Punished by our Sins, not for our Sins

In my fourteen years as a jail chaplain, I met people who had done things that are wrong, sinful, immoral, or “bad”; and yet when I drew close to a particular life, I found that the human heart was most often either sincere, mistaken, or afraid. Inside of that frame they sought apparent good but not the true good. It did make them do some stupid things, for which they are now suffering because evil is its own punishment. But, in fact, the human heart has a kind of tenderness, sweetness, and littleness when you draw close to it, even in its fragility and fear. Remember, sisters and brothers, Jesus is really saying that we are punished by our sins rather than for our sins. Human sin, failure, and imperfection is something to be wept over and pitied, not something to be abhorred or hated.

Chester Wenger on Same-Sex Marriage

We know from Genesis that God did not want man to be alone — but created a companion for him. We know from Deuteronomy that eunuchs were a sexual minority, loathed and considered unacceptable for admission into the “assembly of the Lord.” And then in Isaiah 56, the Lord says, “Do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree’ …I will give them a name better than sons and daughters …for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.”

 

.. My wife and I believe the church must rise up and reclaim a godly and wholesome sexuality. A sexuality:

  • That includes public vows of faithful love and is blessed within the church (not left to fend for itself outside the church).
  • That calls everyone to commit our bodies and to respect the bodies of others (whether homosexual or heterosexual) as temples of the Holy Spirit.
  • That is committed to a lifelong monogamous relationship.

Eliminating Imperfection: Integration of the Negative

We don’t come to God by eliminating our imperfection, but by rejoicing in it because it makes us aware of our need for God’s mercy and love and it keeps us humble.

.. Brother Joe Schmidt describes Thérèse’s method as “the way of being aware of your need for love, willing to give yourself to God’s loving embrace like a child abandons itself with confidence and love into the arms of its loving parent, and then freely sharing love with others in creative good works of peace and justice. It is the willingness to be the person God calls you to be.”