SERMON: WHAT PHIL SAID

29 December 2013

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV)

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders

10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

            -- the title of today's message is "What Phil Said" -- of course I am referring to the recent controversy resulting from an interview Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan, gave to GQ Men's Magazine for their January 2014 edition -- Phil's interview set off a firestorm in the media, resulting in the A&E network suspending Robertson from Duck Dynasty because of his comments about homosexuality -- but, if you were to subtitle this message, I guess you would have to call it "Was Phil Right?"

            -- today's topic, of course, deals with homosexuality -- I know this is a controversial topic -- not something you would normally expect in a message given in the Christmas season right before a new year, but I just feel this is something that the church really needs to talk about -- not only because of the controversy with Duck Dynasty but because we need clear biblical insight on this issue and our response to this issue-- and the voice of the church has been somewhat missing from this media firestorm

            -- I have seen only a couple of articles from church leaders about the Duck Dynasty issue -- one from Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a few others scattered about -- but, by and large, the church has been silent over the past couple of weeks -- the controversy and the arguments about this issue have primarily been bantered about by special interest groups on the left and conservative politicians and grassroots supporters on the right -- Facebook in particular has been lit up with this issue over the past several weeks

            -- but the church has been silent, and this should not be the case -- the church has not responded to this or other controversial topics of our day in years -- I have seen very little from the church leadership on Obamacare or our economic crisis or war in Syria or any other similar divisive topic -- but this should not be

            -- on issues of morality and injustice and righteousness, the church should be at the forefront -- telling others of the good news of Christ and responding with grace and truth in the midst of the controversy

            -- so this morning, we are going to wade into this current controversy because I want you to understand why it started and why it should not have started and what our response as the church of Christ should have been in the midst of this cultural firestorm

            -- before I begin, let me give you some caveats -- first, I am going to address this issue solely from a Biblical perspective -- if you look in the media or on the internet or in books or magazines, you will see the political and biological aspects of homosexuality debated -- that is not our concern as a church -- our concern resides in the social and cultural and religious aspects of this issue -- and our focus and response should be centered on what God's word says about it

            -- secondly, this message is based on my interpretation of scripture -- there are differing interpretations and opinions among the nation's Christians leaders -- on a subject like this, I think it is important that you read God's Word first -- then read the different interpretations and opinions from both sides of the issue so you can come to the place where God is leading you

-- my intent this morning is to relate to you what I feel God has been saying to me about this issue and to challenge you to consider your own position on this subject -- were your opinions on this Duck Dynasty controversy formed because you researched the issue yourself or did you just react because you like Duck Dynasty or because of what you saw on Facebook and Twitter?

-- Sarah Palin jumped into this controversy and spoke out several times in support of Phil Robertson, even drawing an analogy between him and Rosa Parks, when it turns out she never even read what Phil said in his GQ interview

-- our response should always be based on truth and we cannot speak intelligently into a situation until we have researched the facts and looked at both sides and searched God's word for His truth about the situation

            -- so, let's begin there

II.  Exegesis of Homosexuality

            -- first, what did Phil say? -- what started all of this controversy? -- it all began when Phil shared with the GQ interviewer a candid portrait of his life -- Phil was not always a good person and he has been honest about who he was in his testimony -- but Phil's life was changed through an encounter with the risen Christ -- and Phil is not shy to share his experiences and his beliefs about Jesus -- as one person put it this week, "If you don't want to know the thoughts and opinions of a 67-year old redneck from the backwoods of Louisiana, you shouldn't ask, because they're going to tell you"

            -- throughout the interview, Phil constantly talked about our country's drift away from Christian morals and principles and shared the gospel message many times with the interviewer, asking him point-blank if he and his wife were "Bible people" and telling him to put his faith in Jesus -- at one point, Phil said the big problem in our country is that "everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong" -- “Sin becomes fine.”

