Today we touch on a pretty heavy, current-event topic. And, I would like to begin on the lighter side.

Once, a young boy had finished attending his very first wedding. His cousin came up to him, after the wedding, and asked the question, "How many women can a man marry?"

And without batting an eye, the little boy said, "Sixteen."

The cousin was surprised by his quick answer and asked, "Where did you get that from?"

The little boy said, "Didn't you hear the pastor? The pastor looked at the groom and said, 'You are to marry four better, four worse, four richer, and four poorer.' You do the math and it adds up to sixteen." J

That little boy had a misunderstanding of what marriage was, didn't he?

On to the more serious side, many people today have a misunderstanding of what marriage is. Marriage is under attack. In a local newspaper this last week there was a four part series on the Marriage Amendment that is coming up on our Election Day, on November 7^th. It is a very near and dear topic to people's hearts today. Well, timing is right to talk about this.

➔ It just so happens this last week that all of our Confirmation Students looked at the Sixth Commandment, "You shall not commit adultery." And, the very first question in that chapter is "What is marriage?"

➔ This morning in your bulletin, it just so happens that the home Bible Studies that Pastor Bartels is preparing for us each week, deals with the Sixth Commandment. And the very first question there too, is, "What is marriage?"

➔ I am going to be talking to my high school youth this morning about marriage.

➔ In the weeks to come, Pastor Bartels will be talking to the Adult Spiritual Growth about "What is marriage?"

➔ And, in the three year series of scripture readings that we follow, it happens to be the case that our Old Testament Lesson for today and our Gospel Lesson for today deal with that very topic. "What is marriage? And what is the institution of marriage?"

So, we follow that theme for today, "Let's uphold the sanctity of marriage."

Sanctity simply means holiness. Let's uphold the holiness of marriage. To do so, we need to define what marriage is. Let’s look at what the catechism says. The catechism is a book of questions and answers. The catechism asks the question, "What is marriage?" Here is the definition that is given.

"Marriage is the life-long union, between one man and one woman into one flesh, given into by mutual consent and promise."

Really, there are three things in that definition. Marriage is a life-long union. Marriage is to last a lifetime. In the marriage vows that husband and wife make, they say "I promise to be married to you for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death parts us."

The definition of marriage goes on to say it is a life-long union between one man and one woman into one flesh.

✗ That rules out two men getting married.

✗ That rules out two women getting married.

In our scripture reading for today, Jesus reminded the Pharisees what God said, right at the creation. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. They are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate."

The final part of that definition, "Marriage is a life-long union between one man and one woman into one flesh," it ends by saying, "by mutual consent and promise." That means that most of the times the husband (but the wife can do this, too) looks at his bride-to-be for the future and says, "Will you marry me?" With the hoped for answer that she will say, "Yes, I will marry you." That is mutual consent. It is not a forced thing.

And then, there are promises that husband and wife remain faithful to each other, for a lifetime. That is how God, in His Word, has defined marriage.

"Marriage is

a life-long union

between one man and one woman

into one flesh,

given into by mutual consent and promise."

God, in His Word, also is the One who instituted marriage. He is the One who established marriage. Our Old Testament Lesson for today reminds us of that. "The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'"

God is the One who defined marriage. God is the One who instituted marriage. And today, we need to combat the attitude of the Pharisees, as it arises in our very culture today. Some of those attitudes are what we think marriage is or when we think it is acceptable for a divorce to take place, instead of looking at what it is God says marriage is and looking at when God says it is ok for a divorce to take place.

So, we sin against marriage, and we sin against the Sixth Commandment every time that we have impure thoughts, words, and deeds in matters related to sex. The Bible tells us that all of us are sinners because we have sinful and impure thoughts. Scripture says, "Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

We sin with our impure thoughts.

✔ We sin with our impure words every time we say an indecent joke.

✔ We sin against the Sixth Commandment and marriage through indecent magazines, books, and movies.

✔ We sin against marriage and the Sixth Commandment, as persons join together in same sex relationships, or as persons join together, before they are married.

✔ We sin against marriage and the Sixth Commandment through the actual breaking of the marriage vow.

It makes me shutter, when I realize I have sinned against marriage and the Sixth Commandment. Scripture puts it bluntly when it says, "Do no be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, or the adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders will inherit the Kingdom of God."

We don't deserve to inherit the Kingdom of God, because we have sinned against marriage and the Sixth Commandment, and yet, Christ, our Bride Groom, desires to remain faithful to us, even though we have been unfaithful to Him.

A wonderful picture in scripture has been given to us of marriage in the book of Hosea. Hosea, the prophet, was asked by God to marry an adulterous woman. She would be unfaithful to him. His children would be unfaithful to him. And yet, God wanted this picture to be before His people. Even though she would be unfaithful to him, God asked Hosea to remain faithful to her. That is the perfect illustration of who we are, as we are married to our Bride Groom, Christ. We constantly are unfaithful to Him, and yet He continues to be faithful to us. He continues to desire to remain married to us. That is most clearly seen at the cross. Ephesians chapter five, tells us that Christ loved the church. That is you.

"Christ loved the church, and gave Himself up for her, to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of 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."

At the cross, our Groom laid down His life for us, the church. And even though we have been unfaithful to Him, He went to the cross to forgive us of all of our sin, even our sins against marriage and the Sixth Commandment. Our Bride Groom laid down His life, so that we, the bride, could have life with Him now and life with Him in Heaven for all eternity.

In his book on marriage and family, John Schutse, in the People's Bible teaching series says, "Remember you are the bride of Christ. He established a picture perfect marriage with you. He made you the perfect bride, by covering your sins with the robe of His righteousness. Don't divorce yourself from your Savior. Listen, when He speaks to you through His Word. Talk with Him, when He invites you to come to Him in prayer. All of this will help to maintain your relationship with Him."

Let's uphold the sanctity of marriage, because it is God, Himself, who defined marriage and instituted it. God shows His high regard of marriage by comparing it with the bride, His church, being married to Christ, Himself.

"Marriage is

the life-long union

between one man and one woman

into one flesh,

given into by mutual consent and promise."

We are the bride of Christ, therefore, let us uphold the sanctity of marriage, for Christ's sake.

Amen.