How Much Truth Do We Want
May 20, 2012 Genesis 2:15-25 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
For those of you who have watched Star Trek or are sci-fi fans, every once in a while you will see an episode about an alternate universe. Something happens and a person is put in this alternate universe in which the people are the same, but the circumstances in life are very different. If I entered the alternate universe, instead of being the pastor, I might be a homeless person.
But someone coming from the first universe, would see in me the ability to help organize people to reach a goal. The episode would be built around me organizing the homeless for a revolution of some kind. You go away from the episode wondering if there is another parallel universe taking place that we can’t see.
Jesus comes along and states that, “yes there is a parallel existence taking place that we are not aware of in this world. “It exist in the same time and space that we are in now. When Jesus had been arrested, Jesus had been brought to Pilate to be found guilty of all kinds of charges of treason against the Roman government. Pilate asks Jesus, ‘what have you done.” Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.
Pilate says, “You are a King then.” Jesus responds, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” Jesus has given us a picture of a kingdom which is laid on top of a kingdom that exists side by side. Only those who respond to the truth, put themselves under his kingdom. I want you to notice that Jesus never demanded that anyone follow him. Jesus specifically says ,” if anyone wants to follow me, let him/her deny himself, pick up his cross and come follow me.” Jesus demand a total kind of allegiance to Himself.
Jesus already had the rules established in his kingdom. There was and there is room for only one king. Absolutely no one would be forced there against their will. The price to enter the kingdom is the same for everyone which is to deny themselves, pick up their crosses and come follow Jesus. Jesus said he came to testify to the truth. A follower of Jesus is going to have to learn how to live in the kingdom of this world and be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to give us the truth about God and what God requires of us.
Suppose you took your car in to a dealer to have your brakes checked out because your car has been slow to stop. The repair person tells you the car would be ready at 5:00. You go back at 5 and the person says, “your car is ready to go.” All you owe is $15. You are delighted that’s all you owe, because you were thinking you might get a big bill. You drive out the lot, and when you come to the first light, you pushed on the brakes but the car keeps going. You see a truck coming from the right side full speed ahead. You swerve to miss the truck and crash into a park car. How many of you are going back to the car repair shop?
What if you say, “why didn’t you tell me, my brakes were no good and were going out.” What if the person said, “I didn’t want to make you feel bad about your car. I knew you didn’t have a lot of money to spend on the brakes, and I didn’t want to charge you what it would take to completely overhaul your brakes.
I want you to know that we love and accept you here at the shop, and we want you to send others to our shop to have repairs done. If I had of told you, how much it would cost to fix your brakes, I know you would have gone to someone else.” How many of you would have preferred knowing the truth as oppose to saving some money.”
Suppose you went to the doctor for a check up. After the physical, the doctor told you that you were in perfect health and that you had the body of an Olympic athlete. You smiled and thanked the doctor. Suppose later that day you collapsed from a heart attack, and had to be rushed to the hospital. You called your doctor and said, you’ll never guess what happened to me.”
What if the doctor said, “I’d bet you had a heart attack. In my office, I noticed you blood pressure was high, your arteries were clogged, and you were showing signs of stress.” I would have told you, but I did not want to get you upset by the bad news. I knew you had plans for your life and who was I to try to change them. Remember judge not lest you be judged. “How many of you would have preferred knowing the truth as oppose to believing you were okay when you really were not.
We want truth when it comes to our material possessions. We want truth when it comes to our physical bodies. Do we want truth when it comes to our spiritual well being? Or do we just want to be comforted and told God loves us and all that we do is okay with God. Our job as a pastors is to help you become a disciple of Jesus Christ so that when your life comes to an end, you will the hears words, “well done thou good and faithful servant.”
It was Jesus himself who said, “Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, and tell me of all the good things they did on my behalf, and I will tell them” depart from me, for I never knew you.” Many of those people will be people who came to church, but rejected the truth and refused to become disciples of Jesus Christ. There is a difference between a person who believes in Jesus as the Son of God, and the person who chooses to deny himself/herself in order to pick up his or her cross to follow Jesus Christ. One is a disciple and one is not.
How do we handle living in this natural world or this kingdom and yet be faithful as disciple of Jesus Christ. We have a verse from Jesus, its actually a promise from Jesus that we do not want to accept. He says, “servants are not greater than their masters, if they persecuted me, they will persecute you. If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first.”
For years in America, Christians have pretty much lived on easy street. We have not known persecution because of what we believe because the culture of the society and the culture of the church were very similar. Many failed to see, there have always been two kingdoms co-existing. Now as the culture moves further away from what we call Christianity, the difference in the kingdoms is becoming more apparent.
I don’t want you to confuse Christianity with the kingdom of God. Christianity is nothing more than people who claim to believe something about Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is made up of those who have chosen to become disciples of Jesus Christ. Christianity is a part of the world’s system because it sways with the changes in culture.
