On a Facebook post about abortion

If someone was to put forward this argument to me in these terms, I would make two observations followed by asking two questions.

The first observation is simply this: not everyone who supported slavery was free. If we're talking about the grand and broad history of slavery, including everything from ancient Greek and Roman slavery to the slavery entrenched in the Old Testament laws, then we can be clear that this is not the case. Diocletian was the son of a slave, but did not abolish slavery upon becoming emperor of Rome. But even if we focus on the most heinous form of slavery - that which resulted in the American Civil War - there were still slaves who perpetuated slavery from positions of influence. A popular portrayal of such can be seen in the character of Stephen in the movie Django Unchained.

The second observation would be this: the support of slavery by free people does not easily equate to the support of abortion by living people. One is a statement of choice; the other a fairly meaningless tautology. In order to make the statement meaningful, I'm assuming that the premise of the first statement - something like "the class of people who support X are primarily the beneficiaries of X despite the fact that X is a detriment to another class of people" - is seeking to be applied to abortion.

If this is the case, there's two questions I would ask. The first question relates to whether the above argument actually stands on its own merits. To test this, I would offer a simple equivalence: Perhaps, if we are wanting to talk about death, we could say, "The death penalty is primarily supported by those who are unlikely to face the death penalty (and so who benefit from it as an extreme form of general and specific deterrence without facing any real personal consequences) despite the fact that the death penalty is a detriment to that class of people who commit acts the punishment for which is the death penalty." This argument can fairly easily be extended to all criminal acts and punishment for those acts. (There are both subjective and objective detriments involved in this example. So while there is a legitimate argument to be made about whether someone on the receiving end of a criminal sentence can determine for themselves what is beneficial or detrimental to themselves - which is dealt with in the second question to some degree - there are objective detriments to them that exist regardless of their opinions.)

To me, this seems like a legitimate equivalency to the argument that is being put forward in the original post. The truth is that decisions often have negative consequences for a class of people. These negative consequences can include death. If we are against a position simply because the class of people who benefit are those who support that position despite the fact that it also creates a detriment for another class of people, then we should probably stand against a great many positions. If you find the argument of the original post persuasive, then it might be worthwhile you analysing your views of various policy decisions from which you benefit which cause a detriment to others. Look out in particular for those which you don't seem to particularly benefit from, or you feel are neutral or inapplicable to you - those may be the most insidiously difficult, like the broad and immeasurable benefits of general and specific deterrence. Perhaps you're a utilitarian and you think that so long as the detriment of the other class of people is outweighed by the benefit to the first class of people, it's legitimate. I'm not going to get into an argument about all the problems I have with utilitarianism. Perhaps you will claim that the death penalty and abortion are not equivalent because aborted children are innocent. Despite the theological incongruity of that statement, an idea of justice is a legitimate question to raise, and does rather neatly segue into the second question. (That point also raises the question about those people who face the death penalty - or even who face imprisonment - who actually turned out to be innocent... but that's a discussion for another time.)

My second question is a backup to the first, assuming that the person defending the position of the original post takes a position something like, "Yes, all decisions that are supported by a class of people who benefit from that decision despite the decision being detrimental to another class of people are illegitimate. Decisions should be made using another model [that is more just]." The final clause of the position is bracketed because it's unnecessary, yet I feel it is most likely the position that people making this point are likely to take: that there is an injustice that needs to be righted through an alternate decision-making process. This leads us into the realm of the philosophical thought experiment often called the "veil of ignorance". It has existed for centuries, but a pretty popular proponent of it is John Rawls, who calls his particular model the "original position". The idea basically goes like this: that if everyone was forced into a machine that stripped them of their ability to know who they were or what characteristics they had or what class/es they were a member of in a society, and they were then asked to make decisions that would have benefits for one class and detriments for another, people would make decisions that were the least detrimental to everyone because nobody can be sure that they won't end up in the class/es for whom the decision is most detrimental.

Okay, with all that said, here's the second question: how do you overcome the issues that a veil of ignorance position poses? For instance, referring back to an aside mentioned above, how do we navigate the minefield that is subjective determination of benefit and detriment? This is even more explosive an issue for those who have no voice of their own, such as the profoundly disabled or the unborn, because now some third party must put their own subjective views forward as those that "best protect/benefit" the situation of the voiceless party. Third parties may garner no benefit from the position they support, and yet may also differ on the subjective determination of what is beneficial and what is detrimental to the voiceless party. It becomes particularly difficult if someone wants to argue that something as foundational as existence is not an objective benefit. There are lots of people who, upon weighing up their lives, may conclude that they would have preferred not to be born. This position is even taken by a few people in the Bible.

