A Pastoral Concern regarding Pride Month

Part of the Gospel reading for this Sunday is this: “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  The one who does not love me does not hold on to my words" (John 14:23-24).  

This means that we take the word of God very seriously.  We conform our lives to his word.  We are not permitted to tweak, edit, or recast God's word to conform to our society.  For this, we are called haters, bigots, etc...  Of course, Jesus warned us that we should expect as much from those who do not love him (cf. John 15:18-20).  Since they do not love him, they do not keep his word.

This does not mean that we despise people.  Part of God's word is, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Unfortunately, that gets spun by many to mean "Accept your neighbor's sins and do not correct him because that would make him feel bad."  

Our Lord gave the church its mission just before he ascended to heaven: "Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations" (Luke 24:47).  We call sinners to repent.  That's ALL sinners.  All stand guilty before God, and we are to flee from our sins.  If some sins end up getting more attention than others, it likely has to do with how prevalent those sins are.  I could build a sermon around the sin of hiring a hit man to take out a co-worker, but such a sin is pretty rare.  Other sins are more common, such as sins that have an entire month dedicated to their promotion and celebration.  (It should be noted that the Lord condemns pride as a sin in itself.  But pride in one's sins?  That doubles down on sins.)  

Are Christians guilty of being loveless, arrogant, and judgmental?  Sure.  Have they been hypocritical by ignoring their own sexual sins?  Yes.  For these things, Christians need to repent.  But such sins don't cancel out other sins.  All are called to repent.  

In addition to preaching repentance, we preach the forgiveness of sins.  There is forgiveness for all sins (except unbelief, that is, the refusal to love and keep God's word).  There is pardon for the penitent, no matter how egregious one's sins may have been.  Jesus' sufferings and death paid for every sin of every sinner.  Sadly, many don't want forgiveness.  They demand acknowledgement that their actions are good and pure.  We are called on to bless them.  How can we bless what God does not bless?  Romans 1:22-28 has no blessing for unrepentant sinners.

In all this, I find no joy or feelings of superiority over anyone.  If someone is struggling with severe temptations to commit sexual sins, he or she should be shown great mercy and be in our fervent prayers.  But many do not fight these temptations.  They have given way to them.  To see sins embraced is grieving.  To see them flaunted is infuriating as it emboldens more people to defy God's word and despise Jesus.  

I find great joy in assuring sinners that their sins are forgiven.  But God's command is that forgiveness must be withheld from those who insist that their sins are not sins.  Out of love for Jesus and his word, I cannot budge from this command.  And out of love for Jesus and his word, I will also follow his instruction to pray for the salvation of sinners, whoever they are.

Here are a few other thoughts and a resource to add to this pastoral concern.

A Facebook post from a WELS group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/2204954201/permalink/10165584894094202/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

A short book which also covers this topic: Gay and God by Rev. Mike Novotny of Time of Grace ministries.

A Pastoral Concern re: teaching God's word with clarity

I have seen a few headlines for stories about Pope Francis giving approval for priests blessings same-sex couples and for making advances in the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community to the Roman Catholic Church.  Many articles quote or summarize Pope Francis’ words in a similar fashion.  I am working under the assumption that they are quoting him fairly.  However, even accurate portrayals of the Pope’s comments are still open to interpretation.  In my opinion, they are so vague (intentionally?  By this time, I have to think so) that opposing view points can claim that the Pope supports them.

The article, taken from Deutsche Welle and picked up by the AP and Reuters, is in bold print.  My comments are interspersed between paragraphs.

Days after approving blessings of same-sex couples, Pope Francis has warned against ideological inflexibility in the Catholic Church he leads. He said that too rigid stances could prevent the church from seeing reality. Pope Francis on Thursday told members of the Vatican's central administration that holding views that remain too rigid could be an obstacle to perceiving reality and moving forward.

The summary above is probably the most disconcerting thing the Pope said.  He warned against “ideological inflexibility” and “too rigid stances.”  What does this mean? 