The disciple has a dual citizenship. One in the kingdom and the other in this world. We have a responsibility to both, because Jesus said, “love thy neighbor as thyself” and some of our neighbors are not necessarily disciples of Jesus Christ. So our dual citizenship cause us to see the world from a different perspective.
Our president recently came out in support of gay marriages. I do not think any of us were surprised by his statement, most of us just did not expect him to say it until after the election. From just being an American, and representing all Americans, the president’s stance was almost right. I say almost because the president didn’t represent all Americans. He should have said, “I support the right of gays and lesbians to marry” and “I oppose legislation to force others to violate their religious conscience by having to participate in the marriages or support them.” He should have said that as well.
Why because Article 1 of the US Constitution says that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Both sides of society in the debate should recognize the constitution supports same sex marriages, and it supports my religious right to believe what the bible teaches concerning homosexual sex.
That would have included all of us in the issue. The President is to speak for the rights of all Americans
Our society has tried to frame the gay/lesbian issue as one of hating people with whom you disagree or loving the person and approving the behavior. For the person in the kingdom of God, hating people is not an option nor is approving the behavior. Those people who go around preaching God hates homosexuals are not part of the kingdom. God does not hate people. God hates sin. The truth of the bible speaks against a specific behavior, not a specific group of people.
God created a man and a woman. God brought them together. Biblical marriage was God’s institution created by God for a man and a woman. We messed it up in the Old Testament by people taking several wives. When Jesus came, he pointed us to back to what the original plan of God was. Jesus himself said, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. Jesus did not alter the original biblical meaning of marriage. For those in the kingdom, marriage can only be between a man and woman because marriage is the institution which is symbolic of Jesus Christ and his relationship to the . church.
We cannot expect, those outside the kingdom to understand the biblical definition of marriage and the spiritual nature of marriage. We cannot try to hold them to that standard. The world’s standard for marriage is two people who love each other and want to share their lives together. For the world marriage has nothing to do with representing Christ and the church nor is there anyway that they could.
In all honesty, those of us who refuse to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ in our marriages have done far more damage to the biblical institution of marriage, than the world ever could. Jesus had one standard and that standard was for people who chose to become his disciples to follow him even when it was difficult. Jesus did not insist that Rome change its rules to fit within the kingdom of God, because he knew that Rome could not do so apart from a change in a person’s heart. That is why Jesus says, “if anyone would come after me.” It is a choice to become a disciple of Jesus and enter his kingdom.
When we reject Jesus’s discipleship over our lives, then we start to pick and choose what is sin, based on the culture. Jesus said he came to give us the truth. How much of the bible do we want to get rid of because it contains stuff we do not like? In reading 1 Corinthians chapter 6, all of us should have come across something that touched sin in our lives.
All of us are more attracted or more susceptible to some sin rather than others. This is why Jesus said, “if anyone, would come after me, let him deny himself/herself and take up their cross, and follow me.” You are giving up something you really want to do and can do, in order to follow Jesus.
Look at this list, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor practicing homosexuals 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Is there anybody here besides me who has been sexually immoral. If you’re having sex with someone of the opposite sex that’s not your husband or your wife. You fall into this category. Or if you are like me, and you haven’t been completely delivered from lust you are in this category. What about any idolaters? Those who put other things ahead of God. Your reputation, your money, and other things or people mean a lot more to you than God does. Do we have any prostitutes, you strike a bargain with a person to take care of you in exchange for sex.
Any practicing homosexuals, in that you are engaging in sex with members of the same sex. Any thieves—Do you cheat on your taxes. Do you take things from the office that should not be there. Do you steal money from your family. Do you rob God? Any greedy people. You have more than enough, but you still want more and refuse to share what you have. Any drunkards, you’re getting high off alcohol, or marijuana, off cocaine off prescription drugs. any slanderers, you talk about people ruthlessly. Any swindlers, you cheat people out of their money, sell stuff you know is bad, or take advantage of others.
The bible says all of this is sin and you will not inherit the kingdom of God if you continue to do them and don’t repent of them. Nobody calls me idolphobic, or thieveaphobic, or prostitutephobic, or drunkaphobic because I oppose these behaviors. So why am I labeled homophobic, because I oppose this behavior along with all the other ones listed in this passage.
We have let the world get away with claiming black people are the most homophobic of all groups. There is not a black family here who are afraid of people who call themselves homosexuals. Everyone here has someone in our family who have chosen to participate in the gay lifestyle even before they came out of the closet.. Yet we know how to treat them with love and respect without approving their behavior.
I have an uncle who seems to go back and forth. We talk to each other on the phone. We offer to pay his ticket to come visit us here in Cleveland. We love him just like we love our other uncles and aunts. But he knows we do not approve of men having sex with men and women having sex with women. I do not have any phobia toward my uncle any more than I have against my heterosexual cousin who was living with her boyfriend.
The black church is far from being afraid of homosexuals. Every church has had people in it that have chosen that lifestyle. We have not run out of the church because of it. Our society wants us to believe that somehow the church has chosen to attack gays and lesbians. That is not true. Gays and lesbians demanded that the church approve of their behavior. We all know what it is to love a family member without approving of their behavior.
