“Missoula’s Holy Spirit Episcopal Church to bless same-sex couples.”
That’s a headline today in a Montanan newspaper (link at bottom). This is following in the steps of “bishop” Marc Andrus of California, who said the following:
“Gay marriage is marriage, and gay parents are parents, for all people are people. This is the truth that this city has long proclaimed, and for which our leaders have risked all, and have paid the price of courage. The light of those martyrs lives shines forth still, and we stand on their luminous mountain of witness…
And here at Grace Cathedral and in the Diocese of California we will be joyfully uniting, again, couples in marriage whose only qualification is love of each other and the desire to be married before God and in the face of our communities of faith.”
In the article, the following relevant passages stood out to me:
“A Missoula Episcopal church is one of the first three in Montana to approve a new blessing for same-sex unions. “The main thing here is that it’s a step forward after years of talking about it,” said the Rev. Terri Ann Grotzinger, priest at Holy Spirit Episcopal Church.
Holy Spirit, located on South Sixth Street East, has been a leader during important transitions before, she added. In the 1980s, it was the first Episcopal church in Missoula to hire a woman in an ordained role.
Under provisions decided by each diocese’s bishop, the Missoula church began the decision process with weekly education sessions, discussions and numerous opportunities for feedback.
In the end, about 88 percent of congregation members who responded said yes, while 10 percent said no, and 2 percent said it didn’t matter either way, said Bob Wattenberg, senior warden on the vestry.
After an open vestry meeting in early December, the board voted unanimously to approve the blessing, with one of its 14 voting members absent, Wattenberg said. The vote reflects the congregation’s desire to be inclusive and to respect differences, Grotzinger said.”
We should note a few quick things as a matter of housekeeping. First off, this organization is not at all set up as God set forth in the books of Acts, Timothy, and Titus, to name a few. Secondly, no where does God say to take steps forward and away from His word. And as a last note, we certainly do not change what God says by holding a vote on it.
While I don’t want to devote all of this note to discussing the Greek and Aramaic terms, the following passages from God’s word discuss homosexuality and other aspects of humanity which miss the mark that God has set forth for us. Please consider them, and afterwards I’ll discuss a little bit of the confusion and distortion that takes place, even among Christians.
- Genesis 19:4-5; 13 "Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally." ... "For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."
- Leviticus 18:22 "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination."
- Leviticus 20:13 "If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them."
- Deuteronomy 23:17-18 "There shall be no ritual harlot of the daughters of Israel, or a perverted one of the sons of Israel. You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God."
- Deuteronomy 29:23 "The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath."
- Judges 19:22-24 "As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, "Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!" But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man's concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!"
- 1 Kings 14:24 "And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel."
- 1 Kings 15:12 "And he banished the perverted persons from the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made."
- 1 Kings 22:46 "And the rest of the perverted persons, who remained in the days of his father Asa, he banished from the land."
- 2 Kings 23:7 "Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image."
- Isaiah 3:9 "The look on their countenance witnesses against them, And they declare their sin as Sodom; They do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves."
- Jeremiah 23:14 "Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah."
- Lamentations 4:6 "The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, With no hand to help her!"
- Ezekiel 16:46-50 "Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters. You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways. As I live, says the Lord GOD, neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit."
- Luke 10:12 "But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city."
- Luke 17:29 "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."
- Romans 1:26-27 "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due."
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."
- 1 Timothy 1:9-11 "knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust."
- Jude 6-7 "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
God's Word has not changed. You can go and look all of that up. Do you wonder if God has maybe shifted his opinions as humans have shifted theirs? He hasn’t, and says that there is no variation nor shifting shadow with Him. (Jms 1:17) The Bible describes homosexuality as a perversion of God's design for human sexuality that has devastating physical, emotional, and spiritual consequences.
God speaks a lot on the reason for this. In homosexual relationships, one partner fulfills the role of the woman, and the other the man. Look at lesbians. Does the term "butch" ring a bell? Even in perversion, God's intention remains the best, so homosexuality attempts to make a poor copy of it. God made woman as a "suitable helpmate" for man. She should complete the man, and the man her. The man should be the leader, and the woman the support for him. Together this relationship mimics that of Christ and His bride, the church (Eph 5:22-32). On the other hand, as we saw above, God has always considered homosexuality to be missing the mark He set forth.
Often people will discuss gay "love," as “bishop” Andrus did, but it is not love in the way God defines it as, love "does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth" (I Corinthians 13:6). God defines homosexuality as sin (harmatia, an archery term meaning "to miss the mark). Since homosexuality is sin, any “love” between homosexuals is missing this essential quality, and is only “love” as humans are defining it, not as God defines the term. A person in love wants the best for the object of his/her love. Since sin harms a person and ultimately leads to spiritual death, we cannot truly love a person while encouraging him/her to remain in sin.
Bishop Andrus said that “marriage is marriage,” regardless of whether or not it was between a man and woman or same-sex couples. While Andrus may say this, God doesn’t agree with him, and defines marriage only as between a man and his wife, saying in Matthew 19:4-6, “At the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,’ and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ …So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Concerning those who are "Christians" and condone homosexuality, God says of their attitudes, "Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them" (Romans 1:32). Approving of the practice, God says, leads to eternal death. Why? Read Ezekiel 3 and 33. We need to be rescuing and warning the dying of where their paths are leading them. If we do not, God says that we are watchmen who have willingly failed in our duties and are guilty of their blood.
God goes on to say, in 1 Cor 5, that true Christians must remove from themselves those who approve of such things. References verses 9-13, which say, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves."
Some Christians claim that homosexuality is acceptable now, given the cultural shift, and that God would approve these days. They ignore all the Bible says. God condemns such teachings, saying, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15:13-14). The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:89 - "Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven." These people want to be friends with the world, but remember what James says in 4:4, "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
So, the Bible unequivocally describes homosexuality as sin. It is a sin against God (Jude 7), the home (Genesis 2:18-25), self (I Timothy 1:10) and society (Romans 1:18-32, esp. vss. 26-27). The reality of this truth to every Bible-believing person is too obvious to belabor. Homosexuals, unless they repent, shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
A couple of last things, however. Notice in the verses that I mentioned that God lumps homosexuality in with those who sleep around, drunks, thieves, etc. They are not to be sought out for hatred; they are not to be reviled when encountered. There is nothing worse than to act violently and unlovingly toward any person held captive by sin. People who practice sin are the sickest spiritual patients and, if they are to recover, need the most love. They have the same chance as all to repent. It is our job to lovingly help them, but we cannot pretend that they are not in danger. The first step is to admit that there is a problem, and that problem is primarily sin, which separates man from God.
Sadly, we can expect more and more Christians to support homosexuality, fornication, drunkenness, etc. I know a ton who do and they call themselves Christians, yet act just as the world acts. God tells us to expect this behavior saying in 2 Tim 4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship." Consensus does not equal truth. It’s tough, but we are to be lights in the world, which means that we have to look different than those around us.
In the meantime, here’s what you can do:
- Be informed.
- Study the Bible about these subjects.
- Pray and fast.
- Teach the truth to all who will listen.
- Never grow weary of doing good.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/missoula-s-holy-spirit-episcopal-church-to-bless-same-sex/article_0f911a52-937f-11e3-8dde-0019bb2963f4.html
