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For the Sake of the Gospel (a new path forward)

7/14/2015

Spirit Divine, your power is brought forth in the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to hear and trust his will revealed in and through the written word that we may, continually learn to live dependent on his grace and love. Amen

    In the church at Corinth a question appears to have risen concerning whether the members of the community of faith should marry or refrain from marriage in expectation of Jesus return. Paul's response in 1 Corinthians 7 can be outlined as speaking to the following questions.

A. Does marriage still serve a purpose as followers wait for the impending return of Jesus and how should believers married to non-believers behave toward their spouses?

B. What is Paul's understanding of abstinence for himself and in marriage?

C. What does marriage accomplish? How does it relate to the work of the gospel?

D. How is this a good? How is Paul's advice to those who are married similar to his advice to other believers? See circumcision and slavery.

E. What is the purpose of allowing or even encouraging marriage? And how does it impact devotion to God?

    Paul sees marriage as an undue burden on the Gospel and devotion to God's work. It is best to be celibate so that there are no distractions from the work of witnessing to the Gospel. In contrast being married is a huge responsibility because it presumes that one is completely given to another person and that the needs of that person become the natural end of true self giving love. The husband's body is the wife's and the wife's body is the husband's. Neither husband's nor wife's body belongs only to themselves any longer but each one to the other. To withhold oneself from one's partner must only occur by mutual consent and this is for only a time for the purpose of devotion in prayer to God (v. 5). Paul understands people enjoy sex and can be filled with passion. Marriage therefore in Paul's eyes is a firewall against unrestrained passion and a lack of self-control leading to chaos and disruption in the community thus hindering the promotion of the Gospel. Paul understands marriage not as a necessity for he remains celibate but rather a means of restraining the passions and temptations of the flesh (v. 5b), a way of maintaining good order. He calls his thoughts on marriage a concession and not a command and acknowledges both his abstinence and others' marriage are unique gifts.

    Paul then continues seeing in the marriage between a believer and non-believer the possibility that God can work for the salvation of the non-believer. If the non-believer wishes to leave the marriage Paul counsels to let them go. If, however, they are willing to stay then one should remain married and fill all the responsibilities of a spouse because through the relationship their partner may come to Christ. Faith may follow through a faithful and loving witness of the married believer, only God knows (v.16).

    For believers Paul encourages the maintenance of other relationships as they are (v.17,18-28) and circumcised or not, slave or not is irrelevant in God's kingdom because we can serve wherever and however we were when God called us. In other words the work of the Gospel is preeminent over all conditions of life. If freedom is possible for the the slave, good, take your freedom because being free you can better serve the Gospel but if one is not a freeman do not worry because you are already free in Jesus Christ.

    Paul closes by noting that to marry is not sin even if he, Paul, thinks life is simpler for those who are not married (v. 33-36). Expecting the return of Christ he encourages a chaste and celibate life but releases those who feel the pressure of age and commitment to a fiance` the freedom to marry as she or he is given to do.

    Looking at 1 Corinthians 7 we see that Paul is always most concerned for the work of the Gospel and God's kingdom. He, also, recognizes how the realities of human life intrude and constrain what the individual is able to do. He will not disparage those who are attempting to be faithful within their circumstances. That includes faithfulness to God's work while simultaneously guiding and shaping their passions, thus establishing good order and control.

    How then can these verses help us to maintain primacy of the work of the kingdom by uncovering new ways for gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to control passion and self-centered service of the flesh. In other words, can marriage serve this same purpose for gays and lesbians exactly as Paul conceives marriage is at work for the unions of men and women.

    Note that in 1 Corinthian 7 Paul places no emphasis on marriage for bringing forth children but rather on husbands and wives meeting each others needs. These needs include both physical and emotional intimacy. The body of each belongs to the other. Each is given to the care and love of the other. Through this mutual ownership there is a presumption against promiscuity and abandonment to self-centered servicing of the flesh. To give oneself to another outside of marriage takes what belongs to one's partner and gives it away. It is a type of theft. Understanding marriage in this manner is something that can be fulfilled by gays and lesbians and, also, brings the discipline and selfless living Paul promoted into their lives. The result is therefore an increase in order and a freeing of the individual to grow in service of the Gospel. Commitment to real marital union, intimacy and steadfast faithfulness thus benefits the work of Christ and the kingdom of God for both straight and gay.

    It is at this point important to note that none of the traditional marriage vows are unable to be fulfilled by gay and lesbian couples. "In the presence of God and this community I ____, take you, ____, to be my wife/husband; to have and to hold from this day forward, in joy and in sorrow, in plenty and in want, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, as long as we both shall live. This is my solemn vow." (ELW) There is no expression of specific carnal relations in these binding vows.

    The expectations of marital fidelity for gays and lesbians should be no different than it is for straight marriages. The marital union until death do us part is the closest to divine promise and covenant that two people can share.

    And yet sometimes those promises fail. They fail because we all fall short of the glory of God not because they are promises between hetero or homo sexual couples. So to this we must say, "May God's grace continue to heal our sins."

    Is the union of gay and lesbian couples the primary vision of the Bible for marriage and the creating and development of families and new generations? No, but it can serve the kingdom of God by increasing order and space for the proclamation of the Gospel and it restrains self-centeredness in the flesh and promotes an increased understanding of what it means to be called to lay one's life down for another. I believe these are things Paul would celebrate and can be sufficient reasons for us to join in the celebration.

    It is even possible, no, rather it is a responsibility for us to call our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters to marriage so that order may reign and excess passion be restrained for the sake of the Gospel. It is possible we have been focused on the wrong side of this issue for far, far too long. The Spirit is blowing and the Word of God can show us the way.

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What to Make of Marriage?

