"The Sell-Out of Sexual Sin"

Feb.6/05 1Thess.4:1-10

Speaking Up in Public Debate

Morality is very much in the news these days. When it began its winter session Tuesday, the federal government introduced legislation that would recognize same-sex marriages. Even though the decision of the Supreme Court last month stated only that it was constitutionally possible for the government to change the definition of marriage, not that the government is required to do so. At risk is what Real Women's Gwendolyn Landolt calls "the thousands-of-years-old understanding of the institution of marriage, which transcends all cultures and religions, and is universal to mankind since it is basic to the stability and continuance of society."

        Some would argue that Christian churches shouldn't meddle in the process; that it's simply a matter of human rights and equality. But this is an important opportunity for churches to review their beliefs and speak up in the public arena. A CBC journalist, Rex Murphy, had this comment: "Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew has not too kindly told those churches who oppose it that they've no business in the debate....But the separation of church and state is not quite the beautiful invention he thinks it is, if indeed he thinks it means that churches are forestalled from commenting on or attempting to influence the course of debate on a subject they perceive as affecting the moral life of their parishioners.In fact, and this will startle Mr. Pettigrew, they have no choice but to speak.It is their churchly duty...the churches and religious people have a stake in this debate.They are rightly concerned that the passage of same-sex marriage legislation may evolve in to an insistence that they, the churches, will be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies once marriage has been redefined.

(Mr Murphy continues) "They take no comfort from the government's assurances that this will not be so, for it was the Liberal government's own Justice Minister in 1999, Anne McLellan, who during a debate on the very issue of marriage declared emphatically and unequivocally, I quote, "Let me state again for the record that the government has no intention of changing the definition of marriage or of legislating same-sex marriages." Minister McLellan was on a roll that day, for she went on, and I quote again: "I support the motion for maintaining the clear legal definition of marriage in Canada as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others." (endquote from Rex Murphy)

What a difference 5 years makes! Parliament in June '99 upheld the traditional definition of marriage in a vote by a margin of 216 to 55. But now that definition honouring that union between a man and a woman is threatened. As Christians and citizens, we need to be speak out, and be very clear on the proper context in which sex takes place: simply put, it belongs in marriage between members of the opposite sex. As we continue our survey of one of the apostle Paul's earliest letters, we see him emphasizing the importance of restricting physical relations to a relationship God approves.

Purity or Passion?

First let's look at the positive side, the good thing God has planned for us to enjoy; and then we'll contrast the evil imitation from which He's trying to spare us. Paul writes in v3, "It is God's will that you should be sanctified." That word relates to holiness, consecration, purification. Holiness or sanctification is one of the key attributes of God that sets Him apart from this created, material, decaying and corrupt order in which we find ourselves. God is perfect, so absolutely good that it's beyond our comprehension. Yet, miraculously, He delights in beckoning us mortal creatures to share in His sanctity. He says in Lev.11(45), "Be holy because I am holy." The New Testament says, “For he [God the Father] chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Eph 1:4) It's important to Jesus that we live in a way that's holy; just before He was crucified, He said, “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (Joh 17:19)

In v4, Paul goes on to say it's important "that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable..." Here we see the idea of honour being added to being holy. You can't put a price tag on honour; it's too precious, you can't buy it with money. Opposites would be shame and disgrace; you can't solve them by money, either. The dictionary defines honour as "high respect, glory, reputation, good name...exalted position." People will go to great lengths to "clear their name", but in the area of sexual morality, it can be hard to do once the cat's out of the bag. Gossip feeds on few things faster than a spicy scandal. The Greek word here translated honour also means "price, a sum, precious; a valuing by which the price is fixed." It has to do with a person's WORTH. You may choose a course of action that erodes it; illicit sex thus devalues you, it's a trading away or selling of your value, the honour God wants you to have.

