IN WHICH: Joel expresses some thoughts on GA
First of all - I want to say that I'm sorry.
As I've caught up with the decisions made this week during GA in Detroit, I've seen a mixed bag of responses from my fellow colleagues and friends.
To those who feel betrayed, hurt, and discouraged by the GA's decision to amend the Directory of Worship and to give the Authoritative Interpretation - I'm sorry. I respect you and honor you as members together in this body of Christ, and I pray that we can still find peace and fellowship through this body together. I pray that we can still maintain unity in our denomination and that we can still work together always to the glory of God.
To those who are celebrating this week - I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that it has taken our church so long to recognize and acknowledge the need for justice and inclusion among a community that has been ostracized over and over again. I'm sorry that even as you celebrate this victory together, you still see the angry faces and deal with scorn and condemnation from some brothers and sisters, even as you receive affirmation from others. I'm sorry that there are those in our church who will choose to leave the church before giving it the ability to act upon its conscience as it feels led by the Spirit. And I apologize that you will be made to feel responsible for their decisions. It's not your fault - I pray that you will feel welcomed and included in this covenant community at all times and in all stages of your lives.
And so there it is: you know where I hang my hat. I haven't made it a huge secret before, but I'm coming out: I believe in marriage equality and I support my LGBTQ brothers and sisters. This week's decisions have been a milestone in the PC(USA) - and I pray that history will show, much in the same way that it has done for the abolition of slavery and the ordination of women, that our church is acting in true faithfulness to the call of the Spirit and the heart of the Gospel.
I was on the fence for a while - I've heard the arguments of Scripture, both for and against. And to be honest, the arguments are well-presented and thoroughly researched on both sides. I disagree with him on most of his conclusions, but I have an immense respect for the work that Dr. Robert Gagnon has done in interpreting Scripture with regard to homosexuality. I have an equal respect (and stronger agreement) with the research and insights of men like Dr. Steven Tuell and Dr. Mark Achtemeier, among so many others, who have advocated for a biblical support of LGBTQ advocacy.
But as I've reflected on much of the biblical rationale, there's something deeper within me that has really confirmed my own stance and has convicted me of the importance of supporting LGBTQ equality, particularly as it stands with regard to marriage. I'll delve into that here:
First and foremost, there's one important thing to consider when it comes to our approach to marriage: despite the fact that many treat it as such (including people on both ends of the debate in the PCUSA), marriage is not a sacrament. There are only two sacraments in the PC(USA): Baptism and Communion. I read a particularly compelling article that has, unfortunately, disappeared from the place in which I originally read it, but it explored Luther's discussion of marriage, and in a nutshell, Luther made the case that marriage is a human institution. I've found another similar article here that contains some of Luther's statements regarding this position. Luther viewed marriage as a civic matter, as opposed to a matter of the church... except in matters of conscience. Further, Luther explains why marriage is not a sacrament: "We have said that in every sacrament there is a word of divine promise, to be believed by whoever receives the sign, and that the sign alone cannot be a sacrament. Nowhere do we read that the man who marries a wife receives any grace of God. There is not even a divinely instituted sign in marriage, nor do we read anywhere that marriage was instituted by God to be a sign of anything. To be sure, whatever takes place in a visible manner can be understood as a figure or allegory of something invisible. But figures or allegories are not sacraments, in the sense in which we use the term.” (Luther's Works Vol. 36 page 92)
Luther determined that since marriage is not a sacrament, but is instead a civic human institution and vocation, it is as subject to total depravity and original sin as any other human institution or vocation. Marriage, therefore, is no more sacred (in the sense of "sacrament") than being a farmer or a father.
Understanding this fact, that marriage is not a sacrament, the question becomes: do we hold scruples at homosexuality being a part of any other human institutions? At one point, we certainly did: homosexuality was viewed as "deviant behavior," and had a strong stigma to it. But in the civil realm, we've (generally) come to the agreement that LGBTQ people are normal - that sexual orientation is a natural, even biological factor of the human experience. Identifying as LGBTQ, in and of itself, is not a deviant behavior, nor a perversion. We've watched with excitement and wonder as Michael Sam, the first openly gay professional football player, was drafted into the NFL this year. State by state, legislative bans on heterosexual marriage (or better termed, civil union) are being overturned by the Supreme Court. I predict that within the next decade, in fact, we will see some form of distinct and definitive Federal Legislature that grants equal civil grounds for all LGBTQ persons when it comes to issues of marriage or civil union. More and more as we come to understand the LGBTQ community and see them as above all else, being humans first, we are slowly and surely extending the same rights to employment, marriage, and legal status as we have given to heterosexual-oriented people.
