“Problem: Wrestling with God”

Scripture:   Genesis 32:22-32

A friend has a perplexed look on their face, so you ask “Is there a problem?”  and your friend replies “I’m wrestling with a decision I have to make.”  They aren’t talking about a physical contest, but rather an emotional one.  They have to choose between two or three directions in their life, and the choice isn’t an easy one to make!

 That’s true in many situations in life – whether it is something complicated or critical, such as decisions that we have to make in our careers, or in education, or in our relationships, or even something as simple as a clothing purchase or the color to paint a room in our house.  But whether complex or simple, the decision could be just as difficult, and is probably just as important in your life’s experience.

 For today’s consideration, though, we will take a look at the “wrestling” that a man of God had to go through, and what came from his struggle.

 Even though we know the story of Jacob and his brother Esau, here is a quick refresher – how they were twin boys, born to Isaac and Rebekah, with Esau being born first; how Jacob had deceived his father in order to receive both the birthright and blessing that Esau deserved; and how the betrayal created a nearly irreparable break in the brothers’ relationship. (Genesis 27-28) 

Jacob is forced to leave home to save his life, and goes to live with his uncle Laban.  He meets his cousins Rachel and Leah, and marries both of them. (Genesis 29:1-30:24)  He also pulls a fast one with his father-in-law, and gains a substantial household of servants, as well as flocks of sheep and goats, and herds of camels and donkeys, and becomes quite wealthy. (Genesis 30:25-43) 

 And then the time came for him to return to his home and family in Canaan, but on the way, he sends a messenger to his brother Esau, to let him know that he wishes to reconcile. (Genesis 32:1-18) And our passage for today begins the night before the brothers meet again after many years of separation.

 Read Genesis 32:22-25

 All through his life, Jacob had been making decisions that would benefit himself.  He deceived his father in order to cheat his brother out of his rightful inheritance.  He married a woman who he didn’t really love so that he could marry her younger sister whom he loved far more.  He deceived his father-in-law to become wealthy, who had also conspired against him in his marriage of the two sisters.  And now he had to finally face up to the broken relationship with his brother.  It sure does sound like a soap opera, doesn’t it!

 But the truth is that God’s plan for the man is beginning to become more apparent.  Isn’t it interesting that no matter how many false steps and turns we may make in this life, and no matter how much trouble we may have created for ourselves and others, eventually, when we finally come to our senses, we find ourselves right where the Lord wanted us in the first place!  Jacob has, at last, become the vulnerable one, but that’s not a bad thing, as long as God has the upper hand!

 So far, we have heard nothing about this strange man who comes to Jacob in the night - nothing about why he has come to Jacob, nothing about why he has initiated a wrestling match at this juncture in Jacob’s journey back home, or even why Jacob didn’t continue across the river with his family to meet up with his brother.  But we do discover that while this stranger can’t quite win the conflict, he is able to injure Jacob in his hip.

 The conflict continues throughout the night, as the combatants seemed equally powerful and committed in this fight.  And we have to assume that each saw victory as an incentive to continue, regardless of any possible physical exhaustion.  But why was this match up so vital to both?

 Read Genesis 32:26-28

 They wrestle all night, even though neither is able to gain the upper hand.  But does this mean that no one wins, or that both of them win?  Neither relents, neither submits, neither surrenders.  But additional questions that may rise up within us could be “if this stranger is truly God, 1) why would he take on the form of a man, which, even though it does happen, is not all that common in scripture, 2) why would God even need to have a contest of strength with Jacob, and 3) why didn’t the Lord just win quickly and get it over with?

 It may very well be that the Lord was bringing his opponent to a point where he was able to consider the quality of his relationship with his Jehovah God.  For the past many years, Jacob’s life had been one of conflict, deception, and self-serving attitudes.  But here he is, kept from proceeding with his wealth and family, finding himself alone with this God/Man who will not let him go until he understands.