V7 says “God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” Here in contrast with impurity, holiness carries the idea of cleanness. 2Cor.7(1) says, “Since we have these promises, ...let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” Holiness and purity are related; it's being free of contamination. Misbehaving in the area of sex runs a high risk of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), as well as being plagued by memories of previous involvements when you do finally marry and attempt to be faithful. The peril of pornography is that it may not damage you physically, but implants its leechy thoughts inside your skull, causing a guy to make women feel degraded even by the way he looks at them. You may not have touched them, but they still feel dirty by your scanning them as an object.

Purity not only keeps your conscience clean, it spares you bodily disease. When Chuck Swindoll was in the Marine Corps, he recalls "The whole unit [of 48 fellows] was shot through with an illicit lifestyle...Over 90% of them then or in the past had venereal disease." Medically speaking, when you have sex with someone, you're not only having sex with them, but all their partners they've had, and all the partners those partners have had...You can start to see what a treasure chastity is, coming to your marriage bed and knowing there's nothing to worry about in terms of disease because you've both stayed pure.

John wrote in his first letter (1Jn 1:9), “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God wants to purify us, even if we've blown it in the past. By the blood of Jesus He can clean us up so we stand out in a good way. The Lord's wanting us to become, as Paul puts it, "blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”(Php 2:15) So God's will or calling for us is to be holy, honourable, and pure - distinctively different, in a notably good way.

That's what God wants FOR us; to get there, there are some thing we need to avoid. A biggie is sexual sin. V3 quickly adds an explanation of what Paul means by sanctification in the Thessalonian context: "“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality..." The Greek word is porneia and according to the lexicon means "illicit sexual intercourse" of all kinds, "including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals, etc." The word traces its root back to porne ("harlot") and pornos ("one who prostitutes his body to another's lust for hire"); the root verb behind these is pernemi, "to sell". If you think about it, sexual immorality is a sell-out, a trading away of something greatly valuable (your chastity) for a few brief moments of physical pleasure. Sexual sin is a sell-out, a betrayal carried out by your fleshly instincts against your best interests. Instead, keep that treasure safe for the mate you may some day meet who can open it with you and enjoy it together the rest of your married life. Sort of a "secret garden" - keep it locked until its time.

V5 instructs that we're not to act "in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God." The words "passionate" and "lust" mean to desire with inordinate affection. One version (BBE) translates it "the passion of evil desires". This is what we're up against: wanting what's wrong, yet may be strong in its attractive force within us. Those who don't know God are driven by satisfying their desires; they've lost the brake that's meant to slow down their biological motor.

It's interesting to compare the society of Paul's day with our own. The neighbours of those in the Thessalonian church were no Victorians. Commentators state, "Fornication was considered no sin among the heathen"; "Pagan religion did not demand sexual purity of its devotees, the gods and goddesses being grossly immoral.Priestesses were in the temples for the service of the men who came." You can start to see how accepted and even condoned immorality was, making it all the harder for believers to "swim against the current". But then, who are the "gods and goddesses" of our own day? The stars of stage and screen? Those on the magazine covers - how morally do our 'gods and goddesses' live today?

William Barclay in his commentary on Thessalonians gives us more detail about the times. "Seneca once said, 'Women were married to be divorced and divorced to be married.' In Rome the years were identified by the names of the consuls; but it was said that fashionable ladies identified the years by the names of their husbands. Juvenal quotes an instance of a woman who had 8 husbands in 5 years. Morality was dead in the first century. In Greece immorality had always been quite blatant. Demosthenes long ago wrote, 'We keep prostitutes for pleasure; we keep mistresses for the day to day needs of the body; we keep wives for the begetting of children and for the faithful guardianship of our homes.'" Seems the Christian concept of one husband / one wife - and honouring one's wife, as Peter directs (1Pet.3:7) - would be quite novel.

In v6 Paul warns "that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him." The latter verb can mean "make a gain of, or defraud"; we'd call it "ripping someone off". This doesn't just apply to married people, but singles as well. Going too far on a date is potentially defrauding the other person's future partner, stealing from them something that's not rightfully yours, but meant to be reserved for them.