And so if marriage is a human institution, then it falls under human laws. As we affirm in our theology and liturgy, marriage is a public witness to a civil act - and in the case of Christian marriage, it is a public witness in the context of worship. In the Christian marriage ceremony, we bestow what I think Luther would call an allegorical or symbolic meaning to what is first and foremost a civic institution. Scripture says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh," (Gen. 2:24 ESV) and God commands the adam and the adamah to be fruitful and multiply, just as God commanded the other parts of the Creation to do... but I wouldn't go so far as to turn this command or this explanation into a sacramental mandate from God, nor into a prescription of what the marriage relationship is required to be. Christian marriage is, at its heart, a public acknowledgement of a civic act, but given Christian interpretation and symbolism.
Interestingly enough, it's the very symbolism of Christian marriage that I find to be the most compelling reason for why I support extending the marriage relationship to my LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Marriage, as I understand it in the Christian tradition, serves several purposes - one significant, though not central purpose to this being a church-sanctioned relationship providing a means for procreation without "living in sin." But the most significant symbolism in the Christian marriage ceremony is the imagery of "two becoming one" and "being joined together in God." We view marriage as a very apt analogy of the same kind of relationship into which we are invited with God through Jesus Christ. As a husband and wife are joined in a covenant relationship before God, we too are invited to that same kind of covenant relationship through Jesus Christ, in which we ourselves become one with God through God's own becoming flesh. Just as we do with every act we perform in a worship service, marriage is an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and to express it in our own human lives. This is the same reason that I as a pastor will always be sure to proclaim the gospel during a funeral - because a funeral is a celebration of the life a person has already led, but is more importantly a reminder of the promise of resurrection given to us through Jesus Christ.
If we are going to preach a Gospel that includes the LGBTQ community as part of the covenant relationship we have with God through Christ, then we need to expand our understanding of that same symbolic expression of covenant relationship as it is expressed in the bonds of marriage. If we do anything less, we send the message that God's covenant love and relationship is entirely conditional. We become whitewashed tombs, being completely comfortable with an ideology that proclaims God's love but not allowing that ideology to infuse our practice.
And that is why I am compelled to support marriage equality - and why I'm proud to be a part of the PC(USA) as it affirms the incredible inclusiveness of the gospel of Christ. I honestly pray for peace in our denomination and hope that we can grow out of this into further and further, healthy and beautiful expressions of Christ's gospel to all.
As I've caught up with the decisions made this week during GA in Detroit, I've seen a mixed bag of responses from my fellow colleagues and friends.
To those who feel betrayed, hurt, and discouraged by the GA's decision to amend the Directory of Worship and to give the Authoritative Interpretation - I'm sorry. I respect you and honor you as members together in this body of Christ, and I pray that we can still find peace and fellowship through this body together. I pray that we can still maintain unity in our denomination and that we can still work together always to the glory of God.
To those who are celebrating this week - I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry that it has taken our church so long to recognize and acknowledge the need for justice and inclusion among a community that has been ostracized over and over again. I'm sorry that even as you celebrate this victory together, you still see the angry faces and deal with scorn and condemnation from some brothers and sisters, even as you receive affirmation from others. I'm sorry that there are those in our church who will choose to leave the church before giving it the ability to act upon its conscience as it feels led by the Spirit. And I apologize that you will be made to feel responsible for their decisions. It's not your fault - I pray that you will feel welcomed and included in this covenant community at all times and in all stages of your lives.
And so there it is: you know where I hang my hat. I haven't made it a huge secret before, but I'm coming out: I believe in marriage equality and I support my LGBTQ brothers and sisters. This week's decisions have been a milestone in the PC(USA) - and I pray that history will show, much in the same way that it has done for the abolition of slavery and the ordination of women, that our church is acting in true faithfulness to the call of the Spirit and the heart of the Gospel.
I was on the fence for a while - I've heard the arguments of Scripture, both for and against. And to be honest, the arguments are well-presented and thoroughly researched on both sides. I disagree with him on most of his conclusions, but I have an immense respect for the work that Dr. Robert Gagnon has done in interpreting Scripture with regard to homosexuality. I have an equal respect (and stronger agreement) with the research and insights of men like Dr. Steven Tuell and Dr. Mark Achtemeier, among so many others, who have advocated for a biblical support of LGBTQ advocacy.
