The definition of marriage is much in the news these days. The following proposed amendment to the Constitution was before the congress, but has now been blocked by the Senate, at least for the remainder of this year.     Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that

marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.

President Bush, who opposes gay marriages and has supported a constitutional ban, said, "I am deeply disappointed that the effort to pass a constitutional amendment affirming the sanctity of marriage as being between a man and a woman was temporarily blocked in the Senate."

Senator Kerry, who also has said he opposes gay marriages, but has criticized the amendment, said, "Throughout history, amending our Constitution — the foundation of the nation's values and ideals — has been serious business. However, even Republicans concede that this amendment is being offered only for political gains."

We live in a time when, as a nation, we have no common set of “values and ideals.” Many refer to this time as the “post-modern” era. That label is confusing, because there is no common understanding of what it means. One thing is certain, however. In our country, the authority of Holy Scriptures has been seriously eroded. Consequently values and ideals are not based upon the objective authority of God’s Word in many cases, but upon the ever shifting needs and desires of  a long list of groups.

In the current convention of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, the delegates approved resolution 3-05A, affirming marriage as the union of one man and one woman. That affirmation is based squarely upon the revelation contained in Holy Scripture. This teaching is outlined in the 1981 report of Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations : Human Sexuality: A Theological Perspective.

In the light of the continuing debate – not among LCMS Lutherans (the resolution passed overwhelmingly) – but in the political arena and several mainline denominations, I want to affirm a few things taught by Holy Scripture.

The LCMS report makes twelve critical points that I will summarize. The referenced Bible verses are footnoted throughout the study.  

1. To be human simply is to exist in this male-female duality. Consequently, it will be insufficient to say that God has created two kinds of human beings, male and female. Rather, we should say that God has created human beings for fellowship and that the male- female polarity is a basic form of this fellowship. To stress that human beings are created for community as male and female necessarily involves an equally firm insistence that they are male or female. We are created not for life in isolation but for community, a community which binds those who are different.

 

2. We are created as embodied creatures: as male and female. Thus we do not find in the other simply an image of ourselves, an alter ego; rather, the fellowship for which we are created is a fellowship of those who are different and who yet are joined in a personal community of love.

 

3. Not every human being need enter the order of marriage. Celibacy is also in accordance with the will of God. We may expect that marriage will remain the norm, but we must make room for Jesus' own recognition that there may be some who "have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:12), that is, some who have chosen to forego marriage in order to live out their vocations in service to the Lord.

 

4. Marriage, however, remains an earthly order. This is made unmistakably clear not only by Jesus' words in Mark 12:25, where He says that in the resurrection there is no more marrying, but also by St. Paul's discussion in 1 Corinthians 7. His advice to the Corinthian Christians must be seen together with his statement in v. 31: "The form of this world is passing away."

 

5. Marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman entered into by mutual consent. It is ordinarily expected that this consent and commitment will be public, that marriage is not a merely personal decision but one which concerns all those who are now to treat this man and woman as husband and wife.

 

6. The institution of marriage will normally be circumscribed by various civil laws imposed by society. Even though the legal restrictions with which our society surrounds marriage do not belong to the essence of marriage, there is good reason to believe that they will ordinarily serve human well-beings – a purpose for which God has established civil authority (Rom. 13:4a).

 

7. Such restrictions serve important social functions: a) safeguarding rights of the spouse and children and b) encouraging thoughtful, reflective commitment and thus protecting the interest not only of society but also of those who think they are in love.

 

8. The essence of marriage does not consist in legal requirements nor in ecclesiastical ceremonies. Indeed, not until the fourth century A.D. is there evidence of priestly prayer and blessing in connection with the marriage of Christians. It was entirely a secular act, though, of course, one carried out – like all acts – "in the Lord."  Marriage remains, however, a divine institution given by God to His creatures to nourish their common life together and to preserve human life toward the final goal of all creation.

 

9. Christian couples will ordinarily desire to make their vows in a public worship service. In such a context they are able to hear what the Word of God teaches concerning the sanctity of the marriage bond and to permit fellow Christians to join them and their families in asking God's blessings on their life together.

 

10. Sexual intercourse engaged in outside of the marriage relationship is forbidden by the Scriptures. This, of course, includes all casual sexual relations, which are accepted practice in our society, and arrangements whereby couples live together without being married.

 

11. A man and woman may give themselves physically to each other in a permanent union without a public ceremony. Such a relationship in reality constitutes marriage (common-law marriage) and cannot be called fornication.

 

12. Christians hold that the Commandment to honor father and mother must also be applied to the estate of marriage. Accordingly, the blessing of parents will ordinarily be sought prior to the marriage ceremony.

 

The study continues with a discussion of when marriages may not be blessed, the purposes of marriage (mutual love, procreation and healing). It also deals with the problems of divorce, remarriage, headship, homosexuality and artificial methods of reproduction. I commend it to you for further reflection.