Ephesians 5:21, Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Mutual submission; it's what marriage is all about.  Of course, if you grew up in Christian circles, you know how badly the whole of Ephesians 5 has been distorted.  The focus has been on wives submitting to husbands.  But before Paul talks specifics, he says this:  submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.  Then, he talks about wives submitting and husbands loving.  We should note that this discussion would have been revolutionary at the time.  To say women had a low social and legal status in the Roman Empire is quite the understatement.  And here is the Apostle Paul telling the Ephesians that marriage is a covenant and that there needs to be mutual submission.  That means women submitting to men (which would have been the norm at the time in that culture) and also that men should submit to their wives.  Husbands submitting to wives?  That would have been unheard of at the time.

To make it even more earth-shattering, Paul says that husbands should love their wives in the same way that Christ loved the church.  How much did Christ love the church?  He died for the church!  He is telling these guys to love their wives sacrificially.  Wow!  We read these words through our twenty-first century lenses and we make think something like, "How outdated and sexist."  But the truth was anything but the sort.  Paul's words elevated the status of wives in significant ways.  They were to be loved and valued.  There should also be unity and fidelity in the marriage relationship, which means only one wife and no affairs.  Paul wants Christian men to understand that holiness within their marriage is also important.  It demonstrates that those who are "in Christ" do life differently.  They are new people in Jesus and the church, as the body of Christ, is drastically different than the culture at large.

We could probably stop there and that would be enough.  But wait, there's more.  Paul is using the marriage relationship as an analogy.  The relationship of the husband and wife in marriage points to the beautiful relationship between Christ and the church.  Just as there needs to be unity between husband and wife, there needs to be unity between Christ and the church.  So let's be real, the universal church has messed this up a bit.  Sometimes, the church demonstrates unity with Jesus and sometimes it doesn't.

I'll stop here today but I ask you to reflect on this question:  Does New Hope demonstrate unity between Christ and his church?  What do we do well?  How do we struggle with this?  And how do we do better?

Let's pray...Lord Jesus, You are Lord of the church.  It's not our church; it's your church.  Help us remember that and demonstrate YOU in all we do.  Bless our marriages, Lord.  May we truly submit to one another and love each other in sacrificial ways.  We need you so much, Jesus.  In Your Name, Amen.