How to Stay Married: If people matter so much to God, it only makes sense that God would care about how we treat one another in marriage. But this is a broken world. And sometimes, the most difficult people to love is the person you promised to love no matter what. So how do we do this? How do we stay married (if we’re married) or think about marriage if, one day, we might get married? And how does this relate to being single? Recorded on July 31, 2022, on Matthew 5:27-32, by Pastor David Parks.

This message is part of our sermon series "The Unexpected Way," from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique; it's different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.

Sermon Transcript

All year, we’re focusing on Learning the way of Jesus, which means basically all year, we’ll be answering the big question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” To start, we’ve been working through a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount in a sermon series called, The Unexpected Way. The teaching of Jesus leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. But this way of life is really unique. The way of Jesus is just a radically different way from every other philosophy or religion in the world. Last week, we considered the value of human life and the key Biblical principle that people matter to God. And we saw that if people matter to God, then of course people should matter to us as well. But if this is how God cares for us, then the way we think about others and the way we treat others would really matter to God. Jesus dramatically raises the bar for us, saying that how we treat other people actually matters more to God than even our worship of him. We said that this was the first of six examples that Jesus gives about what it really means to be a good person. Today, we’ll consider the second and third examples of Jesus in the area of marriage and divorce. And this is only a logical extension of the principle from last week. If people matter so much to God, it only makes sense that God would care a great deal about how we treat one another in marriage. But this is a broken world. And sometimes, the most difficult people to love are the people you promised to love no matter what (for better/worse, for richer/poorer, in sickness/health). So how do we do this? How do we, as followers of Jesus, stay married (if we’re married) or at least think about marriage if, one day, we might get married? And how does this relate to being single? There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s jump in. If you have a Bible/app, please open it to Matthew 5:27.

Matthew 5:27-32 (NIV), “27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. 31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’  32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

Again, just like last week,