Loving the LGBTQ+
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Introduction
Have a look at these pictures and see if you can figure out what they all have in common.
[Show Slide]
Now, you may have some superficial reasons why they have something in common. But let me tell you something about each one of them - specifically with respect to their sexual preference or orientation.
By the way - these photos are all from Google - well, all but one.
The first person is a gay man. His sexual preference - or maybe not even his preference, maybe he doesn’t have a CHOICE, but he likes other men.
The second person is a lesbian. Her sexual preference is for other women…We know these definitions.
The third person is a trans-gender man…A woman who has undergone an operation and has become a man.
The fourth person is a trans-gender woman…A man who has undergone an operation and has become a woman. In fact, this picture is Caitlyn Jenner - the olympic athlete Bruce Jenner who won gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics for decathlon. And of course, Bruce - now Caitlyn has been in the spotlight on many occasions, most recently when she won WOMAN OF THE YEAR in 2015. Now, you can see how that caused an outcry.
Is she a woman or is she a man?
Certainly, from a biological point of view Caitlyn has both X and Y chromosomes in every cell of her body, which make her a man - but that’s not the point.
The fifth person is me. I am a heterosexual male who is also a man, you’ll be glad to hear. I am in a monogamous relationship with a female who is also a woman.
Now - what do all of these people have in common?
They are all sinners.
And that’s a crucial thing to notice and to point out.
I am no different, with respect to my sin, than any of those other people. I sin in different ways - you sin in different ways. I also sin in similar ways to them outside of the grounds of sexuality. But when it comes down to it we are all sinners.
When doing some google searching in preparation for this, I came across this image...
[Show Image]
I am gay, I am lesbian, I am bisexual, I am transgender, I am like you…I am HUMAN.
I think they should add something else to that image…I am a sinner.
Pause
But then if I add that, it looks like I’m singling them out as being sinners over and above anybody else. Like they are super-sinners because of what they are doing.
Don’t forget that I was one of those pictures in the list. Because I’m just as much a sinner as them. Now, I may not be practising sin in the same way, but I’m still a sinner.
And there are a lot of sinners who are confused, and hurting and lost - and they are longing to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. They may not know it, but they are RIPE for it. But many sinners don’t feel like they can come through the doors of a church for fear of judgement and condemnation…ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE HOMOSEXUAL....
Because they general view from the Christian church is that they aren’t welcome here...
But we can be different in Hillhall.
And this is the reason why I chose the passage from Matthew 7 tonight - and we’re not going to go into it in much detail tonight - we’ll save that for the midweek when we continue in the sermon on the mount...
But the point of this passage is that Jesus is warning us NOT to judge other people because nobody is in a position to judge.
AND YET - Christians LOVE to jump on the band waggon when it comes to judging homosexuality or transgenderism and things like that.
You have people from the church protesting and waving banners and condemning their behaviour - shouting abuse and calling down the wrath of God on these people. And that sends out a clear message that you guys aren’t welcome here…
but you don’t see many Christians protesting in the street about adultery or gossip or slander or lying or copyright theft.
Do you ever wonder why?
Here’s one reason why - and I think it came from Don Carson…Whoever it was the point is the same...
The reason why Christians don’t stand on the streets and protest against gossip or slander or lying or copyright theft or adultery, or sleeping around and the reason Christians are extremely vocal about homosexuality is because for most Christians THAT ISN’T A SIN THEY ARE EVER GOING TO COMMIT.
And if it’s a sin that you’ll NEVER commit it is impossible for someone to turn around and point the finger at you and your hypocrisy.
However, if you are vocal about lust then all anyone needs to do is say, ‘you’re one to talk’ and chances are there have been times when that’s been a struggle for everyone.
But NOT SO with homosexuality. We can shout all we want and condemn all we want and NOBODY can point the finger and call us out on being gay ourselves, because if we’re not gay then we can’t be accused of THAT sin.
But Jesus, in our passage says...
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Pause
But Jesus’ continues, as we read earlier...
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Before we jump on the bandwagon and condemn all homosexuals, we need to remember that we are not perfect ourselves.
And we need to take note of that - I need to take note of that.
Pause
What we need to remember is that homosexual people are still people - people who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. People who are sinners just like you and me.
Pause
So realising that we are all sinners puts us on an even keel.
And in order for them to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ they need to be loved and welcomed into the church just like anyone else. And that can be hard for us to do, because up until recently, homosexuality was all hush hush and we haven’t had to deal with it or experience it much- it’s only recently that it’s come into the fore and it’s in our faces much more than it once was.
But while it is difficult, they still need loved and welcomed just like anyone else.
We shouldn’t condone their sin - but we shouldn’t condone adultery or lying or gossip or covetousness - so we shouldn’t condone their sin either.
What we should do is let the gospel of Jesus Christ touch their lives and bring change - bring transformation. But to do that they need to hear the gospel... and for that to happen, we either go to them or we ensure that they are welcomed here and loved. Is that something we can do?
If it helps, let’s take our cue from Jesus who ate and drank with the sinners and the tax collectors and the prostitutes...
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Jesus did this because nobody else would. He didn’t condone their sin…he didn’t put up with it. In fact, he called them to repentance, but he loved them and accepted them nonetheless.
