Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this morning comes from our Epistle lesson (Philippians 3: 17 – 4:1).

As most of you know, I as pastor don't "choose" our readings for Sunday mornings. These readings are the suggested ones used on a 3 year rotation by thousands of churches around the world. But I don't think I could have chosen a better Epistle lesson for an Adult Confirmation and Baptism Sunday. Hear again the first two verses: "17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you." We are so pleased that you seven new confirmands are joining together with us in following the example of Paul and the pattern of life he lived in Christ Jesus. Jesus called Paul to faith, that is to trust that Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that the Son of God actually laid down his life for Paul. It must have been an exciting time, to be in that first generation of believers in Christ, Paul, Peter, John, Matthew, Luke, Timothy, Barnabas, etc. It must have been exciting to see the message of Jesus spreading so vibrantly, empowered by the Holy Spirit, while at the same time the world was striving so hard against this message. It was critically important for the Philippians to join together as a congregation, as an outpost for heaven in this world. Paul goes on to tell them why it was so important to join together: "18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven"

It must have been an exciting time to be a Christian then, but I'm not sure it would have been any more exciting than now. Now the message of Jesus, Christ crucified, is spreading so vibrantly. His name and his Passion are in newspaper after newspaper, magazine after magazine, TV show after TV show. His message, empowered by the Holy Spirit, working through Word and Sacrament, His message is spreading like I have never seen it spread before. At the same time, many who live as enemies of the cross of Christ, are trying to persuade us and our children to live and think like they do. Many are trying to redefine the meaning of sin or do away with sin entirely. Many want to undermine the authority of God's Holy Word. And this isn't happening just in New York or San Francisco. This undermining is happening even here in Kansas and Junction City. Many of you probably read the lengthy editorial in support of gay marriage by the editor of our local paper a week ago (February 26). He has received numerous support letters, including one from a woman who said she would not attend church in Junction City because she knew she would eventually hear sermons against homosexuality and for her it is hypocritical to preach against homosexual behavior and say God is love. Just so you know, I wasn't angry when I read that. Following Paul's pattern, I was genuinely saddened to hear of that avoidance of God's saving Word. I hope, again following Paul's example, that when you hear or read people saying such things, your first reaction is not anger, but sadness and tears. God doesn't need our anger to fulfill His purposes. His heart is broken whenever a sinner again refuses to repent. Our hearts should be broken whenever we hear that refusal as well. We are an outpost for Him, standing firmly as his witnesses. To that end, I want to share with you the editorial letter I sent to the paper on Friday, cosigned with all of our elders who had read a draft of it on Thursday. I am told that it will likely be published in the Daily Union tomorrow. So you know, I have had several congenial conversation with the editor since he received my letter. I am not saying that he is not a Christian. But I did want to respond, I felt compelled to respond so that all of you and all conservative Christians in Junction City might be able to articulate this type of pattern in your life whenever you converse with somebody about these difficult topics. I hope the tone of this letter is one that you hear the pattern of Paul, the pattern of Christ in. It is entitled "Conversation continued" We commend (the editor) for wanting to "start" a conversation in the community about a difficult topic.   

Conversation, especially gentle and respectful conversation (1 Peter 3: 15), is nearly always a good thing. However, we assert that the way he has posed the conversation, the rhetoric that he has used, puts those who disagree with his logic at an improper disadvantage.

First, before I became a pastor, I used to be professional counselor. I have spent literally hundreds of hours with dozens of people struggling with issues of homosexuality. I am confident that they would all tell others that I treated them with respect and compassion, whether or not they were Christians. In addition I have spent many hours in college and church classrooms persuading Christians that we should not single out homosexual behavior as a more serious sin than heterosexual sins like promiscuity, pornography, improper divorce, etc. Christians are called upon to love all sinners but still speak out against sin. I readily admit that some Christians have overly dramatic, even homophobic responses to even meeting with homosexuals or discussing these issues.

However, (the editor) has posed the conversation in such a way that any conservative Christian whose conscience compels them to believe that the Bible IS the word of God will (implicitly or explicitly) be labeled a bigot or hypocrite. This labeling has already been applied by follow-up letters which agreed with the editor. The Bible reveals that humans were seduced into a state of rebellion against their Creator and have no earthly hope of succeeding in this evil rebellion. However, this loving Creator chose to rescue those in rebellion from themselves by letting a willing substitute be punished in our stead. The New Testament reveals this substitute to be Jesus Christ, the unique person who was fully God and fully human. Since we are confident that Jesus conquered death itself in his resurrection, then we are equally confident that he has given us a trustworthy (fully God and fully human) record of his story and desires for our lives (2 Timothy 3: 16). His major desire is that we repent and keep on repenting of the rebellion he has identified, and gently & respectfully call others to that daily repentance. In order for us to repent, we must acknowledge what He has identified as rebellious tendencies.

One of those tendencies is clearly homosexual behavior, identified not only in Leviticus 18 & 20 but also in the New Testament (Romans 1: 25-28 and 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10). During the past few decades intellectuals have persuaded increasing numbers of people to assume that Scripture is not fully trustworthy and that those phrases one finds uncomfortable can be dismissed. Those of us who (with convinced logic) trust it to be an eternal, transcendent document about an eternal, transcendent Rescuer are unloving and hypocritical if we don't tell others about Him and his word.

When (the editor) labels most Christian resistance to homosexual marriage as based on feelings (like fear, hate and anger) and asserts that discussions about such spiritual topics are irrational, he undermines respectful conversation. Feelings on these issues may run strong, but leaders' attempts to guide these conversations should model mutual respect and understanding. We who are Christian leaders feel undermined when those supportive of the gay agenda strive to control the conversation by teaching our children in public schools that all behavior is "acceptable" rather than we should strive to love others even if we disagree with them. We also fear that equating homosexual rights with the battle for racial equality will lead to "hate speech" laws that forbid Christians, especially pastors, from even calling homosexual behavior sinful. We truly fear that society is changing so quickly that within a decade or two, pastors will be being jailed for simply preaching that homosexual behavior is one of our many rebellious actions toward the Lord. Signed Rev. Dr. Rick Marrs, Immanuel Lutheran Church, with Elders Curtis Heidel, Bill Strauss, Jerry Smith, Gerald Bielefeld, Ron Kramer, & Vernon Weber.

It is an exciting time to be a Christian. Who knows, maybe I will be thrown in jail someday for preaching a sermon like this. Wouldn't that be exciting. I expect that a few of your friends will see the letter and be open to talking about it if they know you are a member here. Steer them toward Jesus. Focus them toward the clear Gospel in the letter. If they say things like "Your pastor seemed pretty upset" let them know that I expressed this to you with sadness, not anger. Let them know of Jesus' love shown on the cross.

Let us all remember that regardless of what happens here on this earth in the next year or decade or century, our Lord is still in control. It may not appear that way at times, but it is nonetheless true. Our ultimate citizenship is not really in these United States. Yes we are citizens here for a while, tearfully calling out the name of Jesus to those who need Him. But our ultimate citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3: 20 "We eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Through the power of his blood we have been rescued. Through the power of his resurrection continuing in his Word and Sacraments, he is transforming our lowly bodies into his glorious body. On that we are joined together. Amen.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)