Merciful Father, Your
patience and loving-kindness toward us have no end. Grant that by Your Holy
Spirit we may always think and do those things that are pleasing in Your sight.
Today is LWML Sunday. What does LWML stand for? It simply
stands for the Lutheran Woman’s
Missionary League. This organization is recognized as one of the two
official auxiliary arms of our Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Along with the
Lutheran Layman’s League, the LWML dedicates itself totally to the mission
spirit of our Savior Jesus Christ.
LWML is a “League” a recognize service organization within
our national church-body. It is organized as a “Missions” endeavor. It is
“Lutheran” in doctrine and ideology. But the LWML is a “Woman’s” movement
within our church. It is a society within our church, which is centered on
women; Christian women, doing the work of the Lord. How fitting it is then,
that on this LWML Sunday the appointed Old Testament reading would give
emphasis on the role that women play in the life of the church.
Certainly, these are fitting words for our women to hear but
what about the men? This morning’s theme - “The Divine Design For Women”, does
this imply that these words do not apply to men? On the contrary, these words
apply to all of us; to women but also to the men.
Our Lord Himself said, “It
is not good for the man to be alone.” The cause God to create a woman. No
amount of vegetation and no number of animals could be a satisfactory companion
to a human. Woman was made for man, and it’s normal and right for men and
women, male and female to be together as companions and friends. In a word, it is called, a family.
It is significant that Eve was neither an isolated nor an independent
creation. Eve was formed out of Adam by the use of a rib. Male and female are
not two separate creations, each going his/her own way they were not made to be
independent of each other.
Eve was made from Adam to indicate that they were of the
same material and were meant for each other. And why the rib? Why not the head
or the foot? Is it not true that the rib is the closest thing to the heart? Husbands, God has created your wife to be your
life partner. She is your confidant. You are fortunate and blessed to have her
in your life. She’s the best thing that ever happened to you. You’re fortunate
to have her in your life. So don’t get annoyed when she reminds you of this
fact, every day.
As we have entered now the second decade of the 21st
Century, and on this LWML Sunday our text answers a pertinent question for us
to consider. As husbands and wife, as mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers
– what is the role of women in the world today? God has a divine design for
women, especially within the framework of the family.
First, she is man’s
companion. “Then the Lord God said,
It is not good that the man should be alone I will make him a helper fit for
him.” -V.18 The Lord speaking tells us plainly – it is not good for the man
to be alone. To that end He created for Adam a companion; his wife Eve. In marriage,
a man and woman share the joys, the sorrows, the disappointments as well as the
accomplishments of life. Consider the vows, which we speak to each other in the
marriage service. “…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for
richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till
death us do part, according to God’s holy will.” LSB pg. 276 A man wrapped
up in himself makes a small package. To help us grow and to create not merely
harmony but rather to make symphony woman was created to be the companion for
man.
She is also man’s
assistant. Together the husband and wife, the man and the woman make up a
partnership. They are a team. Together in a spirit of unity, they live their
lives as one. In this partnership, there are no competitors, but together they
work for a common goal. In this regard, the most important thing a man can know
is that, as he approaches his own door someone on the other side is listening
for the sound of his footsteps.
When the one man loves the one woman and the one woman loves
the one man the very angels leave heaven, come, and sit in that house. For it
is God who joins us together in marriage and as He so loved us and forgave us
so He has taught us to love each other.
God’s divine design for a woman is that she is a component
part of the male/female union. “The man
said, this is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man will leave his father
and mother and cleave to his wife and they become one flesh.”
In marriage, two become one. In marriage, we witness a new
creation; two independent parts become a brand new one. It is God who does
this. The Savior, the maker of marriage knits two hearts into one. It is a
miracle, which He has performed for our joy, and happiness as Luther summed it
all up, “We are all made for marriage, as our bodies show and as the Scriptures
state.” All this is a gift from God.
It is important to know that this passage does not teach nor
does it even hint or imply that woman is neither inferior nor subordinate to
the male. In truth, God has made us each male and female to complement each
other. He has created us as such to give us the best in this life. After He
created Eve, the Father was finished with His work of creation. At the end of
every day, God concluded that His work was “good”. But when He had joined Adam
and Eve together He said it was, ‘very good,’ ‘very good indeed!’ Together as
husbands and wives, may Christ enter our homes and pronounce such a benediction
on each of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment