Howard C. Wilkinson - "A Christian Understanding of Sex" (January 24, 1971)
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| (holy music) | 0:12 | |
| - | In the name of the father and of the son | 3:56 |
| and of the holy ghost, amen. | 3:57 | |
| Oh, God, our heavenly Father, | 4:02 | |
| we have sinned against thee | 4:05 | |
| and are not worth to be called thy children. | 4:07 | |
| We have forsaken thy way | 4:11 | |
| and have walked in the light of our own eyes. | 4:13 | |
| We have not loved thee with our whole heart. | 4:16 | |
| We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. | 4:20 | |
| We have not waited for the mind | 4:24 | |
| of Christ to be born in us. | 4:26 | |
| We have conformed to the world | 4:29 | |
| which passeth away. | 4:30 | |
| We have not endured as seeing him | 4:33 | |
| who is invisible, forgive us, | 4:35 | |
| we pray thee, most personable Father, | 4:38 | |
| and renew us again | 4:42 | |
| in the strength of thy grace, | 4:44 | |
| through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 4:47 | |
| The Lord knows that we are men in trouble. | 4:52 | |
| He is merciful and sets us free. | 4:56 | |
| He invites us to sing a new song | 4:59 | |
| and to see, and praise His glory. | 5:02 | |
| Therefore, hear these comfortable words. | 5:05 | |
| If any man is in Christ, he is a new preacher. | 5:09 | |
| Old things have passed away. | 5:13 | |
| Behold, all things are made moved. | 5:16 | |
| The Lord has mercy on you, | 5:19 | |
| forgives your sin, and restores you to new life. | 5:21 | |
| (holy music) | 5:29 | |
| - | The scripture lesson is taken | 7:24 |
| from selected verses of chapter one | 7:26 | |
| of the book of Genesis. | 7:29 | |
| And God said, "Let the earth | 7:31 | |
| bring forth living creatures according | 7:34 | |
| to their kinds, cattle and creeping things, | 7:36 | |
| and beasts of the earth according to their kinds, | 7:40 | |
| and it was so. | 7:44 | |
| And God saw that it was good. | 7:46 | |
| Then God said, "Let us make man in our image | 7:49 | |
| after our likeness, and let them have dominion | 7:53 | |
| over the fish of the sea, and over the birds | 7:57 | |
| of the air, and over the cattle. | 8:01 | |
| And over all the earth, | 8:03 | |
| and over every creeping thing | 8:05 | |
| that creeps upon the earth. | 8:07 | |
| So, God created man in his own image. | 8:09 | |
| In the image of God, who created him, | 8:13 | |
| male and female, the age of man, | 8:16 | |
| and God said to them, | 8:19 | |
| "Be fruitful and multiply." | 8:21 | |
| God blessed them and God saw everything | 8:24 | |
| that He had made and behold, it was very good." | 8:28 | |
| (holy music) | 8:34 | |
| - | The Lord be with you. | 9:16 |
| Let us pray. | 9:21 | |
| (holy music) | 9:40 | |
| Our Father who art in heaven, | 12:38 | |
| hallowed be thy name. | 12:40 | |
| Thy kingdom come, thy will be done | 12:43 | |
| on earth as it is in heaven. | 12:46 | |
| Give us this day our daily bread, | 12:49 | |
| and forgive us our trespasses | 12:52 | |
| as we forgive those who trespass against us. | 12:55 | |
| And lead us not into temptation, | 12:59 | |
| but deliver us from evil. | 13:02 | |
| For thine is the kingdom, and the power, | 13:04 | |
| and the glory, forever and ever, amen. | 13:08 | |
| - | (mumbles indistinctly) complication, | 13:33 |
| and not like the sermon (indistinct) creature. | 13:37 | |
| (audio drowned out by static) as effectively. | 13:44 | |
| Much better protected from the congregation | 13:51 | |
| than I'd like to be. | 13:54 | |
| My problem is not trying to see you through | 13:57 | |
| the glass (mumbles indistinctly). | 13:59 | |
| We in the chapel have no accustom to asking | 14:05 | |
| for patience of the temple congregation | 14:09 | |
| on account of the scaffolding. | 14:13 | |