And he went TO them. He spent time WITH them.
Pause
I’ve often heard gay people question why we ask them to change when they come to Jesus? ‘Why can’t I be a Christian and still be gay?’ they say...
But we’re not just asking THEM to change - we’re asking EVERYONE to change.
It’s like asking, ‘Why can’t I be a Christian and still have affairs?’
‘Why can’t I be a Christian and still gossip?’
‘Why can’t I be a Christian and still covet?’
WHY??? Cos God’s word tells us NOT TO - and being a Christian requires us to change - to repent - to turn away from our old way of life and turn towards a new way of life as we LIVE for Jesus and obey his commands from his word.
And for some that means turning away from lust. For others it means turning away from adultery. For others it means turning away from covetousness, or gossip...
And for others it means turning away from a life of homosexuality and living a life of celibacy for Jesus.
Pause
And this is something we need to remember - there are many people who have come to faith but are still attracted to the same sex.
For many people that attraction doesn’t go away.
There’s a man called Sam Alberry - in fact there is a book by him out the back called, ‘is God anti-gay?’
He is an Anglican minister and he is gay…well - he’s not practising gay, but he’s same sex attracted. In other words, he finds men attractive rather than women.
And if he wasn’t a Christian he would want to be in a relationship with a man rather than a woman.
But the gospel of Jesus Christ impacted his life and he gave his life for Jesus - and as a result he gave up a pursuit of men for Jesus.
Just like there are some who give up adultery, pornography, slander, abuse…when the gospel of Jesus impacts their lives.
It’s really not much different.
You can’t help who you’re attracted to - you can help what you do about it.
Pause
So we need to welcome gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender and everything in between and love them as we would love anyone else. We don’t condone their sin like we won’t condone anyone else’s sin, but we can show them grace and the love of Jesus Christ and we can walk them through what repentance looks like if they come to faith in Christ.
And if they do that what they need is support…from us. Cos chances are they will be going through a whole raft of emotional turmoil.
Pause
Ok, so we’ve talked about homosexuality, which is clearly a sin in the bible. There’s no doubt about that.
But a more grey area is that of transgenderism…Cos the bible doesn’t deal with that specifically because medical advancements weren’t at that point when the bible was written. This is a relatively new thing.
So ask yourself this question...
And is it a sin to change your body?
Is it a sin to get braces and straighten your teeth?
Is it a sin to get a nose job?
Is it a sin to have your sexual organs reconfigured?
Where do we draw the line?
I’m asking questions that I can’t even answer.
But Vaughan Roberts has an excellent book called, ‘transgender’, and in it he writes, not so much about what happens under the knife, but more what happens in the head.
And at the heart of transgenderism is the issue of not identifying with the sex into which you were born. So a man can say, ‘I don’t identify with being a man - I identify with being a woman,’ and so they talk to people who can make that happen for them.
But what’s going on there is an issue within their mind rather than a physical issue.
Piers Morgan had a non-binary person on his breakfast show and he said to them - ‘what if I identify as being a horse - should I become a horse?’
And I think he highlighted the point well…rather than treating a potential issue within the mind, what we do now is allow that to go untreated and instead allow that mental issue to become a reality.
My Naomi wants to be a horse, or a unicorn or a fairy. From one day to the next she wants to be something else, and she gets very upset when I tell her that’s not possible.
But if it WAS possible to transplant a horn onto her head and horse legs instead of her arms and legs, would I let her do it?
Absolutely not! What she needs to be told is that God created her as she is and she is special just as she is to God.
Just because we have the ability to change the human body doesn’t mean we SHOULD.
However, if a transgender person comes into this building, should they be treated any differently? Absolutely not!
And if they come to faith should we treat them any differently? Absolutely not!
They are going to have to live with the consequences of their past, for sure - but WHO DOESN’T?
Some have more past consequences than others, but that shouldn’t be a roadblock to grace, should it? Absolutely Not!
And what someone like this needs is grace - not judgement…What they needs is love, not condemnation.
Because, like I said at the start, we are all sinners - sinners who need the grace and love of Jesus Christ to transform us and change our minds and our actions.
So let’s not single a certain group of people out and have nothing to do with them. I’m not saying you are, but that’s what the Christian church has kinda done as a whole - let’s not be like that. Let’s welcome them and love them and call them to repentance, IN THE SAME WAY WE CALL EVERYONE TO REPENTANCE.
Pause
And that’s my point…I’ve singled out homosexuality and transgenderism because they are the hot topics, but I could substitute that for any other sin - even sins that WE continue to commit as Christians.
Let’s remember that we all need the grace of Jesus Christ to transform us.
Pause
How would you feel if our wayside pulpit had the following message?
LBGT Welcome here
If every other type of sinner can come through the doors here and sit among you then why can’t they? Can we welcome them and have them hear the good news that Jesus Christ can forgive their sins?
But as our passage tells us - we all have our own sin - so let’s not point the finger. Cos when you point the finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you.
So let’s take this opportunity to examine ourselves and see if they is anything in us that is sinful and let’s bring it before Jesus now and confess it. Because we can’t point out anyone else’s sin if we’re continuing in unconfessed sin ourselves.
Thankfully, God’s grace is abundant and covers all our sin.
Let’s pray.