Homily for Trinity 14

"Lepers Cleansed"

Luke 17:11-19

The ten lepers are us, and we are the ten lepers. They suffered from physical leprosy that ravaged their bodies. We and all people suffer from spiritual leprosy that ravages both body and soul. These ten lepers give us a picture of the human race infected with the leprosy of sin.

When we hear the term “leprosy,” we usually think of Hansen’s disease—a bacterial infection that can affect nerves, skin, and eyes and then lead to a loss of feeling and even paralysis. In the Bible, leprosy certainly included that, but it probably also included illnesses such as eczema—a skin rash—and dermatitis—scaly, flaking skin and itchiness.

Our sin is like leprosy in several respects:

• Leprosy affects and destroys the whole body. Sin totally infects, affects and destroys our strength in both body and soul—nothing sound from head to toe.
• Leprosy is a disease that spreads. So does sin, coming into the world through one man and spreading to us all. St. Paul calls it “the works of the flesh”—with all those nasty symptoms of “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger” and so on—all those symptoms that even present themselves in us.
• Leprosy cannot be healed by man’s efforts. Today, treatments may prevent the disease from getting worse, but they cannot reverse the  damage. And remember the story of Naaman. He sought healing from the King of Israel, but the King of Israel cried out, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive?” (2 Kgs. 5:7). Sin absolutely cannot be healed by human means—not by doctors, paramedics, or politicians. After all, those “desires of the flesh are against the Spirit.”
• Leprosy is a viral disease that spreads to others who are healthy. Modern medicine may quibble with just how it spreads. Sin itself does spread its contamination. Consider the many ways our fallen world infects us all in thought, word and deed to think, speak and act in ways that go against God’s Word, ways that lead us to distrust God and be unloving to our neighbor—“rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these.”
• And leprosy, once it takes hold, eats its way more and more through the body. Likewise, sin. Because of this infection we all have, one sin leads to another, and that one easily to yet another. First, the desire; then the misdeed; then the excuse; then the cover-up; then the lie; and so on.

If it weren’t for our leprosy of sin, we would not need police officers, laws, penalties or rulings of law courts. If it weren’t for our leprosy of sin, we would not have to endure racial tensions, injustices, pandemics or destructive rioting.

In the Old Testament, God instructed His people on how to deal with lepers. Lepers had to separate themselves from everyone else because their diseases of infected, decaying, rotting flesh could infect others. When healthy people walked by, the lepers were supposed to warn them by crying out “Unclean!” When a person was infected with leprosy, he had to show himself to the priest. The priest would pronounce him unclean, and the person would have to quarantine in the leper colony outside the city. Social distancing, Bible-style!

When a leper was healed of his leprosy, he would again show himself to the priest, the priest would offer the appropriate sacrifices, and then pronounce him “clean.” In Leviticus 14, cleansing of lepers happened, first, by killing a bird in an earthen vessel over fresh, living water. Next, a live bird, a piece of cedarwood, and a scarlet yarn were dipped in that water mixed with blood. Then the priest, using the live bird wet with blood and water, would “sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease” (Lev. 14:7). As God said, “Thus the priest shall make atonement for [the leper], and he shall be clean” (Lev. 14:20).

So, let’s imitate the ten lepers as Jesus comes passing along between the Samaria and Galilee of our lives. Let’s lift up our voices and cry out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” And let’s listen to and heed Him when He bids us to show ourselves to the priest. No, not those priests at the Jerusalem temple, but Jesus, our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens (Heb. 2:14). “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 2:15).

How can we be healed and saved from our spiritual leprosy? Only by finding our way to Jesus, the sole physician for the soul. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 2:16). “Offered was He for greatest and for least, / Himself the victim and Himself the priest” (LSB 637:1). Not only is Jesus both victim and priest for you, He is also the dead bird and the living bird for you. He is the One who cleanses you “by the washing of water with [His] word, so that He might present [you] to Himself in splendor” (Eph. 5:26-27), cleansed of your leprosy of sin.

