10/6 Sermon - Build Your House On Jesus

Build your house on Jesus.

Mark 10:2-16, Ephesians 5-6, Genesis 2

1. The foundation of anything is critical, isn’t it?

Even the most beautiful house collapses when the foundation crumbles.

Roads crack and fall apart when they aren’t build on the right foundation.

Any sports player knows that your stance, your legs, your foundation are key.

That’s a good picture for family, for marriage.

God builds society, government, this whole world on the family.

God builds the family on Jesus.

God’s one encouragement for you is this: Build your house on Jesus.  

(During this sermon, when I talk about marriage, I’m talking about family too.)

2. Our reading opens with a question about marriage

“For what reason can someone get a divorce?”

That was a big debate of the day. Two schools of thought, two prominent Rabbi.

Hillel allowed it for any reason. Shimmei said it was almost always forbidden.

It turns out that marriage and family were hard 2000 years ago.

3. And nothing has changed, right? Marriage was hard. Marriage is still hard.

And that’s all the more apparent today, in America’s culture.

Marriage is crumbling. And it’s only natural that society crumbles as well.

In the past 50 years alone, divorces have sky-rocketed.

People’s definitions of what makes a family and a marriage is so far from God’s Word.

But let’s not point the finger at others! Let’s hold up a mirror for ourselves. Christians have almost the same divorce rate as non-Christians. We mess up family too.

4. What causes that? What causes the marriage to crumble? What causes divorce?

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

- People think “love” is the basis for marriage. But that’s a feeling. Feelings come and go, grow and shrink, and when a feeling is the foundation, it’s weak.

- People in our culture have no regard for marriage. They live together, sleep together, have children outside of marriage. Marriage starts to be something we don’t value.

- Pornography is all around us, in most movies, shows, and screens. That causes lots of problem with expectations and relationships.  

- Parents show favorites to children. And children can fight, be jealous, and often these family feuds can get worse as the years grow, and it can get very ugly.

- In short, like Jesus said, we are all selfish and unyielding, we have hard hearts. That’s why Moses allowed for divorce in the Old Testament. The problem in my family, my marriage, is right ‘here’, in my heart. It’s me.

5. What’s different about Christian family? What’s so special about it?

Many Christians have broken relationships and divorces. All of us struggle!

So, it’s not us! Not all at. We do not make families and marriages special.

The difference is our foundation. Jesus.

Jesus deals with us in four big ways. Humility. Service. Forgiveness. A promise.

Jesus, in humility, put us first. He didn’t think of his comfort, but our salvation.

Jesus, in service, worked for us. He loved a perfect life, shed his blood for our sins, died in our place, and rose to give us life.

Now, Jesus gives us forgiveness. We mess up. We’re selfish. We’re sinful people in relationships with sinners. But we have forgiveness from Jesus.

Jesus promises to be with us, to forgive us. He doesn’t make it contingent on our actions! He doesn’t hold a threat over us. He promises that no matter what, he loves us.

When we build our family, our marriage, on Jesus, it’s gives beautiful attitudes in our heart.

1. Marriage and family are about a promise. The essence of marriage is not love, it’s a promise. We promise to be with our spouse for a lifetime, to always love our children.

2. Marriage and family are about humility. Day after day, killing our own desires, wants, choices, and always, always, always putting “them” first.

3. Marriage and family are about service. Not being angry when something isn’t done our way, not being lazy and sitting on our hands, but using our hands to help and serve.

4. Marriage and family are about forgiveness. I am a sinner. I mess up every day. I can break promises, I am selfish, and I often serve myself. Our spouses, our children, they’re sinful too! We have sin in our past. We forgive. Not once. Not twice. Not 100 times. There is not limit to our forgiveness, because God doesn’t stop forgiving us.

Jesus is the most beautiful, sturdy, rock-solid foundation for our life.

My encouragement for you is this: build your marriage, your family, on Jesus.

Jesus, our foundation, isn’t just for couples and marriages. It’s for every family and every relationship that we have.

6. Jesus quotes Genesis 2 in our Gospel reading for how marriage ought to look.

Mark 10 quotes Genesis 2: God made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.

- Marriage is between one man and one woman, and it’s a lifelong commitment. Love is important, but the promise, the commitment, is what marriage really is.

- “One flesh.” That’s how God describes one marriage. It’s like your one person. You can’t just take yourself apart! After marriage, you are one person, joined inseparably.

- This means our spouse is our lifelong best friend and support. It means our family is a gift from God. That was part of Jesus’ point in the second half of our reading. Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a wonderful, beautiful blessing from God, and one of the highest purposes of a family is to grow together in Jesus.

7. When the topic of family comes up, there are a lot of things to think about. One sermon isn’t enough time to cover everything! I’m not really talking about Ephesians 5-6.

But there are three questions I thought I wanted to answer in my sermon. With all three questions there is law and gospel.  

1st question: What if I have been divorced? What if I have a broken relationship in my past?

Law: We’re sinful. God hates divorce. It’s a sin. If we or someone we know has a divorce, it’s a good opportunity to repent and acknowledge, “Yes, we are all sinners.” 

Gospel: We have forgiveness! God forgives us. As we go forward with our families, in whatever relationship God has given us, our foundation is still Jesus. God sometimes brings us new family, more family, and we love them too in Jesus.

2nd question: What if I don’t have children, can’t have children, don’t want children?

Law: It’s so easy for Americans to focus on “me.” We want money for our stuff, time to spend on us. Let’s not view children as a burden. Also, if a couple can’t have children or doesn’t have children, that doesn’t mean a marriage is incomplete is some way.

Gospel: Children are a wonderful blessing. That’s it. I’m going to stop there. I pray that is our attitude, no matter where we find ourselves. Children are a blessing from God.

3rd question: What if I’m single? What if I currently am not married?

Law: There are three bad options. A) We’re not Mormons. Marriage isn’t something that’s holier than being single. We’re not failing God.  B) Also, soulmates don’t exist. That’s just not scriptural. That’s not in the Bible. We pray to God and trust he always blesses us. C) Singleness isn’t better. Celibacy is not ever commanded in Scripture.

Gospel: God does give us family. We all have parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, grandchildren. We have a spiritual family too. We do have pain, sorrow, loneliness in this world, but God blesses us no matter what our relationship might be: we can be content in Jesus and in our hope of heaven. Finally, God invites us to pray, to take our struggles, problems, and sorrow to him for help.

Leo Tolstoy wrote: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

So many things can cause our marriage to crumble. The chief culprit is my stubborn, selfish heart.

But I can guarantee you a happy, strong family. Not a perfect one, but a happy, strong marriage and family. I can say that in Jesus.

Build your house on Jesus. Build your family on the promise, the forgiveness, the humility, and the service that are found in on Jesus. Amen.