The Lord's thoughts on homosexual relationships.

[UtahDan]

As I was preparing my lesson this week, which covered 3rd Nephi 12-15 where the sermon on the mount is re-taught I was struck by this comparison:

Matthew 5:

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28 But I say unto you, That whosoever alooketh on a bwoman to clust after her hath committed dadultery with her already in his heart.
29 And if thy right eye aoffend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into bhell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Compare now to 3rd Nephi 12:

27 Behold, it is written by them of old time, that thou shalt not commit adultery;
28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart.
29 Behold, I give unto you a commandment, that ye suffer anone of these things to enter into your heart;
30 For it is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your across, than that ye should be cast into hell.

Note the bold portion does not appear in Matthew. Speaking now specifically of sexual sin the Savior invites us to deny ourselves these things and "take up your cross" which is a very interesting choice of analogy considering his very, very recent experience carrying his own cross and then dying on it.

So extrapolating to homosexuality two principles seem clear to me, and this is what I taught my class. The first is that there are things our "flesh" may want to do. Things it wants to do so powerfully we don't think we can be happy if we don't. Jesus compares these desires to carrying a cross which, again, is an incredible analogy when you ponder it. He is saying that he knows how hard it is, in fact, that it is one of the hardest things. Still, his message, notwithstanding all of that, is that is better to bear a cross than miss out on eternal life.

Second, and the bigger message I assume for most of us, is how a disciple of Christ should react to one who bears a cross. The temptation is always to be focused on the judgmental "justice" aspect of the question rather than the "mercy" aspect of it. Many will be callous and say "this person can choose their own actions, so suck it up or suffer the consequences of the law." As Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha and stumbled under its weight there were many who did just that. They assumed that the law was exacting its price and felt little sympathy for the man who carried the cross. And yet others stepped out of the crowd, notwithstanding they must have been ridiculed for doing so and helped Jesus carry that cross. So then, a disciple of Christ does not look upon one faced with such a terrible burden (regardless of what they choose), shrug his shoulders, and indifferently believe the law will exact its price. The Christian steps out of the crowd and offers to help carry the burden.

While the law is and can be harsh, and certainly it seems very harsh to me for people who have same sex attraction, the Christian should never be harsh but should be the first to try and help shoulder the burden rather than being the first to haughtily condemn and then watch with satisfaction as a person struggles with the consequences of either of the unattractive choices they are faced with. Nothing should cause us to withdraw the hand of fellowship or cease to put our arm around our brothers and sisters, particularly when they suffer a burden that is so terrible to be borne. This is the message for the church and the membership today, I believe, that we must make every effort to love and embrace gays and not just keep our distance.

I don't believe that our doctrine can ever embrace homosexual relationships, and perhaps gays will never be comfortable in our chapels. Still, I am certain that we as Christians can embrace them and engage them respectfully and with love and the fact that it make so many of us uncomfortable underscores that we need to do it.