Sex is Good!

Sex is Good!

Now that I have your complete attention, the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality states, in part:

“This statement professes that the Triune God accepts and redeems humankind and reconciles the creation in Christ. This belief grounds the affirmation that God has lovingly created all humans as sexual—and therefore relational—beings.”

“The deeply relational nature of the Triune God is profoundly evident in God’s gracious and ongoing activity of creation. Our human bodies, including sexuality, are a gift from God.”

“We are all sexual creatures. The Bible makes clear that our sexual nature is both a blessing and a source of vulnerability. Human history confirms this. Sexuality can be wondrous and wounding, delightful and destructive, satisfying and confusing. The experience of human sexuality can be all these things, sometimes at the same time. No matter how a person experiences it, however, sexuality is integral to what it means to be human.”

The Draft Social Statement challenges us to think about sexuality as good, as part of good creation, as a gift with which to please God.

The Second Tuesday Discussion in September will address this Draft Social Statement.

Now, some of us have reacted to the title of the Draft Social Statement, and assumed it is all about same-gender relationships. It is not. Same-gender relationships are mentioned only in passing – a minor feature of the Statement.

And some of us have indicated they wanted to know what Scripture has to say about sexuality. The Draft Statement addresses that concern this way:

“The primary source for distinctively Christian insight is Scripture. It is the authoritative source and norm of this church’s proclamation, faith and life.17 The quest for understanding requires Christian communities to let the
word of Christ dwell in them deeply so that whatever they do in word or deed may be done in the name of the Lord Jesus

Lutherans understand that Scripture sometimes can be abused and misunderstood through selective use as a moral guide. Bible verses once were used, for example, to justify slavery. Scripture passages have been cited both by legalists and by those who seek to live as if there is no need for law under the gospel.19 Particularly in the area of sexuality, the Bible can be misused to support an ethics of legalism on one hand or an ethics of relativity on the other. For this reason the Lutheran Confessions are particularly focused on protecting the purity of the gospel and properly distinguishing God’s promises from God’s commands.

Scripture cannot be used in isolation as the norm for Christian life and the source of knowledge for the exercise of moral judgment. Scripture sheds light on human experience and culture. At the same time, society’s changing circumstances and growing knowledge help us to see how Scripture can speak to us. Scripture, especially in the law, must be interpreted continually under the Spirit’s guidance within the Church and in thoughtful dialogue with insights of culture and human knowledge.”


So what issues and concerns does the Draft Social Study address?

The Statement addresses:
· Trust
· Commitment
· Affection
· Families
· Protecting Children
· Marriage
· Relationships
· The Complexity of Individual Sexuality:

“God created human beings to be in relationship with each other. The gift of sexuality is vital to this intention. God continually blesses us, as holistic human creatures, with diverse powers including powers for action, reasoning, imagination, and creativity. Sexuality, as a dimension of human life, includes such powers or capacities.

Sexuality especially involves the power or capacity to form deep and lasting bonds, the power to give and receive pleasure, and the power to conceive and bear children. It includes the power to commit oneself to life with another, the capacity to touch and be touched, and the power to love and be loved. Such powers can be used well or badly. Such powers can serve God and serve the neighbor; they also can hurt self or hurt the neighbor.”

Most importantly, the Statement emphasizes the need for Mercy, Always!

In preparation for our Second Tuesday Discussions in September, Karen has obtained copies of the ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality.

If you are interested in discussing sexuality, see Karen for your copy.