Sermon on same-sex attraction and gender confusion (special sermon series) February 4, 2024

Rev. Michael Holmen's Sermons

Audio recording

Sermon manuscript:

When Pastor Bertram and I were discussing what we might like to accomplish with this series on marriage, sexuality, and so on, we both thought that it would be good to address what is known as LGBTQ concerns. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer. Advocacy for LGBTQ rights has entered the mainstream. Our laws concerning marriage have changed. Workplaces are implementing DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. No one can afford to ignore what is going on because the stakes can be quite high.

These issues have become politicized and are being implemented by force. There are some countries, such as Canada or some European countries, where certain ways of speaking about these issues have been criminalized. Criticism of LGBTQ lifestyles will likely be labeled as “hate speech.” So it is also with workplaces. Say the wrong thing, and you might be fired. So it is also with our families. Say the wrong thing, and you might not be invited to family functions.

These issues have become so fraught with drastic consequences. Therefore, we might think that we are already addressing what is most important when we deal with laws, policy, and so forth. Although being imprisoned, or losing your job, or being shunned are very important things, they are not the most important thing.

The most important thing was what Jesus said in our Gospel reading. He said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus is so clear. God is not scanning the earth, looking for whom he might condemn. He wants everyone to be saved.

This is similar to another of Jesus’s statements. In John chapter 10 he says, “I came that people may have life, and have it more abundantly.” We might put that into simpler, more everyday language by saying, “Jesus wants everyone to be happy.” Jesus’s giving of happiness is what is more important than the temporary, earthly troubles we might experience. The salvation of just one soul is infinitely precious.

So although there is much that we could talk about with this topic, I’d like to focus on what is most important. Namely, how can those who experience same-sex attraction or gender confusion receive Jesus’s promises of salvation and abundant life? The answer is simple: “Repent and believe the Gospel.” That’s what Jesus always preached. Repentance for our sin and faith in Jesus the Savior is the only way to eternal life.

Let’s begin with the first part of Jesus’s statement, which is, “Repent.” To know that same-sex attraction and gender confusion is sinful is not difficult. Many people who experience these desires already know in their own hearts that it is not good. They don’t even need the Scriptures to tell them so. However, the Scriptures are very clear about these things. You heard that in our first two readings.

In our reading from Leviticus it says that a man should not lie with another man as though that other man were a woman. That is an abomination. Men and women should not lie with animals. That is perversion. God threatens to punish those who do these things. He threatens to punish all who live in the land where these things are practiced. God is very clear that this behavior is unacceptable.

In our second reading, from Romans chapter 1, Paul identifies same sex attraction as a symptom of a decaying society where the people are alienating themselves from God. Our alienation from God, our worshipping of created things instead of the Creator, is the root cause. Improper desires are but a symptom of the underlying condition.

Note how Paul doesn’t just speak about improper same-sex relationships. He describes many other symptoms of this societal decay. The things he mentions are so common that we might not even notice them as being sins. He speaks against coveting, being mean, being proud, being disobedient to parents, gossiping—these sins are just as much an indication of our alienation from God as same-sex attraction or gender confusion.

To all of this God says, “Repent!” The word, “repent,” is often taken to be a harsh, hate-filled word. It may be harsh, but it isn’t hate-filled. Repent means, “Change your ways! You’re going the wrong way!” Going the wrong way isn’t good for us! Lying, being mean, burning with covetousness, indulging whatever emotion or desire that comes over us—none of these things are good for us. They don’t promote life; they hamper life. God would have you turn away from these things, be forgiven in Jesus, be given abundant life.

A common problem, however—not just among those who experience same-sex attraction or gender confusion, but among all sinners—is that a person doesn’t want to repent. They don’t want to change their ways. They’ve enjoyed the sins they have been committing. They don’t want anyone to tell them to live otherwise.

