Mark's thoughts: Questions about God's ordering of the relationship between man and woman

 

(The Creation, God Introducing Adam and Eve, from 'Antiquites Judaiques', c.1470-76, Jean Fouquet)

What does Scripture teach us about the relationship between men and women?

Scripture teaches that God has established an ordering in the relationship between men and women. God has designated roles and responsibilities for each sex and has defined how they are to relate to one another. This ordering was established in the very act of creating the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. God created man (Gen 2:7), yet in Gen 2:18 He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (ESV). God created the woman from the man (Gen 2:21-23) in order to make a helper who was fit for him - who corresponded to him. God created man and woman so that they could be joined together in marriage as a one flesh union for life (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:4-6) that produces children (Gen 1:28; see also Pss 127:3-5; 128:3-4).

What does this ordering mean for men and women?  

God created man and woman to be complementary. This means that He created them to be different. Scripture tells us that men and women are both needed because they are not the same. This fact becomes evident in the fruit of the one flesh union. Only a woman’s body can carry and give birth to a child.  

God made men and women to have different roles. The woman’s unique ability to give birth to a child is accompanied by emotional characteristics and aptitudes that enable her to care for and nurture a child (a fact noted by Scripture: Isa 66:13; 1 Thess 2:7-8). Her primary vocation (calling) is to love and care for her husband, children and home as the apostle Paul indicated in Titus 2:3-5 (see also Prov 31:10-31).

Before Eve existed, God told Adam to work the garden of Eden and keep it (Gen 2:15). Even after the fall, God’s words to Adam still focused on the task of providing food (Gen 3:17-19). The vocation of men is one of work that provides for wife and children. Though it does not directly benefit every job today, the greater strength possessed by a man (1 Peter 3:7) continues to bear witness to this. 

God’s Word is clear that woman was created from man as the helper corresponding to him (Gen 2:18-23; 1 Cor 11:8-9; cf. 1 Tim 2:13). This act of creation by God has established the man as the one to whom the woman submits in his role of leadership in the family (Eph 5:22-24, 33; Col 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1-6; Titus 2:5) and in the Church (1 Tim 2:8-15; 1 Cor 14:33-35). At the same time men are called to love and sacrifice for their wife, just as Christ has done for the Church (Eph 5:25-30, 33; Col 3:19). 

Surely we can’t expect people in our modern world to be guided by this understanding drawn from texts written in ancient cultures?  

Scripture is God’s authoritative revelation to us. In Scripture He reveals a fact about the way He has established and ordered His creation. God set it up this way, and therefore it never ceases to be true. Certainly the cultures in which the texts of the Old and New Testaments were written reflected this ordering. But this simply means that life was being lived in ways that matched God’s intent. On the other hand, it is only the feminism of the West that has created a different way during less than a century. This way is based on views about the interchangeability of men and women, sex, children and prosperity that contradict God’s will.

Our culture promotes the idea that men and women are not essentially different, and that instead they are equally suited to play any role.  Birth control has disengaged sex from marriage and has turned sex into an act of pleasure that we control.  Couples say no to God's gift of life except on rare occasions when they decide that they want a child. Children are viewed as an expense and hardship to be avoided.  They interfere with the career of a woman and prevent a couple and the family they have in mind from living at the level of prosperity the couple deems necessary.  Many Christians have unknowingly adopted these views through the influence of our culture.
 

What does this look like in the home, church and society?
At home it means that women will embrace their role as wife and mother and will view these as the most distinctive and important callings God has given them to do. They will encourage and support their husbands in their callings of provision and leadership – especially spiritual leadership as the head of the house. In church men will serve in the Office of the Holy Ministry and in positions of leadership such as elder and congregational president, while women use their gifts in various positions of service, especially those directed towards women, children and families. In society the Church will bear witness to the ordering of creation by speaking out against actions that subvert it, such as requiring women to register for the draft.

Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity - Eph 2:1-10

                                                                                               Trinity 11
                                                                                                Eph 2:1-10
                                                                                                8/7/16

We have a family friend who calls it “passive income.” He uses this term to describe the various ways that a person can get free travel and lodging. Airlines, of course have their frequent flyer programs in which flights earn miles or points that can be applied to receiving free flights. Hotels have similar programs in which multiple stays at their hotels can earn you a free stay. And then different credit cards have tie-ins with airlines and hotels. As you use the credit card to buy things you get credit toward free travel and lodging.

