Psalm 33 tells us “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; and by the breath of His mouth all their hosts. Many of us recall that when God created our world it was “good”. God said so 6 times in Genesis. Romans 1:20 states, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Isaiah 6:3 literally reads, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the fullness of the earth is His glory.”
The Charles Colson Center reminds us that creation is still “good” and reflects the image of God. However, “Evil attaches itself to creation like a parasite and ravages it. Sin deforms the world and makes a caricature of it. Good things are abused by sin, but they are not utterly destroyed. Even in the most perverse situations, the goodness of creation remains intact and always shines through”.
In simple Norwegian term…once our world discovered it could do things our own way, rather than God’s, opportunities for self-destruction were opened up to us. Most of us know there are very few ways (sometimes, only one) to get something right but countless ways to get something wrong.
This is why it is so difficult to get things right. And, we
should never be surprised when we (or somebody else) get things wrong.
In the last couple of days the Supreme Court got a lot right…although
it feels very wrong. SCOTUS ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
It also ruled it did not have standing to determine the correctness of
Proposition 8 in California. In this context of deferring to autonomy of the
states it makes perfect sense that SCOTUS also ruled a part of the Voter Rights
Act unconstitutional.
The decisions make me feel “dirty” mostly because I happen to
oppose Gay Marriage and favor voter rights so I’m very disappointed. But’s let’s
take a step back…
Haven’t most of us always maintained the best government is the
one closest to the voters? This would certainly prefer state authority over
federal authority. So…why am I so frustrated? I go back to my theology of a
fallen creation…and the propensity for getting things wrong. What do we do when
we get the feeling that everybody around us is getting it wrong (disregard the
obvious lack of humility)? What do we do when our most trusted and cherished
institutions can’t be trusted?
We can remember that creation is still right. Sin has simply
made it very difficult to see the goodness. So…let’s go back a moment. We know
that marriage was designed for a man and a woman. It is still that way because this
is God’s intent. Sin hasn’t changed this Divine institution. Sin has only made it
more difficult to recognize. We should still adhere to the original intent.
I’d like to declare myself “Hispanic”. I believe, with the approaching
legislation over immigration and amnesty I might benefit by being Hispanic. I will
surely have a problem when somebody looks at me and says “but you look so Norwegian”. But…only if they pay attention. In the same
manner, there are homosexuals who want to get married. They can say they are
married. The law can declare they are married but…if we pay attention…we have
to say “it doesn’t look like marriage”. So…I’ve taken a more phlegmatic approach to this disappointment. These decisions do not threaten my foundations…because the foundations of my existence are not rooted in this world. As the old spiritual says;
This world is not my home
I’m just passing through
My treasure is laid up
Somewhere beyond the blue.
Let me assure you…wherever “Somewhere
beyond the blue” is, marriage means the same thing it always has.
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