 And Jacob, in his request for a blessing, finally acknowledges that this other man is God.  After all, only God can truly bless our lives, and how does the man respond to the demand?  He gives Jacob a new name – Israel, or “the one who struggles with God”.  Then Jacob’s opponent adds that his struggle has not only been with God, but also with men, and has overcome both.  We have seen his conflict with other people, but what is this struggle with God all about?  The faith of Jacob’s father had been a source of blessing to his father Abraham, but had Jacob been a blessing to Isaac?  If he was, it certainly isn’t apparent, and the Lord has called all of us to care for others in the way of our Almighty God, and when we don’t, we become an obstruction to God’s blessings.

 God neither let Jacob win nor lose, and both persevered in the struggle to bring a new sense of God’s grace to the life of the man.  He had struggled for many years with how to live a blessed life, and had never quite found it, until now.  The Lord said that the new name means “You have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”  But a closer translation probably means “God reigns”, or “God rules” – either of which comes pretty close to the scriptural definition.  But the more important question is “what has he overcome”?  He certainly didn’t overcome God, and his deception in the lives of other men can hardly be described as a victory, so the question remains – what has he overcome?

 I believe that in this struggle, Jacob had overcome himself and his own ways.  And if we never struggle with the Lord, the only thing we have is a continuation of the conflict that reigns in our life.  But if we allow our conflict with God and his ways to rise to the surface of our existence, he will never let go until we finally let go of ourselves, and seek his blessing in our life.  This explanation makes a lot of sense for me, because this is the story of my struggle with God. 

 I know that I have shared my testimony with you before, but let’s put it in Jacob’s context.  For years, literally, I had sought the Lord’s acknowledgment and acceptance of my desires for life, and all I ever received from him was silence – silence in faith, silence in correction, silence in blessing, silence in understanding.  And then during one long and frustrating night, my “wrestling match” began, and not only didn’t God let go of me, but he refused to allow me to let go of him.  And by the time that my “daylight” arrived, I had come to know that my ways weren’t even close to the Lord’s, and that the only thing he wanted from me was my trust that his ways were the only way.  That was the night of the greatest blessing of my life.  I’m not sure if he gave me a new name that night or not, unless it was “Christian”.  And that is a name that I now know is a lot harder to live up to than Bill!

 Read Genesis 32:29-32

 Coming to the realization of just who God is for us personally is a life changing experience.  But who is the one to be changed?  Some folks actually believe that we can change the Lord’s mind, but that’s a fallacy – we are the only ones who are changed when we “wrestle” with the Living God.  We may still look the same, but everything else about us becomes new – new language, new attitudes, new love, new compassion, new goals, new purpose, new direction, new strength – well, you get the point.  And when we immerge from our struggle with God, our struggle with humanity becomes remade, too.  It no longer is one in which we strive to destroy and conquer others, but rather one in which our desire is to lead them to their own experience of change.

 Jacob had been changed to the point that he now knew that he had seen his God face to face, and had lived to tell about it.  He wanted to know the name of this person, but what kind of name could God possibly have?  So the man doesn’t get that request answered, but he is assured that this is truly his Lord God Jehovah.

 And his non-specific hip injury?  It would become his reminder of that precious night - the night when he wasn’t defeated by God, when he wasn’t destroyed by God, but rather became victorious through the struggle that he endured and survived through the grace of his, and our, Almighty and Loving God.  He would no longer fear the pending encounter with his brother Esau, and indeed, would be embraced by him, and his life would take on a whole new meaning. (Genesis 33:1-12)

 How has your wrestling match with God been going?  Are you winning?  Do you feel that you are losing? Are you ready to give up?  Or is it making a huge difference in your life?  Remember that wrestling with God is never about winning or losing – it’s all about the change that takes us from being a person who exists solely for ourselves, to one who lets the Lord become their sole purpose.

Let perseverance be your strength until the “daylight” comes, and then you will understand the incredible change, and the glorious victory that only a perfected struggle with God can bring.

 

          

“Problem: Who’s First?

 

Scripture:   Philippians 2:1-13

 When we consider the final verse of our passage from last week, we discover that Jesus, in a way, answered our question for today – who will be first, or honored, when the day of the kingdom of God arrives, and who will be left wanting?  The LORD told us, in Luke 13:30, that “Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”  In essence, he is saying that a lot of people are going to be surprised on that day.  It’s about what each person accepts as Godly, and what they reject as false teaching.  Remember that Israel, Jesus’ primary audience, believed that since they had been called “the chosen people” that they were on the “in” with Jehovah, and everyone else was “out”.

