Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. – Ephesians 5:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 31, 2015): Ephesians 5

Quiz time. Which popular 70’s sitcom is thought to be the first show to have contained the sound of a toilet flushing? Following its first appearance, the flushing toilet actually became a running gag on the show. The answer: All in the Family. I can still hear the toilet flush and then Archie come bounding down the stairs. “All in the Family” was a funny show, but it was also an important show. It was the first sitcom to take on issues that the society of that day was struggling with, but also felt were incompatible with a comedic format. “All in the Family” took a swing at issues such as racism, rape, the Vietnam War, breast cancer, miscarriage, homosexuality – and, of course, the flushing toilet. The comedy really changed the way we thought as a society, and it did it for the better.

But the show also taught us about the idea of submission. We almost hated Edith for the way that she would allow Archie to push her around. Archie would order her like a slave, call her dingbat, and when she did want to speak, often with a message that we really needed to hear, Archie would tell Edith to stifle. It was almost too much, even for that day and that age. Yet, Edith rose above all of that. And according to Paul, Edith got it right. In fact, if you are married and you want to make the most out of your marriage, watch “All in the Family” and pay close attention to Edith – while ignoring Archie, who was the only real dingbat on the sitcom.

Submission is a ten letter word. Obvious, I know. But it is a ten letter word that we just don’t like. In Contemporary culture there are two ten letter words that we treat as if they were swear words. And submission is one of them – and maybe the preeminent one. (If you are curious about the other one, it is discipline – we aren’t much of a fan about that word either.) But we see no reason why we should ever be submissive to anyone. After all, we have rights and we deserve respect. We are the talented ones – if there is anyone who should be submissive, it is others to us. All of this revealing that we would make very good Archie’s.

The problem is that we connect the idea of submission with the idea of being talented or worthy of respect, but those two concepts are totally unrelated. Submission is a military word that carries the meaning of being one of lesser rank. There is absolutely no doubt that a private fighting on the front line could be more talented and have a higher intellectual ability then one of the general’s guiding the battle from behind. But that private, as talented as he is, exists in a chain of command – and he is submissive to the less talented general through that chain of command. And it is quite possible that if the private learns the lesson of submission, he will rise through the ranks and one day share the rank of General with some other less talented soldiers. But if he doesn’t learn the lesson, he will remain exactly where he is – a private – until the day that he washes out of army.

This is the image that Paul wants us to understand. Submit to one another does not mean that they are smarter or more talented than we are; it means that we have learned the military lesson. And really, that we are willing to recognized Christ in each other. The unfortunate truth of Archie Bunker is that because of the way that he behaved, he never really realized the worth of this jewel to which he was married.

But Edith got it. It didn’t matter what was happening around her, she showed how much she valued this oaf who was ordering her around through her submission. Could you imagine how great this television marriage would have been if Archie could have mirrored Edith. It was the scene that we never saw on the show. Archie coming through the door, home at last from work. Edith racing in from the kitchen, coming through that swinging door with supper in her hands. And at this point Archie races to her side and moves into the kitchen wanting nothing more than to take some of this weight off of the shoulders of his bride. That would have been a beautiful picture of mutual submission.

And it is a picture of what the church is supposed to look like. We are to submit to each other, racing to value others more than ourselves, not because the other is smarter than we are, or more likely in our society because they are richer than we are, but because we are following the example that has been set down before us by Jesus Christ.

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:6-8  

And through our submission, we begin to understand the Christian Faith, and show that someday we will be read for a promotion.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6