This is something that is eternally decisive for each one of us. Jesus speaks to this also in our Gospel reading. He says: “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”

What is eternally decisive for each of us is the question of what you are going to do when the light comes? The light of God shows us what’s right and wrong. It gives us a knowledge of our sin. What are we going to do about that? One option is to ignore the light. Another option is to fight against the light as being truthful. You can reject what is said about right and wrong. This can be done with same-sex attraction, with divorce, with living together without being married. It can be done with other sins too. The angry person might want to continue to be angry. The gossiper might want to continue to gossip.

Whenever we do this, however, we are making a decision. That decision might get to be so automatic for us that it is no longer even a conscious decision, but it is a decision nevertheless. We are stating our preference. We prefer the darkness in which we can continue to live as we see fit instead of embracing the light—the righteousness and healing that Jesus the Christ is bringing into this world.

“God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” The light certainly teaches us what’s right and wrong, but that is not the only thing that Jesus does. The Son of God lays down his life for sinners. He suffers and dies. He is punished with the punishment we deserve. In him and in his sacrifice is the only way for all the wrongs that we commit to be made right.

Many of you have long heard this Gospel preaching, and are well aware of it. I would like to emphasize how this is true for all people and for all kinds of sin. The good news of salvation in Jesus is for those who experience same-sex attraction or gender confusion. The good news of salvation is also for those who have acted on their desires. Jesus died to pay for the sins of those who have lived as homosexual couples, those who have lain with animals, those who have fully transitioned.

The word that Jesus has for them is the same word that he has for everyone: “Repent, and believe the Good News of salvation.” Jesus’s salvation is stronger than anyone’s sins. The grace of God is so powerful and abundant that all the world’s sin, taken altogether, is like a spark that falls into an ocean. That ocean has more than enough to extinguish that little spark and more. Jesus forgives those who repent of their sinful desires, including same-sex attraction or gender confusion. He forgives them lavishly and completely.

Forgiveness and salvation are in Jesus. This is the main thing. It is only natural, however, to wonder about what life is like after hearing the word of forgiveness as we live in this world. We know that God will bring about the final healing at our death and resurrection. That is when God will finish his work of making us holy. In the meantime what should those who suffer from unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion do?

The answer here is, again, not very original. It’s the same as we’ve been saying all along. Those who experience same-sex attraction or gender confusion must fight against their sinful desires just as all Christians must fight against their sinful desires. All Christians have unwanted desires. Some are proud, some are greedy, some are unruly. Unwanted desires cannot hurt us Christians so long as we do not give ourselves over to them. Day in and day out, week in and week out, we confess our sins and receive absolution. That’s the life of the baptized.

Would it be easier if all our unwanted desires were taken away from us? Seemingly so. But God very often allows these desires to remain. They keep us humble. They keep us from relying upon ourselves and our own righteousness. They force us to live only by faith in Jesus, who is the only Savior. So our unwanted desires might not be taken away from us in this life. That’s alright. We will one day experience the truthfulness of Jesus’s promise about life, abundant life.

However, God might remove unwanted desires too. We should not make hard and fast rules about these things. Don’t demand of God signs and wonders. That’s on the on hand. On the other, don’t reject his healing if he should give it either. It might be that God makes it so that a person who at one time was afflicted by these desires can marry and have a family of his or her own. If that happens, thank God! But even with this happy outcome, it is still not the main thing. The main thing is continuing to believe in the Son of God.

In summary and in conclusion, Christians who experience same-sex attraction or gender confusion are not different from their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. The way to live as Christians is the same for one and for all. We all must continually repent and believe in Jesus. The way that unwanted, sinful desires are handled isn’t different either. May God have mercy and take these sinful desires away from all of us in this life! But God very likely will allow many of them to remain. As Paul says, “It is only through many troubles that we may enter into the kingdom of God.” They keep us humble. They keep us hungry for the new heavens and the new earth when our abundant life will begin in earnest.

The politicization that has occurred regarding LGBTQ rights is unlikely to go away. However difficult or frightening various changes might be, they remain earthly and temporary. We have something much greater—the good news of Jesus’s light and life. The Son of God came, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. Jesus came so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. Hope in him!