| Now, we have to ask your patience | 14:16 | |
| on account of the fire. | 14:16 | |
| (mumbles indistinctly) word got around the campus, | 14:21 | |
| say it again, people here told me | 14:27 | |
| that I was going to then quit writing sermons | 14:29 | |
| on hell fire and brimstone. | 14:32 | |
| He said, "You probably were up here last night | 14:38 | |
| writing a sermon on hellfire and suddenly | 14:40 | |
| the temple burst into flames. | 14:42 | |
| I replied that I had been led down | 14:47 | |
| here by the sermons with not a lot of hellfire. | 14:51 | |
| He wanted to know what it was about. | 14:56 | |
| I told him that it was on sex. | 14:59 | |
| So, he certainly didn't wanna | 15:04 | |
| just hear that sermon. | 15:05 | |
| For those of you who are in the chapel | 15:09 | |
| and seeing our situation and still smelling smoke, | 15:11 | |
| not withstanding the very next clean up job, | 15:17 | |
| which was done by our late partner (indistinct). | 15:20 | |
| Those of you who are | 15:26 | |
| with us by radio this morning | 15:27 | |
| can neither see our situation, | 15:29 | |
| nor smell the smoke. | 15:31 | |
| Perhaps by the time our scientists | 15:34 | |
| have improved radio, in the mornings | 15:36 | |
| you can smell the smoke from here | 15:39 | |
| to where you are, it will also be possible | 15:40 | |
| for you to be appointed the time in the service | 15:43 | |
| to put a $10 bill into your radio | 15:45 | |
| and moments later, it will appear | 15:48 | |
| in the offering plate here. | 15:50 | |
| Dr. Ashley Montague, who until, | 15:56 | |
| his early retirement was chairman | 16:00 | |
| of the anthropology department at Rutgers | 16:02 | |
| wrote the following paragraph. | 16:05 | |
| "It is a curious thing that of all | 16:08 | |
| the basic needs of man, only one | 16:11 | |
| is not necessary for his personal survival, | 16:15 | |
| is the one which gives him the most trouble. | 16:19 | |
| In order to live, it's necessary | 16:24 | |
| to breathe, eat and drink, | 16:26 | |
| (mumbles indistinctly) the rest. | 16:28 | |
| If all these needs are not satisfied, | 16:31 | |
| death follows forever, but sexual intercourse | 16:35 | |
| between male and female, which is necessary | 16:41 | |
| for the survival to prove is not | 16:44 | |
| in the least necessary so far as the survival | 16:46 | |
| of the (indistinct) is concerned. | 16:50 | |
| A person can live for long stretches of time, | 16:53 | |
| or (indistinct) without sexual relations | 16:56 | |
| many times and not suffer | 16:59 | |
| the least biological injury. | 17:02 | |
| How then does it come about that man | 17:05 | |
| in the western world is so much preoccupied then | 17:08 | |
| with the devil (indistinct) | 17:13 | |
| sexual irritation (indistinct)?" | 17:16 | |
| Well, these comments by Dr. Montague | 17:20 | |
| serve to open up our topic | 17:22 | |
| for discussion this morning. | 17:24 | |
| For it certainly is true | 17:26 | |
| that the Western world today is preoccupied with | 17:27 | |
| and (indistinct) sex. | 17:31 | |
| Perhaps it would be inaccurate to say | 17:36 | |
| that people today are any more interested | 17:38 | |
| in sex than previous generations, | 17:41 | |
| but it is undeniably true that sex | 17:44 | |
| is now being more openly | 17:47 | |
| and explicitly discussed. | 17:49 | |
| More frequently written about, | 17:52 | |
| more frankly introduced and advertised, | 17:55 | |
| frequent business, industry, politics | 17:58 | |
| and in government, | 18:01 | |
| than in previous centuries before. | 18:03 | |
| The top Russian KGB agent, the effects | 18:06 | |
| to the United States reveals | 18:09 | |
| that the Soviet secret police maintain | 18:12 | |
| a large institute to train sexy Russian girls | 18:14 | |
| in the patriotic art | 18:18 | |
| of (indistinct) diplomat for countries. | 18:20 | |