Now most everyone likes to travel. And what can be better than free travel! If it is fun to go somewhere, and it is that much more fun when you know that you paid nothing, or next to nothing. My parents are both now retired. They are both in good health. And so quite sensibly, they are using this time to do some traveling. And when it comes to “passive income,” they’ve got it going. It is amazing how often they take a trip and a large portion of the travel and lodging is free or costs them very little.

This kind of travel is free. It doesn’t cost any money. But that doesn’t mean that there is no effort involved – no work. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Before my mom retired, she went to a free seminar that was presented at Indiana University. There a woman gave a presentation on how to maximize the use of these kinds of opportunities. She shared insights into how things worked, what is available, and how to use it most efficiently.

Now that my mom is retired she avidly pursues this. It’s like a fun game – almost a hobby. But it also involves a lot of effort. She has created spread sheets to track all the different places where she is building points or miles. She knows that if they are planning on taking a trip to place A and using airline B as they stay at hotel C, then they need to use credit cards E and F right now, while paying each one off right away. My mom keeps track of it all. On the other hand, my dad says half in jest that these days he’s afraid to pay for anything without checking with my mom – he gets in trouble if he does not use the correct credit card that will help earn the next free trip.

Passive income gets you free stuff. But it still requires work – it requires effort on our part. As the saying goes, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” That’s the way the world works. You have to do something, to get something.

In our epistle lesson this morning, the apostle Paul leaves absolutely no doubt that this is not how things work with God. Instead, when it comes to salvation, Paul says that it is completely free. It involves no work on our part. In fact we aren’t even capable of doing any work. In our text, the apostle shares really bad news about us. And he also shares the most wonderful good news about our salvation. 

Paul begins our text by talking about the Ephesians’ past. He writes, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

This is a really ugly picture. And the bad thing is that his description applies to us as well. Paul tells us three things about our life apart from Christ. First, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Apart from Christ a person may be living physically. But in fact they are spiritually dead because of sin. They have no life with God and that means they are dead.

Second, the apostle tells us that apart from Christ we were under the control of the devil. He was our lord. We marched to the beat of his drum. And he was leading us to only one place – to our eternal destruction – because he is a murderer.

And third, Paul says that apart from Christ a person simply lives according to the passions of the sinful, fallen nature. We carry out the desires of our body and mind – whatever our base instincts want.

A person in this situation is spiritual road kill. Dead, rotting by the side of the road – capable of doing nothing. From our side of things, that’s the end of the story. But then Paul goes on to say, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Paul says that God did something. He did it because of his mercy; his love; his grace; his kindness. He made us alive together with Christ. He made us alive by first killing Christ in our place. In the previous chapter Paul said of Jesus: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.” Jesus was the sacrifice for our sin, and so now we have been freed to be the children of God.

But God did more than that. Paul says in our text that God, “made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” On the third day, through the work of the Holy Spirit, God raised Jesus from the dead. He defeated death and began the life of the resurrection – life that can never die again.

Now you know that apart from Christ’s return, you are going to die. And when you look around this morning it doesn’t look like you are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. What Paul means is that in baptism the Holy Spirit has given you new life in Christ. He has joined you to the crucified and risen Lord. Already now, the resurrection of Jesus is yours – that’s how certain your resurrection on the Last Day is. And so Paul can say that you have been raised with Christ. What’s more the Spirit has made you part of Christ’s body the Church, and so because Christ is seated in the heavenly places, you have a place there too.

It was God’s mercy; God’s love; God’s grace; God’s kindness that did this. It is a forgiveness and salvation received through faith in Christ worked by the Holy Spirit. And so Paul says in famous words: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

On your own you could do nothing. And so in his grace and mercy, God has acted in Christ to give you forgiveness and eternal life. But then, Paul has one more thing to say. He says the thing that we sometimes forget; that we sometimes ignore. He says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The apostle says that we are God’s creation in Christ. Everything that we are is tied up with Jesus. It is God who has made us a new creation through work of the Holy Spirit. God has saved us in Christ, and now God has a purpose for us. We are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works. 