The point of Jesus’ words is this – don’t second guess God, and never think you have a better plan than he does, because you will be wrong at every turn, and one day, you will discover that the truth has been right in front of you all the time, and you missed it.  You thought that you would be “first” in the kingdom, but guess what!  You won’t be!

 But the “problem” for today isn’t so much about who will, one day, be honored, and who, on that same day, will be rejected, but rather why our way isn’t going to help us one little bit when we stand before the throne of God. 

 And so we begin.

 Read Philippians 2:1-4

 In the conclusion to Jesus’ parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16), in which some workers worked for the master all day, and others only part of the day, including some who only worked for an hour or so, there were complaints that every worker received the same pay, regardless of how much they worked, and that just wasn’t right.  And in verse 15, the “master” replies to the complainers “ ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’  ¹⁶ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 

 It would seem that God’s generosity has nothing to do with our definition of that term!  Later in that chapter (Matthew20:24-28), he gives an example of what “generosity” signifies in his kingdom.  He says that the extent of our generosity depends on, not how much of our resources we may give to others, but on how generous we are with our life, with our self.  He says that the test of our greatness rests on how great our servanthood is.

 

In our passage for today, Paul reminds us that our “servanthood” must be based in humility, not in personal pride, that it is has nothing to do with what we will gain from it, but rather in what others will receive from our efforts!  And where does our desire to serve others begin?  He says that it is based in our relationship with Jesus and his example for our lives, that we must be united with Christ.  Union with Christ goes beyond following, or discipleship, or even faithfulness.  It means that we must be one with him in mind, in spirit, and in heart.  Our surrender to his ways must be complete and total, but in return, what do we receive?

 

Paul writes that we will be encouraged in our good times to grow even greater in our faith and trust; that we will be comforted in our times of difficulty through the love that God shows to us; that fellowship through the Spirit will bring us a union with others who believe and unite with the LORD; we will gain in tenderness and compassion to use in our ministry to the people of this world.

 

And we are told that in all that we receive through Christ, we are to live in a union with the Church that mimics the life that Jesus lived.  Like-minded, loving, and Spirit filled with one purpose – that is what the Church of Jesus Christ demands of us.  And it all hinges on doing it all – not for our benefit, but to the glory of God and the betterment of others!

 

Do you think we are there yet?  Hardly!  And if we’re honest, we must admit that we aren’t even close!  And yet, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t see the way of Jesus Christ as both the goal for our personal lives, as well as for our church’s direction and mission.   Perhaps we’ll talk about how we go about this radical change from striving to be first in the world to accepting the lower position here (Luke 14:11), so that we might be first in the heart of God.  But for now, back to our passage.

 

Read Philippians 2:5-8

 

In Colossians1:15-17, we read that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”.  Before Christ left heaven and came into the world, he was the Second Person of the Triune God.  Not in second place to the Father, but on a par.  But when he left Glory to become our Savior, he had to give up his presence as God before he could take on the appearance of a man.  After all, the sin of mankind required the sacrifice of humanity, but only God can forgive sin.  Therefore God had to take on the attributes and life of his own creation, while forgoing the adoration and majesty of the divine, in order to become the required sacrifice on their behalf.  His sacrifice had to be as one of us before we could receive the forgiveness of God.

 

And in that change, he could not accomplish his mission while also taking on the power and authority that humanity had created – so instead, he became the lowest of mankind, a servant to the very ones he had once created.  Talk about becoming humble in the extreme!  But that was what would be required if created humanity could ever have a chance of living in eternity with their Creator!

 

And we are being asked to take on that same level of humility so that we, too, can achieve “lastness” in this life with Christ.

 

Read Philippians2:9-13

 

And here is the greatness, the “firstness” of God at work.  The humbleness of Jesus, his servanthood to the people of earth, his acceptance of being the sacrifice that could achieve forgiveness for their sins, the eagerness of God to free the ones who had demeaned him, denied him, rejected him, and who had worked so hard to overturn his truth, were now being told how to give God pleasure and joy once again, and what is required to receive the LORD’s blessings once more.