| To be impressed with the cognitive presence | 18:25 | |
| of sex consciousness in our society, | 18:28 | |
| one has only to pronounce these names | 18:31 | |
| and phrases, Playboy, Cosmo Girl, Kenzie, | 18:33 | |
| Masters and Johnson, (indistinct) entertainment, | 18:43 | |
| the pill, Radio Welsh, (indistinct). | 18:48 | |
| "Everything You Always Wanted to Know | 18:56 | |
| About Sex," is not only the titled book | 18:59 | |
| by David Reuben, but it also | 19:02 | |
| is an accurate description | 19:06 | |
| of a multi billion dollar traffic | 19:08 | |
| in literature, movies and records, | 19:10 | |
| which has mushroomed since the 1966 decision | 19:13 | |
| of the US Supreme Court | 19:17 | |
| in the Fanny Hill case. | 19:19 | |
| Book Magazine states that over the past year, | 19:22 | |
| practically every sexual act imaginable | 19:26 | |
| has been screened. | 19:30 | |
| Newsweek Magazine surveyed | 19:34 | |
| this rise of pornography in last August | 19:36 | |
| and labeled it, "More than I wanted | 19:38 | |
| to know about sex." | 19:42 | |
| Life Magazine said editorially in November, | 19:46 | |
| "The much daunted sexual freedom | 19:50 | |
| that the sex researchers and their disciples insist | 19:53 | |
| that we share is turning out to be (indistinct)." | 19:56 | |
| In case anyone still doubts after all this | 20:03 | |
| that sex is a predominant factor | 20:06 | |
| in human consciousness today; | 20:10 | |
| let him ponder the implications | 20:13 | |
| of a report by Dr. (indistinct), New York City. | 20:14 | |
| That despite history's most widespread | 20:20 | |
| dissemination of prophylactics, | 20:24 | |
| and notwithstanding the easing availability | 20:27 | |
| of antibiotic remedies, 65 | 20:28 | |
| of America's largest cities now | 20:36 | |
| have venereal disease in epidemic proportions. | 20:38 | |
| So, today might be a good time, | 20:45 | |
| and here might be a good place | 20:47 | |
| to ask the question, does Christianity | 20:50 | |
| have anything at all say about sex? | 20:54 | |
| We have met in this chapel | 21:00 | |
| because we should engage | 21:02 | |
| in Christian worship, and to broaden | 21:03 | |
| our understanding of the Christian faith, | 21:06 | |
| because our faith offering in sight, | 21:09 | |
| into the nature, the function (indistinct) sex | 21:14 | |
| in our lives. | 21:19 | |
| Yes, there are specifically Christian insights, | 21:22 | |
| which illuminate and inform | 21:27 | |
| the entire area of sex. | 21:30 | |
| There are Christian understandings | 21:33 | |
| which involve sex- | 21:35 | |
| (speaker drowned out by background noise) | 21:37 | |
| Before turning to these positive understandings, | 21:45 | |
| let us focus on two preliminary considerations, | 21:49 | |
| which will enable us to see more clearly | 21:53 | |
| what Christian understanding of sex is. | 21:55 | |
| First, it's obvious, | 21:58 | |
| but still worth mentioning here | 22:02 | |
| that many people who are speaking to, | 22:03 | |
| or writing about sex are not Christian, | 22:05 | |
| and indeed, are not (mumbles indistinctly). | 22:12 | |
| So, from there on- | 22:18 | |
| (speaker drowned our by background noise) | 22:19 | |
| some are upstanding judges, | 22:21 | |
| some are sports celebrities, | 22:23 | |
| some are personalities in the entertainment world. | 22:26 | |
| Each is entitled to respect the field | 22:29 | |
| of his competence, but as they themselves | 22:33 | |
| would admit, when they speak about sex, | 22:36 | |
| they are referencing a point of view | 22:39 | |
| and a set of assumptions, all together- | 22:43 | |
| (crosstalk drowns out speaker) Different | 22:45 | |
| from those of the Christian faith. | 22:47 | |
| It should not surprise us, therefore, | 22:50 | |
| if what they say about sex does not sound like | 22:52 | |