God has saved you by his grace so that now you can act graciously toward others. He has saved you apart from doing, so that now you can do for others. He has saved you in Christ, so that now you can be Christ to others.

What does this look like? The later chapters of this letter are filled with descriptions. Paul says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. He says, “Husbands, love you wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her.” He says, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” He says, “Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” These are the kinds of works you have been created in Christ to do.

Now Paul begins our text this morning by saying, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” He describes it as something that was the case until God saved us in Christ; until he saved us by his grace through faith; until he made us his creation in Christ Jesus for good works. Yet we know that sin is not something that was truly only of our past. It’s also something we still struggle against. We can’t listen to these statements from the apostle about living as Christians without also recognizing the ways that we haven’t done this.

We are a new creation in Christ. But we are also old man – the fallen, sinful nature still plagues us. That is what the now and the not yet of God’s saving action in Christ means for our life. That is the challenge that will exist until God’s saving action reaches its consummation on the Last Day when Christ returns in glory.

The apostle Paul knew this. That’s why he says in chapter four, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” And after describing this way of sin he reminds the Ephesian Christian that instead they had been taught, “to put off your old man, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

To put off the old man is to confess our sins and repent. It is to return in faith to our baptism for there we have the forgiveness of sins. And there we also have the source of the Spirit’s work in our life to enable us to strive to be what God has made us to be. It is through baptism and the other Means of Grace that the Spirit leads and strengthens us to put on the new man – to live as God’s creation in Christ.

Mark's thoughts: A primer on the nature and character of Holy Scripture

                  

                      Jesus Christ – The revelation of God’s love and salvation for us

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The Christian faith confesses that in the person of Jesus Christ, God has revealed Himself and His love for us.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, entered into our world as He took on humanity in the incarnation – as He became flesh and lived among us.  It teaches that only in Jesus Christ do we come to know God and have the opportunity to live eternally with God. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has acted to take away our sins and win us salvation.  The person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, therefore stands at the center of the Christian faith.  Apart from Him there is no saving knowledge of God.

Holy Scripture - God's Word in which we meet Jesus Christ

 Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

John 20:31 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Jesus Christ lived 2000 years ago in Palestine.  However, we continue to meet Him in the Holy Scriptures which are God’s Word.  They are the source from which we learn about Jesus Christ – who He is, what He has done for us and what He means for us today.  Jesus Christ is the only reason that the Holy Scriptures have any importance for us.

Holy Scripture - God's inspired and inerrant Word

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.           

The nature of Holy Scripture reflects the One whom it reveals, the incarnate Son of God – Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ has two natures.  He is true God and true man at the same time.  In the same way Holy Scripture has two natures.  It is truly divine and truly human at the same time.  We can illustrate this in the following manner:

Jesus Christ (Word incarnate)                   True God                   True man

Holy Scripture (Word in Scripture)             Truly divine               Truly human

Holy Scripture is truly human in that just as Jesus Christ is a real human being who lived at a place and time, Scripture is a real human document written by people at a place and time (Scripture = something written).  The writers were people with different skills and abilities who wrote in the different literary forms available to human communication.

However, Holy Scripture is also truly divine, just as Jesus Christ is true God.  We describe Scripture as Holy because it is divine and comes from God.  Holy Scripture asserts about itself that it was inspired by God.  This means that the Holy Spirit guided men in recording what God has done and what it means.  The Holy Spirit used men as the authors who wrote using their own skills and abilities.  However, what was finally set down was exactly what the Holy Spirit intended.

Holy Scripture is also inerrant, that is, it is completely accurate.  The inerrancy of Holy Scripture is a matter of faith based on its witness about itself.  The inerrancy of Holy Scripture is grounded in its nature as God’s inspired Word and in the fact that God is its source.  Holy Scripture comes from God - the God who makes no errors and wishes to reveal Himself to us.