Actually, we don’t have to find our way to Him. He has found His way to us! Just as the ten lepers were cleansed before they found their way to the priests—not by their own reason or strength, nor by their decision or will—we are cleansed in the bath of our Baptism—not by our own reason, strength, decision or will. Our baptismal bath sprinkles us with the very blood and water that flowed from the side of Christ crucified. He is the One who was crucified outside the city. He is the One who comes by water and blood; not by the water only but by the water and the blood (1 Jn. 5:6).

Now let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the one cleansed leper who returned to Jesus. Let’s take our cue from him on how to live all of life in our Baptism. I’m sure the other nine former lepers were generically thankful as civic courtesy and politeness would dictate. But they went on to live their lives apart from Jesus. The Samaritan, however, “turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.” He did more than just give thanks. He gave praise to God. He returned to the Giver of the gift of cleansing. He was not merely content to enjoy the gift; he wanted to enjoy and be with the Giver.

That’s living your baptismal life. Not just a generic thankfulness for a quick healing. Not just a slight nod and a mental note that something special happened a long time ago, but then getting back to “real life.” No, the baptismal life is about living all of life in Jesus, with Jesus, and in the presence of Jesus. Daily contrition and repentance. Drowning that Old Adam in you. Making him die with all sins and evil desires every day. And then—thank the Lord and sing His praise!—emerging and arising every day to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Your one-time baptismal cleansing becomes your daily hygiene routine—not a burdensome routine, but a joyful living in the blood and water that continually heals and cleanses.

We all wrestle with sin every day. That leprous disease keeps flaring up even in us who are cleansed by Jesus’ blood and water. We will keep wrestling with our leprous sin until Jesus returns on the Last Day. It’s not a matter of Jesus’ healing not fully doing its job. It has! It’s a matter of living in faith, continually receiving His cleansing, and thus praising Him as did the Samaritan.

Martin Luther confessed this in the face of those who deny that sin remains after Baptism. The fact that sin remains after Baptism undercuts every notion of perfectionism—that is, thinking you can be free of sin or attain a sin-free life this side of heaven. It also topples any notion of “once-saved-always-saved.” While the healing for that Samaritan and the other nine was instantaneous, Jesus chooses to heal us over the long-haul. The sin is forgiven, to be sure; Jesus’ healing, though, is ongoing. Here’s how Luther expressed it:

“This life…is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present, everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed.” (“A Defense and Explanation of All Articles” [AE 32:24]).

So we return to Jesus yet again, at His Table. “Draw near and take the body of the Lord, / And drink the holy blood for you outpoured” (LSB 637:1). We return to receive the healing He gives. We return to give praise to Him.

“Let us praise the Word Incarnate,
Christ, who suffered in our place.
Jesus died and rose victorious
That we may know God by grace.
Let us sing for joy and gladness,
Seeing what our God has done;
Let us praise the true Redeemer,
Praise the One who makes us one” (LSB 849:3).

Amen.

Homily for Good Friday - 2017

"The Day Creation Fell Apart"
John 18-19 with Romans 5:8

If you lived in St. Louis back in 1993, you no doubt remember the great “500-year flood.” If you lived elsewhere, you probably heard about it in the news. The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers both rose to heights not seen in many generations. This flooding happened about a year after the state of Missouri legalized riverboat gambling. So some preachers at the time connected the dots and declared that the flood was God’s judgment on the riverboat gambling. Just one problem: the riverboats survived. After all, they do float! If this were God’s judgment, perhaps lightning would have been more effective.

Viewing God’s judgment in such a way sounds, well, a bit humorous, as though God merely sits on a cloud and shoots down His lightning bolt judgments on various human behaviors, even somewhat arbitrarily. And in our day, many believe that God certainly cannot get angry. After all, He’s a loving God, you know.

So, does God get angry? If so, why? And how does He express that anger or judgment? And upon whom? That’s what Good Friday is all about. The death of Jesus around AD 30 forces us to confront how seriously God takes human sin…and, more importantly, what He does about it.

Through Lent we have explored how God works in and through creation to carry out His purposes. When God blesses, creation flourishes and life abounds. When He curses or judges, creation falls apart and life ceases to exist. The Bible gives many examples of God’s blessing and God’s cursing.