 

And where Jesus once took on the lowly estate of a man, and gave himself for their salvation, he has now been lifted up to his former glory, and would finally, on the day that is yet to come, be honored and acknowledged by everyone as the One he had been forever.  The problem, though, is in the timing of everyone’s confession.  Will we confess Jesus Christ as LORD, Redeemer, and Savior while we are still able to make that decision and choice, or will we wait until the day of Christ’s return when there will no longer be a choice to make?  Will we choose Jesus because we know that we are “least and last”, or feel that we are already “first and best” and have no need of him?

 

Jesus, in his greatness, chose to become humble in order to accept servanthood and “leastness” as a human being.  Are we willing to acknowledge our inability to become righteous in this life, to choose humility over greatness, and to turn to Jesus as our one and only hope for eternity?  Now some believe that this choice is all that we need to do – that afterward, we can just sit back and relax, and they forget Paul’s admonition in the final verses of this passage.

 

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.  They also forget the first few verses of this passage, that pride, personal satisfaction, and arrogance have no place in the life of a Christian.  The truth is that we must now work to remain united with Christ, to be like-minded in him and in the Church, to love others – all of them - as Jesus loved us, to walk in spirit and common purpose, with each other, in service, and to always take the lower position so that others may be honored with the higher one. 

 

The question for today has been “Who’s First?”  It would appear that our answer should be “others”, but that is easier said than done!  Verse three of our passage for today must be the focus that all Christians should claim, so here it is one more time -  “³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility value others better than yourselves.”  Isn’t this exactly what Jesus did?  If we are to be “like-minded” with our LORD, shouldn’t we live in the same manner as he did?

 

May we always take the knee to give honor to our Savior, and may we always confess Jesus Christ as the LORD of our life, not just in words and appearance, but in everything that we think and do.  That is the life that will, one day, gain us glory and honor at the place of our Almighty God.

 

But that day has yet to come, and the day that we live now is one of working in our salvation with “fear and trembling” over just what God had to do to ensure that his way could be ours.  That was never a problem for God, so why should it be one for us.

 

          

"Problem: Why isn't Goodness Enough"

 Scripture:   Matthew7:21-23; Luke 13:23-30

 I like to listen to the oldies station on the radio.  The songs bring back some great memories of when I was growing up in the ‘50s and 60s.  The other day, the station played “Last Kiss” by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers – are you old enough to remember that one?  It was one of several “teen tragedy” songs from that era, and as a reminder, in this one, a boy and his girl friend go out for a ride, but wind up in an accident, and the girl tragically dies.  As he says good-by to her with one last kiss, we hear the chorus – “Oh where oh where can my baby be, The Lord took her away from me.  She’s gone to heaven so I got to be good, So I can see my baby when I leave this world.”

 The problem with this song is that many folks of that generation, as well as others throughout the ages, have taken it to contain some basic theological truths – first, that when something bad happens to us, it is God at work. And second, that if we can just be good enough, we will be welcomed into heaven.  Unfortunately, there are problems with both thoughts.  First, God is goodness, and the struggles that we go through in life are usually due to human failure, not God’s.  And second, no one will ever be so good that they will be able to gain entry to the kingdom of heaven all on their own, but God’s truth holds out a far better possibility for us – one that we can discover and achieve.

 But let’s back up, and consider each of these possibilities.

 Read Matthew 7:21-23

 This passage from Matthew 7 is offered near the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  And in the next verse, the Lord tells the crowd (and us!) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-28)  It seems that false prophets are exposed for who they truly are in the strangest of ways – sometimes in those great old songs we used to love, and always through the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the bedrock of our faith!

 The point in these verses is that there is a lot of goodness that is constantly being lifted up throughout the world, but the only good that we can truly depend upon is that of our Lord and Savior.  God has known from the very beginning that we will never be good enough to live in the way that he can, and he wants us to know that anyone who proclaims human goodness as being sufficient must be seen as a false prophet.

 Over these last many months, we’ve all heard the Covid-19 virus described as “evil”, and it may be very well be so, and it will be God given gifts of wisdom, trust, and ability that will defeat it.  But the real test will be who will get the credit for victory over the virus – will God be given the victory, or will it be human intervention and human abilities that finally bring it to its proverbial knees?  We’ll see, won’t we!

