February 7, 2023
Friends,
Family night is this week! Wednesday at 5:30pm, starting with pizza in the fellowship hall.
We’ve been working through the commandments this year, and this month brings us to the 6th Commandment.
You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.
Or, as you may have learned it in an earlier translation of Luther’s explanation: “We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each love and honor his spouse.”
You can think through which is a better term: “chaste” or “sexually pure”. I don’t know which one has more or worse baggage, or which is harder to understand, or which is more difficult to explain to children.
But the fact is that the 6th commandment must be taught even to children long before they realize why grown-ups are uncomfortable saying the word “sexually” aloud, or they turn to snicker at each other in middle school while their cheeks hue rosy red, or the phrase “no sex outside marriage” has any meaning to them at all.
The sanctity of the marriage bed is about more than what you do with various parts of your body. The 6th commandment, which forbids adultery, is about protecting marriage all together. Of course that has a lot to do with your body, but it is bigger and more fundamental than that.
In our current world especially, these things need to be spoken clearly and portrayed vividly for our children: marriage is a gift given by God to men and woman as he makes them husbands and wives and, God-willing, fathers and mothers. The home is established and built by God as the most basic and integral institution in our world. And rescuing his creation from the corruption of the home is part of his salvation: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home” (Psalm 68:5-6a). We either fit into God’s design according to the roles he has given us, or we go rogue, taking matters into our own hands. We either listen to God’s words of promise and blessing, or we follow the sinful desires of our hearts. We either build our homes on solid ground or on sinking sand.
There’s plenty there to teach concerning the 6th commandment. If Godly marriages are the model, and Godly homes are praised, and God is credited for bringing it all together, then when it comes time to explain chastity or sexual purity to hormonal adolescents, those terms have a context and make a lot more sense. It’s not just about what you may or may not do with your body. It’s about setting your sights on the good gifts that God gives and learning to love what God loves and receiving everything as a blessing from his hand.
God grant us grace to live in that way!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
COMING EVENTS:
Family Night – Wednesday, February 8 @ 5:30pm
Elder’s & Council Meetings – Thursday, February 9 @ 6 & 7pm
Women’s & Men’s Bible Study – Wednesday, February 15 @ 6 & 8pm
Christian Doctrine Class – Wednesday, February 22 @ 6pm
Ash Wednesday – Wednesday, February 22 @ 7pm