Sermon Reflection - February 5, 2023
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins."
Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
"You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!"
John 5:39 (NLT )
"Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose."
Matthew 5:17 (NLT )
"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”
Acts 15:28-29 (NLT)
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Preface: When it comes to the topic of our bodies, sexuality, and life experiences, quite often the loudest voices are those of shame. Shame is not from the Holy Spirit. If we are feeling like we are wrong, that is not God's spirit speaking to you. Shame says "I am wrong", whereas guilt says "I have done wrong"-- and the purpose of God's spirit in our lives is to restore the original image of God in us.
Sunday’s sermon tackled how we might think about sexual variance (people whose desires and inclinations are different from the biblical ideal). One of the important things we need to keep in mind is that “heterosexual” people (those who are opposite-sex attracted) are also at variance with the Bible’s call to marital faithfulness or celibate singleness. For far too long the message from the North American Church is that those who identify as LGBTQ+ are the only ones who are at variance with what the Bible teaches. Simply not true. As I put it, “we’re all in the orange ball.” The goal is not to eliminate all sexual variation, or none of us would remain in the Church. Rather, our goal is to see if God’s plan has any healing and hope for all of us – can we really put our whole selves on the altar (Romans 12:1) when it comes to our sexuality?
The second half of the sermon was a framework for how Christians have always seen the Old Testament and the laws given to Israel through Moses. Laws related to governance or to cultic practice (worship, sacrifices, priesthood) are no longer applicable because Jesus has fulfilled them. However, the moral laws (the Ten Commandments and the related laws) were either affirmed or intensified by Jesus and the New Testament writers. This includes the laws related to sexual conduct. The New Testament Jewish Christians specifically reinforced keeping the idolatry and sexual practice laws even for Gentile Christians (see Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council).
Our “Wrestlin’ with the Word” session was postponed a week since we met for our Annual General Meeting after the service. I’ve included a short summary and some discussion questions which will hopefully keep you thinking until we meet again! As always, if you have questions or feedback around these topics and our approach, Pastor Carl and I would love to hear from you.
Wrestlin’ with the Word – Notes
Prayer for Wisdom and Unity
God, your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light on the path of life. Jesus is the Word made flesh, and he lived in a human body like ours and shared this human life. May we, in our desire to be your image-bearers, love others as you have loved us. May your voice be heard in our conversation, and your mind be known in our pondering the mystery of our creation as your icons. Amen.
Key Concepts
- Sexual variance includes everyone, since all human beings’ image of God has been distorted by Sin
- Christians have always seen the Old Testament as inspired and necessary
- The “interpretive lens” that Jesus and the New Testament writers use for the Old Testament is fulfilment in Jesus
- Jesus claimed his work and teaching fulfilled the Old Testament law (Matthew 5:17; Luke 24:27; John 5:39)
- The Old Testament law included governance, cultic (worship/sacrifices/priesthood) and moral laws
- Jesus and the New Testament Christians believed the governance and cultic laws no longer applied; however moral laws were either affirmed or intensified by Jesus and the New Testament writers
- Christians were expected to fulfill the sexual requirements of Old Testament law through life in the Spirit
Discussion Questions
- How do you think about the Old Testament? Do you avoid reading it? Do you find it problematic? Discuss.
- How does the fulfilment “lens” of Jesus and the New Testament writers clarify what Christians keep from the Old Testament law? Is it a helpful framework for thinking about what still applies from the Old Testament?
- “When you worship other gods, the sexual practices of those gods inevitably follows.” Pastor John-Mark identified this as an Old Testament and New Testament theme: that idolatry and adultery are linked in the mind of the biblical writers. Agree or disagree? What other passages in the Bible would connect worship of other gods with sexual practices or sexual imagery?
- In 1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul makes this claim: “sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.”
- How do you understand Paul’s statement? What might he mean? How does it relate to verses 18-20 of the same passage?
- How is Paul’s statement consistent with a biblical view of embodied humans? (Think back to what it means to be made in God’s image)
- How does Paul’s view of sexual activity outside of God’s plan relate to our North American attitudes regarding sexual expression?
- How has the North American Church’s teaching on sexuality helped or hindered Christians to “honour God with our bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:20)? Has it promoted healthy honesty about the difficulty of sexual holiness? What supports has the Church built in to make such a life possible for modern Christians?