Bias

Text: 1 Timothy 5:21

Focus: Post-modernity 3

Function: To help people separate homophobia from their theology of homosexuality.

Form: Lecture

Intro: For a few years, I volunteered to edit a rag called “The Concerns of the Grass Roots.”

I did it mainly to help overcome the negative bias they were generating because of poor English and Computer graphic publishing skills.

For the most part, I agreed with their arguments, but I was embarrassed by the way those who choose to argue their points went about it.

I thought that we should have an intelligent conversation about issues, especially around Homosexuality instead of mere sound bites.

I sought an honest examination of my and other's views.

So, for me, armed with the truth, I simply expected everyone to agree with me when I met a few people whom I have mentioned before, but will refer to as Sincere Liberals.

By Sincere, I mean, they were deeply spiritual, deeply in love with Jesus Christ and the Church, full of the power of the Holy Spirit which was proven at times by the gifts of the Spirit that the Charismatics claim proves anointing as well as the better witness of the Holy Spirit, the ones that aren't missing from every believer, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Fruit, singular, expressed in say it with me: ²²love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control.

This is the proof, the seal, of God's approval, according to Acts 10 and reason for us to give anyone exhibiting that fruit full and complete fellowship, affirmation of gifts, calling and identity, in the church.

And, as I have preached over the last 3 weeks, I was just as shocked that God widened that circle of inclusion to include our Gay, Lesbian, Trans-gendered, Bisexual and either Queer or Questioning brothers and sisters.

The Circle keeps getting bigger as God moves God's people to more and more of God's love.

During those days, it seemed to me that more and more, when I read the scriptures, especially the NT, the idea Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins was about the most obvious thing there was and is.

I admit, I have confirmation bias to see what I am looking for.

I love cars. And now, even though I have had problems with my latest car, I love it. And since I am aware of its benefits, I see that care in more and more places. When I see a gray one, se, tdi, just like mine, I get excited.

We tend to notice what we want.

And as God has been moving me.

More and more, when I read the Scriptures, especially the NT, but also the OT prophets, -those mystics who possessed the Spirit of Christ, I see God's call to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with him.

I read verses like: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied” as the promise that should not tire in doing justice for we will see results of our labors. Find the ones to do, for that day and time, and do it with all our might in faith that God the Holy Spirit will always be leading us according to promise. Amen?

As I began to notice those more, then I began to notice others more.

I began to study them more. That beatitude especially, I realized that righteousness was mistranslated for 500+ years in English translations because of Imperialism.

Confirmation bias is a good or bad thing. We should be aware of it.

Sometimes the coincidence of confirmation bias is also correctly identified as the witness, or leading of the Holy Spirit.

But, as the old story of the preacher taking care of an elderly gent in the apartment building next to the building of the recent divorcée, and someone only knows only of the divorcée living in that area and sees the pastor smile at her drew the wrong conclusion and the gossip started to fly.

Confirmation bias can be good or bad based on how it is perceived and used.

And, it also informs the way we look at scripture.

We look at Scripture with our own biased set of expected justifications.

In healthy, growing Christians, they continue to evolve.

Hopefully it is improving our biblical knowledge and faith. We remember, the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart.

That is what we are working on.

So, let me same some things very clear here before anyone takes me wrong as I explain a biblical passage.

I believe that Jesus was divine, existed beyond human sexuality as God, but was a sexual being as a man. However, in that there in clearly no evidence that Jesus had any kind of sexual relations. There is nothing in the Bible that indicates that Jesus was a homosexual. I do not believe that King David homosexual either.

What I believe is that the bible is much, much less homophobic than our culture is today.

Homosexuality is nothing new at all.

Homosexual love, orientation, and attraction have been around for as long as humanity. We know that it was rampant and fairly excepted in Ancient Rome, Egypt, Corinth, Greece and throughout every culture with recorded history.

So, although there are 7 passages that refer to homosexuality, compared to the myriad of passages about caring for the poor, doing justice, loving mercy and etc, 7 is very few.

And, of those 7, Jesus never mentions the issue at all.

