For those of you interested in the topics I discuss in Unclean I wanted to point you to a sermon recently preached by Jeremy Jernigan entitled "The Disgust of Holiness." Jeremy is a minister at the Central Church in Arizona. Jeremy also blogs at Tomorrow's Reflection.
The Disgust of Holiness from Central Christian on
I'm stunned that Jeremy got so much of the book into his sermon. For those of you thinking about using Unclean in small group or class settings you might find Jeremy's sermon video a useful discussion starter, particularly if class/group members aren't reading the book. For those wanting Jeremy's list of verses where Jesus touches people before cleansing/healing, you can find those on his summary post at the Central blog.
In the past, I have had mixed feelings about the Holy because I was living in sin. On the one hand God has a holy hatred towards sin. On the other hand He's compassinate and merciful. It's both/and not either/or. God is both wrathful and merciful. We see this at the cross where God's wrath and His mercy meet. On the one hand I was repulsed and wanted to run away from the Holy, but at the same time I was drawn and attracted to the Holy. Grace and wrath.
Now - because I've been covered in the righteousness of Christ - there is no condemnation for me. My sin has been covered by the robes of Christ's rightousness and God's wrath has been removed from my vision. I can approach God with a bold humility and in His presence there is fullness of joy. I am intrigued by God's holiness. God is opening my eyes up more and more to see more of the glory of Christ. That is, He is opening up my eyes to see His holiness as lovely and beautiful. The more beautiful He becomes in all His holiness the uglier my sin becomes and the more I want to be like Him in His purity.
I just found a new disgust trigger for me: evangelical pastors who call homosexuals sick and a disgust trigger.
Homosexuals are sinners just like the rest of mankind. We are all under God's condemnation for our sins and deserving of nothing better than hell. But Christ died for our sins and by believing in his finished work of salvation we can receive forgiveness. But there must be repentance and a turning away from sin, including homosexual and heterosexual sins. Our biggest sin is not loving God with all our heart,soul and strength.
To call homosexuals sick is to relieve them of any responsibility for their actions. We are all responsible before God for what we do and will one day give an account. The Christian can say that all his sins have been laid on Christ and Christ has paid the penalty for them.