Faithful Promises

 


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Wedding of Rui Ma and Stephen Kane, Boyds, MD

Jeremiah 29:11; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8


Have you ever thought about how our lives are shaped by the good promises we make and keep?


On the way to work one day I wondered who promised me that when I arrived at work that morning they would let me in the building. It was no small deal because the checks I received each month put food on the table and made sure that the mortgage got paid on time—I depended on that promise. I am not sure what I would do if that promise were not kept. I remember how unsettling it was to see one of my co-workers walked to the door because he lied on his employment application about being a college graduate. While management was totally justified in firing him, the experience of seeing him fired was unsettling because it reminded me of how fragile our lives can be. We depend on people keeping their promises.


Marriage is one of the most important promises that we will ever make.


It is no accident that the Bible starts with the story of Adam and Eve. Marriage is a reminder that we worship a God who is known for keeping his promises, good promises. Our reading in Jeremiah 29:11 makes this point:


For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.


The Bible promises us that the future is in Christ, we need worry about absolutely anything because we know the end of the story. We can take comfort in this knowledge. Imagine trying to study if you thought that the building you were in would collapse at any moment like the condominium in Miami—who could concentrate on anything? Our lives are shaped by the promises we receive and the promises that we make to one another.


This biblical promise is especially meaningful because it comes from the Prophet Jeremiah who witnessed the burning of Jerusalem and the carrying off of the people to Babylon—hence Jeremiah’s nickname, the Weeping Prophet. Interestingly, Jeremiah was the only Old Testament prophet to speak directly of the new covenant in Christ.


Marriage is one of the most important promises that we will ever make.


People love to read 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings. This chapter is the second of three chapters in 1 Corinthians that focuses on the nature of spiritual gifts. The key in interpreting this guidance on spiritual gifts is found in chapter 12: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:4 ESV) The Holy Spirit is the giver of these spiritual gifts that are not so much dropped on us from heaven as sought after in an active prayer discipline and an obedient life.


As I read 1 Corinthians 13 again, think about love as a spiritual discipline:


Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.


What makes this description of love as a spiritual discipline so distinctive is that Corinth was a city famous for its temple prostitutes. The first verse in chapter 13 gives this context away: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Cor 13:1 ESV) Imagine attending a church where the prostitutes paraded by on the streets banging gongs and clanging cymbals—that was the problem in Corinth.


It is interesting that Corinth’s problem has become our problem. Our society has less and less respect for marriage as time passes, between the open promiscuity and attempts to redefine marriage itself. Think of the expression from the Mother Goose rhymes: rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, she makes music wherever she goes. Such music can be heard on our own streets. Given the Corinthian context and our own, it is important to think of love as a spiritual discipline.


Marriage is one of the most important promises that we will ever make. Let’s covenant together with God’s help to keep this promise. Amen.


Faithful Promises
Also see:
Believer’s Prayer
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Published on August 08, 2021 13:00
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