Sermon-Sunday, October 8th
Mark 10:2-16 , Genesis 2:18-24
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This week’s Gospel lesson deals with marriage. This is one of those lessons that pastors are never really happy to see come up in the lectionary. There is perhaps no other week when it is more tempting to simply decide to not preach on the Gospel and use one of the other texts, not that there is anything wrong with preaching on one of the other texts. But a preacher should do that because they can really hear the Spirit filling them with a word to preach through the epistle, or the OT or the psalm. It should not be done simply as a way of avoiding a Gospel lesson that might be a little challenging.
Pastors dread this passage because marriage is one of those aspects of life where our humanity and sinfulness is laid right before us. Whether it be in the form of pride or envy or lust or whatever, it is always there. It has been said of marriage that marriage is love and love is blind, and marriage is an institution. Therefore marriage is an institution for the blind. Obviously, that is a humorous commentary on marriage, but it is drawn from an awareness of the extremely visible presence of our own humanity in marriage.
You see this humanity right as the Gospel passage opens when the Pharisees pose a question to Jesus. The question that they pose does not actually have to do with marriage but rather divorce. The Pharisees ask Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. What they are really asking is what the law or scripture says about divorce. Back then, to refer to the law would have been to refer to scripture. That was the wrong question and Jesus shows to distinction.
He reminds them that Moses did in fact say that a man was allowed to divorce his wife. But then, Jesus tells them that Moses allowed this because of ‘ your hardness of heart.’ Then He reminds them of what you read in the OT lesson for today. He doesn’t use the same passage, but He reminds them that God brings some men and women together in marriage and that when this happens, the two become one. What Jesus is doing there is answering the question that the Pharisees should have been asking. That question isn’t "What does the Bible say about marriage?" but rather "What is God’s will for marriage?"
It is God’s will for all human relationships, and not just marriage, for God’s people to come together as one. But we’re human, we’re sinful. Sin comes in and often breaks apart the unity of flesh that God intends for human relationships. That is what Jesus is referring to when He spoke of Moses allowing for divorce because of ‘hardness of heart.’
When you look at how the Bible speaks of divorce, you can see that there isn’t exactly a great deal of clarity. In 1st Corinthians 7, Paul allows for divorce in certain situations, such as when an unbelieving partner requests it. As we see in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus says that you can’t separate what has become one. In Ezra, it says that it is actually the sign of a good husband to divorce his unbelieving wife. And Paul says the exact opposite in 1st Corinthians 7, that it is the sign of a good spouse not to divorce his or her unbelieving spouse. And finally, it says in the first chapter of Matthew that Joseph actually thought it was his duty to divorce Mary because he thought that she was unfaithful to him. Again, more evidence of the incredible visibility of our humanity and sinfulness, not just in marriage but in all human relationships.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is not trying to give us detailed rules about what constitutes adultery, or under what grounds divorce is permissible. However, it is clear that broken relationships between God’s people are not a part of God’s plan. But because of human sinfulness, broken relationships happen. Divorce happens, adultery happens.
And yes, in this Gospel passage, Jesus brings up the even uglier issue of adultery when He says that anyone who gets divorced and remarried commits adultery. Those are pretty harsh words. And it probably is important to acknowledge that in the context in which Jesus would have said this, the concept of committing adultery would have been thought of as a form of one man stealing another man’s property. Marriages were arranged and they were really seen more as business arrangements between two families. Adultery was not just a betrayal to a spouse, but to an entire family. Regardless, it is clear in any context, that adultery and divorce are not part of God’s will for marriage and human relationships.
But we also must remember that there is another way that Jesus defines adultery. Before you go pointing fingers at anyone, remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5 in regards to adultery. He said that anyone who looks at another lustfully has committed the sin of adultery. Going by that definition I doubt that any of us could plead not guilty to the sin of adultery. Indeed in His famous encounter with an adulterous woman who was about to be stoned to death, our Lord Jesus offered no condemnation but forgiveness. And to those who were ready to throw the stones at her, He said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." And all of them dropped their stones.
Indeed in marriage and in all human relationships we are contstantly reminded of our own humanity and our own sinfulness. We are reminded of our own pride, our own vanity, our own selfishness, and the list can go an. In being reminded of our own humanity, we are reminded of our own helplessness to sin and our need for a Savior. And in Christ Jesus we have that Savior.
Healthy, fruitful and Christ-centered relationships in any context, be it marriage, friendship or whatever are certainly something we should all strive for and are to be encouraged and celebrated. But, by the grace of God, our salvation is not dependent upon our ability to maintain healthy relationships with each other.
Jesus tells the disciples to let the little children come to Him for it is to such as them that the kingdom of God belongs. Again, like last week we should be aware that when Jesus says that the kingdom of God is for the child-like, He is not necessarily speaking of purity and innocence.
Quite to the contrary, in Jesus’ time children were seen as more of a burden than a blessing. More than likely these children were brought to Jesus because they were sick and in need of healing. In the midst of our human relationships, where our sin is just right out there in front of us, we are reminded that we are reminded of our own need for healing.
We are reminded of our own need to be healed from the disease of sin. Indeed that is how many of us, perhaps most of us, were brought to our Lord in baptism. We were brought as children, children in need of healing and in the waters of baptism we were brought into the healing process; the healing that can only come from being marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
God sees all of us as sinners who have fallen short of His glory, whether we are divorced and going on our 10th marriage or preparing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of a marriage to a high school sweetheart. But by God’s amazing grace in His Son Christ Jesus, He also sees us as His children, and He faithfully and unconditionally loves us as His children even when we are too hard-hearted to realize it.