            -- the interviewer than asked the question: "What, in your mind, is sinful?" -- and Phil responded with the quote that resulted in the media firestorm:

            -- “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there -- Bestiality -- sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men -- Then he paraphrases Corinthians: “Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”¹

            -- so that's what Phil said -- and from that point on it was Katie-bar-the-door

            -- so let me ask you -- was Phil wrong? -- now before we answer, let me say that Phil did get more graphic in the interview about the differences between homosexual and heterosexual relationships -- he was using natural law -- the obvious truths communicated through the design of nature -- to make the point God had designed our bodies in a certain way and that homosexual relationships obviously and clearly are outside that design -- but was he wrong in what he said?

            -- in order to answer that we have to go back to the word of God -- I spent some time going through the Bible looking at the topic of homosexuality -- and, you know, when I began, I expected the Bible to be filled with reference after reference about  homosexuality -- but what I found was surprising

            -- the topic of homosexuality only occurs about 5 times in the entire Bible -- depending on what translation of the Bible you use, the actual word "homosexual" may only occur once or twice -- two of these references to homosexuality are in the book of Leviticus where God was giving the law to the Israelites

            -- Lev. 18:22 -- "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable."

            -- and Lev. 20:13 -- "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable."

            -- now, a lot of Christians will tell you we live under grace and not under law -- and therefore, the legal requirements of the Law of Moses that we see in the Old Testament do not apply to us -- and that is correct, in a sense

            -- no, we do not have to follow the Law to the letter to find salvation -- our sins were forgiven through Christ's atoning work on the cross and our salvation was made sure through His resurrection on the third day

            -- we couldn't keep the law nor find salvation through the law, so Jesus fulfilled the commandments of the Law through His life and death and resurrection -- we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus

            -- so what does the Old Testament law mean to us? -- what do we do with it? -- the Law is a picture of God's heart and of His intent for our lives -- God has called us to be holy as He is holy -- and through the Law we see that holiness defined

            -- so when we look at these two passages in Leviticus, one thing stands out -- in both verses God tells us He views the homosexuality act as "detestable" -- both verses indicate that the act of homosexuality is a sin -- keep that in mind as we look at the other three references I found to homosexuality -- all in the New Testament

            -- hold your place here in 1 Corinthians but turn over to Romans 1 with me -- there is a passage here that I think is most definitive -- Romans 1:26-27

Romans 1:26-27 (NIV)

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

            -- in these verses, Paul uses words like "shameful lusts," "unnatural relations," "indecent acts," and "perversion" to describe the homosexual act -- it's obvious from Paul's use of those words that God views this act as offensive -- as a sin

            -- let's look at Jude 7 -- the next to the last book in the Bible -- right before the Book of Revelation

Jude 1:7 (NIV)

7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

-- if you know the story of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah, then you know that the "sexual immorality and perversion" that Jude is referring to here includes homosexuality along with other acts

            -- finally, turn back to the passage we opened with -- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV)

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders

10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

            -- this is the same passage Phil Robertson was paraphrasing in his interview with GQ -- this is what got him in hot water with the media and the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities -- it wasn't really Phil's words -- it was God's word

            -- and I think, if you honestly look at what we just read in context, you will have to agree the Bible is very clear and very consistent in condemning the homosexuality act as a sin -- and while it is true Jesus never directly mentioned anything about homosexuality, He did make it clear in His teachings throughout the gospel that it was God's intent for marriage and for sexual relations to be between one man and one woman

            -- one important thing I want you to understand in all of this, though, and this will tie in with where I want to go next -- these verses show that God condemns the act of homosexuality -- He does not condemn the person who commits the sin -- this is an important point -- God hates sin -- not the sinner -- we cannot get these two confused

-- we all know John 3:16

John 3:16 (NIV)

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

-- but most of the time we leave off the next verse -- John 3:17 reads, "For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."

-- we see the same thing in the story in the Bible about the adulterous woman brought before Jesus -- Jesus refused to pass judgment on the woman and said to the men who were gathered there, "If any one of you is without sin, then let him cast the first stone" -- one by one all the men left, and when Jesus was left alone with the woman, he turned to her and said, "Where are they?  Has no one condemned you?" -- then she says "no one, sir." -- and Jesus responded by saying, "Then neither do I condemn you -- Go now and leave your life of sin."