| the interpretations of the Christian faith. | 22:58 | |
| (speaker drowned out by background noise) grace, | 23:03 | |
| they are making sense, plus their own assumptions, | 23:12 | |
| which are not identical | 23:15 | |
| to the Christian assumptions. | 23:17 | |
| It should not be surprising, therefore, | 23:19 | |
| that their announcements of grace | 23:21 | |
| are quite different from | 23:22 | |
| the Christian understanding of grace. | 23:24 | |
| Now, the same as the sex. | 23:28 | |
| For example, I have a friend, | 23:33 | |
| who knows Joe Namath quite well. | 23:34 | |
| He has told me that Mr. Namath has made | 23:38 | |
| it clear to him that at least at this time, | 23:40 | |
| he does not consider himself in any sense, | 23:44 | |
| to be a Christian. | 23:48 | |
| Joe Namath is a brilliant quarterback. | 23:50 | |
| When he speaks about football, I listen. | 23:53 | |
| When he plays football, a must, I watch, | 23:57 | |
| but when he speaks about sex, | 24:01 | |
| there is no reason to suppose that he intends | 24:04 | |
| by his words | 24:08 | |
| to offer Christian insight, or guidance. | 24:10 | |
| Well, actually we can make a very long list | 24:16 | |
| if we were interested this morning | 24:19 | |
| in cataloging the names | 24:20 | |
| of outstanding personalities who have been quoted | 24:21 | |
| on the subject of sex, but whose viewpoint | 24:24 | |
| is not based by their own intention, | 24:29 | |
| on Christian assumptions. | 24:31 | |
| The point is that those who want | 24:36 | |
| to have a Christian understanding of sex | 24:38 | |
| will have to seek it where it may be found. | 24:40 | |
| The second preliminary consideration | 24:46 | |
| has to do with the context | 24:48 | |
| of Christian sexual understanding. | 24:51 | |
| The Christian mind as a whole provide freedom | 24:54 | |
| within discipline, and discipline within freedom. | 24:58 | |
| It is not a life of flagrant indulgence | 25:03 | |
| at any level, sex or anything else. | 25:08 | |
| It is uncharacterized by willing sacrifice, | 25:14 | |
| by the emotions of the glory of God, | 25:19 | |
| whose will is accepted as (indistinct) | 25:23 | |
| of every Christian. | 25:27 | |
| God's will is the pearl of great price, | 25:30 | |
| for which the Christian is willing | 25:34 | |
| to sell everything he were to possess. | 25:36 | |
| Furthermore, the Christian looks primarily to God | 25:41 | |
| for the meaning of his life, finds | 25:45 | |
| in God's revelation of himself, | 25:47 | |
| and of Jesus Christ, the understanding | 25:50 | |
| of his existence and the style of his life. | 25:53 | |
| Now, that will make a difference | 25:58 | |
| when we talk specifically about sex. | 26:01 | |
| Let's now talk specifically about it. | 26:06 | |
| What does a Christian church now say about sex? | 26:10 | |
| What has it historically said about it? | 26:14 | |
| What do the church's scriptures say? | 26:16 | |
| (speaker drowned out by background noise) | 26:19 | |
| The first message is that sex | 26:22 | |
| is understood as being clean and good. | 26:24 | |
| Not dirty, not bad. | 26:29 | |
| Sex was created by God, not by | 26:33 | |
| some wicked perpetrator, who now advises. | 26:35 | |
| In fact, the scripture, which mostly also | 26:40 | |
| is read (indistinct) plainly stated | 26:42 | |
| that God himself created us the way we are, | 26:44 | |
| male and female, and it immediately adds | 26:48 | |
| that the almighty looked at what | 26:51 | |
| he had created and pronounced | 26:53 | |
| it quote, "Very good," unquote. | 26:55 | |
| The Christian understanding of sex starts | 27:00 | |
| with this doctrine of creation. | 27:03 | |
| Sex is a good thing, God | 27:06 | |
| is the one who made it good. | 27:08 | |
| Of course, we make it feel dirty | 27:12 | |