Even if everyone agrees that an objective determination of benefit and detriment in this area can be made, that doesn't get this position out of the woods. Now you are left with this problem: if there is an objective determination of benefit and detriment that can be made, why is the veil of ignorance necessary? If an objective truth can be determined, there's no need to worry about whether people benefit or detriment from the decisions that are made: the decision must be made a certain way because it is objectively right to do so, and that objective rightness can be determined and shown to be the case.

Of course anyone looking at this instantly realises that this is not how human decisions are made: people make bad or wrong decisions all the time; moreover, they even do it knowingly. And this is the final criticism about the veil of ignorance position that I will list: people take risks; people are selfish and aspirational; people are irrational. A veiled decision-making process doesn't protect decisions from that fundamental weakness. 

With all the above in mind, my ultimate question would be this: how is the position in the original post helpful? What idea or concept is it putting forward that is beneficial?

Sermon: Jeremiah 10:1-16

Jeremiah 10:1-16:

·         The instructions given to a people who [should] know they face exile.

·         The one lesson the people of God being punished need to learn; and to teach to the nations.

·         The ever-present problem for God’s people: idolatry.

·         Ultimately, we would rather worship the things we’ve created.

·         Idolatry is not as simple or stupid as it seems when concrete: conceptually, it is deeply foolish.

·         Let’s face it: if someone was going to make up God, it would not look like this.

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When you’re a lawyer and your client is on trial for a criminal offence that might involve going to jail, it is your job to warn them about what might happen if they have to go to prison. You have to tell them what to expect in prison before it’s even been decided that they are going to prison. If you wait until they have been found guilty it might be too late, because once you’ve been found guilty your prison sentence can start immediately. You don’t get a chance to go home and pack a suitcase; you don’t get to say goodbye to your family; once that word “guilty” comes, your freedom is instantly gone. You need to be told what to do before that happens.

For a lot of the time in the book of Jeremiah, God’s message makes him sound like the judge. Over and over he declares his people as “guilty”: guilty of idolatry, guilty of unfaithfulness to him, guilty of oppressing the poor and the vulnerable. But here in chapter 10 of Jeremiah, God is actually taking the role of Judah’s lawyer. Here in chapter 10, he is giving them the most important advice on what to do when they go into exile, and he’s doing it before they go.

God knows that he is sending his people into a foreign land with foreign gods: false gods, idols. And God knows that he is sending them into that foreign land for 70 years. 70 years! That is longer than all but the harshest prison sentences. A child born halfway through the exile would be 35 years old when the exile is over, probably having children of their own! Children who would grow up entirely surrounded by a foreign culture of foreign gods, whose parents grew up entirely surrounded by a foreign culture of foreign gods; whose grandparents probably also grew up entirely surrounded by a foreign culture of foreign gods.

God knows this, so this is his message to his people in order to prepare them for the exile, “Do not learn the ways of the nations…their idols cannot speak…do not fear them.” God knows his people, and he knows that their biggest problem, even before exile, was idolatry. This is the reason that they are being punished; it is the reason they are being taken into exile. They turned their backs on their Lord Yahweh, and they prostituted themselves with foreign gods, with false gods who have no power. They trusted their armies, they trusted their diplomacy, they trusted their wealth and their prosperity, to protect them and keep them happy. Oh, Judah never forgot about God completely: in fact, they thought that because of the promises God had made to Abraham, because they lived in the promised land, because God’s temple was in Jerusalem, that they would be safe no matter what they did. They believed so much that they were safe that when God himself sent prophets to them to tell them they were not safe, they ignored God’s own warnings!

And so God will take away their promised land; he will take away their blessed riches; he will take away their freedom; he will take away their temple and their lavish sacrifices; he will take away their kings in the line of David. They will go into exile with nothing except the word of the Lord their God, because that is all they really need to be God’s people; that is where all these other things came from. And when they enter into Babylon, and they see this great empire with all its wealth, its land, its temples and its idols, here is the advice from God they should remember: idols are dumb. They are just things made of wood, covered in gold or silver: they aren’t alive, they can’t speak, they can’t even move by themselves, and they have to be nailed down in case they accidentally fall over. “They are worthless, the objects of mockery” says verse 15. And don’t listen to the dumb people who are taught by dumb idols, God says. “They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols” says verse 8; “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols” says verse 14.

