rather than through cultural or personal bias.

6. GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES. We are all called to discipleship. No exceptions. Our sexuality is a part of our person to be used as part of all our spiritual, intellectual, and social gifts for the sake of making the Reign of God real today. The care and dignity with which we use our sexuality for the sake of Christ gives testimony to the presence of God's love.

I believe the above statements make for common ground for all our sexual and personal realities.

As I have read and studied the Biblical texts surrounding human sexuality, it occurs to me that in every text which addresses homosexuality, there is ABSOLUTELY NO consideration that the homosexual can have faith, love God or Jesus, care for the other, be passionate for justice, make for peace, or care for the earth. The homosexual is relegated to ONLY being a reprobate, a pagan, a sinner unworthy of social worth, whose word from God is only to CHANGE. Holy Scripture paints an incomplete and biased picture of homosexuality. My reading and experience have informed me that homosexuals, all GLBT, like all people, are daily in need of forgiveness and repentance for what we do and do not do; that some have faith and others do not, like all of us; that some have more social graces than others, like all of us; that some are more "well" than others, like all of us. We ALL struggle, make mistakes, sin most assuredly, kneel in need of forgiveness, win some and lose some, become beggars at various times, and hit home runs now and then. ALL share a common bond of faith and humanity.

I also find it interesting that lesbians are not mentioned in Holy Scripture. They may be saying: What a relief! Bi and trans-gendered people are not even close to being recognized. I suspect that this omission is an example of incomplete knowledge, and the male-centeredness and female-lessedness in Biblical history. What this reveals is the cultural influence of the times upon Biblical writing. It also reveals the lack of a deeper psychological and biological understanding of human sexuality. This is not to throw stones. Understanding evolves, the Holy Spirit continues to reveal God's Truth. As Paul reminds us, we see only dimly.

God's grace through Jesus Christ reshapes our understandings, opens our hearts, and raises the level of our responsibility to God, to each other, to the earth, and to ourselves. Grace makes the difference. Grace opens us. It is time to be openned.

Peace!
Ron Letnes

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