Scripture: Psalm 130; Romans 8:1-11
Look around the sanctuary for a moment. Notice our diversity. People have:
~ different hair colors, and different amounts of hair;
~ different colored eyes, and different colored skin;
~ different height and weight and age.
~ Among us, dozens of languages could be spoken and even more read.
However, in our diversity, I want to call our attention to one aspect of our being even
our external being, that we all have in common. Lift up your hand - right or left doesn't
matter. Bend your elbow and put your hand on your tummy. There it is, your belly button.
Every human being has one. Every human being since the beginning of homo sapiens has had
one. Every person on every continent has one, no matter what language they speak, what
ethnicity or tribe they belong to, no matter how rich or poor, well-fed or starved they
are - everyone has a belly button.
Whether our belly button is an "innie" or an "outie," it is an
every-day reminder that before we were even born, we were connected to another person: our
mother, from whom we received through that umbilical cord life-giving nourishment, and in
her womb protection so that we could grow. Without that umbilical cord, that connection to
another to another human being, none of us would be here. None. Our connection to others,
our essential nature as relationship, is integral to who we are as human beings.
Relationship is also integral to who God is. If we step back and look at God, we
remember that according to Genesis, God said, "Let us make mortals in our
image." Not "Let me make mortals in my image." Something deep within the
Hebrew consciousness perceived God as ultimately being about relationship. As Christians,
we too, believe that which we call God includes relationship. This is an essential part of
the Christian doctrine of the Trinity: that God exists in relationship, even with God's
own self and then with us.
As Christians, therefore, we believe that relationship is an integral dimension of who
God is, and since we are created in the image of God, relationship is an integral part of
who we are as human beings. Our belly buttons, then, are a physical, embodied reminder of
that deep theological truth of who we are and how we got here and, therefore, how we are
to live as creatures of relationship.
In this Lenten season of internal reflection and preparation for Easter, we have been
addressing some of the dimensions of life that hold both great potential for good and
great potential for evil: money, power, and now, sexuality.
Having addressed certain dimensions of sexuality in prior sermons a few weeks ago, I
want today to focus on relationship, the context in which our sexuality is most fully
intended to reach its greatest depth and fullest dimension.
Even as we have been given by God gifts of awe-inspiring mountains and peaceful
sunsets, gifts of courage, wisdom and strength, of love and compassion, so, too, our
sexuality is a gift from God, a beautiful, awe-inspiring gift from God.
However, the Christian church has not always believed that sexuality is a precious gift
from God, maybe because not all dimensions of sexuality can be brought within the control
of the rational mind, and some people are deeply afraid of that which they cannot control.
For example, if your stomach flutters at the sight of your love, and you can't it stop
and you're afraid she'll break your heart, what are your options? You can tell her you
love her ... or you can throw up every possible barrier to keep her away, including
calling your own fluttering stomach evil. Sadly, for too much of its history, the church
has done the latter, labeling sexuality as evil, or at best, a lower state of being than
full celibacy.
Fortunately for Presbyterians, we stand within a tradition that has, in fits and
starts, reclaimed the sensuality and sexuality with which we were created by the eternal
God. The Protestant Reformers of the 16th century argued that marriage is not a lower
spiritual state than celibacy, and I believe that all of us here would agree. And over the
last few decades, we have begun to reclaim the rich sensuality of the Hebrew scripture
which we call the Old Testament.
If we look carefully at the tapestry of our tradition, there are threads within it that
celebrate the sensuality and sexuality of our created being: The Song of Solomon; Miriam's
dance when the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea; Jesus' changing water into wine at a week-long
marriage feast; the church's support of art and sculpture, mosaics and frescoes; the
church as benefactor of the musical arts from Bach to Vaughan Williams to Gospel; and
today in worship, the earthy, sensual, passionate tones of America's own music, jazz.
As we reflect on our sensual, embodied nature, it is appropriate for the Bill Cunliffe
Trio to be leading us in music. Jazz is, in the words of Ken Burns, "a source of
solace, celebration, sophistication and joy for ourselves and our posterity." Jazz is
a passionate music form, a gritty, grieving, joyous, gnarly and sensual music form that
comes from "a host of social circumstances, including slavery, emancipation, Jim
Crow, and the peculiar experience African-American have had in this country of being
unfree in a free land" (Ken Burns).
