“Pandora’s
Box Has Been Opened!”
(Thoughts on the Supreme Court Decision (June 26,
2015) to legalize same sex marriage)
Excerpts from a sermon preached on
Sunday, June 28, 2015 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
In
classical Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. Zeus ordered
Hephaestus to create her. So he did, using water and earth. According to
Hesiod, when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting
Pandora to Prometheus’ brother Epimetheus. When Epimetheus and Pandora got married,
Zeus presented the newlyweds with a jar that he said to not open. Out of
curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, releasing death and many other evils into
the world.
When
I first received a news alert this past Friday morning about the Supreme Court
decision on same sex marriage, my heart sank. Like many, I too thought that
this was very much a likely outcome, but seeing it in print took me back. I
felt sad, distraught, and then angry because of the great harm that people made
in God’s image will experience as a result of this encouragement to abandon
historical and biblical values. My first thought was that Pandora’s Box has
been opened. “What have we done,” “What have we unleashed on our nation that
will impact negatively future generations?” The government’s primary
responsibility is to protect its citizens, to protect life, not sanction actions
that will destroy its citizens. Pandora’s Box has been opened! “What will be
next?” Polygamy? Why not! On what basis will the government withhold that
“individual freedom”? Or what about one day taking an animal or a droid as your
spouse? We laugh at this but we’re not all that far from these scenarios.
The Devolving of Man
Man
in his wisdom thinks he is evolving but apart from God he is devolving! Romans 1:21-22 describes are current
plight. “For although they knew God, they
neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be
wise, they became fools.” On Friday, “Love didn’t Win.” It’s not love
that won, it’s narcissistic behavior that won. What we said is that “We love
ourselves and we love our sins. And no one will get in the way of fulfilling
our fleshly worldly desires, no matter the costs to family or society, not even
God will stop us!”
Welcome
to first century Rome where everything goes! In Rome there was little regard
for human life or biblical norms of sexuality. Unwanted children could simply
be thrown out, discarded, sacrificed. We’ve already accepted the normalcy of child
sacrifices in our culture, that’s what we’re doing by killing babies in the
mother’s womb. Rome also had an “anything goes” view of morality, all under the
guise of “personal freedoms, no one’s getting hurt.” Homosexuality was rampant,
even among some of the emperors. Rome fell like most ancient world powers
because of their pride, unholy and ungodly practices, and because of their
apathy. Most powerful nations throughout history that have fallen have fallen
from within.
“A
date which will live in infamy,” is how FDR, President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt described the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. And not to
detract from that great tragedy, let me add that June 26th will also
take its place in history right along with the day of the Roe v. Wade decision,
January 22, 1973 legalizing abortion, as dates that will live in infamy.
The Limits of Individual Autonomy
What
men have said is that they know better than the creator God. Man has believed
the oldest lie, that you really are your own God! “Did God really say?” the serpent asked Eve (Gen. 3:1). One of the key expressions in the court’s decision given
by Justice Anthony Kennedy to redefine marriage (which is what has happened) is
“personal autonomy.” Just how far as
a society do we want to push the envelope of “individual autonomy”? Do we not limit
our autonomy for the greater good of our culture to some extent? Do we not sacrifice
some of our autonomy to live at peace with one another in our society? Or do we
simply not worry about the impact of our actions upon anyone else? Try living
completely autonomously dictated solely by your wishes. It doesn’t work,
society cannot operate in that way. Individual autonomy is “never absolute.”
Individual
autonomy without any kind of moral base will lead to the justification of
anything and everything. Autonomy must be balanced with moral law. Even nations
that do not have a Christian world view understand this truth, that there is a
moral law, a sense of “oughtness,” a sense of right and wrong. “I’m free” but
my freedom must be exercised from some kind of moral foundation. Otherwise, we
descend into chaos. The consciences of many today are “seared” (1 Tim. 4:2). What
that means is that as you continue to turn away from truth, your conscience
begins to excuse you rather than accuse you. And you find that you plunge
deeper and deeper into sin and consequently, farther away from God.
Far
from God is how Paul described the condition of those who persists in their
turning a deaf ear to the voice of God. Three times Paul says that God “gave them over” to their sinful desires
(Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). In verse 28 it says that “God gave them over to a depraved mind, so
that they do what ought not to be done.” The truth is that God will let you
have what you want but when you get it you will not want it! Why does God let
us go on in this state? Does He hate us? No, He loves us but He loves us too
much to violate our freedom. God wants us to love Him freely, not because we
are forced to love Him. It seems to me that we are rapidly approaching life as
it was represented in the closing words of the book of Judges in the Bible. “In those days there was no king in Israel.
Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25). When there is no king of your life, you in effect
become the default king and the results are always tragic.
Orange is the New Blue
In
our current situation what has happened is that five Supreme Court justices
have taken it upon themselves to redefine the historical institution of
marriage which predates the founding of our country and every civilization.