When we conclude a reading from the Bible in our Divine Service, we conclude with the pastor stating, “The word of the Lord.”  That is a declarative statement.  Is it supposed to be a question now?  The congregation responds, “Thanks be to God,” indicating their confession that the reading from the Bible is, indeed, the word of the Lord.  We are grateful that the Lord has been pleased to reveal his will to us in an unchanging, firm way.  The congregation does not respond, “Well, the word of the Lord for now.  We’ll see how things change next year.”  Yes, we are quite inflexible on what the Lord has to say.  He has not given us permission to alter his word, and he has indicated that we should not anticipate any further editing.  Quite the contrary, we have warnings from God not to change his word in the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19).  It seems that God is quite inflexible on his word.  Our “ideology” is to come from God’s word.  If it does not, then I agree with the Pope.  We can shuck and jive our way to whatever works.  If it does, then it seems we should be rigid and not yield even an inch.

But for the sake of argument, if God can be flexible and is not so rigid on his stance, I would contend we have to hold that opinion about all of his word, including his promises.  Is the death of Jesus sufficient for the payment of sins, or has God now added to the bill so that we have to cough something up?  Does the word of the Lord endure forever, or does God change his stance from time to time?  Does our faith rest on solid ground, or do we need to prepare for a seismic shift?  In short, can we depend on anything we read?  If the word of the Lord is rigid, we can.

The Pope also expresses that such inflexibility “could prevent the church from seeing reality.”  Does the word of God fail to do that?  Does the Lord not know what the sinful world is like?  We all are sinful; that is reality.  We are all called to repent of our sins; that is the reality.  There is a damning judgment that awaits all who will not repent and order their lives according to the word of the Lord.  That is reality.  No Christian wants to see anyone perish eternally.  Love compels us to uphold God’s word so that people will see their sins and flee from them.  There is boundless mercy found in Jesus Christ.  There is abundant forgiveness which Jesus won.  This is reality.  But to tell people that their sins are not sins is not loving, nor is it reality.  To allow “flexibility” for sins to go on unrepentant may be popular now; it will result in damnation later.  This is the reality.  God says so; therefore, his Church does too.

One more thought about the above paragraph.  What does it mean for the Church to “move forward”?  As positive as that is supposed to sound, not every move forward is a good one.  If one is at the edge of a cliff, moving forward is a bad idea.  If one is standing firmly on God’s word, any move from there is a bad and deadly idea.  What move does the Pope want to see?  Does he desire more people to hear the word of the Lord, to join the Church, and to be saved?  Then, bravo!  But to suggest that blessing people who persist in sin is the way to do this is blasphemous.  It is a move forward right off the cliff, and the landing will not be a safe one.

His comments came just days after he angered many church conservatives by issuing a declaration allowing blessings of same-sex couples.

That approval went against a 2021 policy by the Vatican's doctrine office, which forbade such blessings because God "does not and cannot bless sin."

A confessional Lutheran says: “The Vatican is right on this.”  Why?  Because that is what the Scriptures say.

Francis didn't specifically mention his decision in his comments on Thursday.

What did Francis say?

During his traditional Christmas greetings to members of the Curia, Francis said, "Let us remain vigilant against rigid ideological positions that often, under the guise of good intentions, separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward."

"We are called, instead, to set out and journey, like the magi, following the light that always desires to lead us on, at times along unexplored paths and new roads," he said.

"The Christian faith -- let us remember -- is not meant to confirm our sense of security, to let us settle into comfortable religious certitudes, and to offer us quick answers to life's complex problems," he added.

Did anyone hear a loud ripping sound regarding the context of the Bible?  We journey “like the Magi, following the light that always desires to lead us on”???  Yes, the Magi followed a star.  But this is what the Magi testified, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2).  The star directed them on a very specific quest, not some generic quest for knowledge “along unexplored paths and new roads.”  It is a safe bet that the Magi traveled well-worn roads on their way to and from the Christ child.  They came to worship their King, Lord, and Savior.  Why?  Because they had a specific word which directed them to him.  The star was merely the sign that tipped them off that the prophetic word had been fulfilled.  We do not journey away from the word of God to follow unexplored paths and new roads.  The Bible says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).  If we are not following that, we are being led away by something else.

It is also disturbing to hear the Pope suggest that “The Christian faith -- let us remember -- is not meant to confirm our sense of security, to let us settle into comfortable religious certitudes, and to offer us quick answers to life's complex problems.”  Ummmm…. What?

The Christian faith is not to confirm our security?  The Christian faith is not to provide certitudes?  (I actually looked up “certitudes,” wondering if it meant something different than “absolute certainty or conviction that something is the case.”  Nope, that is the very definition of the word.)  The Christian faith does not offer quick answers to life’s complex problems?  That last one is vague enough to spark debate.  Oftentimes, life is messy.  Oftentimes, we are left to make the best out of a bad situation.  But the Pope’s comments suggest that the Bible offers little in the way of certainty, security, guidance, or instruction.  If that’s the case, why bother with the Bible at all? 

The annual greeting is a high-profile event to which all cardinals based in Rome are invited.

Since becoming pontiff 10 years ago, Francis, who turned 87 on Sunday, has made some steps toward more inclusivity in the Catholic Church, notably by expressing more tolerance of the LGBTI+ community than has previously been shown.

However, he has tried to do so without making any actual changes to the church's moral teachings; in his declaration on Monday, he made it clear that the blessing given by priests to same-sex couples must not make the impression of a wedding ceremony.

Then what’s the point of the blessing?

The Vatican holds that homosexual relations are "intrinsically disordered," while saying that gay people must nonetheless be treated with dignity and respect.

Agreed!  Everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.  The LGBTQ+ community are human beings.  Every human being deserves respect.  Every person should be treated with dignity.  There is hope for everyone.  Dignity and respect, however, are not the same as fully, unquestioned acceptance of everything one believes and does.  We should also treat prisoners with dignity and respect, but it does not mean that we approve of whatever resulted in their prison sentence. 

Conservatives and traditionalists have slammed Monday's declaration as going against biblical teachings about homosexuality.

“Conservatives” and “traditionalists” sound like political terms.  That works well in a news article which looks for clicks or in a debate where we draw up sides.  But what is it that conservatives are trying to conserve?  What tradition are the traditionalists holding to?  If it is status quo for the sake of status quo, then they should be corrected and/or criticized.  If they are upholding the Scriptures and seeking to preserve the word of God, then they are being the faithful. 

tj/sms (AP, Reuters)

Copyright 2023 DW.COM, Deutsche Welle. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Summer Reading -- (Dis)ordered

This book managed to jump in line and interrupt my reading of St. Augustine's City of God.  This book was a gift from the IssuesEtc studios that we received when we popped in for a visit back in June.  They gave us a lot of gifts.  The gift of this book saved me a few bucks as I was planning on buying it anyway.

Well, I just completed it and highly recommend it.  Perhaps it will be used as the basis for an upcoming Adult Bible Class.  But don't wait for that.  Purchase it now.  It will equip you for answering people who promote the LGBQ+ philosophy, reinforce your understanding of God's plans for human design, and help you to honor God in your vocation as a man or woman, husband, wife, or single person, and especially as a blood-bought, body-and-soul saint in the kingdom of God.

Bible Matters -- Upcoming Topics

Bible Matters, a Bible discussion group, meets on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM.  Upcoming topics:

September 30  –  Racism: How do we view our fellow man?

October 7  –  The Church and the LGTBQ+ Community: How shall we love them? 

NOTE:  There is a booklet entitled “Gay and God” from Time of Grace Ministry (https://timeofgrace.org/), which will be a guide for our discussion.  While it is not mandatory to read it beforehand, it is valuable reading and may aid your thoughts before our session on October 7.  It is available at Good Shepherd, free of charge.

October 14  –  What is God going to do about evil?

October 21  –  I have doubts about the Bible.  Now what?

Future topics may be suggested to the pastor and will be announced prior to each session. 

If anyone wants to follow along on Zoom, contact the pastor (welsnovi@aol.com) and I will send you a link.  Your contribution to the discussion may have to be limited to the Chat feature.