Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Genesis 2:18-25                     

Genesis 2:18-25

Marriage is good. It is established by God. And the “liturgy” of the first marriage will never be improved upon. The first man and all the animal kingdom were created from the dust of the earth. But the first man and his animal crew weren't complete. Oh they were all masterfully made. But God saw that His highest creation was waiting. And wanting. I can only imagine that Adam, that solitary human, loved the animals he named. But there was a void. The earth had been in that condition a while back. Now the man was living in the same state.

Unique it was that God formed the one to be joined to the man, not from the dust, but from the man himself. Unique she was and for man’s life in the created world, she was all he could have desired. And the companionship, the “fit” was two-way. We’ve all chuckled at what that first gaze between the two must have been like. But in thinking about it I find beauty, real beauty in every direction. Love, friendship, understanding, self-donation toward the other. Adam wasn’t Adam’s hero. Eve was. And I surmise the opposite was true as well. Living … or better yet, life for the sake of another’s best.

God liked it. He said as much. Perfection in a human bond. Gift.

Like all of creation, the darkness coming from the mists that may have hid the serpent from their view wrapped itself around marriage and what began as something scented by the Creator’s hand now lay damaged. Not destroyed, but so much less than it was intended to be. But don’t despair. Adam and Eve were the first to hear “the gospel.” The healing wasn’t immediate but it was ultimate. And the good news was declared first to a married pair because they needed it.

Now God loves marriage. He also loves sanctified singleness. And He loves those for whom a damaged union has become all too real. Not one of God’s gifts to us has escaped the corruption of sin. But our Creator is also our Savior. He makes marriage magnificent.