Pentecost 14A 2005
Isaiah 51:1-6
Psalm 138
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
I have spent time this past week talking to people about the
ELCA assembly and it’s vote on the issue of
homosexuality and the church. This news
has hit the airwaves and has been closely followed by our sister denominations
as they struggle with the same issues.
In case you missed it, the church delegates from around the
country, voted to seek unity regardless.
That was the easy vote. They
also voted to keep the policy of same-gender blessings the same. All right, there is no policy on this one so we
still don’t have one. We could have
gone backwards here but did not.
And the third vote was on the Visions and Expectations
guidelines were reaffirmed,
meaning there is no allowance for Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Transsexual
persons in committed relationships to be ordained. It would have take a 2/3 vote to change this
provision. The vote was 503 No to 490
Yes. A close half.
This is progress, the vote would have been different
even 5 years ago. And the topic is sure
to be revisited in 2006. There is a
strong progressive edge to the
But at the root of all the debate, controversy and deep
emotions surrounding this issue is the underlying issue of how we read
scripture. Do we read this book literally, ever word from the
mouth of God having full meaning for how we live life in the 21st century? Or do we read it as the story of who God is
and what it means to be God’s people wherever and whenever we might live?
The literal reading can tie you up in knots. Because it just can’t be done. The Bible contradicts itself, not just Old
Testament to New, but within the New
Testament itself. And then which parts do
we take most seriously? The family values espoused with the patriarchal
fathers who had many wives and a few concubines? The social structure of
the new testament with its slavery?
The covering of heads and quieting of
women in church? The Church women
like Priscilla and
How about the prohibitions against eating pork, usury (charging interest),
and divorce?
Now we all agree that killing, stealing, committing
adultery, worship other Gods,
embezzling are bad. What
that all looks like in the fine print may vary.
So what’s a good church-going Christian to do? How do we decide which of these words holds
true today and which do not? Personally, I could take a few
verses, chapters, books out….But they may not be the ones you have problems
with. There are some Sundays I wish I
was in a tradition were I could pick the text I wanted to talk about that day
instead of being force to wrestle with the assigned readings.
The key to this is in our Gospel of Matthew you heard this
morning. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
When we hear this text, we think what? Forgiveness, right? That is how I had always thought about
it. It is about forgiving and not
forgiving people. That sounds dangerous
in the wrong hands though. And is not
really what this passage is about.
Scholars now say that the terms “to bind” and “to loose” refer to the
practice of deciding what scripture applies to contemporary situations. This is how Jewish rabbis would view it, that “binding” and “loosing” refer to determining what Words of God go
with which situations.
Jesus himself does this.
In Matthew’s Gospel
Jesus “binds” the law prohibiting murder as applying to anger and
insults, and “binds” adultery to lust. Jesus
binds “love your neighbor” to applying also to one’s enemies.
Likewise he “looses” the prohibition against working on the Sabbath
with regard to doing good and that day. And just last Sunday we heard how the
Canaanite woman pushed Jesus to “loose” the rules excluding Gentiles from the
See? Sometimes Scripture
uses Scripture to interpret itself. Sometimes we use the stories as examples, or
the expansive view of Jesus in reaching out to the outsiders.
But it isn’t just up to us.
We don’t “bind
and loose” as individuals, but as the
church. Jesus interprets the Word of God, then passes that
role onto the church itself. Together
we discern what is good and right, what is applicable and what is a relic
of a past society.
And we do this with the assumption that God did not stop
acting in history with the end of the book.
But is still acting today, here and now, among us and in the
world.
We also read Scripture knowing that we are broken people, in a broken
world. We have our faults, our fears, our
prejudices. We have our own agendas and
self-interests.
Reading Scripture together helps take us out of ourselves
and keeps us grounded in community.
Reminds us that we are part of a bigger picture, throughout time and space…
That is why we gather together in worship, in Sunday School, in assemblies, to listen and learn and grow and discern. We are not in the same place we were last
week, neither is the
We continue to grow in faith, praying that we will not be conformed
to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds… that we may
discern the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. We
continue to be one body with many members, in disagreement at times, struggling to live together at others. But always seeking to be faithful and truthful.
And the issues that affect our society and our life together
will not go away.
We come together to listen to the Word and to each other. To bring our concerns and
fears and hopes to the table. To be together as a church “binding and loosing”.
We take this book (the Bible) seriously. Seriously indeed. For it tells the story of who we are, but more
importantly, who God is. It
tells us again and again that God is in love with us, with the outcast, the downtrodden, the broken,
the lost and the seeking.
And it shows us how to live in communities that welcome all
people into their midst,
with accepting, forgiving, transforming love.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. We do not do this on our own, as
individuals, but together, as a part of the body of Christ. Whose individual gifts add up to a powerful
ministry we call the church.
I love the line the UCC church has as there logo right
now. “God is still speaking.”
God is still speaking, and will still transform us that our
minds may be renewed and so that we may see the world with the eyes of Christ.
I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people about the ELCA
assembly. And it is still our
ELCA. And God is still working through
it.
And we are still committed to being a reconciled community, welcoming people
from all walks of life into our midst. And
God is still working through us.
May we continue our journey or transformation together, blessed by a God
who has given us great gifts and great hope.
Amen.