Our congregation has, for many years, observed an annual
“life Sunday.” Of course, we teach, as
the Bible does, that life is precious and that from conception we are created
in the image of God. It’s a teaching
that many reject today, an unpopular teaching in a culture of death where
personal choice reigns supreme.
Perhaps, in a similar way, we need to start observing a
“Marriage and Family Sunday.” Our appointed readings today invite just such
a thing.
Jesus teaches us the importance of marriage, and warns
against divorce and adultery. He speaks
this little axiomatic phrase, “What God has joined together, let man not
separate” or “put asunder.” And then he
goes on to discuss children, indignant that the disciples tried to shoo the
children away, and eager to give those little ones his blessing.
Marriage and family are under duress in our culture. But to some extent they always have
been. Adam and Eve didn’t even have the
perfect marriage. Adam failed to protect
his wife from the lies of the serpent.
And Eve brought Adam into her sin by sharing the forbidden fruit. Ever since then, all of Adam and Eve’s
children have struggled with the effects of sin, yes, even in the family. Even their own children saw it, when Cain
murdered his brother Abel, and was sent into exile.
Today it’s not just divorce that troubles marriage, but
marriage itself has been re-defined, and continues to evolve, at least in the
minds of our unbelieving secular world.
No longer a life-long union of one man and one woman, no longer
respected as holy and sacred as an institution established by God. But more and more, marriage is seen as a
self-serving, self-defined, completely customizable and entirely disposable
human arrangement.
No longer is it recognized that God makes us male and
female, but now each person is free, we are told, to choose their orientation
and their gender, in an ever swirling chaos of individual self-determination
disconnected from nature, genetics, and reality.
But this is not just a sermon to make us feel good about how
bad the culture is and how good we Christians are in contrast. Sure, we must point out the depravity out
there and reject it. But let’s not pass
over the depravity and sin in here, in each of our hearts, and expressed in our
own sinful thoughts, words and deeds.
The truth is, we, too, dishonor marriage and family in many ways. The truth is, we, too, must repent of our
rejection and mismanagement of God’s gifts.
In Luther’s explanation to the 6th commandment he
not only reminds us that we should lead a sexually pure and decent life in what
we do and say, but also that husband and wife should love and honor each
other. There’s a tall order, if you
think about it!
Married people almost certainly sin against each other more
than they do against anyone else, just because you share your day to day life,
and we sin so much. We do not love our
spouses as we should, in thought, word or deed.
We do things that hurt them, and we don’t do everything we should to
help them.
In terms of Ephesians 5:
Husbands fail in their God-given leadership role, and do not love our
wives like Christ loves his bride the church.
We do not, as we should, lay down our life for her.
And wives often fail in their God-given role as helper,
sometimes disrespecting the husband.
Sometimes rather acting as usurper, taking the headship that belongs to
the husband, refusing to submit as Holy Scripture teaches.
Thanks be to God, that all of us have the forgiveness of
Christ won at the cross, a forgiveness deep enough to cover even the smoking
rubble of a failed marriage. A
forgiveness wide enough to cover the multitude of sins we commit in this and
every area of life. Christ is, after
all, the True Bridegroom, who purifies his bride the Church, and presents her
to himself holy and blameless.
And it is in this forgiveness that we live, as Christian
husbands and wives, and as Christian single people. And it is this forgiveness that we share and
freely apply to those who sin against us.
He gives us the earthly gift of marriage, which stands as a
reminder of the heavenly reality of the blessed union between Christ and the
Church, between God and his people, and of his all-surpassing love for us.
And then, it seems no accident that right after he deals
with marriage, our Lord makes some comments about children. For that is his design, that children are a
fruit of the marital union. The two
become one flesh, in a most literal way, when God blesses them with a new life,
fruitful and multiplying.
But not everyone welcomes children. Today we see declining birth rates, which
must represent, at least in part, a growing self-centeredness of our
culture. Rather than seeing children as
a blessing from God, some see children as a hindrance to career and financial
well-being, expensive and inconvenient obstacles to living life to the
fullest. We could not disagree more.
One of the greatest blessings in life is to welcome a child
into your family, and to bring that child to Jesus. That’s a huge part of what we are about at
Messiah, and why we go to the trouble and expense of operating a Christian
school. We want to honor Jesus’ words to
the fullest, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to
such belongs the kingdom of God.”
We want children, our children, and all children, to hear
the Word of God, to learn the Word of God, to believe the Word of God, and to
always grow in the Word of God. We want
what is best for them, and nothing could be better than bringing them, through
God’s word, to Jesus.
Jesus has a special place for children, and he commends them
as examples of faith. “whoever does not
receive the kingdom of God as a child cannot enter it.” And so in a sense we must all become like
children, we must receive the kingdom as children. A child-like faith, trusting, as children
trust their parents. A child-like faith,
which comes without pride and arrogance, but knowing nothing and ready to be
taught. A child-like faith which
receives, gratefully, what the Father provides.
Just as marriage serves as a picture for us of heavenly
realities, and of God’s love for his people – so too do children remind us that
in Christ we are made children of God, and heirs of a heavenly kingdom.
Therefore, Christians, let us honor marriage, and receive
children with thanksgiving. Let us hold
up these precious gifts of God for the blessing they are – and for the greater
blessings they reflect. Husbands love
your wives. Wives love your
husbands. Children, honor your father
and mother. And parents, love your
children by bringing them to Jesus. He
will bless them, and you.
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