So what does God mean when he says that idols are dumb, and idol worshippers are also dumb? Allow me to illustrate. This is a smart phone, a remarkable feat of technology that allows me to wirelessly contact almost anyone in the world by voice or text, to have the internet in the palm of my hand. It’s an alarm clock, it’s a picture and video camera, it plays games, it’s a calendar, a photo album, a radio and a television – I can even do my banking and send someone money with it! [remove battery from mobile phone, and hand to someone] Do you know how to work a smart phone? Can you call someone with that please? Call anyone, I don’t mind who. Call anyone. No? Do you need my password? Maybe I’m out of airtime? Maybe the internet isn’t working? Maybe the phone network is down? No? Maybe if you just shout really loud into it they will hear?

What’s the problem? The phone has no power! So it doesn’t work. That is what an idol is like: it’s an object that symbolizes the ability to do something, but actually by itself it has no power to do anything. God does not deny that idols are symbols; what he denies is that what they symbolize has any power at all. So what does an idol worshipper look like? Give me the phone. “Hello, De Wet? It’s Ben here. I’m fine, how are you? Good, good. No, it’s fine, I was just calling to say hi. Actually, I was wondering if I could have tomorrow off. I can? Great, thanks! Okay, I’ll talk to you later. Bye now.”

How many of you think I have tomorrow off? How many of you think I was talking to De Wet? He’s right over there! If I really believed I was talking to De Wet right now, you would think I was as dumb as this phone with no battery. See, if your invisible god has power then it makes sense to use their symbol: then you’re not worshipping the symbol, you’re worshipping the invisible God who empowers it. But if your invisible god is actually a false god, a non-existent god, a god as made-up as the idol you use to worship it, then when you pray and make sacrifices and shape your life around its whims you are actually just talking to a piece of dead wood; there’s nothing else to it.

And that is God’s point: idolatry is dumb because there is no power behind the idols. Those gods are man-made. Someone created those gods just as much as someone created the idols that represent them. They can do no harm, nor can they do any good. The gods are false; the idols are worthless; the idol makers are frauds; the idol worshippers are fools. Vs 10 “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal king. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.” Vs 6 “No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7 Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.”

God’s people are about to leave everything behind and become refugees, carrying what’s left of their lives on their backs, carrying it all the way to Babylon, hundreds of kilometres away. And when they get there, this is the message they should remember: Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no-one like their God; there is no-one like Yahweh.

What can we learn from this today? Obviously the lesson is that we should rely on the Lord our God, and not on the power of idols. Our trust should be in God and nowhere else, in nothing else. But what does that look like? Do we need to be like Judah, and have our land, our riches, our freedom, our churches, and our godly leaders taken away from us? No! Why did God take everything away from them? Was it because there was something wrong with their land, their riches, their freedom, their temple? No. God gave them all these things! Their problem was that they put their faith in other gods to provide for them; or they put their faith in the things themselves to give them what they needed and wanted.

My phone has no battery, and so it has no power and doesn’t work. Should I just throw it away? Or should I put the battery back in? If I put the battery back in, if I connect it back to its power source, a miracle happens – the phone comes alive! It does everything a phone can do. There is nothing wrong with the phone, so long as I understand where its power comes from. In the same way, we will not make the mistake of idolatry if we recognize that the power of all things comes from the Lord our God.

Have you ever thought, “If only I had a little more money, then I would be able to truly be secure” or “If only I had this thing in my life, then I could be truly happy” or “If only I was put in charge of this, then everything would work out” and then actually gotten the money, or the thing, or the power, and then things didn’t work out? Have you ever seen that happen in life? I don’t know about you, but I have seen this happen in life more times than I can count! Rich people can become poor! Happy people can become sad! Powerful people can become weak! And why is that? Because we put our faith in the wrong things, in the things that have no power to give us what we need. Only God has the power to make us secure, to make things work out. Ecclesiastes 5:19 tells us, “when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.” But then chapter 6 verse 2 says that sometimes, “God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them.” This story is repeated over and over in scripture. All things come from God; we should not trust false idols, we should not trust things themselves.

And the best way to remind ourselves of these lessons of the past is to give thanks to God for all the things that we have, but especially for the things that bring us power, things that bring us happiness, and things that bring us security. The things in our lives that are most likely to take us away from God are the things that we should thank him for. That way, we are constantly reminded that they come from him, and that the power they have to make us happy, to make us powerful, to make us secure, only comes from God and not from the things themselves.

