by Ian Paul, Psephizo
In our church we have a Spanish-speaking congregation, who join in on Sundays (where we have songs and readings in different languages and simultaneous translation) but who also have their own Spanish-language service on a Tuesday evening. We have been given funding for a Spanish speaking pastor, but also seek to integrate ministry across the congregations. So I preached at the service last night—and did so in Spanish! This is my sermon, in English and Spanish, and I conclude with some reflections on the challenge. The reading was Gen 2:15–25.
Today, I am going to be courageous! I am going to try to speak to you in Spanish, and I am going to talk to you about marriage! So please be kind to me! (and forgive my pronunciation…)
The subject of marriage is very important—in the West, we have a crisis of marriage. Young people are not getting married, and fewer than ever are having children. As a culture, many have lost confidence in married and parenting.
When Jesus was confronted with a practical problem about marriage—the question of divorce and remarriage—his response was fascinating.
Instead of answering the question head on, he went back to the real question behind the question that was being asked. What is marriage? Why do we have it? And what was it for? To answer these questions, he went back to God’s intention in creation. So we are doing the same today.
When we read the story in Genesis 2 about the creation of the first woman, we must notice four things.
1. Different by design
Sex difference—the differences between men and women—is intentional, not an accident and not a mistake.
I am going to tell you something shocking—something surprising. Men and women are different! Our bodies are different! Men are usually taller and stronger than women! My wife finds this very useful when she needs something from a high up shelf in the kitchen!
Men have, on average, 40% more strength in their upper bodies. That makes a difference for people walking home late at night in the dark.
Our minds are different. We very often think in different ways. Our speech is different. Women on average use twice as many words in a day as men…! (I have to be careful here!)
In our culture in the West, many people hate this idea. They think it leads to oppression and inequality—and they are right, it has. But this leads them to deny that there is any difference.
That is why we see so much about ‘women can do what men do just as well’ in all our news stories. Women can play football; women can lead in business; women can be politicians.
But the problem with this, with trying to prove that women can do what men do, is that then men are setting the agenda. And we are not allowing women to be what they want, what they are good at!
We should instead celebrate that men and women are different. The French have a saying ‘Vive la difference!’ (Perhaps you have a similar saying…?)
But we must treat these differences with care. Men are taller than women; but not every man is taller than every woman. Differences need not create stereotypes.