Helping Out Mennonites in Virginia

My friend and excellent Mennonite pastor of Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship in Chapel Hill, NC, Isaac Villegas (his blog is at http://www.rustyparts.com/wp), sent me this following email: "I thought you would like to know that a Mennonite pastor in Harrisonburg, VA, talked about your essay in his sermon. Who would have thought that there are Mennonites out there who listen to anything you would say?  :)"  My response: awesome.  


Here is a portion of the sermon which is in print, audio, and video at http://www.pvmcsermons.com/2010/10/phil-kniss-marriage-as-call-to-ministry.html:

In an essay titled, “Marriage in the Fellowship of the Faithful”

John Thompson asked an important, but very basic question:

Why does anyone today get married?

Why would otherwise sensible people give up our individual lives,

and unite with another person?

Well, society gives us certain financial advantages to do so.

There’s a tax break. There’s shared expenses. There’s inheritance.

But most people, Thompson suggests, and it rings true,

marry mainly to reduce the fear of loneliness.

He writes, and I quote,

“Through marriage we secure a family

that keeps us from living and dying alone.

Many churches today merely echo

this secular and pragmatic function of marriage

with their extreme focus on family and family values.”

Then he points out what really ought to be obvious.

Christian marriage is not intended to serve this purpose

of providing a supportive family.

If Christians ever feel a need to marry to overcome loneliness,

then the body of Christ isn’t doing its job.

The gospel word . . . the good news on this matter . . .

is that in Christ, even strangers become family.

In fact, marriage could even hinder life in the family of God,

as our energies and time get redirected

from our family of faith to our biological family.

That’s the point Paul was making to the Corinthians,

when he said, in 1 Corinthians 7:32ff,

“I want you to be free from such anxieties.

The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord,

how to please the Lord;

but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world,

how to please his wife, and his interests are divided.”

And then he said the same thing

about married and unmarried women.

Three things.  First, I love how he compares me to Paul.  Second, the article he is quoting from is in Christian Reflections (2006) at Baylor's Center for Christian Ethics.  Please feel free to call them up and request copies.  Third, check out the sermon.  It is worth your time.