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June 5, 2005
THE SONG OF THE BRIDE AND GROOM
Romans 1:4
I looked across the opening of the brown paper sack in my hand and there she stood. Cheerful smile, gleaming blue eyes with faded freckles. Her brunette hair tossed back in its own laughter as her Dad kidded her about something. Oh, yeah, baby. I found the one I was to love.
Being a bag boy certainly didn’t seem to be the job to show off my abs and biceps. But I tried. And soon enough, I got the nerve to ask her out to the most appropriate place I could think of: An all-star basketball game. And she accepted. And in June of 1980 began a twenty five year relationship between Naomi and me. We married three years later and here we are.
There is something wonderful about the male-female relationship. There is something precious about the marriage of a man and woman that binds their hearts and souls to each other. There is something spiritual about the two becoming one flesh in marriage.
Even in the most pagan of societies the wedding is a vital seam to the fabric of its social order. Marriage brings in the beginning of the family- the most important form of government on earth.
Marriage and the family mean something to God. I believe it is because God is a family man. And to God the family matters. And if the family matters to Him then the family should matter to us.
How do we know that God has a family? Our scripture reference tells us so. We know that God has a Son named Jesus. We know that Jesus referred to God as “my Father who sent me.” We understand that Jesus as the Son glorified the Father- His Father and our Father- through His life.
The first father was not Adam and the first family was not Adam and Eve. God was the first Family- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- who existed before all things and communicated love within the Holy Trinity.
I suggest to you today that the family represents to us a real life analogy to help us understand God and understand our relationship to Him. I believe that the relationship between husband and wife and between parent and child- regardless of the circumstances- is to be a relationship that exemplifies God’s love.
We are in challenging times as believers. There is no more morally dangerous time for the family and consequently the Christian Church than today.
I am concerned that the Christian family is in danger of extinction. I am concerned that too many of us- including me- have not taken seriously the problems that plague our world. I am concerned that the moral landscape has changed so much that we will never see the traditional family values we grew up with ever again.
I am not here to beat up on the gays and lesbians. The lifestyle they choose they choose to be judged by on the day of judgment where- according to the scriptures- each one will be judged according one’s own works.
I am not here to bang the drum for a particular political party. Yes, the Republican Party tends to side with the conservative Christians on this issue. But the issue is greater than politics.
What I am here to do is declare the Word of the Lord. I am here to break to you the Bread of Life- regardless of the viewpoints we each might have. What God desires for every person who names Jesus Christ and follows Him as Lord is for them to live a life of holiness within the family structure.
I am troubled by the loss of the value of marriage in America. I love my country. I love my country’s citizens. I am proud to be an American. But, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel and other Old Testament prophets, I am concerned with the destructive moral climate we live in. I am frustrated to see the attacks on the Christian family.
I will take it no more.
This message is only the beginning of a summer sermon series I am calling “Restoring the Christian Family.” I believe that God has an interest in the institution of the family.
In fact, I believe that God is whole-heartedly interested in your family.
Do you believe that this morning? Do you believe that God cares about your family and the issues that you deal with?
Do you believe that God cares about your marriage and the communication issues such as finances and communication? Of course He does.
Do you believe that God cares about your husband-wife relationship and the sexual issues and frustrations you may be experiencing? He sees and He cares.
Do you believe that God cares about your home and the issues that arise with your children, your grandchildren and other relatives that come your way? He sure does.
God has given us tools for dealing with the social issues-of which all affect the family. One tool is the Bible. From within its pages you can learn that you don’t have to deal with your problems alone- you can have a fresh start in your family regardless of all the trash happening around you. And with a fresh start, you can know what it is to have another tool- the Holy Spirit- empowering your life, leading your home and helping you to be the loving parent, the loving spouse and the loving child that you should be.
I will get into statistics more next week but allow me to share this much: more and more couples are co-habitating rather than getting married. For some reason marriage no longer seems to be the goal of every little girl’s dreams. For some reason people are choosing to live together rather than risk making a lifelong commitment.
And I have heard the testimonies. They were doing great, the sex was great and they were best of friends. Until the day after the wedding. Somewhere along the line the marriage began to disintegrate. And pretty soon they become a statistic of divorce.
One more statistic: 30% of Jews, 27% of born-again Christians and 24% of so-called “other Christians” have been divorced. But what about atheists and agnostics- the very people we warn others about? Believe it or not, the divorce rate among atheists and agnostics- people who don’t even believe God exists and if He does- so what?- had a lower divorce rate than Jews or born-again Christians at 21%!
What is happening here? What is going on?
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah records God’s words concerning marriage. Listen to what he has to say. Look with me to Jeremiah and hear what God says on four occasions to His people. Remember, God’s people brought judgment on themselves because of idolatry and sexual deviancy involving idolatry.
Jeremiah 7:34- “I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”
They practiced deviant worship.
