The President's endorsement of same-sex marriage has generated a lot of noise--cheers on one side and jeers on the other.
When it comes to matters of politics or political correctness, the line between "right" and "wrong" is often extremely blurry. It's definitely not right to discriminate against or injure someone who lives or believes differently than others; at the same time it is not right to negatively label or penalize someone for "loving the sinner while hating the sin" as part of their sincerely held religious beliefs.
Politicians walk a precarious tightrope with every decision they make in their unattainable goal to appease everyone. Of course, since there is no way to please everyone, I am never surprised or shaken when I hear of a decision that a politican has made that doesn't sit right with me. I never get too worked up about it, because regardless of what they do or don't do, say or don't say, my life is in God's hands, not theirs.
As a responsible citizen, I cast my vote for a candidate, but I pledge my ultimate allegiance to God who knows all, sees all, and is surprised by none.
With that said, while politicians dance along the tightrope of appeasement and struggle to do what is "right" amidst all the competing definitions of "right," I continue to pray for them-- as God has instructed us to-- and remember that God doesn't play the appeasement game.
We have been given God's Word as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. God is not concerned about how we feel about that light or whether we want to argue about the wattage or the color of the bulb in the lamp. God's Word is what it is no matter how we try to shade it.
If we want to know how all of the confusion about holy matrimony got started, we have to go all the way back to where everything started. For those of us who believe that God is the author and finisher of our faith, regardless of our denomination or scriptural interpretation, our beginning is found in the book of Genesis. Those who don't believe in God, I assume are not interested in holy matrimony, so perhaps common-law marriages or civil unions would be their starting point. As an ordained minister, I am only equipped to address God's Word. I will leave the other secular arguments to secularists.
And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:18) And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (Genesis 2:22)Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:24-25)
So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply.... (Genesis 1:27-28)
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that [are] not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 7:2-3)
There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. (Genesis 7:9) And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:15-16)
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that [is] with thee, of all flesh, [both] of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. (Genesis 8:16-17)
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. (Genesis 9:16)
A lot has changed on earth since the beginning. And, yet, God's Word has not changed. God is not the author of confusion, which is why God's Word is clear on the basic things we need to know about creation and God's plan for us as beings created in the image of God.
Each of us has to read and understand God's Word for ourselves. I don't know what picture emerges for you out of the Genesis story, but I see God initiating the act of holy matrimony and then pairing all of the animals in like manner. I see God instituting the rainbow as a sign of a divine covenant with all living creatures to not have them suffer utter destruction, therefore allowing them to continue to be frutiful and multiply in the way in which they were originally designed and directed to do.
God's plan looks pretty clear here to me. It's our plans that get twisted. Our confusion is no different than the confusion Eve experiened when, in spite of God's clear instructions to Adam, she entertained the insidious question, "did God say....", a question that led to her and Adam becoming co-conspirators in the fall of creation.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1)
Some of us comb the scriptures, not for richer understanding but to find "contradictory" statements that allow us to raise that same loaded question, "did God say...."
Others of us feel it is appropriate to attack or hate those who define marriage differently than what is found in scripture. Those who follow the model of Jesus Christ will find no support for mistreating anyone in the name of the Lord.
In Genesis 3, we learn that everything that looks good, tastes good and sounds wise or reasonable to us may not be good for us:
And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.(Genesis 3:6-7)
Before Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were together, naked, and not ashamed. Afterward, they immediately began to literally cover up their shame. Regardless of what politicians allow or don't allow, man-made laws or the lack thereof will not provide a cover for us to disregard what God established.
God cares intensely about what we do with and to our bodies, since we were created in the image of God and our bodies are considered temples. Anything we do that defiles our temples causes us to fall short of God's plans and commands for our lives. The good news is that even if we allowed the crafty serpent to deceive us into denying God's truth, God has provided a way for us to be redeemed.
Jesus' sacrifice covers all of our sins--those we knowingly committed, and those we unknowingly committed--and all of us have done one or the other. Thankfully, once we are able to admit that we have missed God's mark, all we have to do is believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that God raised Jesus from the dead and we are redeemed from the sinful, deceitful tricks and traps of the enemy who roams about seeking whom he may devour. As redeemed children of God, we have the blessing of the presence and power of God's Holy Spirit, who will lead and guide us into all truth about how God views our life choices and how we can walk uprightly.
No matter what plans we have been holding on to or defending, there is absolutely no plan greater than what God has for each of us. The emptiness, anger and confusion many of us experience is often not due to what others have done to us, but what we have done to ourselves in refusing to totally yield to God and let God complete the good work that was begun in us.
How did all of this confusion, hatred and division about holy matrimony get started? I believe it began as all sin--which is to miss God's mark--began. It began when we, like Adam and Eve, turned away from what God started and set our sights in a direction that seemed right to us, but in the end would lead to destruction.
Let's get back on track. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But, even though we've fallen, we can get back up. Let's allow the cleansing, redeeming blood of Jesus Christ to take us back to God's beginning and let's move forward from there.
BNcouraged!
Rev. Karen
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