ELCA Head Bishop Speaks Out About Supreme Court Homosexual Marriage Decision

7/5/2015

(The following articles were written by Rev. Tom Brock of pastorsstudy.org. You can follow Pastor Brock on Facebook - here and twitter - here.)

Once upon a time, a Lutheran bishop would say "Of course, Holy Scripture forbids homosexual behavior and gay 'marriage'". Today Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America wrote this:

"The ELCA social statement... neither endorses nor forbids same-gender marriages and recognizes that we have differing understandings and convictions on this matter...We seek to see our differences as a gift to be celebrated as we live out that which unites us..."

Did you catch that? The fact that there are orthodox believers and also heretics in the Church who promote homosexual behavior is a "gift to be celebrated". No, it is a tragedy to be mourned.

She also stated "the ELCA Ministry to and with Same-Gender Couples and their Families Working Group remains in the process of completing its work. A report of the group's findings and possible recommendations will be presented to the ELCA Church Council at its November meeting."

Who is chairing this working group? George Watson, an ELCA member who is in a homosexual relationship.

At a time when our nation desperately needs to see the Church stand for Biblical values, the best the ELCA can offer is: Lets all agree to disagree.

In Jesus our Savior,

Pastor Tom Brock
pastorsstudy.org

1 Comment

Didaskalos link

7/6/2015 12:03:01 am

Before the ELCA formally decided that friendship with the world at the expense of creating enmity with God (http://biblehub.com/james/4-4.htm) was a prized denominational tradeoff, ELCA bishops used to take some Biblical stances. Witness this 2009 constitutional bylaw from a former ELCA Lutheran church in Pennsylvania:

"C09.01.02 - The Rite of Marriage — This congregation adheres to and follows Resolution CB93.10.25 of the ELCA Conference of Bishops (October 1993): "We...recognize that there is basis neither in Scripture nor tradition for the establishment of an official ceremony by this church for the blessing of a homosexual relationship. We, therefore, do not approve such a ceremony as an official action of this church's ministry."[ http://www.zionshaffers.com/bylaws.html ]

In night-versus-day contrast to ELCA Bishop Eaton’s equivocation (which is at its root an attempt to keep even more Bible-honoring Lutherans from bolting the rapidly declining ELCA) stands LCMS President Matthew Harrison’s Luther-like Biblical repudiation of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling:

“. . . A one-person majority of the U.S. Supreme Court got it wrong – again. Some 40 years ago, a similarly activist court legalized the killing of children in the womb. That decision has to date left a wake of some 55 million Americans dead. Today, the Court has imposed same-sex marriage upon the whole nation in a similar fashion. Five justices cannot determine natural or divine law. Now shall come the time of testing for Christians faithful to the Scriptures and the divine institution of marriage (Matthew 19:3–6), and indeed, a time of testing much more intense than what followed Roe v. Wade.

". . . As faithful Christians, we shall continue to be obedient to just laws. We affirm the human rights of all individuals and the inherent and equal value of all people. We respect the divinely given dignity of all people, no matter their sexual preference. We recognize that, under the exacting and demanding laws of God, we are indeed sinners in thought, word and deed, just as are all (Romans 3:9ff.). We confess that the “blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all our sins” (1 John 1:7). We confess that God’s divine law of marriage and the entire Ten Commandments apply to all, and that so also the life-giving sacrifice of Christ on the cross is for all. It is a “righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:22).

"However, even as we struggle as a church to come to a unified response to this blatant rejection of the entire history of humankind and its practice of marriage, “We shall obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29). Christians will now begin to learn what it means to be in a state of solemn conscientious objection against the state. We will resist its imposition of falsehood upon us, even as we continue to reach out to those who continue to be harmed by the ethic of radical sexual freedom, detached from God’s blessing of marriage. And we will stand shoulder to shoulder with Christians, churches and people of good will who are resolute on this issue.

"God help us. Amen."

Pastor Matthew C. Harrison

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ELCA Head Bishop Speaks Out About Supreme Court Homosexual Marriage Decision

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