So let me ask you: do you sometimes find that you put your faith in things to do what you need, instead of thanking God for what he has given you to help you? I know I do. Especially if I am feeling depressed and down, I think if I just watch some of my favourite TV shows and eat some chocolate, then I will feel better. And sometimes it works; but sometimes it doesn’t – and I should never forget that the power of these things to make me feel better comes entirely from God. Do I need to give up chocolate and TV? Not at all, provided that I thank God for them and recognize that it is because of God that I can use these things to feel better. I want to challenge you today to think about that yourself. What do you rely on, what do you fall back on, what do you put your hope in? Do you thank God for those things, or do you rely on them to do the job themselves? Next time you are in that situation, whether it’s as serious as medical attention or as simple as something that puts a smile on your face, say a prayer of thanks to God for giving you something that helps you.

But God does not send Judah into exile just to help them fix their idolatry problem. He also gives them a job to do. What is that job? Look at verse 11. “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’” This verse, Jeremiah 10:11, is the only verse in the whole book of Jeremiah that is written in Aramaic instead of in the Hebrew language. Look in your Bible at the little footnote for verse 11 and you’ll see it’s true. In the whole book of Jeremiah there is one verse that is written in Aramaic. What does that mean?

Well, if I were to say this: “Elogu hîa ǀhommi tsî ǃhūbaib tsîkha dī tamagu, ǁîgu ge nîra kā ǃhūbaiba xu tsî nē ǀhommi ǃnagaba xu” – who is this message for? If I were to say “Die gode wat nie die hemel en die aarde gemaak het nie, sal van die aarde af verdwyn onder die hemel uit” – who is that message meant for? This one verse is the only verse in the whole of Jeremiah - and one of the few verses in the whole Old Testament – that is written in Aramaic. Aramaic was the language of Assyria; it was the language people spoke in the Babylonian empire. Who is this message for? This message is written for God’s people to remember, to carry with them, and to share with the people they meet while they are in exile! This verse is the first ever gospel tract!

God doesn’t just send his people into exile to punish them for their idolatry. He sends them as a broken people with a message against idolatry to the nations. He sends people who have a known idolatry problem to go and preach to the nations that idolatry is wrong. And it’s a hard message, an offensive message! ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ Your idols are worthless, and our mighty God will wipe them all out, so ditch them now and put your faith in our God. That’s what that message means.

Maybe you already feel defeated. Maybe your church already feels like it is in exile, because we are surrounded by enemies that shout down our voice, that speak against the gospel, that have money and influence and powerful people, that seem to be taking the world’s attention and even infecting the lives of our own church members. How can we beat the message of materialism that tells people only to trust in what they can see and touch? How can we speak against scientists that tell people there is no God, only atoms and matter? How do we answer atheists, who are saying that humans have no value beyond what we give ourselves? How do we fight against corporations who are spending millions of dollars telling people they will be happy if only they have a Fortuner, or DSTV, or a swimming pool? How can we correct the false teachers who steal our people’s money with their prosperity doctrines and wow them with fake resurrections?

Maybe we need to ask this question first: do we as God’s people deserve to go into exile? Are we idolators, like our forefathers in Judah? At first it may sound crazy: surely none of us have statues of false gods in our churches, or in our homes. None of us are giving the worship that our God deserves to other things. Or are we? Remember, Judah did not just prostitute itself with foreign gods. They trusted their armies, they trusted their diplomatic relations, they trusted their wealth and their prosperity, to protect them and keep them happy. They even trusted in God’s temple and God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to keep them safe and happy. Do you remember Jeremiah chapter 7? “4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.”

What do our churches look to to make them happy and feel protected? Do we think so long as we are tithing enough money to pay a pastor, we are happy? So long as we follow our denomination’s constitution and regulations, we will be safe? So long as churches are given favourable treatment by the government, we will be happy? So long as Namibia remains a Christian country, we will be safe? So long as we have a church building we will be happy? So long as we keep having communion and baptisms, we will be safe? So long as people are prophesying and driving out demons and performing miracles in our church, we will be happy?

Do you remember the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 7? “21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

God wants his people to do his will: he wants us to be missional people. He wants his church to be out there sharing his message with people who need to hear it. He knows that the church is made up of broken people, and that’s exactly how he likes it! Our weakness shows his strength. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1: “27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.”