When God created the earth, He blessed it. Life sprouted and blossomed, animals and humans became fruitful and multiplied in number. But also, when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground. Now that very earth that gave us life would grind us back into dust. And what happened in the flood of Noah’s day? Man’s great evil was judged, the earth and the skies opened with water, creation fell apart.

We can see similar things in our day. But without a clear word of revelation from God, let’s not declare a particular tragedy as God’s judgment on a particular action. But we can speak in a more general way. You see, God’s blessing and curse are embedded in creation. We realize this especially when we remember that everyone dies—sometimes subtly and slowly, other times suddenly and tragically.

We see this in our own bodies. Our own bodies carry God’s creative blessing as well as His judgment. God gives us life through our parents, and He sustains and nourishes that life as we grow into adulthood. But as we grow and age, we also see our bodies slowly fall apart, no matter how healthy we may be.

And because of us, the creation suffers as well. By God’s blessing, planet earth has a stable orbit, babies are born, vineyards grow, and life springs forth, despite sin and evil in the world. At the same time, the curse embedded in the earth fills our lives with toils and worries and tragedies and widespread death. Again, not necessarily specific punishments for specific sins, but certainly times for us to say, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

We especially see God’s blessing and God’s curse on Good Friday. God pours out His wrath upon His only-begotten Son. Jesus dies in His created body, the body He took from His mother, Mary. And so Jesus “bowed His head and gave up His spirit/breath.” His body falls apart. It stops functioning. It stops moving. And creation suffers too. The sky darkened and the earth quaked. Creation fell apart—ripped apart at the seams. Jesus’ body grew limp. He was taken down from the cross, wrapped, and placed into a stone tomb.

But as we ponder the death of Jesus, let’s do more than merely dwell on His physical agony—the nails through His hands and feet, the dehydration, the asphyxiation. After all, many others suffered the very same agonies and even for much longer than six hours. And their suffering is not nearly as significant for us or for others. Now, we do not take Jesus’ physical agony lightly, but we do focus on what made His suffering unique. What made Jesus’ agony and bitter pains unique in human history? In that one created human body, Jesus experienced the full outpouring and venting of God’s wrath upon the entire human race from Adam and Eve to the present day. Jesus experienced all of the wrath that God could use to annihilate the world and everything in it. Remember Jesus’ words: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” God’s wrath is being abandoned by God, rather than embraced by Him. And when God abandons us or His creation, everything falls apart.

God does withdraw His support. He does turn His back on the human race and His creation. But He does so to Jesus in our place. St. Paul writes: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Died for us? What does this mean? Jesus died in our place. He died so that we may not have to endure God’s eternal displeasure and disappointment.

The Bible calls this an “atoning sacrifice,” or “propitiation.” This Jesus turns aside God’s wrath. He deflects God’s anger off us and onto Himself. Just as a lightning rod attracts a bolt of lightning, absorbs it, and dissipates it into nothing, that’s what Christ does for us. He attracts the wrath of God to Himself so it will not strike us. He absorbs it and He dissipates it until it is no more. This is no mere man who dies, but the very Son of God in the flesh. He absorbs all of God’s wrath against all of humanity. And He does so in His creaturely body.

So as God turns His back on Jesus, He turns His loving face toward us!

That means we can be certain of God’s love for us. Look how He showed and acted upon that love: He sacrificed His own Son. That’s how much He wanted—and still wants—you and me. That’s how much He wanted—and still wants—us to enjoy the benefits of His love and His gift of life. Let’s never take it for granted, because, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). Amen.

Homily for Lent 3 Evening Prayer

"Redemption--Second Article"
Apostles' Creed, Second Article
(fourth in a catechetical series)

Here we are. The Second Article of the Creed. The heart of the Christian faith. Jesus’ work of redemption for us. Why must Jesus redeem us? Our human sin. Here we deal with human sinners and God the justifier. But notice this: the problem is not that we are creatures. The problem is not that this world is a material world. As we heard last week, these are God’s good works and gifts. In addition, animals did not sin; the physical world did not sin. In a way, they are “innocent” even as they have suffered because of human sin.