Medically speaking, who foots the bill for unchaste behaviour? What would happen to the costs we taxpayers all have to pay for treatment of STDs and abortions if everybody saved sex for marriage? In the continent of Africa, we see the crippling effect widespread AIDS has on the economy of entire nations. There's a steep price to pay for sexual sin; in some sense these community health costs are stealing from or defrauding a neighbour.

Summing up this section, then, Purity is precious. God's will for us is to be sanctified, living in a way that's holy, pure, and honorable, not selling ourselves up the river by yielding to our passionate lusts. Being driven by those instincts reduces us to the level of animals. On a TV talk show, an actor who was well-known for his romantic roles on film was asked, "What makes a great lover?" Many people probably expected a macho-playboy response. Surprisingly, the man said, "A great lover is someone who can satisfy one woman all her life long, and who can be satisfied by one woman all his life long. A great lover is not someone who goes from woman to woman to woman. Any dog can do that."

Clues to Self-Control

It's easy to say we SHOULD be chaste; but not so easy when we're actually being tempted. How can God's Word in Scripture help us resist giving in to wrong desires?

First, we can recall that sanctification and purity is God's will for us, His calling, His command (4:2f,7). Remember He's serious about this: this is an important part of His plan for our lives.

Second, v8 notes that God "gives you His Holy Spirit". That makes our body a temple; Paul asks in 1Cor.6(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? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.Therefore honor God with your body.” (1Co 6:19f) And one aspect of "the fruit of the Spirit" is self-control (Gal.5:23).

The next chapter in 1Thessalonians also carries some clues about self-control. 5:6 mentions it after a "so then"; what's before the "so then"? 5:5 says, "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day.We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.SO THEN, let us...be alert and self-controlled." And in case we missed it there, v8 echoes the thought: "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled..." This suggests that, as soon as we begin to feel tempted, stop and re-focus on who you are in Christ: if you've received Him by faith, you're no longer just on your own; you're a son or daughter of a Heavenly Father, dearly loved; you belong to the light, not the darkness. You've been bought with a price, you're under new ownership - that's why we call Jesus "Lord". Eph.4(24) says to "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness"; and, later (5:25f), "Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word..." If Jesus died for me to make me clean, why would I want to lose that by going wandering through the muck again? As a believer, I've been washed, sanctified, justified (1Cor.6:11). I'm to reckon myself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus, not letting sin reign in my body, but offering myself to God as someone brought from death to life. I can offer the parts of my body to Him as instruments of righteousness, a "living sacrifice" (Rom.6:11ff, 12:1).

It's hard to fight sin on your own steam. So it's important to quickly recall who you are as God's child, and claim His resources through Biblical promises. John Regier recommends a 3x5 card as a help to avoid moral failure. Take it out of your pocket and focus on it as soon as you're tempted. On the card you can write: "I am a child of God and i want all of my thoughts, desires and actions to please Christ. I renounce the enemy's desire for me to focus my thoughts and desires on (whatever you're facing) leading to guilt, insecurity in my spouse and lack of emotional intimacy in our marriage. I choose to yield every thought and desire to the control of the Lord Jesus Christ and to allow Him to direct each of them so that they please Him and bring security to my spouse." You can add a verse such as Job 31:1 about making a covenant with your eyes not to look lustfully. This 3x5 card really does help. It refocuses you on being a "son of the light"; we belong to the day, so can be self-controlled.

Interestingly, right after this passage about sexual purity, Paul in 4:9f highlights the importance of brotherly love, "philadelphia" in the Greek. Sometimes sheer loneliness sets us up for sexual temptation, when what we really need is wholesome affection from someone. Our church-mates ought to be folks from whom we can draw brotherly love at those times we need it most. Such real affection is more deeply lasting and satisfying than illegitimate sex, with its baggage of guilt; that's Satan's counterfeit. In the context of the quandary about same-sex confusion, the church need to promote various means and groups by which members of the same sex can enjoy healthy non-sexual relationships.