-- God condemns the sin -- not the sinner

III.  Was Phil Right?

-- which brings up the question I said was the subtitle of this message -- "Was Phil Right?"

            -- let's look back at 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 again

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV)

9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders

10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

-- that's what Phil said -- but was he right?

            -- well, the answer is yes -- and no

            -- yes, the Bible seems to be clear in calling the homosexual act a sin -- yes, God does condemn homosexuality and call it detestable -- yes, Phil was right on that account

            -- but he was wrong on two others

            -- first, he was wrong because he focused solely on homosexuality in his interview -- look at what Paul wrote here under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit -- who does Paul say will not inherit the kingdom of God? -- just homosexuals? -- No!

            -- Paul says no sinners can inherit the kingdom of God -- not just homosexuals -- but also the sexually immoral -- idolaters -- adulterers -- thieves -- the greedy -- drunkards -- slanderers -- nor swindlers -- all of these are detestable in the sight of God -- all of these are equally offensive to God -- all of these are sinners

            -- homosexuality is no more wrong that being greedy -- it is no more wrong than being drunk -- it is no more wrong than being a thief or a liar or an adulterer -- and that's where Phil missed it

            -- he applied his own personal bias -- his own sliding scale of sin -- to these verses -- we do that, don't we? -- we look at some sin as being worse than others

-- but let me ask you this:  who is the worst sinner? -- someone who tells a white lie now and then or someone who commits murder?  -- the answer is NEITHER -- there are no "worse" sinners or "better" sinners -- in the eyes of God, there are just sinners and sinners and more sinners

-- but we still think that way, don't we? -- we rank sin -- we treat people differently -- if Bill is having an extramarital affair, the church doesn't go over to his house and protest with banners that say "adulterers are going to hell" even though that's what it says here

            -- if Jane was to go out and covet Tom's car, we don't send mail to her telling her she will "burn in hell" even though the Bible says it's a sin to covet

            -- but the church does that with homosexuals -- we treat this sin differently than we do most others -- and that's exactly what Phil did in his interview and that's exactly why the Duck Dynasty story blew up over the past couple of weeks

            -- in God's eyes, sin is sin is sin -- it doesn't matter what you do, if you transgress against Him in any area, you are just as guilty as someone involved in homosexuality or murder or any other sin we rank as horrendous

            -- we all have sinned and when we sin, we appear no different to God than any other sinner -- God doesn't rank sin and neither should we

            -- so what else was Phil wrong about? -- let me remind you of the question the interviewer asked that started this whole controversy -- he asked, "What, in your mind, is sinful?"

            -- did you catch what he said? -- What -- IN YOUR MIND -- is sinful? -- not "what is a sin?" -- but what, IN YOUR MIND, is sinful?

            -- that phrase makes it clear -- the interviewer was not a Christian -- he did not look to God's word for his standard of right and wrong -- and although Phil was right in condemning homosexuality and the other sins listed in these verses -- he was wrong because he left something out that this man needed -- grace

            -- look at 1 Corinthians 6:11

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NIV)

11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

            -- Phil was wrong because he focused on the sin and erected barriers with this man and the readers of this magazine who obviously are not Christians -- rather than speaking the truth in love and offering grace to the interviewer, Phil Robertson came across as a bigoted, hateful man -- and even though he did share the gospel message later in his interview, the damage was already done -- the message was not received because of the messenger

            -- but, we can't put all the blame on Phil Robertson because those who sided with him on Facebook and Twitter and in the media over the past couple of weeks were just as condemning and judgmental as he was portrayed to be in that interview

            -- missing in the midst of all the response on the Duck Dynasty controversy was grace and truth and love

            -- the way we respond to sin and sinners shows what we truly believe about God and what we truly believe about ourselves and can literally make the difference between a person accepting Christ or not

            -- let me ask you a question, after all this controversy -- after all the media uproar and A&E finally caving in to ratings and money and the political right "winning" this case -- what do you think the non-Christians in this country think about us? -- Do you think they would be encouraged to turn to Christ based on the response of the Christian community in this controversy?