No, the problem is us. The problem is that we, God’s prized human creatures, have misused and abused His world. Martin Luther made a very insightful statement in his theses for debate at the town of Heidelberg. He said that “we use the best things in the worst way.” We don’t use bad things in the worst way; we use the best things in the worst way. What do we mean by best things? God’s great gifts to us: our bodies, our lives, our family, our work, our income, and so on. What does it mean to use these things in the worst way? It means we idolize them. We force them to do things for us that they were not created to do. We try to get our security and happiness from them. And when we do that, we further misuse them by keeping them for ourselves rather than for serving our neighbor.

So we become enslaved to and trapped by these best things. Or, better, our desires for them entrap us. Then we become disappointed. You see, these best things cannot give us what we seek from them. Satan has lured us, God’s beloved human creatures, into captivity. We have become POWs behind enemy lines.

But here’s the wonderful and remarkable thing about this Second Article. Since God has created this world, He refuses to let go of His creation. He made it good. He loves it. The world is not the problem. So God does not scrap His creation and start over. No, He sets out to reclaim and restore His creation—beginning with us, because the problem began with us. Just as God made room in His creation for us creatures, now He makes room for us sinful creatures who rebelled against Him. He who created us is He who redeems us—true God and true Man.

How does God redeem us? First, God dives down into the depths of His creation, to take up residence in it and fix it for good. But He does this in a completely unexpected way. Ponder this: God has always been present and active in His creation. The universe cannot contain Him, but, as Luther noted, God is still present and active in the smallest flower petal. It’s how He keeps His creation going. Also ponder this: God revealed Himself in many ways in the Old Testament—the angel to Abraham, the burning bush to Moses, the pillar of cloud and fire to the Israelites.

But now in Jesus Christ, God reveals Himself and intervenes in His creation in a most personal and intimate way. He takes a created body into Himself and He lives a creaturely life. He makes room in His life to take on a human body and all that entails—a human mind, a human history, and human DNA that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. He is “true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary”; Creator of the universe and a creature within that creation, all at the same time. Who would have imagined this?

Jesus’ incarnation affirms the goodness of creation like nothing else. God is saying His creation is good and important to Him. And Jesus does more than just take on a human body to live in the midst of sin and evil. He becomes human in order to do away with, to destroy, and to overcome sin and evil and everything that pollutes and disfigures His beautiful world.

What does this mean for the art of living by faith? First, it means that we cannot and should not look for God anywhere else than in this Man, Jesus Christ. Faith does not look to some spiritual, ethereal realm. It does not look to some impersonal “force” on the outer fringes of the galaxy. No, faith looks to this one Man, our brother, as God Himself. Where Jesus is, there is God. This Man is God; God is this Man. As Jesus said, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9). So, whoever rejects Jesus also rejects their Creator God. It’s personal—a personal rejection.

Second, Jesus’ incarnation also means that God’s work of redemption does not devalue the physical creation nor our physical bodies. They are just as important as our souls. They are so important that God Himself has embraced them by becoming part of His own creation. He comes to redeem both body and soul.

Not only does God redeem us by taking on a physical, creaturely, human body, but He also works through that creaturely body to accomplish our redemption. You see, our sin and rebellion were deeply personal. They offended God because they showed our rejection of Him and His good purposes for us. They showed our betrayal of God. And yet God in the most personal way enters His creation, personally takes our sin and rebellion upon Himself, personally does away with it, and personally conquers it.

Our loving God works through His creation—His human body—to accomplish the redemption of all human bodies and all of creation itself. How so? As Luther wrote, “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” The Creed itself hammers it home. In His very body Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.” And He rose again in that same body.

C. S. Lewis spoke of Jesus as a pearl diver who strips himself, then dives into the murky depths in order to reclaim a priceless pearl, and then bursts back up through the surface with that pearl firmly in his grasp. The entire Christian story turns on this point. As Lewis said: “God really has dived down into the bottom of creation, and has come up bringing the whole redeemed nature on His shoulders [emphasis added]. The miracles that have already happened are, of course…the first fruits of that cosmic summer which is presently coming on. Christ has risen, and so we shall rise.”

