Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:20-7:12
Gospel: St. Matthew 14:1-13
Christian Sexuality ~ Marital Fidelity: 1 Corinthians 6:20-7:12, especially vs. 2:
"...because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband." Today, we begin a series of four readings from First Corinthians concerned with issues of sexuality. In the four readings, St. Paul examines questions of marital fidelity, non-believing spouses, marriage and service to God, and the celibate vocation. An earlier passage from First Corinthians (vs.5:9-6:11) set the basic ground-rules for all Christians as they interact with persons who are behaving immorally - both with unbelievers and with professed Christians.
As is obvious from the verse of this passage quoted above (vs.7:2), the Apostle is exhorting the Faithful in marital fidelity. Not a surprising admonition! However, given the moral laxity of society with its acceptance of sex-outside-of-marriage - whether fornication or adultery - how can one sustain fidelity through a lifetime of marriage? It is not an idle question. Look at the loose standards of this world corroding and even militating against faithfulness. Think of the lavish preparations families pour into wedding arrangements and of the intense longing of couples for their marriages to last. What support does Holy Scripture and the Church's teaching provide?
At the start of this passage (vs. 6:20), St. Paul reminds every Christian "...you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." In the Orthodox betrothal service each partner is asked, "Have you a good, free, and unconstrained will and a firm intention to take unto yourself this [person] whom you see here before you?" But long before the betrothal, every Christian, knowingly or unknowingly, has acted on the Apostle's reminder "to glorify God" also with "a good, free, and unconstrained will and a firm intention," without any reservations or special conditions - in Baptism. God bought us; we are His.
The Baptismal vow of "uniting one's self to Christ" is all about life-long commitment and loyalty. All fidelity, including the choice to be faithful in marriage, the decision to maintain sexual purity in all relationships, and the repudiation of fornication and adultery, start in a heart that will settle for nothing less than glorifying God in one's body and spirit. Unquestionably, the "will to glorify God" is a grace from Him Who extends help to all who seek His aid. Nonetheless, it is necessary for each one, in gratitude for the "the price paid for us," to seek God's gift of fidelity.
Next, the Apostle advises married persons to render "the affection due" to one's spouse (vs. 7:3), yielding "authority over" one's body to him or her as well. Again St. Paul is assuming that total surrender which every Christian makes in submitting to "Christ as King and God." In fact, all rights were handed over to the Lord in Baptism. Marital self-giving, understood and practiced from the context that all is committed to the Lord, greatly contributes to marital fidelity in act, thought, and feelings, because giving "the affection due" honors both the spouse and God.
Finally, it is not God's intention for married persons to divorce (vs.11). As the visible crowns are removed during the wedding ceremony, the Priest prays that the new marriage will be preserved "indissoluble." At the same time, the Church recognizes that there are marital and family situations that are so destructive, violent, or degrading that separation may be wise. Still, permission to divorce is granted as a reluctant and second choice in pastoral "economia." For the Apostle, divorce is never a matter of indifference, and so he adds that the highest and best choice for those who are divorced is to "remain unmarried" (vs. 11). Before God, Orthodox men and women are expected to meet one another in marriage as a call from God, thereby illumining the "mystery concerning Christ and the Church" before the world (Eph. 5:32).
O Christ, may all the Faithful preserve their crowns spotless and without reproach forever.