Jeremiah 10:11 represents the other half of the gospel that we don’t often share with people. We are often out there telling people that Jesus loves them, that God wants a relationship with them, that they can be saved if they will accept Christ into their lives. But there’s a reason that the gospel is called an offensive message. “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’” How offended would you be if someone came to your church and said that about Jesus Christ? How would you feel, bringing this message into the land of your captors, into the capital city of the empire that has defeated you? As 1 Peter says in 2:8, “to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’8 and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’”

But this message is the truth, and it is vital that we preach it alongside the warm, loving message of grace and mercy. There is no “God so loved the world that he gave his only son” without “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” Those people who are believing the lies about money and materialism are going to be disappointed by those things. If they don’t hear the truth ,they will remain in a cycle of disappointment and despair. If we fail to preach that our God is the only true God, the only real power, then who will?  And yes, we are not perfect role models, and yes, we don’t always worship the Lord our God and serve him only. We are broken people that need to hear this message just as much as the rest of the world. But isn’t that all the more reason for us to be out there sharing it? Because even if no-one listens to our message, at least we might listen to ourselves.

Marriage, God and the Infinity Stones (Eph 5:1-32ish)

As is sometimes my practice, here you will find a bunch of working that I did to come up with the final product, as well as the actual talk I gave at this wedding at the end. This talk is meant to go for 10 minutes (probably will go for 11) and is meant to link together God, marriage and the story of the infinity stones from the Marvel cinematic universe. It was fun to write.

God, Marriage and Infinity Stones

Soul (orange)

Reality (red)

Mind (yellow)

Space (blue)

Time (green)

Power (purple)

Two points:

1)      The infinity stones are a representation of the characteristics of God. God is a great thing to build your marriage on. We are made in his image and share these aspects to some degree.

2)      There will come a time when God will click his fingers and all marriages will cease. Our marriages are not eternal. Our relationship with God is.

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Ephesians 5:1-2, 21-33

There is no infinity stone of Love.

I think most people who know Emily and Nikki know what I mean when I talk about the infinity stones. If you don’t know what the infinity stones are, let me give a very quick explanation. Emily and Nikki are huge nerds – you all surely know that. The infinity stones are the central plot point of all the Marvel cinematic universe movies. Emily and Nikki have chosen the infinity stones as a bit of a theme for their wedding; even the different coloured stones in Emily’s engagement ring represent the six infinity stones of this epic story.

And it’s a great wedding theme. It represents a big part of Emily’s and Nikki’s personalities they share as total nerds; it plays into possibly the biggest and most expensive storytelling exercise in human history - the Marvel movies – which even if you’re not a fan you can’t have escaped the fact that all there seems to be at the cinema these days are superhero movies; and since each stone has its own colour, it gives you a colour scheme to work with for wedding planning. What more does a wedding need?

Well, for Emily and Nikki, it needs Jesus. Emily and Nikki are huge nerds, but the thing most important to them is Jesus Christ. The thing most important to their relationship is Jesus Christ. And so the thing most important to their wedding is Jesus Christ. While their wedding might have a superhero theme, we don’t get up and read from Marvel comics today. We read from the Bible because they are getting married before God.

And it’s a good thing too! Because the story of the infinity stones is pretty depressing. It goes something like this: these six stones are the last remains of some all-powerful being, spread around the universe, and if someone can harness all six stones then they will have control over all aspects of the universe – Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time.

These six aspects are a pretty typical summary of all the things that people think make up God. The Bible tells us from the beginning that God is both the creator and sustainer of all things. The Bible tells us that God is all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, infinite and outside of time. And God created us to be with him in that eternity forever.

But there is no infinity stone of Love. And yet love is the number one attribute of God that makes him God. You know how we know that? Because God as Jesus Christ left behind all the powers of the infinity stones to come to this earth as a human being. Jesus died suffering the punishment for our rebellion against God, so that we could have a perfect relationship with him. Let me make it clear: the power that God uses to bring people close to himself, to make a relationship between them and himself, isn’t contained in any of the infinity stones. It’s the power of love. It’s a love that sacrifices, a love that gives things up, a love that costs. That love is central to who God is.

Emily and Nikki want to bring that love to their marriage, the love of God. In the book of Ephesians in the Bible we read this in chapter 5 verse 1: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children (2) and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Emily and Nikki want to follow God’s example, and in their marriage they want to walk in the way of love.

