U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris, Jr.
West Fort Hood Community Chapel
Second Sunday of Easter Worship Service
Killeen, TX
11 April 2010
Big Idea: Husbands should AGAPE their wives until death separates them.
Scriptural References: EAI (Expository; Application; Illustration); 1 Corinthians 13 (The Love Chapter); 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (ESV) So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight; Ephesians 5:25-32 (ESV) … In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband; Genesis 2:22-24 (ESV) And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed; Mark 10:7-9 (ESV) For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Ephesians 5:25-32 (ESV)
II. READ THE PERICOPE: Ephesians 5:25-32 (ESV)
III. READ THE TEXT: Ephesians 5:28 ESV (In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself).
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that HUSBANDS should AGAPE their wives until death separates them.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “AGAPE”
VI. INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, we discussed moving forward after the Resurrection because Christ is risen.
This week, wild Flowers are budding, and popping up all around us. Birds are chirping and the Harris’ Family has officially graduated from their Second High School Senior’s Prom. Son – number two (Kendall) - celebrated his High School Senior Prom on last evening. He and his date delighted our sense of sight! Together, they looked absolutely ravishing in their Spring colors of Yellow and White!
It’s Spring Time! Many of you can attest to the sounds of Wedding Bells and utterances of “I … DOs” heard from both near and far. In fact, my wife (Dedra) wasn’t present last week because of a Spring-Wedding far away.
One of our Nephews – Cory Williams of Tampa – married a young lady from Florida in Florida with a Traditional Wedding Vow.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 1: Depending on where you’re from – within the United States or abroad - and who your Pastor or Officiant is, …
a. .. you may be or may not have been subject to an assortment of Traditional or Non-Traditional Wedding Vows.
b. In fact, one of my favorite is the Traditional Wedding Vow which our pastor – the late Bishop Lawrence Charles Callahan - used at our wedding.
c. Listen carefully to hear if this Vow - with the exception of our names of course - was also used as your “WEDDING VOW”:
d. I (Kenneth R. Harris Jr) take you (Dedra Yvonne Williams) to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.
e. Moses wrote in Genesis 2:22-24 (ESV) and I quote:
f. … And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed;
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: This morning, in our Scripture, we find the Apostle Paul addressing “how a Christian Husband and wife should live in Ephesians 5:25-32.
a. For don’t you remember, Paul quotes Genesis 2 and says: Husbands are to have a Christ-like passion to bring their wives into deeper purity and holiness before God.
b. Christ’s sacrificial love for the church is set forth as the pattern for the husband’s love for his wife.
c. Husbands ought to consider whether they are loving their wives in an AGAPE manner
d. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
e. Now, the English language only has one word for love and it is used interchangeably for almost everything you can possibly think of.
f. We can say I love my wife and I love sports.
g. Women can say, I love my husband and I love Chocolate.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 3: All are using the same word and it is only by the context that we can ascertain the difference.
a. On the other hand, our New Testament was written in Greek and the Greeks have four different words to describe love:
b. Each word gives a different nuance to the word that helps us understand more fully what is being spoken.
c. For example, Eros is the first type of love we are all familiar with.
d. This type of Love is base relationships purely on sexual attraction. Some of you know what I’m talking about.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4: Stor-ge is the second type of love.
a. But, it’s better known as parental affection.
b. Storge is what we find in families between the different members.
c. This is a much stronger type of love and involves commitment.
d. “Blood is thicker than water” and most people will do all they can to stand behind their families.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: The third type is philia.
a. It pertains to what we might call a brotherly love.
b. Not brotherly in the sense of family, but in the sense of kinsmen ship.
c. This is the type of love that makes us want to help the little old lady cross the street safely and watch out for our fellow man
d. Finally, Agape is the highest form of love there is.
e. This is an unconditional love for others in spite of their character flaws and weaknesses.
f. It is a difficult love to obtain simply because we, as humans, are usually concerned more with ourselves and how the world and people around us affect us.
g. We can only achieve this type of unselfish loving as we put the needs of others as a priority and place God first.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 6: This past week, I was closely involved with two funerals:
a. One on Thursday and the other on Friday.
b. In both cases, a spouse was left behind.
c. On Thursday, SSG Viergutz – a Vietnam Veteran - had been ill for years and finally succumbs on March 31, 2010.
d. He and his wife had two sons; both of which preceded them in death. This couple had been married for 49 years.
e. Apparently, 3 months earlier, the deceased had been placed in a Longterm Care Facility when he asked his wife if he could come home.
f. The spouse said to me that she said yes “of course” and it was the best 3 months of her life; having cared for him and waited on him constantly the last 3 months of his life.
g. She told me that she affectionately called him SWEETIE, and Honey.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 7: My brothers and sisters, this is an example of AGAPE which is often seen in truly loving relationships around the world.
a. It’s an example of keeping the Married Vows of “in sickness and in health”.
b. But, what we don’t often see in our world around us is what happen which led to the event of my second example.
c. A young woman around 36 years of age, killed both her sons (7 and 9 years of age respectively).
d. She then set her home on fire and shot and killed herself.
e. All during the preceding which led up to the funeral, many things had been said about how unbelievable the mother’s actions were.
f. The plan had been to have two separate Viewing of the bodies and two separate funerals.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 8: But, then AGAPE took over.
a. The husband shared with me that the woman that took the life of their children and then herself was not the woman he fell in love with.
b. She was not the woman that he still loves.
c. He said, and I quote, “I must have hurt her pretty bad for her to do something like this.”
d. And he was correct. His wife was hurting;
e. but I believe that she was hurting mentally.
f. As spouses, we don’t often see the damage that is being done mentally. We don’t often see how the devil sneaks into our marriages and pushes us apart from another.
g. His wife had no doubt lost her mind.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 9: Still, although he had lost of all of his family at her hands;
a. he refused to listen to the critics, naysayers, and onlookers.
b. He – with the loving hands of God - decided to Celebrate All 3 Simultaneously.
c. AGAPE is the love of God.
d. It’s God love pouring through us unconditionally upon others.
e. AGAPE is Mrs. Barbara Viergutz amazing love and care for her husband – (SSG Retired) Richard Viergutz UNTIL DEATH SEPARATED THEM
f. AGAPE is Sergeant First Class Griffin pushing Naysayers aside and expressing loving actions toward his wife …..Sheena Danyell Griffin.
g. AGAPE is remembering the VOWs that were made before both God and man:
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
CELEBRATION:
… to have and to hold from this day forward, …
…. for better or for worse, ….
… for richer, for poorer, …
… in sickness and in health, to love and cherish; …
…. from this day forward until death do us part.
