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Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2004

Grace Church of Burlington July 11, 2004 “Fifty years ago parents were apt to have a lot of kids. Nowadays kids are apt to have a lot of parents.”   E. Lawson             Prior to her marriage, Australian singer Olivia Newton‑John, was asked why she had waited so long to get married and she shared how when she was ten years old, her parents went through a devastating divorce. She said, "You know, it's hard to believe a relationship can last when you've never seen one."             "It is easier in these United States to walk away from a marriage than from a commitment to purchase a used car," noted one attorney. "Most contracts cannot be unilaterally terminated. A marriage commitment, however, can be broken by practically anyone at any time, and without cause.” Sadly, he’s right.             One man shared his experience of having to go to traffic court where he heard two divorce decrees from the judge before his turn came to be heard. Later, he shared with a friend his experience. He said, "I told my wife when I got home that we could have had a divorce any number of times if those reasons I heard in court were good enough for a legal separation.” Yet just a few decades back that wasn’t the case. In those days a couple had to travel to Mexico or acquire residency in Nevada in order to obtain a divorce. Others had to make believe that one of the parties had engaged in a heinous affair. But contemporary America concluded that marital bonds were tied too tightly and responded with no‑fault divorce. A generation later we are paying the price as the value of marriage has dwindled significantly.             The "till death do us part" of marriage, however, is not an ideal. It is a reality that is insured by a covenant before God and an unswerving commitment to one another, a willful agreement to keep your marital love alive. "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" asked the prophet Amos (3:3). Commitment is the volitional, cerebral part of love. It is the part that comes more from our will and mind, than our heart.             Why do so many marriage commitments fall flat these days? It’s because too many promises are made without the promises of God. We can "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23). Our commitment to each other in marriage is sustained by God’s model of faithfulness to us. When a man and woman covenant with one another, God promises faithfulness to them (1 Cor. 1:9). There is no way to overemphasize the centrality of commitment in God’s character. It is woven into every part of the Bible–from Genesis, where God initiates His promise of faithfulness, all the way through the book of Revelation, where John’s vision depicts "a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True" (19:11).             Our faithfulness to one another first begins with a relationship with a faithful Heavenly Father. Our marital covenant to one another is simply committing to our spouse what God has already committed to us, “I believe in you and commit Myself to you through thick and thin, good times and bad." God does not abandon us or even threaten to just because our relationship is going through some tough times. Without commitment and the trust it generates, marriage has little hope of enduring. But it is very difficult for a couple to achieve deep confidence in their own fidelity without first recognizing God’s faithfulness to them. A healthy marriage truly is a God-thing.             Friend, have you ever really realized how faithful God is to you? Are you drawing on His faithfulness to you to empower you to be faithful in your marriage? One of the greatest testimonies to a lost world of the power of God and the reality of the Gospel is a healthy marriage. A healthy marriage is built first upon commitment. What kind of testimony about the grace of God and His power to unite two sinners saved by grace is your marriage?