Collins & West Hartland United Methodist Churches

Sermon Notes—2/17/08

Message: Collins/WH         February 17, 2008

The Messy 8 in 2008   # 2 Does God Hate Homosexuals

Rom.1:16-32

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. [In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.  V.26-27

 

Intro:  The Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas has made quite a name for … … itself around the nation picketing, among other places, at the funeral of soldiers … … killed in Iraq, with signs reading “God hates fags” & “Thank God for dead soldiers”

Fred Phelps is the pastor, and he says that God is punishing America for … … … immoral ways, including its tolerance of homosexuality.

 

I    What are we thinking???  What kind of a gospel is it that leaves people with the … … impression that God hates anybody.

Someday when Pastor Fred Phelps gets to heaven, God’s going to let all the … … homosexuals who get to heaven line up a slap him before heaven begins.

 

What are we thinking???  Does God hate homosexuals?

I thought that question was settled when the God the Son assumed a body, & … let it be beaten to a pulp open up a fountain of forgiveness & grace for all sin.

That gospel truth so impressed John the Apostle, that /would write: (Jn.3:16)

That gospel truth so impacted the life of one named Paul/would say:

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Rom.5:8

 

II   If God hates homosexuals, He might then hate heterosexuals, or he might hate me … (or you) for something you’ve done that’s broken the rules about the way life works.

Oh, … don’t misunderstand, there are some things God hates:

 

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.  Prov.6:17-19

 

"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies … says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.  Amos 5:21

 

"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty.  Malachi 2:16

 

But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  Rev.2:6 (Ephesus)

 

If God hates homosexuals, He might then hate heterosexuals, or he might hate me (or you) for something you’ve done that’s broken the rules about the way life works.

 

III  Illus. 

USA Today Stat. Snapshot: “% who consider homosexuality is acceptable”

As you can see, the practice is becoming culturally acceptable.

But, what does God say?

 

The most definitive statement in Scripture regarding homosexuality is Romans 1

Here the Apostle wants to contrast the righteousness of God revealed in gospel …

 & the wrath of God revealed in fallen human history thru the disintegration of human culture

 

 

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness …

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  Rom.1:18-23

 

Notice

The 1^st sin in the disintegration of human culture in fallen human history is vs. God  - ie. idolatry, ie. worshiping ourselves or crafting some false image of who God is, … or setting self up on the alter of the human heart.

But life won’t work in idolatry (ancient/modern)

 

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another… Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.  Rom.1:24-27

 

God gave them over … He simply let sin play itself out by withdrawing His restraining grace;  Sin always carries within itself the seed of its own destruction.

The 2^nd sin in the disintegration … occurs within human sexuality; ie. We sin vs ourselves.

Your sexuality is at the core of who you are just as much as your spirituality, - ie. You are an eternal spirit created in the image of God as either male or female;

Your spirituality is intertwined with your sexuality; Is why Bible can often use one to illustrate the other.

 

When our first Father Adam, sinned vs. God, he pulled all of our humanness into the Fall – including & especially our sexuality.

1^st sin was vs God; But 2^nd sin was vs. ourselves.

Homosexuality is an serious expression of human brokenness in our sexuality; There are others: Bi-sexuality, S&M sexuality, pedophilia, bestiality, two-somes, three-somes, & on up multip. Table

 

Homosexuality comes from 1/3 sources:

Some people are born that way ie. defective in the way their wired.

Other people become that way as a learned process thru a variety of circumstances & experiences in life.

Still other people use it (conscious or unconsciously) as a willful expression of their defiance & rebellion vs. God. (Remember: 1^st sin vs God is idolatry; 2^nd sin is vs. ourselves in our sexuality)

 

But don’t get the wrong idea,

Heterosexuality is no less broken; it’s just broken in a different way.

You see its brokenness expressed in affairs & adultery; pornography & the world wide prostitution trade.

Nearly 40% of US babies in 2006 were born outside of marriage. (USA Today Weekend. 2008 02.15-17.  What’s that mean? In our culture, heterosexuality is broken.

You see it in happily married people who lose interest in each other and grieve the loss of that part of their lives.

You see its brokenness expressed as teenagers try to step thru its complexities before they’re ready & w/o the protective commitment of marriage.

 

Illus. Zits Comic

As much fun as sex can be now, what must it have been like before Adam pulled it down into brokenness.

 

Furthermore, … [God] gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.         Rom. 1:28-32

 

Remember: The 1^st sin is vs. God; 2^nd sin is vs. ourselves (our own sexuality)

3^rd sin is as human culture disintegrates is vs. others (& often their sexuality, using them as instruments for our own gratification & pleasure.)

 

Within the brokenness of human sexuality, God is determined to regulate it within the boundaries of hetrosex, & even that within the protective boundaries of marriage.

 

Does God hate homosexuals?  No more than He hates heterosexuals who express themselves outside the boundaries.

He calls all broken people to repent and believe in the power of the gospel thru Jesus (His life, death & resurrection) for hope and healing, & leaving idolatry, to be put right with Him, because without it, we’ll never enjoy heaven.

 

V   Do you know what our church believes about homosexuality?

 

Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth.  All persons need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self.

The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.  We affirm that God’s grace is available to all, & we will seek to live together in Christian community. The Book of Discipline of the UMC ¶ 161.G

 

Should homosexuality be accepted as a healthy & meaningful expression of human sexuality?                                                                       NO

Should homosexuals be called bad names & degraded as dogs?        NO

Should homosexuals be permitted legal marriage?                                 NO

Should homosexuals be discriminated vs. in housing & hospitalization & other civil rights?                                                                            NO

Should homosexuals, no less then heterosexuals, repent of the sin that separates them from God, themselves, & others, & put faith in Jesus for a new life of righteousness & holiness?                                                   YES.

 

Closing:  [PP pic. of protestors from Westboro Baptist Church/Topeka, Kansas.

What are we thinking?

Someday when that pastor gets to heaven, God’s going to let all the … … homosexuals who get to heaven line up a slap him before heaven begins.

 

Let me again pause & ask if there’s 1-2 questions you would like to ask coming up out of anything you’ve heard?

 

Once Jesus told a story of two men who went up to the temple to pray. 

The story is prefaced with the comment that it’s intended for those who are confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else.

 

The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

 

 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Lk.18:9-14

This AM, if you are broken in any way, I invite you to repent & believe Jesus, & access the power of the HS by faith for forgiveness & new life.

 

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me son.

Broken ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.

Yes! Jesus loves me… the Bible tells me so!