 That’s the point – that when we take credit for God’s benevolence, and greatness, and goodness, we become a false prophet.  In Jesus’ teaching, he actually says that the “evildoers” mention that everything that they did was in the name of Jesus, but we have to wonder if they actually believed their own words!  It isn’t what we say, it isn’t what we do, it isn’t what we accomplish that matters in this life – it is all about what we believe and what we claim in Jesus Christ! 

 These three verses are actually about the Day of Judgment – when the sheep are separated from the goats, when believers are welcomed, and the worldly are sent away.  The question, though, is where will we find ourselves – inside at the heavenly banquet, or outside in the darkness, wondering what went wrong?

 Read Luke 13:23-25

 “Make every effort to enter by the narrow door”.  In John’s gospel, Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).  And in the early verses of that chapter, he tells us that he is “the gate for the sheep”.  In those days, a shepherd would build an enclosure for the sheep to stay in at night.  There would be wolves and other predators on the prowl for an easy meal, and the entrance – the gate – would be the shepherd’s place to sleep, and anyone wishing to do harm to the flock would have to get past the shepherd first.  And Jesus says that anyone who tries to enter the pen by any means other than the gate, is nothing more than a “thief and a robber”. (John 10:1-18)

 So in our passage from Luke, when Jesus refers to “the narrow door”, he is referring to his teaching regarding the Good Shepherd, who serves as the gate for his sheep.  Humanity would much prefer a wide doorway that has no gate whatsoever!  I’ve heard others say, and I’m sure that you have, too, that it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are faithful to whatever you believe.  Unfortunately, whoever the one is who you believe in, will also be the reason and way to whatever your eternity will be.  Remember that Almighty God is the one, and only one, who created heaven and earth, and his offer of eternal glory is exclusively for those who follow his way.  All other promises will come from thieves and robbers and false prophets, and their eternity has also been carefully and thoughtfully prepared for them by the Lord – and it is not going to be an especially nice place to live in! (Matthew 7:13-14)

 For many, the narrow door will become a closed door.  And the image of many standing outside, knocking on the “narrow door” seeking entry, reminds us of the famous painting of Jesus standing at the door of our lives, knocking, asking us to let him in to our heart!  If we have chosen to exclude Jesus from our lives, how could we ever imagine that he would let us into his?

 Read Luke 13:26-30

 So when the knocking and pleading doesn’t work, Jesus tells us that they will try the fellowship tactic.  Table meals was a time for showing love to your friends, and for being welcoming to strangers.  Jesus foresees the time when some will believe that spending time together is enough.  But we have to remember that Jesus ate with everyone – not just those who believed in him and his teachings, not just with those who he knew would join him in eternal fellowship, but with many, including Pharisees, Sadducees, and run of the mill people from other ways of life.  Some would come to his way and life, but most of them would not.

 He says that some will have heard him teaching on the streets of their hometowns, but that won’t be enough, either.  There are many in our churches today who hear the word of God each and every week, but “hearing” isn’t enough – receiving and believing and acting on the word of God is what is important!  And many in our churches today, even those who may have been members for years, are going to find themselves on the outside, wishing that the door would open for them, too, but discovering that it never can.

 Feasting together at fellowship time is a wonderful experience.  We can visit with each other, catching up on life-issues, sharing precious memories together, and remembering other personal and poignant times that have come to mean so much to us.  But this is a poor and inadequate substitute for the heavenly banquet that awaits all who have given their lives to Jesus and his ways.  And neither fellowship nor simply hearing the message of Jesus Christ will ever be enough to open the door to eternal glory.

 But there will be people from every corner of the earth, from every age, from every background, from every nation, from every belief, and from every false hope who the door will open for!  But in the midst of all of these differences, the one thing they all will have in common, is their ultimate rejection of the ways of earth and the lies of those “false prophets”, and their surrender to the ways of Almighty God as taught to us by his Son, Jesus Christ.

 It's not about hearing his word, but about receiving it and living it.

It’s not about knowing about him, but rather about loving him and trusting in all he has shared with us.

It’s not about being good for him, but rather about leaning upon the goodness that he has given for us.

It’s not about contentment in faith, but rather about constantly striving to grow and serve in faith.

