Who's Cake Would Jesus Bake?

So, if you are not from Portland, it may be possible that you haven't heard about Wedding Cake-Gate 2013.    In case you need more details, you can read about the story here - http://www.oregonlive.com/gresham/index.ssf/2013/02/same-sex_couple_files_complain.html

The long and the short of it is that a bakery owner, who claims to be a Christian has refused to make a cake for a lesbian couples’ commitment ceremony.  I have been following this story pretty closely, and I have had to wrestle with my own convictions about what is going on and I have come to a couple of conclusions.  If you are interested, please, read on, but first a couple of disclaimers:

1. I am not going to comment on whether or not what the business owner did was legal.  I am not a lawyer or a judge, and I have no background in the law.
2. I am not arguing whether or not homosexuality is a sin.  I think that if you believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant word of God, you can make your own decision about it.
3. I am not arguing for or against standing up for what you believe in.  Believe me; I know all too well what trouble our convictions can get you in. (I may even get some push back about this very blog post.)

With that said, here we go!!

If you are a Bible believing Christian, it is hard to overlook the many passages in scripture that condemn homosexual acts. 

• ·         Leviticus 18:22 - "Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin." (NLT)
• ·         Leviticus 20:13 - "If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense." (NLT)
• ·         1 Timothy 1:8-10 - Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine (ESV)
• ·         Jude 7 - And don't forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God's judgment. (NIV)

There are more, but I think we get the point.  So, I understand where Mr. Aaron Klein is coming from when he says that same-sex marriage is against his Christian beliefs.  However, I wonder if he has contemplated how his actions reflect of other Christians, and God himself.  Is God giving Klein a standing ovation for sticking to his convictions?  It is very cliché to pose this question, but What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD?)  This question harkens back to middle school in the early ‘90’s when all the “Christian kids” would wear the bracelets that were meant to be a reminder that our actions and words were a reflection of the person who had redeemed us.  So I ask again.  If He were the owner of a bakery, would Jesus make a cake for a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony?  I think the answer is YES.

I know I may have shocked some of you, considering my conservative evangelical background, but I think Jesus would have whipped out some milk, eggs, and flour, and made the best cake anyone has ever eaten.  Am I off my rocker?  Do I have biblical evidence?  Yep, Luke 19.  Please refresh your memory of you are not familiar with the story of Zacchaeus.

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." - Luke 19:1-10 ESV

So, what does Zacchaeus have to do with same-sex wedding cakes?  It is the principle that Jesus did not look down on Zacchaeus because he was a tax collector.  In fact, He invited himself over to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner.  The text says that the crowds were ticked that the person they thought was the Messiah was eating, drinking, and spending time with a “sinner.”  Jesus didn’t say “Zacchaeus, stay in that tree. You are an abomination!!”(And he was – tax collectors were considered to be vile cheaters, and they were hated by everyone.)  Jesus said, “I am coming to your house today”.  He wanted to be near him, and spend time with him.  He wanted to see past the “evil” of being a tax collector to see the real person.  By the way, the real person was a really good guy, who promised to pay back four fold what he had stolen from his neighbors. 

Tax collectors and sinners – That is who Jesus willfully associated with, and when I say sinners, I freely add myself to the category.  Romans 3:21-25 clearly states, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

Dr. Ron Frost, in an essay from the volume Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (ed. Paul Louis Meztger, t&t clark, 2005) says, “The question of how life is to be lived in grace, then, must center on our love: whether or not we have become lovers of God or remain autonomous agents.  It is only in the restoration of relationship with God through his initiative of bonding love in the Spirit that ‘grace’ exists.  A single Bible text, Rom. 5:5, was used repeatedly by Augustine to make this point, and to establish the framework for an affective solution: ‘For the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’”

We are called to love our neighbor as ourselves.  I think that Aaron Klein, while perfectly “justified” in his biblical conviction against same sex marriage, totally failed in extending the love and grace of Jesus Christ, the same love and grace Jesus gave to Zacchaues, Mary Magdeline, and Daniel A. Burnett.  We all sin; “red, yellow, black and white” to quote a fairly politically incorrect Sunday school song.  Gay, straight, bi-, trans-, and even a-sexual - each of us needs the gift of grace that was offered on Calvary.  Everyone needs the redeeming blood of Christ’s atonement.  So I would pose the question one more way – Why Wouldn’t Jesus make the cake?  He already died for you, even if you are a sinner; the cake is His gift of grace.