In the First Article, we cannot deal with God apart from His creation. Now in the Second Article, we cannot deal with God’s graciousness in redeeming us from sin apart from the creaturely human body of Jesus. Through this physical human body of a Jewish man we encounter our Redeemer and Lord!

What does this mean for the art of living by faith? It means that we seek God’s gifts only in Jesus Christ, only because of Jesus Christ. Only in the body of Christ does God reveal His attitude and His intentions toward us. Like a devoted parent, God will stop at nothing to reclaim and restore His creation. That includes taking upon Himself a frail human body—a body that He keeps into all eternity. It also includes suffering and dying in that human body at the hands of His rebellious, lost human creatures. All this He does for us—creatures made in His image, creatures made to manage all creation, creatures who rejected Him and tried to usurp His glory. All this He does to restore us and adopt us as His children and heirs of His kingdom.

This changes everything for us. It means that when things happen—things we cannot understand, tragic things that defy explanation, things we cannot make sense of—faith turns to the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

This is what Luther gets at when he speaks of the “hidden God” and the “proclaimed God.” When we look for answers in places other than Jesus, we often get lost, frustrated, and angry. When we look elsewhere, we encounter the silence of God. He doesn’t always give us the answers we want, because, after all, He is not answerable or accountable to us. But in the flesh and blood of Jesus, in His life, and especially in His death and resurrection, we encounter God speaking to us. And what does He say? He speaks His word of love. As Paul said in Romans 5[:8], “God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So, when I cannot answer a question, when I have no explanations, I can say, “I don’t know why this happened. I don’t know what this means. But I do know this: nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus my Lord.”

C. S. Lewis once said that Jesus is the missing chapter to our lives, the missing chapter that makes sense of our lives. In Jesus, our stories now make sense. You see, in Jesus, we see our true story, the entire story of our lives. We see in Him our past and our present—He created us and He preserves us. We see in Him our present and our future—He redeems  us and will raise us from the dead. Since He is our Creator and Redeemer, our past, present, and future are all found and united in Him. Amen.

Same-Sex Behaviors & Desires: God Speaks to Both

This article also appears in my congregation's newsletter, The Hope Lutheran (June-July 2015) and is cross-posted at Brothers of John the Steadfast (www.steadfastlutherans.org).

Matters of same-sex behaviors and desires have become commonplace in our sexually super-charged and pleasure-obsessed culture. Pop-culture doles out regular helpings of such behaviors and desires in both dramatic and comedic settings, and the U.S.  Supreme Court will soon issue a landmark ruling on what is being called “the right” to same-sex “marriage.”

From God’s Word, we Christians know that these behaviors and desires go against God’s good design and will for us and for all human beings. However, even as we look to God’s Word for help and guidance, some pose this question: When the Bible calls homosexuality (same-sex behavior and desires) sinful, does that apply to both the behaviors and the desires, or just to the behaviors?

We do well to look to the Scriptures—what God says—in order to discuss these matters and provide a faithful witness to the forgiving love of God in Christ Jesus. Yes, God speaks to both same-sex behaviors and same-sex desires.

What is “sin”?

Before we can know what God says about the “sin” of same-sex behaviors and desires, we need to know what He says about “sin” in general.

Augsburg Confession, Article II faithfully and succinctly explains Scripture’s teaching on “Original Sin”:

Our churches teach that since the fall of Adam, all who are naturally born are born with sin, that is, without the fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin, called concupiscence. Concupiscence is a disease and original vice that is truly sin. It damns and brings eternal death on those who are not born anew through Baptism and the Holy Spirit (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, Second Edition, 2006, p. 31-32).

All human beings are born with “sin,” that is, without true fear and trust in God and with the inclination to believe, desire, and behave in ways that go against God’s good will.

What is “concupiscence,” you ask? Coming from Latin, com- + cupere, it means “to ardently desire.” The Apology of the Augsburg Confession refers to Augustine’s use of the term to define original sin as “wicked desire” (Ap. II, 24; Concordia, p. 78). The Apology then explains:

“Since diseased nature cannot fear and love God and believe God, it seeks and loves carnal things…. Concupiscence is not only a corruption of physical qualities, but also, in the higher powers, a vicious turning to fleshly things” (Ap. II, 24-25, Concordia, p. 78-79).

