An Affirmation of Marriage
by
Anglican Church in North America, Lutheran Church-Canada,
North
American Lutheran Church and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Sacred
Scriptures teach that in the beginning the blessed Trinity instituted marriage
to be the life-long union of one man and one woman (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:4-6), to
be held in honor by all and kept pure (Heb 13:4; 1 Thess 4:2-5). God’s Word
assures us that each time one man and one woman join themselves together in the
union of the marriage commitment and relationship, God himself has joined them
as one. It is important to see that marriage is not only a grace-filled
institution of the church, but part of the very fabric of God’s creation which
extends to every time and place on earth and includes every man and woman who
are joined together in this “one flesh” commitment and bond. Marriage is
created by God and is not simply a social contract or convenience.
Flowing from the
gift of marriage is another precious gift of God, the gift of children. “Be
fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28) is as much a word of divine blessing as it is
a command. Children are the most obvious, distinctive and natural gift of
marriage, for the child is in every sense the “one flesh” of the mother and
father. Marriage lived out according to God’s purpose is therefore also, just
as naturally, the optimal setting for the child. Within the gift of marriage
children receive the blessing of a father and mother who nurture and care for
them, modeling a life in which the distinctive uniqueness and created
differences of male and female serve to complement one another.
Part of the
tragedy of contemporary cultural perspectives in Europe and North America is a
growing bifurcation of marriage and child-bearing. Growing numbers of men avoid
or abdicate fatherly responsibility. Growing numbers of women choose to have
and/or raise children apart from marriage. Just as frequently encountered is
the pervasive assumption of married couples that postponing or purposefully
rejecting children is compatible with the marriage bond. In these different
ways, children appear to have value only to the extent they fulfill parental
desires.
While the gift
of procreation is a profound and beautiful testimony of the blessedness of
marriage and reveals one of marriage’s most fundamental purposes, marital
goodness is not limited by procreation. Where procreation is not possible, many
couples choose to adopt a child into their family and, regardless of intention, also
reflect the divine love which leads God to adopt us as His own (Rom 8:15; Gal
4:5).
So also, a
childless couple exhibits, richly and beautifully, the blessings and goodness
of man and woman living in complementarity. Although as an individual male and
an individual female they are different, even to the point of often seeming to
be alien to the other, their sexual and emotional bond enacts a life of
self-giving openness to each other, protected by the bond of faithfulness. The
committed love of marriage always reveals God’s intention that individuals are
called into community, since marriage takes us beyond our individual identities
so that we give ourselves to another who is distinctively different from
us.
The beauty and
significance of marriage go beyond its earthly effects — as rich and wonderful
as they are. God gave marriage as a picture of the relationship between Christ
and His bride, the church. In sustained and exalted language, Ephesians 5:21-33
connects godly marriage with the glorious relationship of Christ and His church.
As a man and woman relate to one another with rich love and profound respect,
their one flesh union hints of and is intended to signify the union of Christ
and His bride, the church. But Christ and His bride also indicate the fullness
of divine intention for marriage. Speaking of Christ as bridegroom and church
as bride, the apostle notes that husbands are called to sacrificial love toward
their wives and wives to a willing respect for their husbands.
In responding to
the bitter reality of divorce, the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus, reaffirms
the gift of marriage and then reminds us of an obvious implication: “Therefore
what God has joined together, let no one separate” (see Matt 19:3b-6). His
warning is necessary because the beautiful gift of marriage — like all of God’s
created goodness — can be and is marred by sin, which Jesus describes as
“hardness of heart” (Matt 19:8). Yet, sin does not have ultimate power.
Christians recognize that marriage is lived under the cross. Husbands and wives
are not exempt from the suffering that comes with faithfulness in marriage.
Rather, trusting in the promises of Christ Jesus and clinging to each other in
love, marriage is the arena for husband and wife to live together in repentance
and faith.
God’s intention for
marriage is also skewed when it is spurned as unimportant for human well-being,
or repudiated as a godly gift, or twisted into forms that no longer correspond
to the gift God has intended. Rather, God gives marriage to humanity for its
well-being. He commends biblical marriage for couples to make a deep commitment
to one another before God for a lifetime of giving to each other.
In faithfulness
to Christ and in recognition of God’s desire to continue to bless men and women
in the gift of holy marriage, the church through the ages has sought to
encourage godly, joyful, faithful preparation for marriage according to God’s
plan and work. This is in obedience to the Scriptures, which call men and women
to an appropriate discipline of desire. Our human inclination is one of self
satisfaction, but God’s Word calls us to a higher purpose — serving God and
others (see Rom 6:12-14; 1 John 4:20). To serve the other requires the
discipline of our bodies, which obviously includes sexual desires (see Rom
13:13). Therefore both biblical and wider human traditions of most cultures
have emphasized the importance of chaste relationships which reserve sexual
intimacy for marriage.
In such ways
Scripture holds forth a vision of human life as male and female — one which invites
us to see that as embodied creatures, our Creator intends great joy for us.
Joyful, fulfilled life as men and women requires a paradox, however, for it
demands the discipline of our bodies so that our desires do not rule us. This
is so because the source of deepest human joy comes as our lives reflect their
highest purpose in serving God and our neighbor (Matt 22:38-39).
May 2013
Approved by:
The Reverend
John F. Bradosky, Bishop
The North
American Lutheran Church
The Reverend
Robert Bugbee, President
Lutheran
Church–Canada
The Most
Reverend Robert Duncan, Archbishop
The Anglican
Church in North America
The Reverend Dr.
Matthew C. Harrison, President
The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod
Official
participants in the ACNA-LCMS-LCC-NALC “Marriage Summit”
(May 3-5, 2013,
Dallas, Texas):
The Anglican
Church in North America
The Very
Reverend Dr. Jonathan S. Riches
The Rt. Reverend
Dr. Ray R. Sutton
The Lutheran
Church—Missouri Synod
The Reverend Dr.
Frederic W. Baue
The Reverend Dr.
Joel D. Lehenbauer
The Reverend
John T. Pless
The Reverend
Larry M. Vogel
Lutheran
Church–Canada
The Reverend Dr.
John R. Stephenson
The North
American Lutheran Church
The Reverend
Mark C. Chavez
The Reverend Dr.
David Wendel
Posted
May 28, 2013, by
The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Office
of the President
2 comments:
The absence of the homosexual marriage issue is not avoidance of it because it is a theological non-starter in the first place, and it has no place in a statement on Christian marriage.
Good to read this. Had heard nothing about it anywhere else. Thanks be to God for the conservative Lutherans and their willingness to affirm Christian marriage!
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