| to any part of God's creation gets tarnished | 27:15 | |
| by improper use. | 27:19 | |
| Even the act of church attendance can be | 27:22 | |
| (mumbles indistinctly) under certain circumstances, | 27:26 | |
| but in the creative intent of the almighty, | 27:32 | |
| sex is very good. | 27:35 | |
| Now, the second understanding has to do | 27:39 | |
| with what God's creative intention was. | 27:40 | |
| Church around the world today | 27:46 | |
| and around (indistinct) has been | 27:48 | |
| in substantial agreement with its scriptures | 27:51 | |
| that God's will specifies, sex | 27:55 | |
| is to be consummated exclusively | 27:58 | |
| within the bond of marriage, with one man | 28:01 | |
| and one woman who lends a lifetime faithfulness | 28:04 | |
| to each other. | 28:07 | |
| Dr. Edward E. Thornton, a professor | 28:10 | |
| of pastoral theology | 28:11 | |
| and political pastoral education | 28:13 | |
| in (indistinct) Seminary; | 28:15 | |
| recently stated that | 28:18 | |
| the nearly invincible minimum Christian ethic | 28:20 | |
| on sex has been chastity before marriage, | 28:23 | |
| fidelity in marriage | 28:27 | |
| with the role of (indistinct). | 28:31 | |
| Many years, the distinguished professor | 28:33 | |
| of church history of Yale University, | 28:34 | |
| being honored as a church historian | 28:38 | |
| for having supported many others. | 28:40 | |
| And has written a book published | 28:43 | |
| by the YMCA Press, entitled, | 28:44 | |
| "What Christianity Says | 28:48 | |
| About Sex, Love and Marriage." | 28:50 | |
| In this book, he affirms the same thing | 28:53 | |
| as Dr. Thornton wrote. | 28:56 | |
| The church from the outset | 28:59 | |
| and throughout her history, | 29:01 | |
| and even in the midst of her own divisions | 29:04 | |
| has consistently taught that marriage is good. | 29:09 | |
| Sex is not evil. | 29:12 | |
| Marriage should be | 29:15 | |
| with a single partner for life. | 29:16 | |
| Well, the credentials of (mumbles indistinctly) | 29:20 | |
| are pressing, of course, that I mention | 29:24 | |
| (mumbles indistinctly) is simply | 29:27 | |
| the representative of many other theologians | 29:29 | |
| are the same. | 29:34 | |
| Church historians, they | 29:36 | |
| have (mumbles indistinctly), | 29:38 | |
| but you and I might ask, | 29:41 | |
| is there a basis for what they say | 29:43 | |
| in the New Testament? | 29:45 | |
| It would seem that there is. | 29:49 | |
| There are quite a few references in | 29:52 | |
| the New Testament of fornication, | 29:54 | |
| or of fornicators. | 29:57 | |
| Fornication is sexual intercourse | 29:59 | |
| between unmarried partners. | 30:02 | |
| The reference is to adultery, | 30:06 | |
| which is sexual intercourse with married partners, | 30:08 | |
| but who are not married to each other. | 30:10 | |
| None of these references implying a proof | 30:14 | |
| of either fornication, or adultery. | 30:20 | |
| Indeed, the Apostle Paul, | 30:24 | |
| fairly well represents the new | 30:26 | |
| of the entire New Testament | 30:28 | |
| in his first letter to the Corinthians, | 30:30 | |
| when he says, "Be not deceived, | 30:32 | |
| neither fornicators, nor adulterers | 30:36 | |
| will now inherit the kingdom of God." | 30:40 | |
| How does this mean that Christians are | 30:45 | |
| to abstain from fornication and adultery, | 30:47 | |
| causing some kind of religious law? | 30:50 | |
| I want to make it perfectly clear | 30:55 | |
| that the answer to that question | 30:57 | |
| is certainly negative. | 30:59 | |
| The Apostle Paul says it for in the plainest way | 31:03 | |
| in his letter to all, is that Christians | 31:06 | |
| have been freed from that same law | 31:08 | |
| when they identify themselves with the light | 31:12 | |
| and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. | 31:16 | |
