The Beauty of Long Term Commitment

I'm still in an afterglow from yesterday's Sunday worship. Mike's message on marriage and divorce, taken from the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5, was absolutely riveting (for those of you who don't live in Abilene I highly recommend that you order the CD of this sermon on 1-29-06. Go to highlandchurch.org to see how to order it).

He did such a good job of telling us of God's grace for all of us "moral screwups," reminding us that none of us merits good standing before God -- that only through the grace of God through Jesus Christ can we be made right by God. Those who go have gone through the heart-wrenching pain of divorce should not be treated as second class citizens in the body of Christ.

And yet Mike took such a strong stand for marriage, which, as he pointed out, is Jesus' main emphasis in this passage. Jesus is telling us as His followers that we must have a righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees -- that is, not outward appearances of religiosity but a deep inner goodness (which I would add, only comes through our hearts being regenerated by the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Christ).

What got me most, as I listened to this sermon while seated next to my bride of 24 plus years, is how Mike talked about the beauty of long-term commitment, where a couple shares a story for a life time -- through the tough times and the bad times. It made me think of an event earlier this weekend where Susan and I attended the 50th Anniversary of John and Evelyn Willis - one of our beloved elder couples. They have raised four kids, served thousands of students through John's teaching ministry at ACU, have had countless numbers of these students in their homes, and have ministered to so many others in hospitals and homes through John's work as an elder for nearly 30 years. Like all marriages, it is an imperfect relationship. But it is a Christ-honoring relationship. The beauty of a long obedience in the same direction, to borrow from the words of Eugene Peterson.

I long for that long-term commitment with Susan, and ask the Lord that He would give us at least 26 more years together. So we can have a marriage that would glorify Him and bless our children and grandchildren with a model of long-term commitment.

I realize that because of sin in this world and in our hearts, marriages sometimes come to a crashing end -- even among those who claim Jesus Christ as their Savior. Susan and I prayed for such a person yesterday at the close of the service. A single mom whose husband left her to raise their two young children...after 10 years of marriage.

However, can't we be vigilant about guarding our marriages from the enemy? Must we look at divorce as a valid option? And isn't it vital that when we go through turbulent waters in our marriages that we quickly reach out to Christian friends, a Spirit-led counselor and/or some church leaders to keep us from drowning in conflict? My experience has been that those who are proactive about asking for help with their marriage problems are more likely to save their relationship than those who hide their problems... until it was too late.

I'm thinking that if all of us in the body of Christ would be humble enough to say to those we trust, "I need help....we need help," we're much less likely to let the enemy of our souls get a foothold in our hearts. The sweetest moment after Mike's sermon was when this young couple came to the back and walked up to Susan and me ( who were complete strangers to them) and said, "We're getting married in June. Would you pray God's blessings over our marriage?" What a privilege it was for us to lay hands on these young college students and ask the Lord to grant them a marriage that will last a lifetime.

For those of you who heard the message yesterday, how did it hit you? For the rest of you, what stories do you have about the power of long-term commitment in marriage?

In His grip,

Jim