Q: Do you know what the church’s problem is, according to our world? A: Sex. Sex is the battleground of our culture. Sex is the reason why many people reject Christianity.
The narrative of our secular media is that we Christians are sexual perverts and sexual prudes, and maybe we are both at the same time. We allow too much sex, and we don’t allow enough sex. We allow paedophilia, so the story goes, but we don’t allow homosexuality or sex outside of marriage.
You have TVs and Radios. You read the newspapers. The first and favourite story of our media is sexual scandal in the church. And sadly, the church is more than able to provide. The paedophile priest is both a recurring theme and a recurring reality.
So currently sitting, there is a special commission of enquiry currently hearing evidence in Newcastle about a coverup in the police investigation into particular Roman Catholic clergy[1]. In Victoria, there is currently sitting a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by all religious and other organisations. And of course, Prime Minister Gillard has established a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse[2].
Sadly, there are real offences that must be investigated. Everyone most often hears about problems in the Roman Catholic church. Professor Patrick Parkinson from the Law Faculty of the University of Sydney, is quoted as saying that based on the available data, ‘there has been around six times as much child sexual abuse by clergy and religious in the Catholic Church as there is by ministers of religion in all the other churches in Australia combined’[3]. Now, partly that’s because that denomination is the biggest. But it is disproportionately represented. And it is not just protestants who say so[4].
But the Anglican Church of Australia is not squeaky clean, either. Patrick Parkinson has also investigated 191 cases of complaints against clergy, other church workers, and volunteers, in the Anglican church across Australia from 1990 to 2007[5].
And there is also sexual sin against adults as well that happens in the church Sadly, some of you can name people who were once ministers who have committed adultery. Who of you here could name a person who was once a minister who committed adultery? And we know the harm that does to the church as a whole, as well as those sinned against.
So the church allows too much sex, or so the criticism goes.
But the church also doesn’t allow enough sex. And sometimes a straight line is drawn between these two facts. If the church allowed more sex, it would not have as much sexual abuse to deal with.
And so, since the sexual revolution in the 1960s, our society has gradually chipped away at our received sexual morality. Consensual sex outside of marriage is socially permissible. That’s the example given by our entertainment industry, our movies and tv shows, and our Prime Minister. Co-habitation and defacto relations are par for the course. Serial monogamy, with or without divorce, is the norm. Adultery is, if not approved, accepted. Homosexuality is normalized. Children say ‘I have two mums’ or ‘I have two dads’, and everyone else is supposed to say that is normal.
The Carr Labour Government lowered the age of consent in NSW to 16 for boys to bring it in line with that of girls[6]. So that means it is not the criminal that protects students from years 10 to 12 that are over 16… it is only the professional standards of teachers, ministers and doctors. According to the criminal law, there is no problem in seducing a 16 year old boy or girl.
Prostitution is acceptable, and ‘sex workers’ are interviewed on ABC local radio to advocate for government funding for sexual services delivered for disabled people. Only this week, Tony Delroy was interviewing a woman who wrote a book about her negotiated and open sexual arrangements with her then partner. You go and have sex with other people, and so will I. So multiple partners and polyamory is being made acceptable. And so Christian morality, and you, if you agree with it, are marginalized, old hat, prudish, restrictive, and indeed, hateful. You and I, and our outdated ideas are making young homosexual men commit suicide. Do you feel guilty yet?
50 years ago, there were all these sins in Australian society. But most of our society seemed to see them as immoral. But the reality now is sexual sin happens and people don’t even know it’s sin anymore. And of course, this affects the church, because the church draws its members from the world.
While some Old Testament heroes, like Joseph and Moses, were sexually faithful, others fall far short of their standard. Among God’s people, Reuben slept with his father’s wife (Genesis 35:22), Judah slept with a prostitute, who turned out to be his daughter-in-law (Genesis 38:15-26), and David committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). And while they couldn’t be called ‘bible heroes’, Amnon raped his sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13), and Absalom slept with 10 of his father’s concubines (2 Samuel 16:22). And we haven’t yet talked about polygamy and divorce, neither of which according, to Jesus, were God’s way from the beginning and which resulted from hardness of hearts.
Paul has preached the gospel in Corinth. And Corinth was well known as a sexually immoral city. With ports to the west and east, seafarers and sailors entered the city on shore leave. Like many port cities, Corinth was linked with sexual immorality that was infamous even in the Graeco-Roman world. A secular historian reported that the temple of Aphrodite had 1000 prostitutes[7]. In fact, the word to ‘Corinthianize’, meant to be ‘sexually immoral’ or ‘to fornicate’.
And real Corinthians became Christians. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 to 11:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (NIV)
The Corinthians, despite their past, are now holy. They have trusted in Christ, as their righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). And they have been sanctified in Christ, the holy one (1 Corinthians 1:2).
However, they need to be what they are. They need to live out what Christ has made them. And the old way of life, the lifestyles that surround them at Corinth, is still making them stumble as a church.
The Corinthians have been busy judging their Apostles, and working out which one was the best, and which one they could take pride in. Actually, something horrible has occurred in their midst that should humble them. They are tolerating sexual sin, in that a man has his father’s wife. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 1 to 2:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? (NIV)
The pagan gentiles in Corinth, tolerant of so many sexual deviations, rejected this sort of incestuous sexual relationship. And Paul says the proper response is grief, not pride. It might be a consensual relationship, but it is still sin.
And Paul directs the church to excommunicate the man. I think that’s what it means to ‘hand him over to Satan’. He is to be sent back out into the world, Satan’s realm. The Church members are not to invite him over to their homes for a meal, or have normal fellowship with him.
And there are two reasons why the church is to do this: first, for the good of the man; and second, for the good of the church.
First, for the good of the man. The Corinthian church is not to admit him into fellowship, presumably so that he will be ashamed and repent. And by his repentance he will be saved. Verse 5:
...hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:5 NIV)
It is for this man’s salvation that he is excommunicated, so that his spirit will be saved. Church discipline is to be exercised for the good of the sinner.
There is an interesting section in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 6 to 8, where Paul speaks of a sinner who had been disciplined by the church. He says:
The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. (NIV)
We don’t know whether the sinner in 2 Corinthians is the man who had his father’s wife. Many people think it was a different person, one who had sinned against Paul. But even if the man who had his Father’s wife didn’t repent, we see one purpose of church discipline: the salvation of the sinner.
His forgiveness might not mean restoration to ministry. The stain stays, if he was a presbyter or a deacon. In fact, the elder who sins is to be rebuked publicly so that others take notice. So he is not to get his old job back. But the purpose of church discipline here is, firstly, to save the sinner.
Second, it is to save the church. Verses 6:
Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? (NIV)
The yeast spoken about in verse 6 is ‘leaven’. Leaven was a small piece of last week’s bread set aside. Over the week, it fermented. And during the new week, the small piece of leaven was added to the lump of dough, to make it rise. Hence the saying, ‘A little leaven leavens the lump’. A little yeast works its way through the whole batch of dough. As Mrs Marsh used to say on the Colgate Ads, ‘It does get in, like liquid into this chalk’.
Sexual sin does get in. We influence each other in church, for good or evil. And if begin tolerating sexual practices that God is not pleased with, others will say, ‘Well, he does it, so it must be right. She does it, so why are you on my back about it’. So the solution is clear. Verse 7:
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (NIV)
This man and his sexual practices are so last week. They are the old life. And now those practices must be left behind. They are to be what they are. And so are we. We too are to be what we are.
If you have been cleansed by Jesus blood, you are clean. Now live a clean life. If Christ is your sanctification, then you are sanctified in God’s sight. Live out the sanctified life. Be what you are, be what Christ has made you.
Paul is alluding to the Jewish Passover festival in verses 7 to 8. During the Passover week, Jews were to rid their land of leaven. There was to be no leaven, or yeast, in the whole of Israel, and they were to eat unleavened bread.
Likewise, the church is to be rid of sexual sin. They must ‘get rid’ of the incestuous man.
How unloving! How judgmental. It’s all consensual. No, it’s sin. Withdraw fellowship and expel him.
And it is at this point that Paul distinguishes from the way you treat sinning Christians, and the way you treat sinning non-Christians. Judgment starts with the family of God. Confessing Christians are held to a higher standard.
Chapter 5 Verses 9 to 11:
I have written to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Corinthians 5:9-11 NIV)
Judgment begins with the family of God. If you are a Christian, a higher standard is expected of you than of non-Christians. Just as a higher standard is expected of me as a Christian minister.
Notice, we are expected not to leave the world. We must be in the world, but not of it. The boat must be in the water, the water mustn’t be in the boat. What use is unsalty salt? Or light under a bowl? None. We need to live differently in our world, and not conform to the pattern of this world, but conform to Christ, and only then will we be salty, only then will we be a light shining in darkness.
Notice too, it isn’t just sexually immoral Christians who are to be disciplined. Greedy Christians, idolatrous Christians, slanderous Christians, drunkard Christians, and swindler Christians are also to be dealt with and disciplined.
The problem about sin, is that it happened in the past, it shapes us now, and it will be judged in the future.
