The Second Sunday After Epiphany, Cycle B
“Follow Me—in Matters of Sex”
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel, STS
Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. John writes, “The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me’.” Jesus said, “follow me”. Do you think much about what it means when Jesus says, “follow me”? Like Samuel, who was laying in the temple, confused by the voice of God, calling him—again, and again, and again, we can be confused by the voice of Jesus. In fact, sometimes we want to be confused by the voice of Jesus. He calls us to follow, and we act like we’re not sure what he’s talking about. Follow me? You talking to me, Jesus? You want me to follow you? Follow where? Follow how? What does it mean to follow?
Jesus calls us, with Philip, and the other disciples, to follow, and we, sometimes, act like we’ve been in a deep sleep—as if the word and call of God has awakened us, like Samuel, and we don’t know who’s talking to us, or what they’re saying. And we act like that, sometimes because we don’t want to know what the voice of God—the voice of Jesus is saying to us. We act like that, sometimes, because we don’t want to be confronted with Jesus’ call to follow. We act like that, sometimes, because we don’t want to face up to what following means—really means for us. We don’t want to face up to God’s will for us—that just might be calling us to a life and a standard of living that’s—well, uncomfortable, difficult, radical. Like, for example, God’s will laid out for us by St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, in our second lesson.
We could talk, today, about a lot of different aspects of God’s will for us, that might make us plug our ears, and want to turn away, but none more so than this passage from Holy Scripture, about sex. I can count on one hand the number of times in my 20 years of ministry when I’ve preached about sexual relations—but there have been times, like today, when it seems, as a preacher, I can’t escape it. Oh, I could preach about a lot of other things today, besides sex—but sex is one of those things God speaks about in His Word, through His prophets and apostles and teachers. And when Jesus calls us to follow Him—it’s critically important for us to know what that means, in terms of our sexual relationships. And for all the play acting in the Church today—in the ELCA today—in individual Christians today—these words of St. Paul, in the Holy Bible, are unmistakable. God makes it clear, here, what it means for the Christian, for the disciple of Christ, to follow Jesus, in matters of sexual relations. And to make sure that I wasn’t missing something—to make sure I wasn’t misunderstanding this important text from the pen of St. Paul, I researched this passage anew. And what it says, is what it means.
Our situation today is woefully similar,
in many respects, to that of the Corinthian community. There seems to be very little that is
considered out of bounds for consenting adults in our society. Sex sells everything from movies and cars to
toothpaste. We’re bombarded with images
of sex. The entertainment industry
treats sexual license as perfectly normal and gives no hint that there are
boundaries in sexual relations. And
Christians are exposed, and tempted to the allure of a sexually permissive
culture along with everyone else. And,
like those Christians in Corinth, Christians today are quite skilled at finding
a rationale from within the faith for excusing and explaining and allowing
sexual immorality. And if not to our
society, if not to our media, then to us, Jesus’ words today, sound a powerful
call—a call that we ought not ignore, or sleep through! Follow me! he says. Follow me.
Follow not, the ways of the world.
Follow not, the deceptive, self-destructive sexual teachings of the
society around you. Follow not, your
own will and lust and desire—but, Jesus says, “follow me!” And what does God’s Word teach us about how
to follow Jesus, as obedient disciples, in matters of sexual relations and
sexual morality?
St. Paul writes, “The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute, for example, becomes one body with her? But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. So, shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know, that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
St. Paul says, following Jesus in terms of sexuality, can be summed up simply, as “Shun fornication!” So, what is fornication? The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible states, “in the New Testament, the words for ‘fornication’, ‘to practice fornication’, etc., refer to every kind of sexual intercourse and activity outside marriage.” St. Paul affirms that God’s will was, and is, and ever more shall be, that sexual relations are created for marriage. Period. Any other, fooling around; any other sexual intercourse, unites a person with another, and defiles, not only the body of that person, but the body of Christ, with whom the disciple is united. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, created for chastity outside of marriage, and for fidelity within marriage. Ruling out, pre-marital sex, pre-marital exploration, adultery, internet sexual relationships, and any other kind of sex outside of marriage. God’s will is, that within the marriage bond, husband and wife are to explore and enjoy the healthy and wonderful fullness of sexuality as God has created it. For this reason, God created husband and wife, so that the two would become one flesh. Outside of marriage, the body is to be understood as the temple of the Holy Spirit—as that which was bought, with a price, the price of Jesus’ own body and blood, sacrificed on the cross—so that your entire life, soul and body, might glorify God.
And, that pretty much convicts all of us here. Most of us—maybe not all, but most of us—have not followed Jesus, perfectly, or faithfully, when it comes to sexuality. Most of us have need of repentance, and forgiveness, and amendment of life, in this regard. Which is why God offers, full and complete pardon to the repentant. To free us to begin again, to strive to follow Jesus, if not perfectly, then faithfully. To free us to set out anew, on the path of following Jesus. To free us to try, once more, to obey God’s will, in all things. To free us to listen, without being burdened or distracted, by guilt, and shame—to the voice of God, the voice of Jesus, calling, calling, calling—follow me; follow—me! May God grant us so to repent, and so to be forgiven, that we are not afraid to hear, and to heed, his voice.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.