August 22, 2021 Text: Ephesians 5:22-33
Dear Friends in Christ,
Toni and I were blessed with 30 years of marriage recently. For various reasons we talked about why we need to lift up these milestones in people’s lives. Really celebrate them. We should never downplay what our Lord does to keep two people together in this most sacred of relationships. I know all of you feel the same way. If we want marriage to be the way God intended it then we need to speak positive about it, look to God’s Word for the inspiration and the backbone to say, “Thus says the Lord.”
Our text, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is such a “Thus says the Lord.” We hear it every three years in church. We hear it at many marriage worship services and it is part of the human vernacular. But boy doesn’t God make us all nervous and wiggly when we have to explain it or understand it? Do you know what I am talking about – those uncomfortable words we don’t want to throw around at dinner parties. Words like “submit” and “head” and “give of self” and “one flesh” and dare we even say the word “love?”
I pray you are here because you trust the Lord’s words and He might actually know what He is talking about. He’s in the words. He’s in the marriage. He has to be, right?
“THE BLESSING OF A TRIANGLE”
I was not good in geometry but the triangle is one shape I understand. I could put the triangle in the proper slot as a youngster. I get three and all sides being equal and well you know the rest . . .
The triangle in marriage is important because the devil is moving up the food chain. Adults have been told for years they can do what they want. It’s your life. If you are unhappy then leave. You deserve better. It is about you. No thought to the children who suffer the consequences. No thought to the pledge given in the sight of the Lord. We let go of marriage and it lost all definition. Now you can marry same sex, an animal or even yourself. Anybody can get a license on the Internet to perform said ceremony and voila what marriage is, is no longer what marriage is. Can we sing of Christ as groom and church as bride if we can no longer confess what marriage is? What will it mean to call God our Father if we say a man can have a baby? If we play along and say that he is she? Or she is he?
To break the bonds we have to break the sin. Again, we have to celebrate our Christian marriages. We have to work on our selfishness. The Triangle is a blessing because the only known antidote to selfishness is Jesus Christ. In Him, we are new creations. He substituted me with Him. He substituted you with Him. You and me did not have to pay for our sins. God the Son gave His life for our sin payment. “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her.”
Does this Christ give us a long list of do’s and don’ts and our marriage will last? Actually, no. The Spirit lays two things upon a marriage: “Wives, submit to your husbands.” “Husbands love your wives.” Both equal this: “Forget ME, seek rather THEE.” These admonitions even come with a reason. Surely, you heard it, didn’t you? “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” See the triangle? “Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” See the triangle?
How do we do this as sinful humans? To the unmarried. A committed Christian. Don’t settle for a promise. Pray. This is the biggest decision of your life. The blessing of a triangle.
To the married. May the Holy Spirit let the triangle flourish in our attitudes, our priorities, our strengths, our choices . . . by way of the Scriptures and Holy Communion. Grow in devotions together. Seize the strength of worship and Bible Class. Be lifted in Christ’s true body and blood. The third partner is in the marriage. The marriage counselor is by your side. Turn to Him. The blessing of a triangle.
Remember what Jesus left for you. Left the holy, perfectly peaceful, thoroughly satisfying company of the Father and the Holy Spirit. He left it all . . . for you. Humbled Himself. Became a lowly babe. Lived out His days in poverty. Was constantly misunderstood. For you. That you might be the Father’s forgiven child. He gave up his life . . . for you. And now He asks you serve your wife, your husband, to please Him.
Ever try to put a triangle together that is just off a degree? It’s uneven. No matter how hard you try it is not going to fit. But when it all comes together, wow, what a beautiful thing. Even in the mundane that is marriage. In the ups that is marriage. In the downs that is marriage. Joys and sorrows co-mingle but that is marriage. It works. We celebrate it. We honor it. The blessing of a triangle. Because of Jesus.
Amen.