Amen
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This week’s Gospel lesson deals with marriage. This is one of those lessons that pastors are never really happy to see come up in the lectionary. There is perhaps no other week when it is more tempting to simply decide to not preach on the Gospel and use one of the other texts, not that there is anything wrong with preaching on one of the other texts. But a preacher should do that because they can really hear the Spirit filling them with a word to preach through the epistle, or the OT or the psalm. It should not be done simply as a way of avoiding a Gospel lesson that might be a little challenging.
Pastors dread this passage because marriage is one of those aspects of life where our humanity and sinfulness is laid right before us. Whether it be in the form of pride or envy or lust or whatever, it is always there. It has been said of marriage that marriage is love and love is blind, and marriage is an institution. Therefore marriage is an institution for the blind. Obviously, that is a humorous commentary on marriage, but it is drawn from an awareness of the extremely visible presence of our own humanity in marriage.
You see this humanity right as the Gospel passage opens when the Pharisees pose a question to Jesus. The question that they pose does not actually have to do with marriage but rather divorce. The Pharisees ask Jesus if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. What they are really asking is what the law or scripture says about divorce. Back then, to refer to the law would have been to refer to scripture. That was the wrong question and Jesus shows to distinction.
He reminds them that Moses did in fact say that a man was allowed to divorce his wife. But then, Jesus tells them that Moses allowed this because of ‘ your hardness of heart.’ Then He reminds them of what you read in the OT lesson for today. He doesn’t use the same passage, but He reminds them that God brings some men and women together in marriage and that when this happens, the two become one. What Jesus is doing there is answering the question that the Pharisees should have been asking. That question isn’t "What does the Bible say about marriage?" but rather "What is God’s will for marriage?"
It is God’s will for all human relationships, and not just marriage, for God’s people to come together as one. But we’re human, we’re sinful. Sin comes in and often breaks apart the unity of flesh that God intends for human relationships. That is what Jesus is referring to when He spoke of Moses allowing for divorce because of ‘hardness of heart.’
When you look at how the Bible speaks of divorce, you can see that there isn’t exactly a great deal of clarity. In 1st Corinthians 7, Paul allows for divorce in certain situations, such as when an unbelieving partner requests it. As we see in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus says that you can’t separate what has become one. In Ezra, it says that it is actually the sign of a good husband to divorce his unbelieving wife. And Paul says the exact opposite in 1st Corinthians 7, that it is the sign of a good spouse not to divorce his or her unbelieving spouse. And finally, it says in the first chapter of Matthew that Joseph actually thought it was his duty to divorce Mary because he thought that she was unfaithful to him. Again, more evidence of the incredible visibility of our humanity and sinfulness, not just in marriage but in all human relationships.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus is not trying to give us detailed rules about what constitutes adultery, or under what grounds divorce is permissible. However, it is clear that broken relationships between God’s people are not a part of God’s plan. But because of human sinfulness, broken relationships happen. Divorce happens, adultery happens.
And yes, in this Gospel passage, Jesus brings up the even uglier issue of adultery when He says that anyone who gets divorced and remarried commits adultery. Those are pretty harsh words. And it probably is important to acknowledge that in the context in which Jesus would have said this, the concept of committing adultery would have been thought of as a form of one man stealing another man’s property. Marriages were arranged and they were really seen more as business arrangements between two families. Adultery was not just a betrayal to a spouse, but to an entire family. Regardless, it is clear in any context, that adultery and divorce are not part of God’s will for marriage and human relationships.
But we also must remember that there is another way that Jesus defines adultery. Before you go pointing fingers at anyone, remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5 in regards to adultery. He said that anyone who looks at another lustfully has committed the sin of adultery. Going by that definition I doubt that any of us could plead not guilty to the sin of adultery. Indeed in His famous encounter with an adulterous woman who was about to be stoned to death, our Lord Jesus offered no condemnation but forgiveness. And to those who were ready to throw the stones at her, He said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." And all of them dropped their stones.
Indeed in marriage and in all human relationships we are contstantly reminded of our own humanity and our own sinfulness. We are reminded of our own pride, our own vanity, our own selfishness, and the list can go an. In being reminded of our own humanity, we are reminded of our own helplessness to sin and our need for a Savior. And in Christ Jesus we have that Savior.
Healthy, fruitful and Christ-centered relationships in any context, be it marriage, friendship or whatever are certainly something we should all strive for and are to be encouraged and celebrated. But, by the grace of God, our salvation is not dependent upon our ability to maintain healthy relationships with each other.
Jesus tells the disciples to let the little children come to Him for it is to such as them that the kingdom of God belongs. Again, like last week we should be aware that when Jesus says that the kingdom of God is for the child-like, He is not necessarily speaking of purity and innocence.
Quite to the contrary, in Jesus’ time children were seen as more of a burden than a blessing. More than likely these children were brought to Jesus because they were sick and in need of healing. In the midst of our human relationships, where our sin is just right out there in front of us, we are reminded that we are reminded of our own need for healing.
We are reminded of our own need to be healed from the disease of sin. Indeed that is how many of us, perhaps most of us, were brought to our Lord in baptism. We were brought as children, children in need of healing and in the waters of baptism we were brought into the healing process; the healing that can only come from being marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
God sees all of us as sinners who have fallen short of His glory, whether we are divorced and going on our 10th marriage or preparing to celebrate the 60th anniversary of a marriage to a high school sweetheart. But by God’s amazing grace in His Son Christ Jesus, He also sees us as His children, and He faithfully and unconditionally loves us as His children even when we are too hard-hearted to realize it.
Amen
posted by Steve at 2:02 PM
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