Bible Study is coming during study hours over the next several weeks.

I find it significant that it is of such little scriptural importance that Jesus never mentions the issue.

Today, what I want to help us see from scripture that our culture is more homophobic than most Biblical cultures.

Yesterday, Rev. Jim Lucas, an openly gay man serving as a Chaplain, told us of how years after he was comfortable with being gay, he saw two gay men kissing on tv and had an “ich” factor.

This surprised him since he, a celibate gay man, finds men attractive. It surprised him!

I asked a gay friend of mine, a son of a Brethren minister who lives in PA what it meant about homophobia when I have that “ich” factor.

He directed me to a book, “Loving Someone Gay,” with the picture of two gay men and a dog on the front cover.

The author explains that homophobia is a learned cultural response.

The author exposes how that “ich” factor was programmed into my by culture and this is the funny part:

After I realized that the “ich” factor was not my heterosexual orientation, but cultural conditioning, I realized just how beautiful and natural those two men and that dog looked.

I knew that the “ich” factor had lost its power and was indeed, cultural.

Now, what does that have to do with the Bible being less homophobic than our culture, my assertion that homophobia is cultural, and my apology about Jesus and King David?

Consider these two verses of scripture, one from the OT, one from the NT: 2 Samuel 1:
²⁶I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
greatly beloved were you to me;
your love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.

Or, from the NT John 13: ²³Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.

These are harmless passages. They are small details in the part of a much larger narratives and these particular details are almost always glossed over.

But image what would happen today if those two verses were said about two young men in a Junior High Locker Room?

Those boys would be labeled and terribly teased if they said that about themselves.

I know. I never said that.

But growing up Christian, I was always taught that my Christian witness was most important.

Kids figured out that I was not going to fight back and so, I became a target.

I learned creative ways to turn the other cheek and prevent violence. It felt good to do that Christian witness.

But I was told that I had to be vocal about my faith.

I think the thing back then, and now, that I could defend about Christianity was the command to love one another.

So, I was asked if I loved my twin brother to which I said yes. The word Love was common in my Christian home. And all of a sudden the homophobia of our culture came down on top of me and my childhood in full force.

Societal pressure to reject, to hate, to fear, to ostracize the different is powerful. We can't let it inform the Christian speech we have about our LGBT Brothers and Sisters.

We can save lives.

At the time, I was dealing with my own trauma.

As we heard yesterday, of the 7 passages about homosexuality in the Bible, most of them refer to pederasty, or the abuse of young boys.

That is not same sex attraction. That is pedophilia.

Now, we want to welcome all.

But we are not now, nor do we ever intend to affirm pedophilia.

However, when that trauma was happening to me in Junior High, I was trying to cope single handedly with being the victim of pederasty.

Imagine the pain I felt, when because of the homophobia about homosexuality, I was confused and somehow I was at fault?

But it got worse. When I was 12, I decided to take responsibility for my spirituality and attend the revival at the local church.

Friday night was going to be youth emphasis and we were going to save America.

He literally said, “I have a message to save America.”

And Friday night came, I was excited as the kid in The Christmas Story with his new BB gun and all of a sudden I heard how I was evil, how I was going to ruin America, how I was going to bring about the Anti-Christ, how I was going to hell and all of a sudden I was raped again.....

It is time for the Church to start saying and doing the right and loving thing.

Black Lives Matter

Text: Hebrews 13:2

Focus: Overcoming racism

Function: To help overcome racism

Form: Lecture

Intro: Story of 2 hippies at Evergreen Restaurant.

• One time, I preached on John 13:35 “Known by our Love.” I told people to look wait staff in eye and ask how they are today (and then tip well).
• Got to restaurant after my family and asked them if they took my instructions and they said something like “Did you mean us, too?”
• I laughed, just as waitress walked up, so I filled her in on the humor and she was appreciative of our sensitivity.
• And then a couple of -well, hippies is the only way to describe them- were seated next to us. The waitress turned around, greeted them and they looked her in the eye and asked her how she was to which she replied:
• “Oh, you must go to his church!”