| So, we lived by the spirit, | 31:21 | |
| we serve by grace, not under | 31:24 | |
| the (indistinct) law. | 31:27 | |
| However, the revelation of the nature of reality | 31:30 | |
| and the unfolding of God's creation intention | 31:36 | |
| and as seen with Jesus, becomes the understanding | 31:40 | |
| of life for every Christian. | 31:44 | |
| So, instead of dropping below the ball, | 31:50 | |
| this will fulfills the ball. | 31:53 | |
| That intention of God's was sex. | 31:57 | |
| The concerning of that, Jesus said, | 32:02 | |
| "Have you not read that he who created them | 32:05 | |
| at the beginning made them male and female?" | 32:08 | |
| And said, quote, "For this cause shall | 32:11 | |
| a man leave his father and mother, | 32:14 | |
| and join his wife. | 32:16 | |
| And the two shall become one." | 32:19 | |
| It follows that they are no longer (indistinct). | 32:21 | |
| Jesus gets word to his mother (indistinct) | 32:26 | |
| what God himself then has yolked together, | 32:30 | |
| man must not separate. | 32:34 | |
| Now, some very intelligent people | 32:38 | |
| have suggested that this word was just fine, | 32:41 | |
| (mumbles indistinctly) given. | 32:44 | |
| When there were no contraceptive devices | 32:46 | |
| to prevent unwanted pregnancy | 32:49 | |
| and no antibiotics to cure venereal disease. | 32:50 | |
| But now, in this day of vast technology | 32:54 | |
| and vastly improved medical science, | 32:57 | |
| the Christian (mumbles indistinctly). | 33:00 | |
| Well, (mumbles indistinctly). | 33:05 | |
| There might be some reason to think this | 33:08 | |
| if the scripture teaching was all set | 33:12 | |
| and inferred that such considerations as those | 33:14 | |
| were the reasons for the effort. | 33:19 | |
| But the interesting thing | 33:24 | |
| is that (indistinct) anything which sounds like, | 33:25 | |
| thou shalt not commit adultery | 33:30 | |
| unless thou become an unhappy (mumbles indistinctly). | 33:32 | |
| (pastor mumbles indistinctly) | 33:39 | |
| Nor have I read anything in the Bible | 33:43 | |
| that sounds like this, | 33:49 | |
| thou shalt not commit fornication, | 33:50 | |
| unless thou cause an embarrassing pregnancy. | 33:53 | |
| No, the considerations of unwanted pregnancy | 33:59 | |
| and venereal disease, this concerning (indistinct). | 34:02 | |
| They are not seeing the main factors, | 34:07 | |
| the biblical principles | 34:09 | |
| of rebirth, chastity | 34:11 | |
| and (mumbles indistinctly) fidelity. | 34:13 | |
| So, by the same token, technological | 34:16 | |
| and medical inventions in this area | 34:19 | |
| were not all (indistinct). | 34:21 | |
| Dr. Peter Burtucky on the back | 34:25 | |
| of Lawson University recently said, | 34:27 | |
| "The basic argument | 34:31 | |
| against extra marital sexual intercourse | 34:32 | |
| is untouched by scientific advances." | 34:35 | |
| Thus far, I have said sex is created by God | 34:43 | |
| and it is good. | 34:48 | |
| I have said that the church now, | 34:50 | |
| and throughout history has substantially agreed | 34:52 | |
| with the scriptures is that God felt | 34:55 | |
| is that sex is intended exclusively | 34:58 | |
| for a lifetime marriage relationship. | 35:01 | |
| Now, I might also imply that there | 35:04 | |
| is no voice from the Christian community | 35:07 | |
| which speaks a different word. | 35:11 | |
| If not, well, this wouldn't be the case. | 35:15 | |
| There are some churchman | 35:19 | |
| who would make exceptions here and there | 35:20 | |
| as we accept more, a few genuine atheists | 35:23 | |
| who ran desperately and operated | 35:29 | |
| as ordained ministers, | 35:31 | |
| merely goers of the church. | 35:32 | |
| There really is only one bonafide group | 35:35 | |
| of Christians who make exceptions, | 35:37 | |
