Trinity XIII - Devotion in semi-Exile
Lection for Trinity XIII
2 Kings 4:8-22, 32-37 Ephesians 5:15-33
I love how God works things. No, it is not a coincidence that this verse comes up today, the day after my son Timothy married his bride, Hana! A quick shout out to them, God’s blessings! We love you and are proud of you!
Our lesson from Ephesians is highly controversial, being so because so many people do not like verse 22: Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Then there are those who are immediate to fly off the handle, “I am not going to submit to any man.” Or, “Now woman should have to submit to their husband.”
Usually they do not hear that part of the verse, “as to the Lord.”
Oftentimes, people have also not heard what this text says to the men: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Christ went to the cross and died for His bride, the Church – in like manner, men are to be willing to die for their wives, sacrificing themselves for the well-being of their wives.
I do not have the room here to discuss this whole passage, but I do want to address something. Neither men nor women, by their human nature, want to do what they ought to do in marriage. Instead of thinking of the other, most of us are only looking at what we will get out of a marriage. Most marital arguments arise from situations where one did not get, or was not treated in the manner they desired, it is all about the unholy trinity, “I, my, me.”
The directives in this passage are all about what each is to do for the other, there is no phrase that talks about, “you should expect to get such and such from the other.” But the most important passage in this text are these words, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
First, the two become one flesh…in marriage, there is no more ‘me’ and ‘you,’ it is not even ‘we,’ for we implies two or more individuals – the two become one flesh.
But the most important statement in Paul’s writing about marriage is: This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Paul is talking about God’s relationship to His Church as a marital relationship, bridegroom and bride.
How do we, The Church, submit to our Bridegroom/Creator/Redeemer on a daily basis? Do we at all submit our will to His?
We do know how He has loved us. Even though we willfully turn against Him, willfully have other things in our lives that we place before Him (why idolatry is considered adultery), He still loves us. He gives up His life unto death upon the cross to free us from the mess that we have gotten ourselves into through our sinfulness. He makes us His own. He feeds and cares for us, gathering us at the table He sets before us.
Yes, Christ submitted Himself, willfully serving us – willfully submitting Himself to the will of the Father to be the selfless groom. And we are blessed in His so doing.
2 Kings 4:8-22, 32-37 Ephesians 5:15-33
I love how God works things. No, it is not a coincidence that this verse comes up today, the day after my son Timothy married his bride, Hana! A quick shout out to them, God’s blessings! We love you and are proud of you!
Our lesson from Ephesians is highly controversial, being so because so many people do not like verse 22: Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Then there are those who are immediate to fly off the handle, “I am not going to submit to any man.” Or, “Now woman should have to submit to their husband.”
Usually they do not hear that part of the verse, “as to the Lord.”
Oftentimes, people have also not heard what this text says to the men: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Christ went to the cross and died for His bride, the Church – in like manner, men are to be willing to die for their wives, sacrificing themselves for the well-being of their wives.
I do not have the room here to discuss this whole passage, but I do want to address something. Neither men nor women, by their human nature, want to do what they ought to do in marriage. Instead of thinking of the other, most of us are only looking at what we will get out of a marriage. Most marital arguments arise from situations where one did not get, or was not treated in the manner they desired, it is all about the unholy trinity, “I, my, me.”
The directives in this passage are all about what each is to do for the other, there is no phrase that talks about, “you should expect to get such and such from the other.” But the most important passage in this text are these words, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
First, the two become one flesh…in marriage, there is no more ‘me’ and ‘you,’ it is not even ‘we,’ for we implies two or more individuals – the two become one flesh.
But the most important statement in Paul’s writing about marriage is: This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Paul is talking about God’s relationship to His Church as a marital relationship, bridegroom and bride.
How do we, The Church, submit to our Bridegroom/Creator/Redeemer on a daily basis? Do we at all submit our will to His?
We do know how He has loved us. Even though we willfully turn against Him, willfully have other things in our lives that we place before Him (why idolatry is considered adultery), He still loves us. He gives up His life unto death upon the cross to free us from the mess that we have gotten ourselves into through our sinfulness. He makes us His own. He feeds and cares for us, gathering us at the table He sets before us.
Yes, Christ submitted Himself, willfully serving us – willfully submitting Himself to the will of the Father to be the selfless groom. And we are blessed in His so doing.
Maybe in our marriages – and in all our relationships with others – we could take a lesson from Christ?
Comments