But as I've reflected on much of the biblical rationale, there's something deeper within me that has really confirmed my own stance and has convicted me of the importance of supporting LGBTQ equality, particularly as it stands with regard to marriage. I'll delve into that here:
First and foremost, there's one important thing to consider when it comes to our approach to marriage: despite the fact that many treat it as such (including people on both ends of the debate in the PCUSA), marriage is not a sacrament. There are only two sacraments in the PC(USA): Baptism and Communion. I read a particularly compelling article that has, unfortunately, disappeared from the place in which I originally read it, but it explored Luther's discussion of marriage, and in a nutshell, Luther made the case that marriage is a human institution. I've found another similar article here that contains some of Luther's statements regarding this position. Luther viewed marriage as a civic matter, as opposed to a matter of the church... except in matters of conscience. Further, Luther explains why marriage is not a sacrament: "We have said that in every sacrament there is a word of divine promise, to be believed by whoever receives the sign, and that the sign alone cannot be a sacrament. Nowhere do we read that the man who marries a wife receives any grace of God. There is not even a divinely instituted sign in marriage, nor do we read anywhere that marriage was instituted by God to be a sign of anything. To be sure, whatever takes place in a visible manner can be understood as a figure or allegory of something invisible. But figures or allegories are not sacraments, in the sense in which we use the term.” (Luther's Works Vol. 36 page 92)
Luther determined that since marriage is not a sacrament, but is instead a civic human institution and vocation, it is as subject to total depravity and original sin as any other human institution or vocation. Marriage, therefore, is no more sacred (in the sense of "sacrament") than being a farmer or a father.
Understanding this fact, that marriage is not a sacrament, the question becomes: do we hold scruples at homosexuality being a part of any other human institutions? At one point, we certainly did: homosexuality was viewed as "deviant behavior," and had a strong stigma to it. But in the civil realm, we've (generally) come to the agreement that LGBTQ people are normal - that sexual orientation is a natural, even biological factor of the human experience. Identifying as LGBTQ, in and of itself, is not a deviant behavior, nor a perversion. We've watched with excitement and wonder as Michael Sam, the first openly gay professional football player, was drafted into the NFL this year. State by state, legislative bans on heterosexual marriage (or better termed, civil union) are being overturned by the Supreme Court. I predict that within the next decade, in fact, we will see some form of distinct and definitive Federal Legislature that grants equal civil grounds for all LGBTQ persons when it comes to issues of marriage or civil union. More and more as we come to understand the LGBTQ community and see them as above all else, being humans first, we are slowly and surely extending the same rights to employment, marriage, and legal status as we have given to heterosexual-oriented people.
And so if marriage is a human institution, then it falls under human laws. As we affirm in our theology and liturgy, marriage is a public witness to a civil act - and in the case of Christian marriage, it is a public witness in the context of worship. In the Christian marriage ceremony, we bestow what I think Luther would call an allegorical or symbolic meaning to what is first and foremost a civic institution. Scripture says, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh," (Gen. 2:24 ESV) and God commands the adam and the adamah to be fruitful and multiply, just as God commanded the other parts of the Creation to do... but I wouldn't go so far as to turn this command or this explanation into a sacramental mandate from God, nor into a prescription of what the marriage relationship is required to be. Christian marriage is, at its heart, a public acknowledgement of a civic act, but given Christian interpretation and symbolism.
Interestingly enough, it's the very symbolism of Christian marriage that I find to be the most compelling reason for why I support extending the marriage relationship to my LGBTQ brothers and sisters. Marriage, as I understand it in the Christian tradition, serves several purposes - one significant, though not central purpose to this being a church-sanctioned relationship providing a means for procreation without "living in sin." But the most significant symbolism in the Christian marriage ceremony is the imagery of "two becoming one" and "being joined together in God." We view marriage as a very apt analogy of the same kind of relationship into which we are invited with God through Jesus Christ. As a husband and wife are joined in a covenant relationship before God, we too are invited to that same kind of covenant relationship through Jesus Christ, in which we ourselves become one with God through God's own becoming flesh. Just as we do with every act we perform in a worship service, marriage is an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and to express it in our own human lives. This is the same reason that I as a pastor will always be sure to proclaim the gospel during a funeral - because a funeral is a celebration of the life a person has already led, but is more importantly a reminder of the promise of resurrection given to us through Jesus Christ.
If we are going to preach a Gospel that includes the LGBTQ community as part of the covenant relationship we have with God through Christ, then we need to expand our understanding of that same symbolic expression of covenant relationship as it is expressed in the bonds of marriage. If we do anything less, we send the message that God's covenant love and relationship is entirely conditional. We become whitewashed tombs, being completely comfortable with an ideology that proclaims God's love but not allowing that ideology to infuse our practice.
And that is why I am compelled to support marriage equality - and why I'm proud to be a part of the PC(USA) as it affirms the incredible inclusiveness of the gospel of Christ. I honestly pray for peace in our denomination and hope that we can grow out of this into further and further, healthy and beautiful expressions of Christ's gospel to all.
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