How does that look when you live it out? The book of Ephesians gives some specific examples of how we should live this out in different aspects of our lives: as children we should honour our parents, and as parents we should not exasperate our children but train them in the ways of Jesus Christ. It says that slaves should obey their masters as if they were obeying Christ; to masters it says they should treat their slaves in the same way! And it says that wives should submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ; and that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. These are all examples of what verse 21 of Ephesians 5 tells us that we should all do: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

As Christians, we are all called to love one another as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, and we are all called to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. And Emily and Nikki, as Christians joining together in marriage before God, both of you are called to put the other one first, to ensure each other’s flourishing and wellbeing ahead of your own. Whether it’s a little thing – like the rest of the Avengers watching their language because it upsets Captain America – or a big thing – like learning to curb your Hulk-like rage so you don’t bring down the helicarrier with everyone else onboard – both of you need to put the other one’s best interests first.

And, Emily and Nikki, you are both called to love one another as Christ loved you. You need to take care of one another, and build each other up. Emily, be the Tony Stark to Nikki’s Peter Parker, and give him what he needs to be his absolute best – although I would recommend not installing an instant kill mode. Nikki, be the Thor to Emily’s Bruce Banner, encouraging her that she’s powerful and useful and that you don’t even like the Hulk because he’s all like “rarrr, smash smash smash”.

In the Marvel movies, a super-bad guy called Thanos wants to collect the infinity stones together because he thinks the best thing for the universe would be to randomly kill half of all thinking beings that live there. He essentially things that the big problem is one of overpopulation – there are too many people – and so if you kill half of them, then there will suddenly be heaps of resources for everyone, and those who are left will be happy. Apparently he’s the only person with the strength of will to make this difficult decision, and so his plan is to collect the infinity stones together and make this happen using their incredible powers.

And then he used his great power to resurrect Jesus from the dead to show that in a fight between God and death, God always wins.

In fact, the Bible tells us in Genesis that God made humanity in his own image. Part of that image is our ability to affect all of these different areas of the universe: we can change one another’s Minds by what we say and do; we can harness Powers like heat, light, electricity and even nuclear fission; we can move ourselves around in Space, whether it be to the moon or just to New Zealand; we can look backwards and forwards in Time by reading books about the past and making educated guesses about the future; we can change the very Reality of one another’s lives, for good or ill, by what we do; we can even have an impact on someone’s eternal Soul by sharing with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are made in the image of God, and while compared to him we are weak and feeble, we are capable of amazing and life-changing things.

So my first message to you, Emily and Nikki, is to say this: when you harness the abilities that God has given you by making you in his image - Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time – make sure that you use them

God, Marriage and Infinity Stones

Soul (orange)

Reality (red)

Mind (yellow)

Space (blue)

Time (green)

Power (purple)

Two points:

1. The infinity stones are a representation of the characteristics of God. God is a great thing to build your marriage on. We are made in his image and share these aspects to some degree.
2. There will come a time when God will click his fingers and all marriages will cease. Our marriages are not eternal. Our relationship with God is.

-----

Ephesians 5:1-2, 21-33

There is no infinity stone of Love.

I think most people who know Emily and Nikki know what I mean when I talk about the infinity stones. If you don’t know what the infinity stones are, let me give a very quick explanation. Emily and Nikki are huge nerds – you all surely know that. The infinity stones are the central plot point of all the Marvel cinematic universe movies. Emily and Nikki have chosen the infinity stones as a bit of a theme for their wedding; even the different coloured stones in Emily’s engagement ring represent the six infinity stones of this epic story.

And it’s a great wedding theme. It represents a big part of Emily’s and Nikki’s personalities they share as total nerds; it plays into possibly the biggest and most expensive storytelling exercise in human history - the Marvel movies – which even if you’re not a fan you can’t have escaped the fact that all there seems to be at the cinema these days are superhero movies; and since each stone has its own colour, it gives you a colour scheme to work with for wedding planning. What more does a wedding need?

Well, for Emily and Nikki, it needs Jesus. Emily and Nikki are huge nerds, but the thing most important to them is Jesus Christ. The thing most important to their relationship is Jesus Christ. And so the thing most important to their wedding is Jesus Christ. While their wedding might have a superhero theme, we don’t get up and read from Marvel comics today. We read from the Bible because they are getting married before God.

And it’s a good thing too! Because not only is the story of the Infinity stones fiction; it is pretty depressing too. It goes something like this: these six stones are the only remains of some now-dead all-powerful being. These remains are spread around the universe, and if someone can harness all six stones then they will have control over all aspects of the universe – Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time. This big purple guy called Thanos collects these stones and wants to use their power to kill half of all intelligent life in the universe. He's the bad guy.