Gays and Lesbians are the only ones saying, to love me you must approve of all that I do. There is not another group choosing to be involved in the specific behavior in this passage demanding the behavior itself be accepted as a gift from God or as proof of our love. Even those of you who are living together are not demanding the church say living together is now a gift from God that should be celebrated.
It’s not the acceptance of a person that is being demanded, it is the approval of a behavior. The bible does not tell me to fight against gays from getting positions in the kingdom of this world. I tells me, if you are going to be a leader in the church or a disciple of Christ, then you must choose to leave this behavior behind. Some people try to argue that since Jesus did not specifically mention the word homosexuality, he must have approved it. Jesus did not specifically mention incest, rape, or child molestation, but none of us would argue that Jesus’ silence means approval. Jesus knew we had enough of the old testament to know these behaviors were outside of the will of God for our lives.
What Jesus did say in Matthew 15:18-20 (NIV) 18 But the things that come out of the mouth, come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'" This list is very close to the list in 1 Corinthians.
Our president needed to remember he was the President of the United States, and not the Preacher of the United States. He should not have tried to use the bible to justify an action that the bible does not support. He should have said, based on the Constitution of the United States, I feel that gays and lesbians should have the right to marry. To bring in Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf and then ignoring Christ call for us to deny ourselves those things that are contrary to the word of God was a miserable failure of theology on his part.
To say, I believe the bible says “do unto others as you would have them do unto you as a justification for a approving something the bible condemns” was a misuse of the bible. That’s like saying, I support the thief, because if I was a thief I would want someone to support me. He twisted the verse to the point of it losing its meaning. He should have tried to intertwine the kingdom of this world with the kingdom of God.
When Jesus spoke of doing unto others as you would have them do to you, Jesus was speaking of what it means to fulfill your responsibility as one of his followers. If I am involved in a behavior that can cause me to be out of relationship with God, if you know it and you love me, you are going to tell me the truth about the behavior. Otherwise you are no different than the mechanic that would not tell me the truth about my brakes or the doctor that would not tell me the truth about my physical condition. Regardless of what the President’s views are, the word of God remains the same and nothing has changed in the kingdom of God.
The gay and lesbian issue is not going away in our society. It is going to be the new norm, and it is going to have the full weight of the federal government enforcement power to follow it. Each day there is a new poll to indicate more Americans support homosexuality. The paper does not report how many people are afraid to say the disagree with men having sex with men and women and having sex with women. They know if they do, they will be fired or suspended or forced to take sensitivity training to keep their jobs.
The paper does not report how many young people are required to be in classes with books that only put homosexual behavior in positive ways. One school does not even allow students to use the word gay. The paper does not report how many people are afraid of being called homophobic and bigoted simply for believing the truth of the word of God which says the behavior itself is wrong. Of course public opinion is going to be swayed when you basically silence all opposition. That’s the way the kingdom of this world works.
It’s not just that gays and lesbians will want to be married. They should have the right under the constitution as citizens of this country not because they are gay, but because they are Americans. The problem is, they will want the federal government to force others to accept their behavior not of marriage but of sex. The day will come when churches who refuse to allow their churches for same sex wedding will be faced with losing their tax exempt status. In 2007, the state of New Jersey revoked part of the tax exempt status of Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Grounds, because they would not allow gay civil union ceremonies on its pavilion at the campground.
Right now in California there is a bill SB 1172 that is seeking to ban mental health professionals from treating minors with unwanted same-sex “desires, attractions or conduct” cleared the California Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. SB 1172, which now heads to the full Senate, also requires adults seeking help to sign a consent form indicating such treatment has no scientific validity and is damaging.
The issue for us today is how much truth do we really want in our lives spiritually. Jesus is not trying to force anybody to leave the kingdom of this world for his type of drastic and radical discipleship in which you give up your desires, in order to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
When we are confronted with our sin, we can try to deny that it’s sin, we can try to admit its sin, but justify it with an exception, or we can confess it as sin and choose to leave it behind. We have the promise from God’s word, if we 1 John 1:8-10 (NIV) 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
It is not going to get any easier to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. The coming backlash from our culture is going to get stronger and it will seek to force us to be quiet. You will find yourself having to choose which kingdom you are going to identify with. Jesus has no problem with your choice, as long as you have no problem with what he has told he is going to say when you stand before Him. It’s not going to be choice of what you chose to believe about Jesus.
The devil believes more truth about Jesus than any of us here. He’s not on his way to heaven. The bottom line is did you enter try to enter the kingdom on your terms or on the terms Jesus demanded of anyone who would come after him. Jesus said, if anyone would come after me, let him/her deny himself/herself, pick up his/her cross & follow me.
In 1 Corinthians 6:11, the word said of the things mentioned in versese 9-10 that some of us were in the categories, but Jesus had washed us, cleansed us and made us righteous in Him. God still has the power to change lives if we are willing to apply the truth to our lives.