The people under the leadership of their kings and priests disgraced God by mixing pagan rituals with the temple rituals. They also set up other places of worship that promoted all sorts of sexual behavior that was outside of the husband-wife relationship.
Jeremiah 16:2- The Lord tells Jeremiah that he must not marry and have sons and daughters.
God goes on in Jeremiah 16:8- “Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”
They practiced the dictates of their heart.
No longer was God their God but their own evil desires became God. And because they did their own thing…
They would not listen to God.
Time and again prophets would come and call the people to repentance. But instead they turned their backs on God. They wanted to do what they wanted to do.
Once again in Jeremiah 25:10 the Lord says- “I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.”
You see, the evidence of the presence of God is marriage. And when I see the great institution of marriage coming apart I see the evidence of God’s presence disappearing.
And in Jeremiah God’s not simply giving a warning; God is proclaiming judgment upon a nation of people. God is removing His presence from them. And when He does the cities and villages and countryside will become silent of the songs of joy. Because the people turned their backs on God, they will suffer the consequences. There will be no gladness or true happiness and especially that which is found in the wedding.
Why would the Lord pronounce this disaster? What was their iniquity? What sin did they commit against Him? He answers in Jeremiah 16:11- “ ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me,’ says the Lord. ‘And you have done worse than your fathers, for …each one follows the dictates of his own heart, so that no one listens to Me.
Now remember, the Jewish custom of marriage was huge. Weddings didn’t take place at the justice of the peace and among a few friends and family members. These weddings were blow-out feasts of food, wine and dancing. There was nothing somber about those occasions.
But God kept his promise and brought judgment. And the voices of bride and bridegroom became silent.
Maybe some of you are already thinking: “Oh, Pastor, that’s Old Testament stuff. We are now under grace. God is different now. God is a loving God. He cares differently for us now than then.”
Really? Look over to Revelation 18. In this chapter you will remember reading these words: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” On and on throughout the chapter we hear of the great destruction of a great nation.
As I read through this scripture I was struck just as many other scholars and preachers by the parallels that could easily be made between this and our United States. Truly, there has never been such a great nation as ours on the face of the earth. Listen as I scan through this chapter.
Verses 1-3 deliver the pronouncement of judgment. There will be a payday, someday. Not only for individuals but for whole nations. No one will be off the hook.
Verses 4-8 give the call of God to His people such as us to separate our selves from a nation’s sinful action. This is not a call for Christians to move up into the mountains but it is a call to live separate and holy lives. There are too many in the Christian Church who are unequally yoked with the world and its ways. We are being fore-warned.
Verses 9-10 describe the grief of other nations who sided with her and now no longer have that power behind them. Think of the democratic nations that we support militarily? What will they do if the United States is no longer there to protect them and their interests?
Verses 11-17 tell of the bankruptcy of those who profited from this great nation. Think about this: if the United States suddenly stopped purchasing everything from all other nations, consider the global collapse of the world economy. Remove any other country from the marketplace and it won’t affect much. But remove the US and you’ve got world calamity.
Verses 18-20 illustrate the overall sorrow of a world that has seen judgment in its fullness. This “America the Beautiful for spacious skies, with amber waves of grain” will be destroyed.
Verses 21-24 voice the declaration of the mighty angel. With this I shudder and wonder what road our nation is swaggering down. He declares that the nation will fall with violence. The music they sang will end, the workers that made the nation great will cease, and the industry that built it will be heard no more.
But catch verse 23- “The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of the bride and bridegroom will never be heard in you again.”
I see the evidence of God’s presence slowly evaporating. You see it as well. In fact, some of us have experienced the broken marriage either as a married spouse, as children, or friends and family members who had to watch it self-destruct. And we have the scars to prove it.
We won’t solve the problems of marriage politically- though there are particular political issues we need to be concerned with. The problems of marriage will be solved by a movement of God in our homes and churches. And this movement within your home must be the work of the Holy Spirit that brings God’s presence back.
And the answer to this kind of movement is the answer you give to God.
Are you willing to re-commit your self to serving God first and fore-most in your life?
Are you willing to re-commit your self to putting your spouse first? Not only before all others but with no others in sight?
Are you willing to re-commit your self to providing your family with a Biblical atmosphere that allows ALL in your home to grow in the grace of Jesus Christ?
Children: Are you willing to honor your father and mother? Are you willing to commit your self to being obedient and respectful of your parents? Even when they are wrong?
I see the families all around our community and my heart breaks. There are too many children who grow up in broken homes. Too many who have witnessed the death of a marriage.
But I believe that God has called you and I to change the lives of our neighbors and family and friends. I believe that true evangelism will begin in our homes. And this will call for us to renew our commitment to our home and marriages.
God is a forgiving God. God is a caring God. And God’s mercy can reach right down to your situation and into your family right now.
You see, God is a family man. God had a Son named Jesus. And through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we can experience the family in a new and powerful way.