To call someone or something “sinful” is simply to acknowledge two things: 1) the absence of fearing, loving, and trusting in the God who made us and loves us, and 2) the presence of a disease that ardently desires to fill the void (“God-shaped hole”?) by pursuing and loving carnal things.

Same-sex behavior is, clearly, sinful.

Now let’s apply this Biblical understanding of “sin” to matters of same-sex behavior.

God’s original, pre-sin design gave us “man” (human beings) created “in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). From the beginning, God’s purpose for the male and the female in this relationship is for them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). God’s good will and design gives us male and female in order 1) to reflect and show forth His image and 2) to procreate.

God further clarifies His design for male and female in Genesis 2. The first man, Adam, is the only human being, but “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). So God creates the woman (Genesis 2:21-22) and institutes the estate of marriage: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:24).

After the fall into sin (Genesis 3), anything—any desire, any behavior—that strays from God’s original design is labeled “sin” and “sinful.” In matters of physical sexuality and intimacy, this includes, but is not limited to, same-sex behaviors. Even natural law and common-sense reason can determine that same-sex unions cannot procreate.

According to what God says in His Word, same-sex behaviors clearly go against His good will for all human beings. Relevant Old Testament passages include:

• Genesis 19, where men of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house and demanded that his male visitors be brought out “that [they] may know them” (19:5; see Genesis 4:1 for “know” referring to the sex act). Lot even urged these concupiscent men not to act “so wickedly” (19:7), and Sodom was ultimately destroyed by God Himself;
• Leviticus 18:22, which says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination”;
• Leviticus 20:13, which says, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.”

The New Testament is no less bold in calling such behavior “sinful,” that is, against God’s good will.

• Romans 1:18-27 – St. Paul identifies various sins that show how all human beings are fallen in “original sin” (concupiscence). Among these sins, he says, “women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another” (1:26-27).
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – St. Paul lists “men who practice homosexuality” among other sinners with their sinful behaviors who “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (6:9). (The original Greek actually specifies both the receiver and the giver of the male-on-male sex act!)
• 1 Timothy 1:8-10 – St. Paul proclaims that God’s law is good, if used lawfully, in order to expose sinful behavior (1:8). Among other sinners, he again mentions “men who practice homosexuality” (1:10).

From these well-known passages, same-sex behavior is clearly “sinful,” that is, it strays from trusting and loving God and His design for male and female. It also strays from His good design for sexual relations as the activity in which a husband and a wife express their union and mutual companionship, find delight in one another, and carry out God’s purpose of the procreation of children (see Lutheran Service Book, p. 275).

But what about same-sex desires?

While it can be helpful to distinguish between same-sex behaviors and same-sex desires, such a distinction does not make the desires any “less sinful.” Nor does it mean that same-sex desires are any “more sinful” (more serious, more damning, etc.) than other sinful desires.

If we look for a handy-dandy Scriptural proof-text that says, “Same-sex desire is sinful” (or “an abomination” or…), we will come up empty-handed. However, from what God does say in His Word, we can discern that same-sex desires do fall into the category of “sinful,” as do other desires, such as desires of adultery, greed, revenge, etc.

Not only can, and should, every human being confess, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5), but also every individual must admit that “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10-11). Every human being—along with all of his or her desires—is infected with concupiscence, that “vicious turning to fleshly things” to find meaning and fulfillment in life.

The New Testament is replete with references to the sinful desires—a.k.a. “passions”—that war against our life with God. Here is a small sampling:

• Romans 1:26 – “God gave them up to dishonorable passions” (in the context of women and men exchanging natural relations for same-sex relations).
• Romans 6:12 – “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.”
• Galatians 5:24 – “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
• Ephesians 2:3 – “…among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind….”
• 2 Timothy 2:22 – “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
• Titus 2:12 – “…training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age….”
• 1 Peter 1:14 – “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance….”
• 1 Peter 2:11 – “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

Having certain “passions” (desires) does not mean that they are innocent or innocuous.