Vv11-12 round out this section with a reminder for believers to mind their own business, live a quiet life and "work with your hands", so they can gain others' respect (there's that concept of worth or honour again) and not be dependent on anybody. Is there a hint here as well for a sex-crazed culture? Physical work can help us release pent-up tensions and passions, constructively. Our bodies are designed to normally put power to work in a positive way, with tangible results. When we see meaningful results to our efforts, that's satisfying; what some call "generativity". While at seminary, I once asked a Catholic student training to be a priest what helped him deal with his male sexual drive. He said that music provided a creative outlet that helped relieve and redirect such tensions - playing the guitar, in his case.

The Supreme-est Court

Gwendolyn Landolt, in an opinion piece published in the Ottawa Citizen, criticizes the courts and judges in particular for opening the door for the recognition of same-sex marriage. She writes, "Canadian courts are the most powerful and political in the western world. Despite a lack of public support, they have not been reluctant to use the vague wording of the Charter of Rights to make profound changes to the social fabric of this country.Unfortunately, many of these court decisions have been based on the judges' own perspective, rather than on that of the public or even that of clearly established laws...Never have such crucial court decisions, which will so permanently alter this nation been made by so few individuals (the judges) on such sparse and flimsy evidences."

For Christians, questions of what's acceptable moral behaviour will always be answered in reference to a court that transcends even the power of Canada's supreme court -- that's GOD'S court, His judgment at the last day. Note how Paul reminds us at the beginning of the chapter that the issue is "how to live in order to please God". The apostle underscores the gravity of his instruction by saying, "we...urge you in the Lord Jesus" and "You know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus." Actually the words "the authority of" are a translator's insertion; NRSV translates this simply, "instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus" - ie direct from Him.

Whatever human courts may say, we're ultimately accountable to God; His Word and judgment determine what's really right and wrong. V6 says, "The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and [solemnly] warned you." V8, To reject this instruction is to reject God: that's pretty harsh. Eph.5 warns that there mustn't be even a hint of sexual immorality "for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” Romans 1 also mentions that wrath specifically directed against same-sex relations.

Our Lord Jesus cautioned, "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.” (Lk.21:34) He wants us to not have to be afraid of judgment. He also said, more positively, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Mt.5:8)

Chuck Swindoll tells the following true story that highlights the importance of morality in the face of God's Supreme Court (names have been changed). "Clara and Chester's 28-year-old marriage was a good one. Not the most idyllic, but good. By now they had three grown children who loved them dearly. They were also blessed with sufficient financial security to allow them room to dream about a retirement home, so they began looking for one. A widower we'll call Sam was selling his place. They liked it a lot and they returned home to talk and to make their plans. Months passed.

"Last fall Clara told Chester she wanted a divorce. He went numb. After all these years, why? How could she deceive him? How could she have been nursing such a scheme while they were looking at a retirement home? She said she hadn't been -- not for that long. Actually, this was a recent decision now that she'd found another man. Who? Clara admitted it was Sam, the owner of the house they were considering. She had inadvertently run into him several weeks after they'd discussed the sale. They had a cup of coffee together; later the next week they went out to dinner. For several weeks they'd been seeing each other privately and were now sexually involved. Since they were now 'in love', there was no turning back. Not even the kids, who hated the idea, could dissuade their mother.

"On the day Clara was to leave, Chester walked through the kitchen toward the garage. Realizing Clara would be gone when he returned, he hesitated, "Well, hon, I guess this is the last time..." and his voice dissolved as he broke into sobs. She felt awkward, so she hurriedly got her things together, backed out of the driveway, and never looked back. She drove north to meet Sam. Less than two weeks after she moved in with her new lover, Sam was seized with a heart attack and lingered a few hours. The following morning Sam died."

Chuck concludes, "When it comes to morality, God is serious...as serious as a heart attack. I have said for years that if God moved that swiftly in every case, most folks I know would think again before they started an affair. If God moved now like He did in the days of Ananias and Sapphira, I wonder if you'd have to build a morgue in the basement of every church."

The Lord has better things in mind for us! Let's pray.