            -- Jesus said that the world would know us by our love -- there wasn't much love shown over the past few weeks -- there wasn't much grace offered

            -- Paul was very upfront and bold in his condemnation of sin -- but he always tempered that condemnation with the good news of Christ -- with the offer of grace -- I didn't really see that here in this situation

            -- so how should we have responded as a Christian community?  -- let me close this message by sharing with you the story of my friend Tommy

            -- Tommy was a pastor friend of mine -- one of my mentors -- he passed away a few years ago -- but I truly respected him and his insights into God's word and God's work in our lives today

            -- he shared with me the story of his son -- after Tommy had been a pastor for quite some time, his son came to him and announced he was gay -- and Tommy reacted just like Phil Robertson -- just like all of us on the Christian right did in this Duck Dynasty situation

            -- he beat his son with the Bible -- verse after verse -- passage after passage -- denouncing his son -- telling him he was a sinner and needed to repent of his sin -- telling him he was condemning himself to Hell -- Tommy said he responded with judgment and hatred of the sin rather than grace and truth and love -- he told his son to get out and not come back

            -- years went by -- Tommy's son continued to live a homosexual lifestyle -- he was in a long-term homosexual relationship in Florida -- and father and son remained estranged

            -- until God spoke to Tommy one day -- he reminded Tommy of the truth I have given you in this message -- we all are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God -- we all are sinners in need of grace -- we all need someone to love us back home again

            -- in the Emmaus community we have a saying -- "Listen, listen -- Love, Love" -- Tommy realized he had done neither -- and so he reached out to his son and asked him to come home -- as his son sat at their table that day, Tommy didn't speak -- he didn't open the Bible -- he just listened -- and then he responded with love

            -- when Tommy died, he and his son had been reconciled for several years -- no, Tommy's son did not turn from his homosexual lifestyle -- yes, Tommy made it clear where he stood on the issue and what God's word said about the issue -- but he loved him all the same and prayed daily for his son's return to the faith

            -- this is the way Jesus responded to sinners -- this is the way He responded to the adulterous woman -- this is the way He responded to the woman at the well and to Zaccheus and to Matthew and to you and to me

            -- He listened and He loved -- He didn't condemn -- He didn't judge -- He listened -- He loved -- and He offered salvation and freedom from sin -- this is how we, as followers of Christ, should react to all who sin, whether they are homosexuals or adulterers or slanderers, or gossipers

VI.  Closing

            -- in closing, I want to encourage you to remember two things:

            -- the first is to remember the depths from which you were picked up -- remember who you were before you were saved -- remember how filthy your soul was before Christ cleaned you and forgave you -- even if the worst thing you did was tell a white lie, it was still enough to sentence you to hell for eternity

            -- secondly, don't condemn those who are still lost in their sins -- we need to make it clear where we stand on the issue -- we need to make it clear what the word of God says -- but we need to speak the truth in love and offer grace and hope instead of hatred and judgment

            -- as the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar -- and we need to learn to respond as Christ did -- through grace and love -- by listening and not judging -- by loving them into the kingdom

            -- sin is sin -- all sin is detestable in the eyes of God -- but the message of the Bible is not that God hates sin, but that God loves us so much He did something about it -- the message of the Bible is that God sent Christ to earth to take away our sin -- to fulfill the Law -- and to justify and sanctify our souls

            -- never forget -- Jesus died on cross for all sinners and for all sin -- liars -- gossips -- thieves -- idolaters -- drunkards -- sexually immoral people -- murderers -- and, yes, even homosexuals -- even you and me

            -- let grace rule your actions -- let love lead your tongue

            -- Let us Pray

¹"What the Duck?" by Drew Magary, GQ Magazine, January 2014 -- http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson#ixzz2orlJzqvF