7/13/2015

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Gracious Spirit, blow through our lives and enable us to hear the Living Word as it moves across our lives. Still our fears and teach us to love our brothers and sisters and to support them as together we seek to be faithful to your will. Amen.

    As the church attempts to wrestle with the understanding of marriage and its role in the lives of gay and lesbian couples the focus has been almost exclusively on Bible verses many individuals hear as condemning these relationships. At the same time little attention has been given to passages that might point us towards how those relationships might serve the kingdom of God. Or more importantly, can we see a positive function for marriage in the lives of gays and lesbians in a world/creation Paul states falls short of God's glory across its breadth.

    Among the passages used to condemn homosexual relationships each passage has a history and a context that makes it less than directly applicable to the modern understanding and nature of homosexual relationships. Does this then mean the door is thrown wide open to any and all sexual behaviors or does it mean instead we need to look further and to continue wrestling with scripture allowing its authority to continue to speak to us in a deeper and authentically healing manner?

    Much of the work of Roman Catholic theologians has given less attention to passages used as a rejection of same sex behavior and focused instead on the importance of a rationalistic approach to natural order and the Biblical blessing and call to be fruitful and multiply. Because same-sexed relationships cannot fulfill that command biologically the argument has been made that those relationships must be rejected. This view sees and hears the biblical descriptions of man and woman coming together as one as being descriptive of the only possibility of God's work and socio-sexual order within creation. We must ask, however, is this a sufficient description of the situation and the orders of creation or is there the possibility of much more at work for the good of creation.

    Observing the natural world we see that human beings are not the only species created by God that have regularly occurring same-sex pairings. Gulls, Mallards and Penguins among other birds all have such pairings. Among mammals giraffes, lions, sheep, and hyenas demonstrate the behavior and among "higher" order mammals dolphins, elephants, bonobos and other apes, do as well. In other words, same-sex pairing occurs across a wide swath of the evolutionary tree.

    Since God is confessed the source of all of creation is this reality some expression of the fall or is something else at work. Even if it is an expression of the fall how is it to be addressed by us as equally flawed participants in creation. Do we address people in gay relationships as marked with an unforgivable sin or is it one among many taboos from Leviticus chapter 18 and following that are set aside as no longer relevant among those saved by grace apart from the law? Are there other solutions and means of addressing the reality and persistence of gay and lesbian relationships than simply to condemn same-sex pairings among the offspring of Adam and Eve? And if not, what about every other species among which same-sex pairings are found? Must we condemn them, also?

    How are we to see and respond within the tension of God's Word with its authority for the believer in the body of Christ and the reality we observe around us?

    In Genesis chapter 2:18 we read that it is not good that man should be alone. We are fearfully and wonderfully made for community. Few persons exist well without some expression of community. Even among ascetics practicing extreme isolation there is often some expression of community as a support. Is marriage therefore the only expression of how the natural need for community is or can be addressed in our lives as sexual creatures. Or is the uniting of male and female in one flesh a single expression among among others including celibacy and and gay pairings through which God has brought forth through the generations of creation? Are there other roles or even parallel roles for persons of same-sex relationships who, also, need community and for whom the need of deeply intimate pairing is important?

    Luther criticized the Roman Catholic church of his day for enforcing celibacy on all clergy and saw various sexual disorders as evident of problem of unnatural expectations of sexual creatures with powerful passions. He had no concept of homosexuality as we do today but he was able to observe the dysfunction that occurred when one denied individuals the support of intimate, committed, enduring relationships. This is a dysfunction that the church has continued to struggle with wherever celibacy is forced rather than seen as a unique gift.

    Scripture written thousands of years ago has never directly addressed every cultural development or every emerging event in human history. Always scripture must be read and applied as life moves forward, even the Amish communities are dragged slowly forward in a changing world of technology and science as many who did not allow phones wired onto their property now use wireless cell phones. The margin notes of the ancient midrash are a powerful example of the work of Rabbis and scribes applying the scriptures to their present context of life.

    Given all this is done by broken saints who themselves fall short of the glory of God it is sometimes done well and sometimes tragically. Instead of looking for passages to be selectively yanked out of context for condemning others in what other ways might scripture speak to us today and to the relationships between humans, creation, and community with a power to heal and transform broken saints into healing sinners?

    In a church once similarly divided by difficult issues Paul spoke words that focused on the purpose Christian lives and the importance of marriage in enabling that prime directive of the church, witnessing to Jesus Christ, to be fulfilled. To the church at Corinth which seemed to find endless ways to divide the community and the body of Christ Paul wrote the following.:

1 Corinthians 7:1   Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. 2 But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 17 Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. 20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him. 21 Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you--although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord's freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. 24 Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to. 25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. 26 Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27 Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. 29 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away. 32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. 36 If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. 37 But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin--this man also does the right thing. 38 So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better. 39 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. 40 In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is--and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

    How might these words speak to us today in the midst of our present division and disruption within the body of Christ? Is it better to extend the civil order of marriage to gays and lesbians so that that loneliness can be abated and the passion for intimacy and community can be fulfilled and order maintained for the sake of the gospel? And if this helps to bring order and comfort stabilizing relationships, delivering person from fear, and freeing energy for the service of the Gospel of Jesus Christ how is that different from Paul's advice to married couples and the purpose of marriage?

    For the moment, please think about these thoughts because I believe this may be a passage that gives us a path forward rather than freezing us into past contexts which do not apply to the present relationships. I will share my thoughts in the days ahead but wanted to give you time to contemplate the possibilities and to seek God's will in prayer.

Blessings to all of you. May God's Spirit blow across your lives.

Please note: I expect to be editing these thoughts for several days.

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For the Sake of the Gospel (a new path forward)

What to Make of Marriage?

Pastor Bill Esborn

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