Sometimes when we are “family,” we don't think it involves us as well.

I have told you of the times that I believe that I have entertained angels according to our passage.

But the passage is a reference back to Abraham who entertained 2 Angels and the Lord in Genesis 18.

God called God's own self “Abraham's friend” and therefore, disclosed God's plan to Abraham.

Abraham was a wandering Armenian with no place and no real home, yet.

And yet he quickly sees travelers and jumps to entertain them.

And in so doing, God blesses both him and Sarah and by the next year, Sarah, who is 89 and Abraham, who is 100 have a baby together.

He welcomed the strangers.

The couple we almost/hopefully still will/ get are Muslims from Somalia.

They are black and they are Muslim.

They are very different from us.

And, their lives matter.

Back to my opening antidote. Sometimes, family believes that they are exempt.

I thought that it was funny that the ones who looked the less like good Christians look in Lancaster Co, PA, were the ones who acted very Christ like.

I was also very pleased that the waitress, whom I knew pretty well because I was the local Diner's pastor, found it plausible that people who looked like that, especially in Lancaster Co, PA, the origin of Amish Country where dress identifies everybody in very specific ways, would be the kind of folks at the church I pastored.

Diversity is important to our Christian witness and outreach.

If Jesus meant it that the true test of disciples was love for others, then the wider our love, the greater our obedience. I think it is just that simple.

How comfortable will/would we be if our Somali family decided to worship with us?

Could we pray with them?

I had to go to Lansing yesterday where I met Ken at a shop and with whom I shared sermon ideas yesterday.

I was talking about Black Lives Matter. I asked him if perhaps in a predominately white Church, but a church passionate about justice, should I say “why” in small capitals in the printed bulletin in order to explain it without prejudicing my audience before hand.

His response was good, but surprising. He acted like there is no problem. He gave me an answer that made me feel better, and I hope he was honest with me.

You see, the movement, Black Lives Matter, seems to be important to discuss this Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Sunday.

I expect that at Thanksgiving and Christmas tables the very mention of the words “Black Lives Matter” was taboo.

In my family, when it was said, the very quick response was “all lives matter.”

To which I said, would you prefer either phrase “black lives matter too?? or “black lives matter also?”

You understand, don't you, that this is what it is about?

But, in order for us to ensure, to make certain, the point gets across, we will be satisfied when the recipient is also able to answer with “Yes. Black lives matter.”

Why is that distinction important in the conversation?

And btw, this is not politics, I know that some are making this political, but the fact is, politics is stepping into every area, and so, we cannot speak about anything without some politicians taking polar opposite positions.

While they play their games, we will continue to examine truth and culture from Jesus' teachings? Amen?

So why is simpler form BLM important to the debate:

• Because with disproportionate rates of incarceration of black men for the same offenses compared to white men.
• Because of the way a black woman dies in custody after failing to use her turn signal.
• Because a young man was killed by a police who mistook a bb gun for a lethal weapon. We understand the difficulty of community police and their challenges, but that is why we trust them, and not some good guy with a guy, to protect us, -they are supposed to be trained to make that split second decision and they are much less likely to use the deadly force option if the child had been white.
• Because a group of white men can occupy federal land in a treasonous act, with several guns, but a black man carrying a bb gun in Wal Mart executed because some white person was so afraid of him that he incited his death and literally scared another customer to death.
• Because white mothers do not have to have “The Talk” with white sons about that black mothers have to have with their black sons about how not to scare white people into killing you!

I talked to a guy I know from the hood. His name is Mike. Mike is 25 and the father of 2. He has a felony conviction for possession from when he was 18. He honestly wants to provide for his family.

But he has one resource, and that is selling drugs.

Now, the illegal drug trade is both violent and oppressive. I am vehemently opposed to it.

But in Ohio, where Mike lives, a group of 5, wealthy white men wanted to form a legal oligopoly over the sale of Marijuana in exchange for the decriminalization and release of 10's of Thousands of black men.