It’s as if nine persons looked at a cloudless sky and four said it was blue and
five saw orange so they took a vote to say that the color of the sky is the
color orange. Actually, the five saw a rainbow, but it wasn’t the rainbow of Genesis 9:12-17. By the way, I’m
thinking about starting a “Reclaim the Rainbow” campaign (lol).
In
all seriousness, returning home this past Saturday (6/27/15) from central
Louisiana, I witnessed a beautiful rainbow over Baton Rouge. My first thought in
seeing this wonderful event in nature was not “gay pride,” but pride and awe
over our loving and faithful Creator. According to Genesis 9:12-17, the rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant, a covenant
of great hope to save and preserve life, a covenant that we understand finds fulfillment
in the New Testament in Jesus Christ. Jesus has come to bring us life and life
to the full (Jn. 10:19). He brings
lasting hope, light and love. The rainbow reminds us of God’s faithfulness and
mighty power to save. I chose to “Reclaim the Rainbow” not to disparage any
group of people, but because I’m not ready to concede the beauty of the rainbow
as the primary symbol that it is, a symbol of lasting hope and life in Jesus
Christ.
In
what occurred in this decision, we’re not talking about the creation of “civil
unions,” which would have been one way out of the moral morass that has been
created. A civil union would not redefine marriage, it would simply allow
persons to legally partner with whoever they wish. But some same sex couples do
not want a civil union, they want to be recognized as married couples. They
want to redefine marriage. They want to call what’s blue, orange.
Our Diminishing Religious Liberties
Many
Christians who have much more knowledge than I do have expressed in very
thoughtful ways how this decision is going to call into question the religious
liberties that churches have enjoyed for over 100 years. The Wilson-Gorman
Tariff Act of 1894 is the first
legislative action that guarantees that non-profit organizations are tax exempt.
Legislation since then has only affirmed, expanded and clarified churches as
tax exempt. But what will happen in the future when churches and there
ministers refuse to perform marriages for same sex couples? It’s only a matter
of time before there will be a “test case.” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., in his
dissent, saw a broader threat from the majority opinion. His words may be
prophetic. “It [the decision and their arguments] will be used to vilify
Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy,” Justice Alito
wrote. “In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional
marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and
women. The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined
to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”
Wake Up Call
If
there ever was a wake-up call for the church to be the church, it’s now! For
too long, we as conservatives have put our hopes on the political system. Every
time we are disappointed because political leaders are limited in their
abilities to make change, and politics really cannot change people’s hearts. I’m
reminded that it was Ronald Reagan, one of the most politically conservative presidents
in recent memory who appointed Supreme Court Justice Kennedy!
The
church must start living like the church and stop playing church. I don’t mean
that we need to “stand up” and shout down people. I mean we need to “stand up” by
living out this Christian faith with all our heart and soul. Is our home
glorifying God? Is our marriage what God wants it to be? Are we serious about
our Christian faith? Are we passing the torch of faith to our children, to our
neighbors, to our world? In the church today we are too often focused on getting
our needs met and not really being concerned about living and sharing our faith
to a broken and sinful world. We have to get our house in order and really
start taking our Christian faith seriously. We have to model biblical values and
a God’s “better way” in our own lives.
Here’s Hope!
There
is a silver lining in all of this. After Pandora opened the jar unleashing the
evils, she hastened to close the container, the one beneficial item that
escaped was "Elpis" (usually translated "hope").
What hope has been unleashed in all this? It is that the light shines the
brightest in the darkest of nights. When it gets dark outside, the church is
able to come together and shine brightly. We are the light of the world. We
have the message of hope, of truth, of life. We have the message of Jesus who
is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
(Jn. 14:6). And while the thief
comes to rob, kill and destroy, Jesus has come to give us life and life more
abundantly (Jn. 10:10). And when
lives come up empty and they will because sin never satisfies, the real church
of the living God will be there with the truth of Jesus that sets people free
and brings real hope and life.
The
Psalmist asked a probing question, “When
the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). The very next verse says,
“The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord
is on his heavenly throne” (11:4).
And “the Lord is righteous, he loves
justice” (11:7). What can the
righteous do? The righteous can know that God is still God, He’s still on His
throne, and He still desires to bring His righteousness, His true love to all
people. We can look up, we can pray, and we can be light in a darkened world,
bringing real and lasting “hope.”
Let
me encourage you who are here today and who are struggling with sin. To the one
who is enslaved by habits of destruction, sins of the mind and flesh, God says
that I will wash you clean, I will give you a new heart! “If anyone is in Christ, he or she will be a new creation, the old will
pass away, and the new will come” (2
Cor. 5:17). Listen to the description of believers prior
to Christ and what God in Christ has done from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV. What He has done for us, He will do for
all who turn to the Lord!
9 Or do you not
know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men
who practice homosexuality,
10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. 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.
Praise
God for His saving grace, for His washing us clean, for making us new!
For
His Glory, By His Grace!
Pastor
Joe
