LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1983, Page 333

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS

III. Some Problems

Against the background of this discussion of marriage and
its purposes we may proceed tocomment briefly ona few issues
connected with marriage and sexuality. Our intention here is
not to discuss fully all relevant issues, such as, for example. the
problems of pornography or abortion. but instead to deal with
some of the problems most frequently mentioned in requests to
the Synod.?8 It should be noted that we have chosen to concen-
trate first on a positive development of the order of marriage
and its purposes. No discussion of particular problems, however
urgent they may appear to be, is likely to be helpful if carried
out in isolation from a developed theological understanding of
sexuality. Furthermore, it ought to be obvious that no brief
discussion of the problems taken up can be exhaustive or fully
adequate. It will be enough to point out the direction in which
the analysis above leads with respect to certain issues.

A. Divorce and Remarriage

In response to the questioning of some Pharisees. Jesus was
Himself prompted to discuss the issue of divorce (Matt. 19:3-9:
ef. Matt. 5:31 f.). In so doing He appeals to the primal will of the
Creator that a man and woman who have become one flesh are
not to be “put asunder.” Although the law of Moses had allowed
divorce, this was due to the hardness of the sinful human heart
(Deut. 24:1-4). But “from the beginning it was not so.” and Jesus
appeals to that primal ordinance in order to demonstrate what
marriage ought to be and to convict those who fall short of what
it is meant to be.

It is for our purposes most important to recognize the
seriousness with which all traditional Christian teaching has
regarded divorce. C. S. Lewis has made use of the “one flesh”
imagery to provide a simple explanation of this common
Christian teaching.

With respect to abortion. the official position of The Lutheran Church—Missour!
Synod is that “since abortion takes a human life. abortion is not a morai option. except as
a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the
death of another human being. viz.. the mother...“ (1979 Resolution 3-U2A. “To State
Position on Abortion”) This issue is not treated in this study. since the CTCR and its
Social Concerns Committee are in the process of preparing a new report on abortion
When completed, it wi!l be made available to the members of the Synod for study and
guidance

24

and woman who now propose to rupture their oneness. then of
course we must fear for the child. What event could be more
calculated to disturb the child at the very center of his personal
identity? Parents are not merely a cause and children an effect
which can easily be separated. Here again we must remember
that our commitments in the flesh are personal commitments.
The child's personhood. his sense of identity is involved. To tear
the marriage asunder is in some sense to do the same to the
child.

Moreover. Christian parents need to remember their com-
mitments to their children are also spiritual commitments.
Husband and wife who have joined themselves in the one-flesh
union of marriage (Eph. 5:31) are committed to fulfill their
parental duty by bringing up their children “in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4 KJV). It goes without saying
that the task of bearing a credible witness to the Lord's
instruction regarding the permanency of marriage and the
meaning of the self-giving love which makes marriage work
(Eph. 5:21 ff.) is made more difficult for divorced parents.

Thirdly, marriage can scarcely function as a place of
remedy or healing if we refuse its constraints and reject its
disciplines. In marriage God would have us learn what commit-
ment to another person involves. He offers no guarantees that
such commitment will always be easy or pleasant. There is only
one sure way to protect ourselves against the cost of commit-
ment to others, and that—to make no such commitment at all.
whether in marriage or in other ways—is to tread the destruc-
tive path of disobedience and rebellion against the Creator
(Rom. 1:24-32). Marriage cannot function in accord with its
God-ordained purpose if it is given up whenever our desires and
wishes encourage us to do so or if we merely resign ourselves
fatalistically to a deteriorating relationship. There is another
alternative. If, in prayer and hope, we recommit ourselves to
what we have promised. those desires and wishes may be
transformed and marriage will fulfill its task of healing.

God is at work in history gathering a faithful community.
In marriage we are given some taste of what such fidelity
involves and requires. We are given an opportunity to be
faithful to one person as God has been faithful to us all. This is
the principle articulated in the passage which perhaps more
than any other has shaped Christian thinking about marriage.

26

All (Christian churches} regard divorce as something
like cutting up a living body. as a kind of surgical
operation. Some of them think the operation so violent
that it cannot be done at all [Catholic teaching on
indissolubility]; others admit it as a desperate remedy in
extreme cases. They are all agreed that it is more like
having both your legs cut off than it is like dissolving a
business partnership or even deserting a regiment.
What they all disagree with is the modern view that it isa
simple readjustment of partners... .2°

We can see that the retention of this traditional view is no
mere traditionalism but, on the contrary. takes seriously the
will of God for marriage. as well as the needs of our human
nature. We remind ourselves of some of the implications of the
three purposes of marriage developed above. Consider first
marriage as a union in mutual love. The promises lovers make
are not foolhardy. They answer to some of the deepest needs of
human beings: the need never to be left entirely alone. whatever
the future may bring: the need to be sure that. whatever
uncertainties the future may hold, these two people can at least
say that theirs will be a future together: the need to be able to
give themselves entirely and completely to another—to be
naked before the other. and to be so in complete trust and
confidence: the need to know that their person, not just their
functions, is valued, and that they are not interchangeable with
any other partner. The order of marriage instituted by God
answers to these deep human needs. It gives rise to aset of hopes
and expectations which ought not be disappointed. not only
because we have acommandment to the contrary. but because
to disappoint them is to fail in a fundamental human commit-
ment answering to an equally fundamental human need.

When we consider the child who is the fruit of marriage, we
may also come to realize the enormous seriousness of divorce. It
is fairly common to hear people say in connection with divorce
that they fear especially for the children. This statement.
though it may ordinarily refer only to the disruption and
uncertainty which divorce brings to the life of the child. may
also point to an even deeper reality. If the child is the sign of the
unity—indeed more. the incarnation of the unity—of this man

SCS Lewis, Mere ChrostinnitsiNew York: The Macmilian Company. 19501, p
82

to
a

Eph. 5:31-32:"'For this reason a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh.’ This mystery is a profound one. and I am saying that it
refers to Christ and the church... .” This is the pattern of love
which ought to permeate marriage. It is the only kind of love
which can answer to our deepest needs. It must bea love which
is willing to go as far as Christ did in His commitment to His
people. a love which so commits itself to the good of the beloved
that nothing short of death can break the bond of its commit-
ment.

It remains true. of course. that ours is a world distorted by
sin. Marriages are broken daily. and our personal relationships
are often characterized by something less than a Christlike
fidelity. In response to this the church in its public teaching
must hold up and bear witness to the need for fidelity in
marriage. Yet the church must face the fact that divorce has
become a prevalent practice in our society. According to the
Scriptures. fornication is the only ground for divorce (Matt.
5:32; 19:9).% The act of fornication by a partner in marriage
breaks the unity of the marriage. In this situation the individual
offended may have the right to secure a divorce. However. this
does not mean that he or she must or should exercise this right.
In some cases forgiveness can save the marriage.

The divorce af Christian pastors must he taken icith
[tis difficult ta see how the church can
ity oof its iwitnexs—especially in an age

ui must SEPINUSNESS,
maintain the in
where divorce is prevalent—if if permits pastors who have
divorced their wires for lexs than Biblical reasons to continue
tn the office uf the public ministry. Generaliya pastor who has
heen di
partothis wife, ought notte remain inoffice nur be remmstated
on the affice of pastor, However, it is possible thatunder very
eres ptionaletrounistancesa former pastor mia by the grace at

urced. ercept incases of waichastityor desertion an the

Tradsteonals tneclogians im our Senedd nave nut
HC Frit

333