As I listen to Psalm 130 set to jazz, I think again of the creation story: of God
picking up the dirt of the earth, playing with it and shaping it like a child in a mud
puddle, until a human shape was formed, and then breathing into it, the Divine Breath.
Whether it actually happened that way or not, the Truth is real. We are a combination of
the grittiness of the earth and the divine breath of God. We hear that divine earthiness
in our music this morning.
So, if we are sensually of the earth, have within us the divine breath and image and
are, in our most essential nature, creatures of relationship, how are we to live
responsibly, joyfully and faithfully, God's gift of human sexuality?
I return to that umbilical cord. We are created in relationship and for relationship
with God and with mortals. Therefore our sexuality is intended to be expressed in the
context of loving, committed, respectful relationships. It is not intended for one-night
stands or multiple encounters, as tempting as they might be. It is not intended for
billboards or exploitive television shows or movies. Sexuality is not intended for adults
with minors or parents with children. It is not intended for pornographic websites or
ecstacy parties.
This is why. When sexuality is used in such ways, it causes great damage that is
sometimes irreparable and, at the very least, destructive of human personality and
character.
Our sexuality touches the deepest, most vulnerable parts our being, the most sacred
parts of our soul, in part because it opens us to some of the deepest, most vulnerable
connections possible with another human being. This is a unique dimension of human
sexuality. Ours is not purely an animal instinct to procreate. It is a sacred, God-given,
unique and holy way of connecting in love another person, with ourselves, and God.
Sexuality touches the deepest part of our soul and psyche. Therefore, when it is abused
by treating others as objects for our personal gratification or by allowing ourselves to
be used, we dehumanize one another, we injure and are injured at the deepest parts of
human being, and we desecrate the sacred connection among mortals and between God and us.
We damage the Other and ourselves, in ways that have far-reaching implications. Our belly
buttons remind us that we are not rugged individuals, not a law unto ourselves. Our
actions always have an impact, for good or ill, on others, because we are ultimately
connected to one another.
Finally, those of us who have the joys and trials of being part of a long-term,
committed, loving relationship, have a particular honor and responsibility. When I
promised before God, family and friends, to love and be faithful to Mark in the covenant
of marriage, I made a sacred promise. When we take those vows, we promise to be faithful
to them until one of the parties dies, or until after much hard work and prayer, spiritual
discernment and painful decision-making, it is necessary to end the marriage. If we let
our hearts or bodies wander beyond the parameters of that covenant while our vows are
still in effect, we cause great injury to everyone involved our spouse, ourselves, the
third party, our children, our parents, our friends.
An affair does not happen because you've fallen out of love with your mate, or they're
not exciting to you anymore. An affair begins because of underlying issues in yourself
that you have not addressed. Instead of your jumping into another relationship, these
issues need to be addressed for the good of everyone in your life, and if addressed, will
lead to greater health in yourself and probably in your marriage, and will therefore not
lead you farther into the affair.
We are creatures of relationship. Our belly buttons are evidence of that truth. When we
deny that truth and act as though we are a law unto ourselves we do great damage. When we
remember that truth and live faithfully, with care and tenderness and respect for one
another, honoring the covenants we have made and expressing our sexuality within them, God
gives us joy and peace, awe and ecstacy, and love beyond our greatest imagining and
deepest hope.
Human sexuality is a gift, which, like money and power, can be easily abused to great
detriment and destruction. Human sexuality is a gift to be treasured, respected, cared for
tenderly, and enjoyed passionately in relationships of mutuality, love and respect. Our
sexuality is a passionate, sensual, awesome and joyful gift from God, intended by God to
help us experience the great vulnerability and deep joy that can only be most fully known
when our sexuality is expressed with someone we love deeply who loves us back, to whom we
are deeply committed. Our flesh embodies our connection, the integral nature of our being
as that of relationship. We are neither cold statues of stone, nor a law unto ourselves.
Created from the gritty, sensual earth, enlivened by the divine breath of God,
connected to one another even before we are born, we are people of relationship, who
worship a God of relationship. Thanks be to God in whom we live and move and have our
being, for the gifts we have been given, and for the umbilical cord of love and
relationship that connects us together. Amen.
