The Ineffable Love of God for LGBT People

The Ineffable Love Of God
By Rowland Jide Macaulay
House Of Rainbow Fellowship
4th and 9th February 2011

Psalm 139:13-14 “For it was you (God) who formed my inward parts (the parts of me I have no control of, such as my senses, feelings, my thoughts etc); you knit (made, formed, mould, construct) me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works (creation including me)”.

King David spoke these words in Psalm 139 v 13-14, I cannot but imagine the love of God for all people, for you and for me, for many people hiding from God and truly afraid to be themselves.

How many of us can truly imagine what we would do without God, how would our parents feel, knowing how much God loved them that he formed us, made us, moulded us in our mother’s womb? How many of us can say that we know ourselves well and what we are capable of doing? How many of us are willing to allow God to take control of all of our anxieties and pains?

How can we be assured of the ineffable love of God? For many Christians it began with the love of God to the world, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”. John 3:16-17.

At the purification ceremony of Jesus, Luke made a further clarification of the love of God which was witnessed by Simeon and Anna in the Gospel of Luke 2: 30-32 (paraphrased) “... Simeon said for my eyes have seen your salvation, (Salvation brought by the extent of the love of God) which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, (an indication that all are called to share in this Salvation, without prejudice or discrimination) a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Romans 9:19-21, “You will say to me then, ‘Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ 20But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is moulded say to the one who moulds it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ 21Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use?”

I believe today that God has created us for a very special use, to liberate the world of its ignorance of marginalised minorities, it is the same God that helped Black people to overcome discrimination on the grounds of their race, it is the same God that delivered women from sexism, and I believe the same God will deliver sexual minorities from the pain the world has caused us. (AMEN).

Who can resist the will of God to be who they are, Just as they are? What are the challenging that you are facing, the burdens that you bare? God can handle it? Many of us have complained to God, why have you made me Black or White?, why am I jobless, why am I going through all these problems, many of us have spoken against God in our moments of desperation, but you know I believe God knows best and that is why the Bible says who can resist God’s will?, who can argue with God? If he made you straight then you are straight, if he made you gay then you are gay? If you are Nigerian nothing can change that, What we do with what God has given us and where he has placed matters most, the gift of God for us is for a reason.

Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw everything that he had made and indeed, it was very good” ofcourse that includes Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans and Intersex people, it includes healthy people and those very ill, it includes people of all race, sizes and religions, from every part of the earth.

Today, I want us to focus on the ineffable love of God, unimaginable, immeasurable, unbelievable love of God goes beyond human understanding, it goes beyond the love of parents or family.

Today we may struggle with our human identity, let us pray for our families, our friends and those who also face prejudices because of us, let us hold them in our thoughts.

I cannot end this short talk without a mention of our friend David Kato who was murdered in Uganda last week, he was a fine man, a fighter, a man who was not selfish but stepped out of the shadows to speak out, he stood up for the equal rights of LGBT people, he spoke against the Nations media and against the anti-gay bill, he spoke so loud that it cost him his life. In Micah 6:8, Micah spoke to the persecutors and the persecuted, he said. “Hear what the LORD says:...O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”. I believe that David Kato dedicated his life to do justice, love kindness and walk with God. What are you prepared to do?

God’s ineffable love is evident, and we need not worry anymore, Romans 9:25-26 “Those who were not my people I will call “my people”, and her who was not beloved I will call “beloved”. And in the very place where it was said to them, “You are not my people”, there they shall be called children of the living God.”

The ineffable love of God goes beyond human comprehension and I want us to rethink what our definition of love is, when we say we love God do we really mean this, are we able to express such unimaginable love to God through the people around us?

The love of God is recognisable in Isaiah’s prophesy, “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace...He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness”, God’s love can also be recognised through our actions to share each other’s burdens and in our deeds to speak out for justice and show that we care.

(SLOWLY) “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister* whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen”. 1 John 4:16b-20.

Give God a chance and accept that he loves you unconditionally, GAY means God Adores You, God Accepts You, God Affirms You, God Accompany You, it doesn’t matter if you are heterosexual, married or unmarried, if you are LGBT, if you are healthy or ill, if you are wealthy or poor, if you live in the city of Village. What we do know is that God loves you because he knew you, formed you from your mother’s womb. God bless you all. Amen.