| and the others, they (mumbles indistinctly) given. | 35:41 | |
| This one group, though is manifest | 35:47 | |
| in three separate departments. | 35:49 | |
| So, I shall mention them separately. | 35:51 | |
| A group of bikers in England had decided | 35:55 | |
| that extra marital sexual intercourse | 35:59 | |
| can sometimes be approved. | 36:02 | |
| And one of the Presbyterian bodies | 36:07 | |
| in the United States recently voted | 36:09 | |
| on the statement, which many believe | 36:12 | |
| mostly parallel to the English bikers. | 36:14 | |
| The third manifestation is out of a small group | 36:19 | |
| of theologians, who teach | 36:23 | |
| what they call situation ethics. | 36:25 | |
| Now, while all three of these voices base | 36:29 | |
| their (indistinct) upon elements in the gospel, | 36:34 | |
| they would readily acknowledge that their view | 36:38 | |
| as a whole represents a departure | 36:42 | |
| from both scripture and 1,900 years | 36:45 | |
| of Christian witness. | 36:48 | |
| It is an intelligent departure, | 36:51 | |
| which they make with their eyes open. | 36:53 | |
| Each of us has to decide for himself | 36:58 | |
| whether to depart with them, or not. | 37:01 | |
| It certainly is true, today in a Christian church, | 37:05 | |
| with these few exceptions has elected not | 37:09 | |
| to make that departure. | 37:13 | |
| My own personal reason for not joining | 37:17 | |
| these deviated is essentially | 37:19 | |
| that it seems undeniable to me that | 37:22 | |
| the biblical sex (indistinct) is a part | 37:25 | |
| of a given of Christian faith. | 37:31 | |
| Part of the real will of God. | 37:35 | |
| If I'm going to elect a historic page at all, | 37:41 | |
| I must elect in such an understanding. | 37:45 | |
| It is a reveal equity not | 37:49 | |
| a derived equity (mumbles indistinctly) | 37:52 | |
| a derived equity. | 37:56 | |
| You see, I am not a bishop now, | 38:02 | |
| know that it is more valuable to me | 38:05 | |
| as it were for human beings | 38:09 | |
| than it were for earthworms. | 38:10 | |
| For all we know cosmically, if blindly | 38:13 | |
| give a wiser use of our time and energy | 38:18 | |
| to labor to prevent the final extinction | 38:20 | |
| of whooping cranes and (mumbles) pass | 38:22 | |
| and the ivory billed woodpecker to Florida, | 38:25 | |
| than to tutor school children in Edgemont. | 38:28 | |
| But part of the given and provable assumptions | 38:33 | |
| of Christian faith is that humans | 38:38 | |
| are more valuable than animals. | 38:42 | |
| I either accept that, or reject it, | 38:47 | |
| for I cannot prove it, but it is a part | 38:51 | |
| of the reveal given of the Christian faith. | 38:54 | |
| We understand that God's (mumbles indistinctly). | 38:59 | |
| Now, in exactly the same way I know | 39:05 | |
| that God calls for pre-marital chastity | 39:08 | |
| and both marital fidelity, | 39:11 | |
| personally, by faith I accept it | 39:14 | |
| and so does the vast majority | 39:18 | |
| of the Christian church today | 39:20 | |
| and throughout history. | 39:23 | |
| Okay, I have time just to mention | 39:25 | |
| a third passage | 39:27 | |
| of Christian understanding of sex. | 39:28 | |
| Sex is not only God's good creation, | 39:32 | |
| it's not only intended for consummation | 39:35 | |
| supposedly for marriage, | 39:38 | |
| but it is to be fully celebrated | 39:39 | |
| and enjoyed in marriage. | 39:42 | |
| Husbands and wives should cultivate and educate | 39:46 | |
| their sexual relationship. | 39:50 | |
| Sex in marriage | 39:54 | |
| is completely joyous, holy | 39:55 | |
| and a lot of clean fun. | 39:58 | |
| Now, you know, it would be nice | 40:03 | |
| if we could go on then to marriage | 40:05 | |
| with the same degree of unanimity on this one | 40:07 | |
| as on the other. | 40:10 | |
