Something to Think About (Divorce and Remarriage)

A month or so ago, my preaching through the Sermon on the Mount led me to Matthew 5:31-32, where Jesus gives His disciples a somewhat unexpected reason to not get divorced. The reason is this: Husband, if you divorce your wife, you will force her into adultery, along with the man she will marry. As common as second (etc.) marriages are today, our society does make it easier for women to get by without being married. In Jesus' day, about the only way a divorced woman could survive would be to remarry. Even so, Jesus says that such a remarriage is adultery.

I know that in other places, there seem to be some exception made to this rule. Not everyone agrees with these exceptions. And I am not sure yet myself. But that's not the point of my post here.

My point here is this. Jesus seems to forbid most (if not all) remarriage after divorce. This is a hard teaching, especially for someone who finds himself or herself divorced at a young age. Another thing that makes it hard is this: Many who are divorced have children. It's not hard to understand the woman with young children who wants there to be a man in the house to help care for her children as they grow up - even if that man is a stepfather, rather than a natural father.

Somehow, this is what I got to thinking about this afternoon. If Jesus is right (and I believe He is), then he is saying that a single mom should not remarry (discussion of exceptions aside for now), even though she thinks it would help her children. Would Jesus really command something that would be less than the best for children who are not to blame for the situation they find themselves in.

I think that Jesus' command is still best for those children. And here is why: When a child has a mom who has been abandoned by her husband and she chooses not to remarry, her whole life communicates something to her children about the sacredness and permanence of marriage. If she were to remarry, her kids would have a man around. But they would not understand that marriage is a special and important as it is.

It seems to me that the commands of Jesus present us with this implication: It is more important for children to learn that marriage is sacred and permanent than it is to have a man in their household.

Of course, this doesn't mean there can't be a man in the lives of those children. Even if their natural father is not around, other men can play an important part in the lives of those children - even if they don't sleep or live with their mom.

ApParent Privilege (a book by Steve Wright)

I've started reading an excellent book on parenting. It's not about how to get your kids to behave. It's about how to obey God's command to be the primary spiritual influence in the lives of our children. It's called ApParent Privilege and is written by Steve Wright with Chris Graves. Wright has been influenced by the writings of a 19th century preacher named John Angell James. Here is a quote that I just read - something that Wright quoted from James on p.55 of ApParent Privilege.

"Here fix your center; here direct your aim; here concentrate your efforts, your energies, and your prayers. Remember, their religious instruction is your business. Whatever aids you may call in from ministers or teachers, you never must, you never can, you never should, delegate this work. God will hold you responsible for the religion of your children."

Don't Be Afraid, Just Fear God

I read a strange verse today. In, Exodus 20:20, right after the giving of the Ten Commandments, during which God descended on Mount Sinai in a terrifying way, we read, "Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.'"

Don't be afraid. God came so that you would fear Him. It doesn't seem to make sense. But God had come so that they would know that He is real and that He is so powerful and glorious that they would be utterly foolish to rebel against Him. If God could make that mountain shake, what could he do to a person!

But because this is who God is and what He is like, and because He loves those Israelites, He showed them something of His power and glory, so that they would know that they need to take Him and His commands seriously - by not disobeying them. If God had not shown them that they needed to take Him seriously, they would have had a reason to be afraid.

So how do we interpret "Don't be afraid. Fear God." I think it means, "Don't be afraid of what you are seeing. You are only seeing it so that you know who it is that is giving you commands. You need to take Him seriously. Understand that He could and would destroy you if you rebel against Him. But you don't need to be afraid as long as you obey Him. If you choose to disobey, then you'll have a reason to be afraid."

A Valuable Sacrifice

I have begun reading through the book of Leviticus. Why? Because it's one of the last places from which I expect to derive some devotional value. But since "all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable..." (2 Timothy 3:16), I thought I'd try to find to find devotional value in Leviticus.

Here is what struck me today as I read Leviticus 3.

According to verses 1 and 6, peace offerings are to be male or female animals "without defect." Consider just how valuable such an animal would be. First of all, it would be the best the worshiper had to offer. If he was going to sell an animal to get top price, this would be his best bet. But it goes well beyond that. Such an animal, if it were to be kept alive, could be used to breed more high-quality animals. So the worshiper doesn't just lose one unblemished animal, he gives up the generations of future animals that could have carried the same superior genes. This is no small sacrifice.

Worship of God is not cheap. It is costly. If it is not costly, then our worship says very little about the value of God. In fact, it instead declares the value of our money, of what our money can buy, of our leisure time, or of our lesiure activities. Worship is costly. But God is worth it.

Farewell to USA Cinema

Tomorrow morning (June 7th), Walnut Creek Community Church will meet for the last time (Lord willing) at the USA Cinema in Niles, Ohio. Beginning next Sunday, we will be Cross Point Bible Fellowship, having merged with Vienna Baptist Church, in whose building we will begin to meet. Although, for a number of reasons, we are pleased to be moving from the theater, it really has been a blessing to meet in the theater for the past 4.5 years.

Here are some reasons why it's been a blessing (taken from the sermon I have prepared for tomorrow):

1. In 4.5 years, the USA Cinema owners never once raised our rent.

2. When the church met at Lakeview High School, our equipment had to be brought in a trailer every Sunday. But here in the theater, we’ve been able to store most of our equipment.

3. Meeting in the theater hasn’t killed our church. While we wonder if some of the new people who visited couldn’t quite wrap their minds around having church in a theater every Sunday, many of the new people did.

"Is the Lord among us or not?"

This is what the Israelites were saying not long after God had delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 17:7). They had seen God do the incredible. They had cowered in fear at the edge of the sea, thinking that they were about to be killed by the Egyptians. Then they watched as God parted the sea, allowing them to walk through on dry ground, before causing the sea to fall back onto the Egyptian army. Then, only a month and a half into their journey, they complained about their lack of food. And God provided what they needed - plenty of meat every evening, and bread every morning.

But those Israelites must have had short memories. Even as they were eating the bread that God miraculously provided for them every day, when they came to a place without water, they started to grumble. They thought that Moses had brought them into the desert to die. What were they thinking? Could God part the sea, destroy the Egyptian army, and send bread every morning, and yet NOT be able to provide water for them?

I think that there are at least two lessons for us in this.

1. God's people must not have short memories. How often have we seen God come through for us, providing just what we needed? Most of us could say that we have seen this many times. But aren't we often just like those Israelites - quickly forgetting what God has done in the past when our present need is not taken care of as quickly as we'd like?

2. God's people must not use present circumstances to draw conclusions about God's love. The Israelites were asking, "Is God among us or not?" They didn't have any water to drink. So they concluded that God must not be among them. It was as if they had said, "If God was among us, we would have water to drink right now!" But what was true? God was among them. They had plenty of examples of God's past provision and plenty of promises about the future. That should have been enough for them to not question God. But it wasn't. Maybe they were paying more attention to their circumstances than to God's track record and His promises. Whether that was the case or not, we can be sure that present difficulties are no indication that God is not with us.