Worship Helps for Pentecost 20
Artwork: Paradise
Artist: Jan the Elder Brueghel
Date: 1615
Worship Theme: God’s plan for man was perfect. He created
woman for man. They were to “become one flesh”. Sin entered the world and
separation replaced union—separation from God and from one another. Bitter
marriages and divorces are two examples. But thanks be to God, Jesus even
suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone
and create new life and new promise of union.
Old Testament: Genesis 2:18–24
18The Lord
God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is
a suitable partner for him.” 19Out of the soil the Lord God had formed every wild animal
and every bird of the sky, and he brought them to the man to see what he would
call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that became its name. 20The man gave
names to all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every wild
animal, but for Adam no helper was found who was a suitable partner for him. 21The
Lord God caused the man to fall
into a deep sleep. As the man slept, the Lord
God took a rib and closed up the flesh where it had been. 22The Lord God built a woman from the rib that
he had taken from the man and brought her to the man.
23The man said, Now this one is bone
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be called “woman,” because she was
taken out of man. 24For this reason a man will leave his father and
his mother and will remain united with his wife, and they will become one
flesh.
1. What lesson did God teach Adam by having him name the
animals?
2. What does the expression “one flesh” mean?
Epistle: Ephesians
5:21–6:4
21… and by submitting to one another
in reverence for Christ.
22Wives, submit to your own husbands
as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, just as
Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he himself is the Savior. 24Moreover,
as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands
in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, in the
same way as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to
make her holy, by cleansing her with the washing of water in connection with
the Word. 27He did this so that he could present her to himself as a
glorious church, having no stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but so that she
would be holy and blameless. 28In the same way, husbands have an
obligation to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife
loves himself. 29To be sure, no one has ever hated his own body, but
nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30because
we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. 31“For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two will be one flesh.” 32This is a great mystery, but I am
talking about Christ and the church. 33In any case, each one of you
also is to love his wife as himself, and each wife is to respect her husband.
6:1Children, obey your parents in the
Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother,” which is
the first commandment with a promise: 3“that it may go well with you
and that you may live a long life on the earth.” 4Fathers, do not
provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the training and
instruction of the Lord.
3. What are wives to do?
4. What are husbands to do?
5. What are children to do?
6. What are fathers, in particular, to do?
Gospel: Mark 10:2–16
2Some Pharisees came to test him and asked,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3He replied, “What did Moses command you?”
4They said, “Moses permitted a man to write
a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5But Jesus told them, “He wrote this
command for you because of your hard hearts. 6But from the beginning
of creation, God made them male and female. 7For this reason a man
will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8and the
two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9Therefore,
what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10In the house his disciples asked
him about this again. 11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife
and marries another commits adultery against her. 12If she divorces
her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13Some people began bringing little
children to Jesus so that he would touch them. But the disciples rebuked them. 14When
Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said, “Let the little children come to me!
Do not hinder them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15Amen
I tell you: Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child
will never enter it.” 16And he took the little children in his arms,
laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
7. If marriage is to be for life, why did Moses hand down
some conditions that made divorce possible?
8. What remains God’s standard for marriage?
Answers:
1. By having Adam name the animals, God taught Adam that
he was incomplete and needed companionship as well as someone to partner with
him for reproduction.
2. The phrase “one flesh” expresses the depth of unity in
marriage—physically, emotionally and spiritually. Since the woman was created
from man, the two originally were one, and when they come together, they again
are one.
3. Wives are to yield lovingly to their husbands as the
leader of the home, the same way we all yield to Jesus as our Leader and Lord.
4. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the
church and gave himself up for her. Husbands are to love their wives as
their own bodies.
5. Children are to obey their parents “in the Lord”, that
is, for Jesus’ sake.
6. Fathers are to bring up their children in the training
and instruction of the Lord Jesus. Note that Paul never tells husbands to
make their wives submit, etc., or wives to make their husbands be responsible
for eternal matters in the home. How wise Martin Luther was, when he
wrote: Let each his lesson learn with care, And all the household well shall
fare.
7. Moses handed down some conditions for divorce only
because the people had totally disregarded God’s will for sex and
marriage. Their hearts were hard. Government had to deal with it
and regulate.
8. God’s standard for marriage is the union of a man and a
woman for life. “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Putting your faith
into action
When
God created Eve he created the family unit—a unit through which he chooses to
bless his people with sexual happiness, companionship, and children. What a
blessing a family is. Whether you are married or not; whether you have children
or not; you are part of a family—both your earthly family, but more importantly
your heavenly Father’s family, through which you receive forgiveness of sins,
eternal life, and salvation. In light of God’s blessing of family, may each of
our families strive to serve our heavenly Father better. May we be better
husbands, better wives, better sons and daughters, and better fathers and
mothers. May we be better stewards of the gifts he gives to us and our
families. May we teach better stewardship to our children. May we model better
stewardship to our spouse. In this way, our Father who blessed us with family
and also made us a part of his family will be praised.
Who is not tempted by
lust? Paul says, “I do not do the good I
want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). Likewise, “I myself serve the law of God with
my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (7:25). Here he openly declares that he serves the
law of sin. David says, “Enter not into
judgment with Your servant, for no one living is righteous before You” (Psalm
143:2). Here even God’s servant prays
for the removal of judgment. Likewise,
“Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity” (Psalm
32:2). Therefore, in our weakness sin is
always present, which could be charged against us. Later he says, “Therefore let everyone who is
godly offer prayer to You” (32:6). Here
he shows that even saints ought to seek forgiveness of sins. They are more than blind who do not
realize that wicked desires in the flesh are sins, of which Paul says, “For the
desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are
against the flesh” (Galatians 5:17). The
flesh distrusts God, trusts in present things, seeks human aid in trouble, even
contrary to God’s will. It flees from
suffering, which it ought to bear because of God’s commands. It doubts God’s mercy and so on. The Holy Spirit in our hearts fights against
such tendencies in order to suppress and kill them and to produce new spiritual
motives. – Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article V, Love and Fulfilling
the Law, paragraphs 47-49
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