Our Lord Jesus illustrates this when He refers to adulterous desires and thoughts: “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).

The most incisive comment from Jesus comes when He identifies with precision the true source of our sinful behaviors. They actually come from within, from our sinful desires: “What comes out of mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:18-20).

Does God have anything else to say?

Having said all of that, what else does God say? Same-sex desires and behaviors are indeed sinful, as are many other desires and behaviors (such as alcoholism, cheating, theft, adultery, slander, gossip, etc.). However, God has a better, more life-giving, more comforting word to speak to all of us: He forgives us and restores us through His Son Jesus Christ.

Pastor Tom Eckstein expresses it well as he addresses those who wrestle with same-sex desires and behaviors:

If you are a person who bears the burden of homosexuality, you need to understand that when God uses Holy Scripture to show that your homosexual desire and behavior is sin, He does this because He LOVES you! God exposes your sin so that you can trust in Jesus, your Lord and Savior, through whom you are completely forgiven and holy in God’s sight—even as you continue to struggle with homosexual desires and behavior! In fact, once we are set free by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we are then able to see God’s sexual laws as gifts from a loving Father (Bearing Their Burden: Speaking the Truth in Love to People Burdened by Homosexuality, p. 39, emphasis original).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ applies to all sinners, whatever their sinful desires and behaviors. By His resurrection, we get to live a new life. In our Baptism, we are called daily to drown the Old Adam “with all sins and evil desires” and daily to “arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever” (Small Catechism, Holy Baptism).

Listen to my "Family Shield" interview with Dr. Beverly Yahnke on giving Gospel healing to those who struggle with same-sex attraction.

Are Christians "Horrible Sinners"?

According to God's Word, we know the truth that all human beings are fallen sinners. We all fall short of God's glory and sin in thought, word, and deed.

But does that mean the pastor should preach to his congregation as if they are "horrible sinners"? Should the truth of the universal corruption of mankind lead the preacher to address the members of his flock as though they are ruled by deliberate sin?

C. F. W. Walther would say, "No way!" Thesis XVIII of Walther's Law and Gospel says,

You are not rightly distinguishing Law and Gospel in the Word of God if you describe the universal corruption of mankind so as to create the impression that even true believers are still under the spell of ruling sins and sin deliberately (C. F. W. Walther, Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, p. 355).

Walther explains what he means by looking at various Bible passages. Here's what he says when he considers Matthew 3:17 and Romans 6:14:

When we speak of "horrible" sinners, we must not refer to Christians, in whom we find weaknesses, which are covered with the righteousness of Christ, yet also good deeds, which God does through them and which are pleasing to Him. All baptized Christians may apply to themselves the declaration of God: "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." [Matt. 3:17]

Romans 6:14: "For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." [Paul] is actually saying not only that sin should not dominate Christians but also that sin is no able to dominate Christians. In fact, it is absolutely impossible for a person who is in a state of grace to be ruled by sin. When a pilgrim traveling on a lonely road is attacked by a robber, the pilgrim will escape from the robber at the first opportunity because he does not want to be overcome and killed. Christians are pilgrims in this world and are on their way to heaven. Like a highway robber, the devil assaults them, and they collapse before him because of their weakness--not because they want to collapse. When true Christians collapse, they are forgiven because they turn to God in daily and tearful repentance--or at least with heartfelt sighs, begging for pardon. But if a person allows sin to rule him, that is a sure sign that he is not a Christian but a hypocrite--no matter how pious he pretends to be (C. F. W. Walther, Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible, p. 357, emphasis original).

Sounds like some sanctified fine-tuning and honing of our preaching is always in order!

Eating Sprinkles Shows Original Sin

For those who deny Original Sin - and claim that children are innocent until some dreamed up "age of accountability" - get a load of this. A young lad denies his obvious eating of sprinkles even though the evidence is clearly "sprinkled" all over his face. Don't tell me these little guys (and gals) are innocent until proven sinful!



But there is hope. Check out Acts 2:38-39:

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”