These six aspects are a pretty typical summary of all the things that people think make up God. And the Bible tells us from the beginning that God is both the creator and sustainer of all things. The Bible tells us that God is all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, infinite and outside of time. God is an all-powerful being, and it might seem easy to compare God to the infinity stones.

But there is no infinity stone of Love. And love is the number one attribute of God that makes him God. You know how we know that? Because God as Jesus Christ left behind all the powers of the infinity stones to come to this earth as a human being. Jesus died, suffering the punishment for our rebellion against God, so that we could have a perfect relationship with him. Let me make it clear: the power that God uses to bring people close to himself, to make a relationship between them and himself, isn’t contained in any of the infinity stones. It’s the power of love. It’s a love that sacrifices, a love that gives things up, a love that costs. That love is central to who God is.

Emily and Nikki want to bring that love to their marriage, the love of God. In the book of Ephesians in the Bible we read this in chapter 5 verse 1: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children (2) and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Emily and Nikki want to follow God's example; in their marriage, they want to walk in the way of love.

How does that look when you live it out? The book of Ephesians gives some specific examples of how we should live this out in different aspects of our lives: as children we should honour our parents, and as parents we should not exasperate our children but train them in the ways of Jesus Christ. It says that slaves should obey their masters as if they were obeying Christ; to masters it says they should treat their slaves in the same way! And it says that wives should submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ; and that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. These are all examples of what verse 21 of Ephesians 5 tells us that we should all do: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

As Christians, we are all called to love one another as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, and we are all called to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. And Emily and Nikki, as Christians joining together in marriage before God, both of you are called to put the other one first, to ensure each other’s flourishing and wellbeing ahead of your own. Whether it’s a little thing – like the rest of the Avengers watching their language because it upsets Captain America – or a big thing – like learning to curb your Hulk-like rage so you don’t bring down the helicarrier with everyone else onboard – both of you need to put the other one’s best interests first.

And, Emily and Nikki, you are both called to love one another as Christ loved you. You need to take care of one another, and build each other up. Emily, be the Tony Stark to Nikki’s Peter Parker, and give him what he needs to be his absolute best – although I would recommend not installing an instant kill mode in his spiderman suit. Nikki, be the Thor to Emily’s Bruce Banner, encouraging her that she’s powerful and useful and smart, and that you don’t even like the Hulk because he’s all like “rarrr, smash smash smash”. Both of you have been made in the image of God and as such have been given the ability to affect the universe for one another: you can change one another’s Minds by what you say and do; you can harness Powers like heat, light, electricity and even nuclear fission to make your lives better; you can move yourselves around in Space, whether it be to the moon or just to New Zealand; you can look backwards and forwards in Time by reading books about the past and making educated guesses about the future; you can change the very Reality of one another’s lives, for good or ill, by what you do; you can even have an impact on people's eternal Souls by sharing with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are made in the image of God, and while compared to him we are weak and feeble, through him we are capable of amazing and life-changing things. Use that power for loving one another, and loving others as a couple, out of reverence for Christ.

God, Marriage and Infinity Stones

Soul (orange)

Reality (red)

Mind (yellow)

Space (blue)

Time (green)

Power (purple)

Two points:

1. The infinity stones are a representation of the characteristics of God. God is a great thing to build your marriage on. We are made in his image and share these aspects to some degree.
2. There will come a time when God will click his fingers and all marriages will cease. Our marriages are not eternal. Our relationship with God is.

-----

Ephesians 5:1-2, 21-33

There is no infinity stone of Love.

I think most people who know Emily and Nikki know what I mean when I talk about infinity stones. If you don’t know what the infinity stones are, let me give a very quick explanation. Emily and Nikki are huge nerds – you all surely know that. The infinity stones are the central plot point of all the Marvel cinematic universe movies. Emily and Nikki have chosen the infinity stones as a bit of a theme for their wedding; the different coloured stones in Emily’s ring or even the dresses of the bridesmaids represent the six infinity stones of this epic story.

And it’s a great wedding theme. It represents a big part of Emily’s and Nikki’s personalities they share as total nerds; it plays into possibly the biggest and most expensive storytelling exercise in human history - the Marvel movies – which even if you’re not a fan you can’t have escaped the fact that all there seems to be at the cinema these days are superhero movies; and since each stone has its own colour, it gives you a colour scheme to work with for wedding planning.