It happened in the past, so we can’t undo it. We can’t take back those words, or undo what we have done.
And the problem with the future is that God is the judge. And he is all seeing and all knowing. And he will judge us. Chapter 6 verses 9 to 11:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes [the passive partner in homosexual sex] nor homosexual offenders [the active partner in homosexual sex] nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NIV)
Jesus deals with the problems of the past and the future. Notice those wonderful words in verse 11. And this is what some of you were. This is the way you used to act. But Jesus Christ and the Spirit did something about it. So you were washed, cleansing you from all your sins. So you were sanctified, set apart from your previous sinful life for God. So you were justified, being acquitted and pardoned from your sins, so that you are forgiven by God.
The past is a problem for us. It is not for God.
And because the past ceases to be our problem, the future no longer is a problem. We once were not heading to heaven but hell. We were citizens of the dominion of darkness and sons of wrath. But because of Christ and the Spirit, we are members of God’s kingdom.
So we must be what we are now. Since this is what we were, we are not to continue in it. Since those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God, we must leave those sins behind.
The list warns us about these things. Sex outside of marriage. Worshipping idols. Adultery. The passive and active partners in homosexual sex. Thieves. The coveteous or greedy. So wanting what others have is out. Taking what is not yours to have and what you don’t need. Drunkards – which is being overcome by alcohol. Slandering, which is saying malicious and untrue things about others. Swindlers, which is ripping other people off.
All of these things exclude us from the kingdom of God, unless we repent. So we had better get busy repenting, if we haven’t already.
Prostitution was big business in Corinth. There were 1000 prostitutes serving the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth. And it seems that either Christians were visiting prostitutes, or they were thinking about it. Paul, is it OK for us to be serviced by ‘sex workers’?
And Paul gives an emphatic no. Chapter 6 verses 13 to 15:
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! (NIV)
Our society tries to tell us that what you do with your body or who you have sex with doesn’t matter, as long as it is consensual, and with a condom. God thinks differently. Sex unites the two people together. It glues them together, and they are stuck to one another. Who are you going to believe? Our society or God?
Our society says that it is your body and you can do with it what you like. God says different. God says in verse 13, that your body was meant for the Lord Jesus Christ. All things were created by him and for him. He owns you because he made you. And he owns you because he bought you back Verses 19 and 20:
You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body. (NIV)
Modern atheistic thinking says that there is nothing except what you can see. The bible tells us that God sends the Holy Spirit to all who trust in his Son. We are now possessed by God. God indwells all who have faith in Christ by his Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. So verse 17, But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. (NIV) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and by faith we are united to Christ by His Spirit. Again, verse 19, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God. (NIV)
Your body has now become the very housing of God, who lives in you by his Spirit. Just as God dwelt in the Temple of Solomon with cloud, so also God dwells in each and every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. So don’t have sex with prostitutes. Don’t have sex outside marriage. And there is a very special part of the body that God has given us to make sure we don’t sin sexually. The feet. Verse 18:
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body? (NIV)
Fly, you fools! It does you damage, even if you cannot see it. Run away, run away. Don’t stand there and say, ‘I can handle it’. You can’t.
We are used to saying that all sin is sin, and that no one sin is worse than the other. But Paul is saying that there are more serious consequences for the body for sexual sin.
It is a sin against the body. God made the body for sex in heterosexual monogamous marriage or for chastity outside it. And we do damage to ourselves, our bodies, if we stray from God’s commands here.
It is true that Jesus says looking at a woman lustfully is heart adultery. And heart adultery is already covered in the 10th commandment. Sin is sin, whether it is within the head, or by the body. But acting out on sinful thoughts becomes a sin against the body. And the body is not ours. It is the Lord Jesus Christ.
So what is the solution? It’s simple. Chapter 7 verses 1 to 5:
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfil his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Corinthians 7:1-5 NIV)
It’s good to marry. Marriage is the remedy for fornication, as the 1662 Prayerbooks says. Or, in more modern language, marriage is for the proper expression of the natural instincts and affections with which God has endowed us. Sex is for marriage and marriage is for sex. If you are married, have sex with your wife or husband. If you are single, and want to have sex, get married. That’s what marriage is for. But remember, the married will have many troubles in this life. About which we will speak next week.
But for now, let’s pray.
[1]http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/Special_Projects/ll_splprojects.nsf/pages/sisa_index
[2]http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/LettersPatent/Pages/default.aspx#LettersPatent
[3]http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/11/15/3633611.htm
[5]http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1666566
[6]http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/factsheets/a142090/
[7]Strabo: http://www.ancientcorinth.net