Uncle Parker (of the Parker and Annie Page show) sent this to our family to read and we thought it was worthy of blogging.
One of Luther's great contributions to our view of the family involved
the sanctification of the ordinary. Many sadly neglect their family
and their friends because they are pouring all of their time into
"ministry"—neglecting to see that all of life should be ministry and
every sphere should be sanctified. We must have eyes to see that the
ordinary duties of life contain great spiritual significance. Luther
describes the message that the world whispers in our ear:
Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason . . . ,
takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, "Alas,
must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its
stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal
its rashes and sores. . . ?" [LW 45:39]
But into this context Luther breathes fresh gospel air:
What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks
upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the
Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as
with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, O God, because I am
certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body
begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with
thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock
the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care
of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have
come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy
creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though
the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither
frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labor, will distress or dissuade
me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight. . . . God,
with all his angels and creatures is smiling—not because the father is
washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith.[LW
45:39-40]
We must put on the spectacles of faith and see all of life as infused
with meaning and significance by our Creator. Set in this context,
Luther greatly elevated the place of the family within the church of
Christ.
Excerpted from "Martin Luther and Marriage," in Sex and the Supremacy of Christ.
–
Parker Page
This life, therefore, is not righteousness
but growth in righteousness,
not health but healing, not being but becoming,
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be but we are growing toward it.
The process is not yet finished but it is going on.
This is not the end but it is the road.
All does not gleam in glory but all is being purified.
—Martin Luther
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Filed under: Uncategorized