Here is the thing about that. As much as I hate and resist and do not support the illegal drug trade, the Ohio Legislature is willing to let big money interests decide whether or not those who are in jail because of the criminalization of Marijuana should stay or be released.

If it is about money, then why are thousands of young men in jail?

When Black lives matter, all of these injustices against black men and families will be eliminated.

Mike's dilemma is the perpetual cycle, and a worse part of this story is that the business that he has will be undermined by wealthy interests.

Again, the illegal drug trade is a terrible blight on our culture, our criminal justice system and the safety of our entire culture. I oppose it.

But the war on drugs has become a war on black men.

All lives matter means that those with different cultures and ideologies have equal protection under the law.

And that starts with the Church informing the world that Black Lives Do indeed, matter.

Hebrews 13:²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Post Modernity 1

Text: Romans 1:16

Focus: -Post Modernity

Function: To prepare people for diversity.

Form: Lecture

Intro: Welcome to the New Year. 21^st Century Church.

Modernity in theological terms is best defined in the idea of propositions.

The faith was both attacked and defended by propositions.

Propositions are statements of faith, values, doctrine, scriptures etc that are designed to prove a thesis statement.

And they were and are important.

Paul tells Timothy, “Pay attention to a yourself and your doctrine for in so doing you will save yourself and those hearing you. I Timothy 4:16

Doctrine is Orthodoxy. It literally means “correct doctrine.”

And here was the problem with the Church's emphasis on Orthodoxy, there was not a corresponding emphasis on correct practice.

Christians had all kinds of knowledge about the Bible, doctrine, theology and etc, but it wasn't really changing behavior into the kind of loving, accepting and peaceful person that Jesus Christ demonstrated.

And the reason was because we emphasized doctrine so much that we forgot to love one another.

I have had people leave because I used the King James, because I didn't. Because I speak in tongues, because I don't enough. Because I don't believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. Because I told them that using derogatory terms for gay people was sinful. Because I am not enough of a Calvinist, because I am to much of a Calvinist and so forth.

Listen, doctrine is important, very important, but it isn't worth sinning over.

And what I mean is this, Jesus said, One command: “Love One Another.”

This is primary and anything less is sinful. Sin, in this context can be best described as broken relationship. Broken with God and with others.

We are called to reconstruct this relationship between God and others.

But it is important to understand the reason for all the propositions.

In the age of Modernity, you have heard me say this several times already, but it is important to remember. In the age of Modernity, mankind placed its hope in Science and Reason alone.

Spock, from Star Trek was the epitome of human potential. He was purely rational without the ambiguity of emotions clouding judgment.

It implied that emotions, the things that make us human, the parts that connect with spirituality, were vestigial parts of our evolutionary development.

Now, I got to be clear here. I believe in science and reason. I trust God, but I also trust my logical/rational mind.

I believe in science. I find no conflict between my faith and science. The Bible itself says that God gave us science to ferret out mysteries.

But, the argument against faith, during the time of modernity, was that God was dead, or more specifically, according to Nietzsche, the Idea of God, was dead.

Nietzsche believed and taught that science and reason alone would solve people's problems, and along with Karl Marx, taught that humanity needed to abandon is relationship with the superstitions of religion in order to evolve to the next step.

The “survival of the fittest” gave us WWII and incredible devastation.

But humanity didn't realize the potential for it until around 9/11.

There was a subtle shift in culture being explored by the arts.

For years, we did not have a TV.

When we did, we were hooked on Hill Street Blues. A story of New York City police.

Whenever there was a funeral, there was no chaplain. The star characters were living in sin together and the idea of that was emphasized as part of the sexual revolution.

In every way, the show blasted Christianity with propositions about why we didn't need God, or faith in God.

Religious people were often portrayed as unstable emotionally and hypocritical.

And so we argued back and forth with propositions, with our own brand of “truths” with secularists whether or not God existed and whether or not humanity answered to said God.

Now, at this point, I am going to introduce two terms for the sake of convenience. We are all familiar.

The two terms are Liberal and Conservative.

I am talking theological.

In the age of modernity, Christian liberal theology almost often denied the reality of the supernatural, miracles, healing and etc.

