M'bird Preview 2

A sermon by M'birder RJ Heimen was the genesis for this talk.  RJ said that one of his parishioners suggested that divorce was a good thing, because the second marriage can be so much better given what you learn from the first.  This set RJ to thinking about the changes in his marriage, and so it did for M'bird devotees Debbie and Ellis Brazeal.

This is their 30th wedding anniversary, and they wouldn't be together (and in Ellis' case, maybe even alive} but for the Law/Grace theology of Luther and M'bird.  During their first marriage, Debbie and Ellis believed in a marriage based upon a "cause-and-effect" universe and a "self-created identity," as so poignantly described by David Browder in his M'bird Devotiinal of April 16.

Ellis was certain that, if he worked hard and led his family in all thngs Southern Baptist, he would have a good, even great marriage.  But, as Browder explains, life doesn't work that way.  Ellis' "chasing after the wind" left him in a year-long state of suicidal depression.

Debbie believed that, if she worked hard to make Ellis and others happy, then all would go well.  Her self-created identity didn't work any better than Ellis'.  Debbie wished that Ellis would die or that God "would take her home."

Then God, the rescuer and redeemer, stepped in. The "One whose property is always to have mercy" resurrected two dead and lifeless people and thereby their marriage.

Ellis learned that grace, not law, was the basis for all relationships.

 Ellis learned that he couldn't use the law (it's hard for a lawyer to be a Christian) to bring about the type of marriage that he wanted.  In fact, per St. Paul, the law creates rebellion rather than love.

Debbie learned that her identity was as a beloved child of God, an identity which she already possessed an didn't have to create.

This talk will lead us through Debbie and Ellis' three marriages.  As they told M'bird: "if our talk gives hope to just one other couple, it will have been worth it.  If our talk allows one person to forgive another person for 'being who they are,' it will have been worth it."

Their son-in-law is a huge Wes Anderson fan, and one of his favorite movies is "Rushmore."  There's a song by The Who which Wes uses in the film to reflect the breath-taking forgiveness and reconciliation wrought by the law/grace experiences of the characters.

Enjoy:  https://vimeo.com/204160661