The Christian confession about the inerrancy of Holy Scripture is not based on external evidence.  It is helpful when external evidence from ancient historians, archaeology, etc. confirm different aspects of the biblical accounts, but we do not base our confession of Holy Scripture’s inerrancy on such evidence.  Evidence of this kind will always be incomplete because our evidence from biblical times is incomplete.

Jesus Christ – The key to reading Holy Scripture

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.

2 Timothy 3:15 From childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

In Holy Scripture we meet Jesus Christ.  He is the center of all of Holy Scripture.  It is “Christocentric” (centered on Christ).  If we ever read Holy Scripture in a way that does not point to Jesus Christ, then we are reading it incorrectly.  In the words, people, places, institutions and events of the Old Testament we find a witness to what Jesus Christ will do and what God will accomplish through Him.  In the Gospels of the New Testament we find a record of what Jesus Christ did.  In the book of Acts we find a record of what the Holy Spirit did as He spread faith in Jesus Christ.  In the Epistles of the New Testament we learn more about who Jesus Christ is and what He means for us.

The Holy Spirit and the interpretation of Holy Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.  But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

As a human document that is truly human, Holy Scripture is read and interpreted using human reason.  It is interpreted according to the standard rules of grammar, logic, etc.  However, in this process reason and human abilities remain the servant.  Understanding of Holy Scripture in the sense of true belief can only be worked by the Holy Spirit who has inspired Holy Scripture.  Human reason cannot deny the truthfulness or accuracy of Holy Scripture because that would be to deny the nature of Holy Scripture itself.

The Interpretation of Holy Scripture – Properly dividing Law and Gospel

Matthew 22:37-38 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

All of Holy Scripture must be properly divided into two parts: Law and Gospel.  The Law tells us what we must do.  The Gospel tells us what God has done for us.  The Law is found in both the Old and New Testaments.  The Gospel is found in both the Old and New Testaments.  Properly distinguishing Law and Gospel is a crucit

Holy Scripture – The only source of Christian teaching and doctrine

Matthew 15:9 “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

  

Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

 The only place we meet Jesus Christ and receive revelation from God is in Holy Scripture – God’s Word.  Only there do we encounter the inspired Word of God.  Holy Scripture is therefore the only source of Christian teaching and doctrine.  The Evangelical Lutheran Church confesses that Holy Scripture alone is the source of revelation and Christian doctrine.  She confesses:

First, we confess our adherence to the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments, as to the pure, clear fountain of Israel, which alone is the one true guiding principle, according to which all teachers and teachings are to be judged and evaluated (Formula of Concord, SD Rule and Norm 3).

This stands in contrast to the Roman Catholic tradition which confesses that Holy Scripture and Church Tradition are equally valid sources of revelation and Christian doctrine.  Thus in 1854 the Roman Catholic church declared the dogma (that which Christians must believe) of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary which states that Mary was born without sin.  And in 1950 it declared the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary which states that Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things.  The Roman Catholic church declared these teachings to be dogmas of the church, despite the fact that there is absolutely no mention of either of them in Holy Scripture.  They were declared to be dogmas solely on the basis of Church Tradition.

Commemoration of Mary, Joanna and Salome, Myrrhbearers

Today we remember and give thanks for Joanna, Mary and Salome, Myrrhbearers.  Known in some traditions as “the faithful women,” the visit of these three persons and other women to the tomb of Jesus on the first Easter morning is noted in the Gospel records of Matthew (28:1), Mark (16:1), and Luke (24:10). Joanna was the wife of Cuza, a steward in Herod’s household (Lk. 8:3). Mary, the mother of James (the son of Alphaeus), was another of the women who faithfully provided care for Jesus and His disciples from the time of His Galilean ministry through His burial after the crucifixion. Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee (Mt. 27:56), joined with the women both at the cross and in the bringing of the spices to the garden tomb. These “faithful women” have been honored in the church through the centuries as examples of humble and devoted service to the Lord.

Collect of the Day:

Mighty God, your crucified and buried Son did not remain in the tomb for long.  Give us joy in the tasks set before us, that we might carry out faithful acts of service as did Joanna, Mary and Salome, offering to you the sweet perfume of our grateful hearts, so that we, too, may see the glory of your resurrection and proclaim with unrestrained eagerness and fervor the Good News worked in us through our Lord Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.