Sermon Archive

Galatians 5 may seem an unlikely passage for a lesbian preacher, in a More Light Church, on Gay Pride Sunday, to preach from. When Paul goes on about "works of the flesh" he may remind us of other preachers who've warned us against fleshly sins - meaning sex. Sex of any kind outside of marriage, but especially sex of the homosexual variety. Those preachers who made us feel ashamed and perhaps drove us from the church for a while. Those preachers who often quote Paul, those preachers who we may think give Christianity a bad name. We like to think of ourselves as more enlightened here at Rutgers. We think of sex - and other desires of the flesh, such as eating and drinking - as gifts from God. Gifts to be enjoyed, and celebrated, especially on Gay Pride weekend. Don't we say that passions and desires of the flesh are blessings? Not that anything goes, but that the body is to be treasured as well as the spirit?

Well, yes. But as you also know, it's more complicated than that. So it's good to read Galatians this morning. If we read carefully, and put it in context, I believe God does have a Word for us here - a Word about sex, and freedom. And I'd also like to point out that the passage is in today's lectionary - I didn't hunt through the Bible for the most inappropriate scripture I could find to read on Gay Pride Sunday!

First, we must remember Paul was not writing this letter to folks in the New York City 2004 Gay Pride Parade. He didn't have Naked Boys Singing or Polyamorous NYC or Queers for Economic Justice or even our humble Presbyterian Welcome contingent in mind. He was speaking to churches in Galatia, in the middle of what's now Turkey, almost two thousand years ago. We've overhearing an argument that has nothing, directly, to do with sexuality.

In the early years of the Church, folks argued about many things. One of the biggest arguments concerned Gentiles who believed the Christian message - the message that was first proclaimed by Jewish followers of Jesus, who of course himself was Jewish. When Gentiles converted, those early Jewish Christians asked themselves: should the Gentiles also be circumcised and expected to follow the law of Moses? Like we do and Jesus did? Some people said yes, and some people - Paul among them - said no. The Galatians were leaning towards "yes," so Paul wrote this rather angry letter to persuade them otherwise.

Paul's argument eventually won the day, and centuries of church propaganda has turned the other side into bad guys. Sometimes they're called "Judiazers" as though they were trying to pull people away from Christ. You may have learned to think of them as rigid - and exclusive - types. That's not true. They were faithful followers of Christ. We don't know precisely what they believed since we know them through Paul's eyes, but we can try some sympathetic reconstruction. First of all, who wouldn't want to follow the law? It wasn't a burden, but a gift from God to lead the people in the way they should go. It gave guidance, direction. "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul," says the psalmist, "sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb." It was also a way for the people of Israel to keep their faith and identity under Roman occupation. It was the people of Israel, those first Christians believed, that Jesus came to save. Why not bring those Gentile converts fully into the fold? Why not teach the law and have them circumcised?

Because, Paul said, something new has happened in Christ. Paul also considered the law a gift from God, but more as a stopgap measure, a "disciplinarian," he called it, until the coming of Christ. With the death of Christ, something happened. Jews and Gentiles who believed in him entered into a new relationship with God. They no longer needed the law to be right with God - especially those provisions of the law such as food regulations and circumcision. Faith in Christ, living in the Holy Spirit, was enough. Paul went so far as to suggest that the law was a kind of slavery, a bondage from which Christ had set them free. To circumcise converts would have violated that freedom.

That was a radical statement. And when Paul rejected "the law" in that way, he had a difficult question to answer. If the law of Moses no longer holds, those folks in Galatia must have asked, how are we to be guided? We may have freedom, but that is a wide open space, a scary, wide-open space. You say to walk in the Spirit, but we know the kind of chaos and self-indulgence can occur when people claim to be "living in the Spirit." Isn't law-lessness asking for mayhem and destruction?

Paul says: the Spirit will guide you. Look at the consequences. It will be obvious when you're walking in the Spirit, and when you're not. Then he gives examples. First he lists "works of the flesh." He's not using the word "flesh," literally, to mean only passions and desires of the body. He's using it in the sense of our "sinful nature" as some Bibles translate it, our human, sinful nature that so often opposes God's will. Those works do include sexual sin but they also include things like quarreling, sorcery, anger and idolatry. We can and should argue with some of the items on Paul's list, but we get the idea. The fruit of the Spirit, says Paul, will also be obvious: love, joy, and peace. Patience, generosity, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Trust the power of the Spirit, says Paul, for you will know it by its fruits.

We don't know what the Galatians thought of Paul's advice. We do know that the Church was not content to rest solely in the immediate guidance of the Spirit. It developed many rules and regulations to direct its life - our Presbyterian Book of Order being one excellent example. That's not a bad thing, I would add ... the Spirit can guide us to make rules. But what about us, today? Do Paul's words help?

In one way, we are like those early Christians in Galatia. Many of the rules and expectations we grew up with are coming under question. So-called "laws" about sexuality and family life are no longer holding. The law that said girls must grow up to marry men. The expectation that men would be head of the household. The rule that said girls should remain chaste until marriage, while boys were expected to do the opposite. The State laws that said, until recently, certain kinds of sex between consenting adults could land you in jail. The laws that say men can only marry women and women can only marry men. The understanding that girls were girls and boys were boys - end of discussion. The expectation that kids at a high school dance would touch each other in some ways but not others (I wouldn't have thought of this example except Elinor Bowles pointed me to an article in this week's Times that talked about a new kind of teen-age dance style where the girls back into the front of boys in a very provocative way).

So many of those laws were, and are, oppressive. So many of those expectations have been burdens. Throwing them off, and striking those laws has meant freedom. Freedom that we're marching for today. But that freedom leaves a wide open space. A scary, wide open space. How are we to discern what is right? How are we to be guided? What is the work of the Holy Spirit and what is the work of our sinful nature, especially when it comes to sexuality?

These are not easy questions, but Paul's exhortation to look for the fruits of the Spirit is a good place to start. Where do we see love, and peace and joy? Where do we find gentleness, faithfulness, that self-control that keeps us and those around us safe? What is it in relationships that leads to kindness and generosity?

When we start looking for these fruits, especially when it comes to sexuality, we run into a problem. So much of our sexual and romantic life is hidden. That's especially true for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. In the church, GLBT folks are penalized for living openly and truthfully. If we're out, it's hard to be ordained, in many churches even as elders and deacons, and churches who do so may face lawsuits. Most churches still won't do Holy Unions, and in some places, it's hard to find a church where you're welcome. Those fruits of the spirit that GLBT people know: the love between couples, the peace and joy that comes from living your live authentically, the gentleness and faithfulness that comes from relationships in the gay community - they're often hidden.

It's been said time and again, but as long as the existence, and the love of GLBT people remains secret, progress will be slow. People can't see the work of the Spirit, or at least not all the work, in our lives. And it's not just Gay and Lesbian folks. Sexuality is associated with so much shame, and confusion, that nearly everyone hides. We have trouble discerning the fruits of the Spirit because we're so busy keeping secrets. Now I'm not suggesting we suddenly start revealing the details of our sex lives to each other, and I can assure you I will never inflict you with any such information about myself from this pulpit. But we can talk more, and listen, and open our eyes to this world where so much is changing. We can look together for those fruits of the Spirit, and see where God calls us.