It’s not about discovering our own way out of sin and into righteousness, but rather about being bathed in the atoning blood of Jesus which cleanses us from our failures in the world.

It’s will never be about what we do, but always about what Jesus has done for us.

 Have you surrendered your hopeless life and ways to Jesus?  Do you believe and trust in him, and him alone? 

 Faith and obedience to the ways of Jesus Christ will be our only way to glory, for there never has been, and never will be any other!

 

          

“Problem: Women!”

 

Scripture:   Proverbs 12:4; Ephesians 5:22-33

 Now before we begin today, I want to say that I could have given this message a totally different title, but I chose this one simply to get your attention!  Was I successful?  The truth is that “women” isn’t the actual problem that we will discuss today, but rather the attitude toward women that seems so apparent in God’s word, and what scripture is really trying to tell us through our very human lives. 

 First, we need to understand the culture of that day, as well as the societal position that women have been held to throughout history.  They had, in general, been less educated, less wealthy, had less authority, a lower position, and their influence was, for the most part, confined to the home.  This was the general situation of women throughout the days of scripture and beyond, with only a few notable exceptions, such as: 

The prophet Deborah – God had chosen her to be a Judge for Israel (Judges 4), and she guided the men of the nation in matters pertaining to faith, commerce, the law, relationships, and even the military. 

Lydia, as we read in Acts16:13-15, 40 was a dealer in purple cloth.  She had her own home, and may very well have became a home church leader.  She would have been wealthy in her own regard, and certainly an influential person in her town.

We read a number of times in Acts 18 about Priscilla and Aquila, a husband and wife ministry team who co-hosted a house church in Corinth.  And even though scripture doesn’t actually tell us this, there are a number of times that they are mentioned together, and half the time, Priscilla is named first, indicating that she had as much authority in the church as her husband did.  And when Paul moved on from Corinth to Ephesus, the two went with him and then remained there to continue the ministry.

 But there are also a number of passages that either implicitly or explicitly tell us that these women were the exceptions, and not the rule.  Even in our own country, women were denied the right to vote until early in the 20^th century, as well as being barred from admission to colleges and universities!  But we’re not going to debate the reasons for these obstructions to “rights for all”, except for what the Bible says about these issues, and in particular, for women in the early Church.

 We’re going to begin with a passage that I haven’t included in our PowerPoint slides, but one that seems to go against the conventional thought of that day regarding the position of women.

 Galatians 3:26-29 -  “²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

 Jesus was always taking the most controversial stand when it came to the Law of Israel.  And even though Paul had, at one time, leaned totally upon the Law’s take on what was right and what wasn’t, in this instance, he jumped right into what Jesus had always taught – that he had come for everyone, and that God had always seen all people as equal.  We might very well read this passage in a straight up and obvious way, but in truth, it was just about as radical as any statement could possibly be.

 Our Lord, in his example to each of us, reached out to everyone, regardless of what the Law said.  He was always touching the lives of both Jews and Gentiles, to the consternation of both the Pharisees and his own disciples.  He ministered to the wealthy and the poor, the strong and the infirm, the healthy and the sick, the enslaved and their owners, the demon possessed and the “righteous”, and to men and women.  He never treated anyone different than anyone else, regardless of what the culture, and the Law of Moses, demanded.

 And if he walked among us today, he would include people of every nationality, every race, every position in society, every culture, every gender (including the new “non-binary” ones), every faith background, and yes, still every man and every woman.  And Paul concludes his thought with the affirmation that if we are in Christ Jesus, we are also heirs of God’s promise that was made to all of the faithful – that by faith - not by some worldly privilege – we will know the glory of being his children.

 So what about all of those other thoughts in scripture?

 Read Proverbs 12:4

 The book of Proverbs is, of course, attributed to Solomon, supposedly the greatest and wisest man of his day.  And the thought that he expresses in this verse of “wisdom” reflects, not his Jehovah God’s glory, but his own lack of Godly understanding.  He was writing what his male audience believed and practiced – that a wife was little better than a husband’s property, and held a position only slightly above that of their children.  A wife’s purpose was to be a gift to her husband, and when she did well, it reflected on the man’s choice of a wife.  And when she failed him in every and any way possible, that, too, was a reflection on him.

