I have received the first draft of a proposed ELCIC social statement on Human Sexuality and your request for a thoughtful and prayerful consideration of the same.
I have been preparing a series of lectures on the sacraments and the spiritual disciplines for a presentation this Fall. I had just finished reading Luther’s Large Catechism when this draft arrived. I was dumbfounded at the contrast that I found between the catechism and the draft.
Luther was extraordinarily clear about the divisions in his day, the corruption in church and society that he saw, and the appalling biblical and spiritual ignorance that marked the society of his day. In contrast I heard the draft say that there are divisions in our society which are not serious, that we live in a good world made holy by Jesus, that we have some problems in church and society but we can work everything out if we try hard enough, and live in unity amidst all kinds of diversity.
Paul in Romans tells us clearly that we are not to be conformed to this world in all its diversity, but rather to be transformed by the renewal of our minds and hearts. The draft speaks often of our world and our culture and our society and how good our world is, and how we must strive to live in unity in the midst of so much diversity, agreeing to disagree and conforming ourselves to all of the so called God-given diversity of our culture. Conform to the diversity of our culture we are told.
While the draft honours both Law and Gospel verbally,it does not attempt, as does Luther,to ask what God means in the commandments and how we are to live accordingly.
In the fourth commandment we are told, “You are to honour your father and mother.” Luther says clearly that fatherhood and motherhood are special positions in life, higher than any other walk. Accordingly Luther says, “But he(God) distinguishes father and mother above all other persons on earth, and places them next to himself.”(p.401) Father and mother, male and female; that is how we are made and that is where we find the image of God. In that image, called to be co-creators with God, there is no other orientation of any sort allowed for in the creation from the beginning, no matter what variety of diversity is practiced and called for.
In the fifth commandment, “You are not to kill,” Luther simply says that the meaning of this commandment “is that no one should harm another person for any evil deed, no matter how much that person deserves it.”(p. 411) If there was ever anyone who did not deserve to be murdered, it is the unborn child. Even my confirmation class agreed unanimously that abortion was murder. The draft says nothing about the undeserved killing of 100,000 foetuses in Canada every year, that apparently being a part of the diversity our culture and what the task force desires to continue to be in place.
In the sixth commandment we are told, “You are not to commit adultery.” Luther points out, “But inasmuch as there is such a shameless mess and cesspool of all sorts of immorality and indecency among us, this commandment is also directed against every form of unchastity, no matter what it is called. Not only is the outward act forbidden, but also every kind of cause, provocation, and means so that your heart, your lips, and your entire body may be chaste and afford no occasion, aid, or encouragement to unchastity.”(p. 414) The draft is not prepared to name the shameless mess and cesspool of our day for it wishes to bless what God has not blessed.
In the eight commandment we are told, “You are not to bear false witness against your neighbour.” Luther is quite specific when it comes to legal rights believing that they should be safeguarded, no matter what the consequences. “God does not want our neighbours deprived of their reputation, honour, and character, any more than of their money and possessions.”(p. 420) In the spiritual realm Luther tells us, “The Word of God must undergo the most shameful and spiteful persecution and blasphemy; it is contradicted, perverted, misused, and misinterpreted. But let this pass; it is the blind world’s nature to condemn and persecute the truth and the children of God and yet consider this no sin.”(p. 421)
The intention of the leaders of our church and the task force on human sexuality is to find a way to welcome and bless marriages and ordinations of those living in same sex relationships. Because of this the clear testimony of Scripture will be and has been ignored, contradicted and misinterpreted. The draft is deceptive and a clear testimony to this fact.
The quotations are taken from THE BOOK OF CONCORD - THE CONFESSIONS OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH - Edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J Wengert. FORTRESS PRESS - Copyright - 2000