Harold Martin, of the Brethren Revival Fellowship, a conservative group within our denomination said this: “The heart of Liberal theology is the denial of the supernatural.”

And about 15 years ago, me, a conservative theologian was talking with a liberal theologian and I mentioned Harold's proposition and she corrected me. She is a new kind of liberal, she is a post-modern liberal and she told me she believed very much in the supernatural and the mystical.

You see, if there was no God, then there were no miracles.

But things changed.

One of the big questions that got to me was this one asked of me in Baltimore when I was attending a Critical Incident Stress Management training event. A woman who became my friend asked me a question, she said” “the Church admits it was wrong on racism, how do we know it can be trusted with homosexuality?”

The Change was happening.

Propositions did not work anymore.

We were Orthodox, but our practice did not reflect Christlike attitudes.

And it got worse.

The Church, while arguing doctrine got so involved in the argument of doctrine that it left the command to share good news with an hurting world.

While we are arguing what is and is not sin, while we are arguing whether or not God created the Homosexual or whether or not they choose to rebel against God and enter into what some have called sinful behavior, the world wonders why we stopped loving a certain group of people.

Some in the Church has countered with, “concern for their eternal state is love.”

But the problem is this: the Church created a sub-culture that believes it is being persecuted and has lost touch with reality.

And here is the way that God, the Holy Spirit, is still causing growth in the Church, Look at this verse with me: ⁵But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

There are people who say that we have lost something because God is changing the way we love one another and God is widening the circle of who is loved and who isn't.

But that argument is based on fear.

If we take seriously the Scripture and understand what God is doing, then we know that the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith.

There isn't anything wrong with something that draws us closer.

So, the big shift in Post-Modernity is that evangelism is not done by whoever has the most convincing argument, but by relationship.

Around Homosexuality, in Modernity, the question was this: “is Homosexuality Sin?”

In Post-modernity, even the question has changed. The question is not “is Homosexuality Sin?” But the questions are these: “Does God love the Homosexual?” How does God want us to love the Homosexual?” And, “How is our witness to Christ Jesus' love expressed in our language about same-sex attractions?”

You see, the question is not the propositions of sin since the fact of sin tied into the existence of God and the whole argument we defended in modernity.

No. Today, the witness, the discussion, the good news is not expressed in the statements of faith, but in relationship.

In Modernity, the gospel is expressed in propositions. And it appears that God was behind it. Look at Billy Graham revivals. There was a Spirit there that brought Christians from all different brands together and many were saved, by the preaching of propositions.

But it doesn't seem to be the way the Holy Spirit is working today. Now, the minute I put the Holy Spirit in a box, she climbs right out because she refuses to be defined by a man preaching propositions.

But in general, salvation is happening by relationship.

Today, we celebrate the relationship with Jesus Christ expressed in both the right and the left of the Church of the Brethren, embraced as one because of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of both.

Now, without trying to offend, this next statement might be hard for the those still working with the mindset of modernity.

In the Homosexual debate in the Church of the Brethren, we have had a propositional argument so far and it almost feels like neither side is willing to move on.

Remember, while the Church is arguing the propositions, the world we are called to serve and witness good news to has moved on to embrace as all important the question of relationship. Repeat: “all important the question of relationship.”

Both sides have great propositions. Side A says Romans 1 speaks clearly, along with Church tradition, that Homosexual behavior is sin.

Side B says, “but Jesus command to love one another, to love God by loving one another, trumps Romans 1. Remember, the law was for unbelievers, not believers. 1 Timothy 1:9

Both sides are equally passionate about which scripture is more important. Which doctrine is more important. And clearly we read that loving one another is the most important.

See? God is moving the church toward the next step. This is God's work and is nothing for us to be afraid of.

It is time for those still stuck in modernity to give up the fight of making the other side admit that they are right, and it is time for both sides to admit the validity of the other side.

It is time for relationship to cover the gap.

It is time for love to cover a multitude of sins.

Romans 1^:16am proud of the good news! It is God’s powerful way of saving all people who have faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.