| On half (mumbles indistinctly). | 40:12 | |
| See, the keeper of scriptures got us off | 40:16 | |
| to a good start, and then, | 40:18 | |
| in many instances the church fell into | 40:19 | |
| an aestheticism, even (mumbles) for celibacy, | 40:21 | |
| which left sex in marriage floundering. | 40:27 | |
| The limbo of something that became | 40:31 | |
| a regrettable necessity. | 40:33 | |
| But in the Hebrew, Christian scriptures, | 40:38 | |
| the celebration and enjoyment of sex | 40:41 | |
| by husband and wife is everywhere assumed, | 40:43 | |
| is nowhere prohibited, | 40:46 | |
| and is occasionally urged explicitly. | 40:49 | |
| In Proverbs, you read this advice to men. | 40:55 | |
| "Rejoice in the wife of thy youth, | 40:58 | |
| let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, | 41:02 | |
| and be thou ravished always by her love." | 41:07 | |
| (pastor mumbles indistinctly) | 41:13 | |
| That doesn't sound like any regrettable necessity, | 41:18 | |
| any way you read it. | 41:22 | |
| But then, we read through centuries | 41:26 | |
| of church history that would make one wonder | 41:29 | |
| if those churchmen had ever read | 41:32 | |
| that scripture passage. | 41:34 | |
| Then began the climax of the Victorian, | 41:36 | |
| and it got itself installed for much | 41:39 | |
| too long as the Christian (mumbles), | 41:41 | |
| but the Victorian sex (mumbles) | 41:45 | |
| is as flatly un-Christian as hedonism. | 41:48 | |
| (mumbles) has pointed out recently | 41:53 | |
| that the Hedonist Playboy scene is trying | 41:57 | |
| to have a lifetime | 42:01 | |
| of sex without falling in love. | 42:03 | |
| The Victorian (indistinct) | 42:06 | |
| is the opposite of that. | 42:07 | |
| Victorians tried to have a lifetime of love | 42:09 | |
| without falling into sex. | 42:12 | |
| Both are bad. | 42:16 | |
| Today, however, the church around the world | 42:19 | |
| is the story, the scriptural emphasis | 42:21 | |
| upon goodness, marriage sex, | 42:24 | |
| and the glory of God. | 42:27 | |
| Now, I would like to close with what is perhaps | 42:30 | |
| my favorite paragraph on the subject of sex, | 42:34 | |
| written by (indistinct), here are his words. | 42:37 | |
| "Sex expression means marriage given meaning, | 42:43 | |
| which of itself does not (indistinct). | 42:48 | |
| Marriage also, by virtue of the structure | 42:52 | |
| it provides is able to give sex life | 42:54 | |
| a continuity and a stability, | 42:56 | |
| which is necessary for the fullest realization | 43:00 | |
| of the purposes of (indistinct) sex. | 43:02 | |
| So, we come now to this understanding," he says. | 43:06 | |
| "Sex means marriage, marriage means sex." | 43:10 | |
| Almighty God, our creator and our Father, | 43:19 | |
| we require in thy presence. | 43:24 | |
| As we contemplate thy creation, | 43:28 | |
| open our minds with thy wisdom, | 43:31 | |
| and help us become (indistinct) thy presence. | 43:35 | |
| (pastor mumbles indistinctly) | 43:42 | |
| (holy music) | 43:45 | |
| - | Oh, Lord (mumbles indistinctly), | 52:01 |
| receive these gifts as a token | 52:05 | |
| of our thanksgiving and cause your spirit | 52:07 | |
| to come upon us that we may give ourselves | 52:10 | |
| to your service and offer faithful prayers | 52:14 | |
| for the work of your servants. | 52:18 | |
| Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. | 52:21 | |
| The Lord bless you with cool heads, | 52:31 | |
| a passion for justice and peace, | 52:35 | |
| and with His presence wherever you go. | 52:38 | |
| (holy music) | 52:45 | |
| (holy music) | 53:42 | |
| (people chatter indistinctly in the background) | 53:54 | |
| - | Okay, all right. | 54:12 |
| (people chatter indistinctly in the background) | 54:15 | |
| - | Like I said, it's so much of what I have to do. | 54:38 |
| Oh, there's a single. | 54:42 |