 Even in the last verses of this book, the passage that we know as “The Wife of Noble Character” (Proverbs 31:10-31), is as much about her husband as it is about the wife.  The only way these verses can have any goodness within them is if we take the word “husband” to mean Lord and Savior.  And this isn’t too far a stretch, when we realize that the Church is sometimes referred to as the bride of Christ.  And a faithful life would, indeed, make us noble in the eyes of our Almighty God.

 But the New Testament seems to go even further is propagating the myth of a woman’s low worth.  So here is another passage that isn’t included in our slides.

 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 ^-  “³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.  ³⁴ Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.^”

 Throughout the first 30 verses of this chapter, Paul speaks a warning about the misuse of speaking in tongues - he expounds on the difference between orderly worship and selfish worship.  And as the chapter continues, the question of women’s position in worship is raised.  Some scholars believe that someone edited Paul’s letter, believing that he must have forgotten to include a caution on women in regard to orderly worship!

 But Paul had a totally different view of how women fit into ministry in the name of Christ, as we noted at the beginning of this message.  In Galatians1:13-24, he writes that following his experience with Jesus on the Road to Damascus, he went off for three years, presumably for reflection, prayer and Christian growth before he ventured into ministry.  The words in those few verses from 1 Corinthians 14 were unlike Paul’s writing, and were certainly not in the spirit of Jesus’ teaching. 

 However, the situation may have had some relevance to the church in those days.  Can you imagine the feeling that women might have had when they suddenly could begin going to worship with their husbands?  Imagine how they might have reacted when they began hearing the scriptures, as well as apostolic letters, read in worship, which they had never heard before!  They would have had questions galore, and this new sense of independence, inclusion, and acceptance would have sparked a desire to know even more, and they just might have asked their questions right in the middle of worship – a disruption for some!  But it wouldn’t have been Paul’s understanding of what the Lord would have wanted.

 But what about Ephesians 5?

 Read Ephesians 5:22-24

 This passage may also be an example of writings that came from one of Paul’s disciples, and not from his own pen, or it may have been a lesson on the Church’s relationship with Almighty God!

 The lesson is a comparison between what the law said about the husband-wife relationship, and what our relationship with Christ is all about.  In the law, all members of the family, including the wife, were obligated to submit to all decisions that the “man of the house” made.  He decided all matters pertaining to the business of the family, of who his children, especially the girls, would marry, of whether they came to Christ or remained in the old ways of the Law, and on and on.

 The family submitted themselves to the husband, the father, the master of the house, and for those who come to Christ, they, too, as the Church, are to submit their lives to the Lord and his ways.  Submission and obedience to the ways of Almighty God are to be absolute, complete, and followed to the max.

 But the passage continues.

 Read Ephesians 5:25-33

 If you were counting, it seems that the words in our previous passage, if they were meant indeed for wives, involved 3 verses, while the verses in this one, the ones that appear to be given for husbands, number 9!  Does this mean that men need 3 times as much instruction as the women need?  Maybe!  Or does it mean that we, as the Church, as the bride of Christ, have a totally different responsibility in the relationship that we have with God, than the Lord does for us?  Paul is very intentional in separating the approach in “marriage”, whether as husband and wife, or as disciple and Lord, so that each doesn’t infringe on the responsibilities of the other!

 Let me read this passage again, and this time, as we hear the words, we will substitute the thought of “Church” in place of “wife”, and Almighty God in place of “Husband”.  Listen.

 Church, submit yourself to your Almighty God.  Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he alone is the Savior. Now submit yourselves to the way of Christ in everything.

The Father loves his people, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

The One who loves his faithful is the same One who loves within his Triune Presence.  After all, Christ did this for the church - for we are members of his body.  For even as a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so this is the mystery of the Church – Christ’s church.  So just as we are loved by God, husbands, you also must love your wife as you love yourself, and just as the Church must respect the ways of God, so the wife should also respect her husband.

 Could this be what Jesus wants us to know?  Could God be using a blend of his word and the human way of relationships, to teach us about our life in him?  It seems that the problem isn’t so much with women  as it is a problem with you and me - as the Church!  Think about that!