But we are not just here for a wedding day, we are here to start a marriage. And for Emily and Nikki, a marriage needs Jesus. Emily and Nikki are huge nerds, but the thing most important to them is Jesus Christ. The thing most important to their relationship is Jesus Christ. And so the thing most important to their marriage is Jesus Christ. While their wedding might have a superhero theme, we don’t get up and read from Marvel comics to help them in their marriage. We read from the Bible, because they are getting married before God.

And it’s a good thing too! Because not only is the story of the Infinity stones fiction; it is actually pretty depressing too. It goes something like this: these six stones are the only remains of some now-dead all-powerful being. These remains are spread around the universe, and if someone can harness all six stones then they will have control over all aspects of the universe – Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time. This big purple guy called Thanos collects these stones and wants to use their power to kill half of all intelligent life in the universe. He's the big bad guy of the Marvel movies.

Now these six aspects represented by the infinity stones - Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time  - are a pretty typical summary of all the things that people think of when they think of God. And the Bible tells us from the beginning that God is both the creator and sustainer of all things. The Bible tells us that God is all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, infinite and outside of time. God is an all-powerful being, and so it might seem easy to compare God to the infinity stones.

But there is no infinity stone of Love. And love is the number one attribute of God that makes him God. How do we know that? Because God as Jesus Christ left behind all the powers of the infinity stones to come to this earth as a human being. Jesus died, suffering the punishment for our rebellion against God, so that we could have a perfect relationship with him. The power that God uses to bring people close to himself, to make a relationship between them and himself, isn’t contained in any of the infinity stones. It’s the power of love. The power of love is a curious thing. It’s a love that sacrifices, a love that gives things up, a love that costs. That love is central to who God is.

Emily and Nikki want to bring that love to their marriage, the love of God. In the book of Ephesians in the Bible we read this in chapter 5 verse 1: “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children (2) and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Emily and Nikki want to follow God's example; in their marriage, they want to walk in the way of love.

How does that look when you live it out? The book of Ephesians gives some specific examples of how we should live this out in different aspects of our lives: so as children we should honour our parents, and as parents we should not exasperate our children but train them in the ways of Jesus Christ. It says that slaves should obey their masters as if they were obeying Christ; to masters it says they should treat their slaves in the same way - by obeying Christ! And it says that wives should submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ; and that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. These are all examples of what verse 21 of Ephesians 5 tells us that we should all do: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

So as Christians, we are all called to love one another as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, and we are all called to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Emily and Nikki: as Christians joining together in marriage before God, both of you are called to put the other one first, to ensure each other’s flourishing and wellbeing ahead of your own. Whether it’s a little thing – like the rest of the Avengers watching their language because it upsets Captain America – or a big thing – like learning to curb your Hulk-like rage so you don’t bring down the helicarrier with everyone else onboard – both of you need to put the other one’s best interests first.

And, Emily and Nikki: you are both called to love one another as Christ loved you. You need to take care of one another, and build each other up. Emily, be the Tony Stark to Nikki’s Peter Parker, and give him what he needs to be his absolute best – although I would recommend not installing an instant kill mode in his spiderman suit. Nikki, be the Thor to Emily’s Bruce Banner, encouraging her that she’s powerful and useful and smart, and that you don’t even like the Hulk because he’s all like “rarrr, smash smash smash”. 

Both of you have been made in the image of God, and as such have been given the ability to affect the universe for one another: you can change one another’s Minds by what you say and do; you can harness Powers like heat, light, electricity and even nuclear fission to make your lives better; you can move yourselves around in Space, whether it be to the moon or just to New Zealand; you can look backwards and forwards in Time by remembering your past and making plans for your future; you can change the very Reality of one another’s lives, for good or ill, by what you do; you can even have an impact on people's eternal Souls by being a family that shares the gospel of Jesus Christ. You are made in the image of God, and while compared to God you are weak and feeble, through him you are capable of amazing and life-changing things. 

Ephesians 5:31 tells us, "'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' (32) This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church." Your marriage is a picture of the union of Christians together with Christ. So now that you two are married, don't ever use your God-given powers to wipe out the other person and make the marriage all about you - that would make you the bad guy! Don't be Thanos! Don't click your fingers! There is no infinity stone of love, but always remember that like all the strength and power and ability that you have been given, love comes from God. Use the powers God has given you for loving one another, and for loving others as a couple, out of reverence for Christ. May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you on your wedding day, and every day of your marriage.