Pentecost
19
October
4th, 2015
Mark
10:2-16
"Christ on Marriage and Children"
Dearly
beloved, Jesus speaks to us today of marriage. And while our culture
has its own ideas about marriage, our Lord, who created and
established it, knows and speaks the truth of it.
For
the culture, marriage may be a blessed arrangement, a dream within a
dream... romanticized and idealized at times, but also ridiculed as a
sad end to the freedom and revelry of single life. An agreement
between two people (or maybe more), now of any gender, to “love
each other” whatever that means to them. It is meant to be
permanent, kind-of. It is meant more for self-fulfillment than
self-sacrifice. The wedding day becomes a show of self-expression,
where super-hero themed outfits, sports idolatry and scuba diving
officiants barely raise an eyebrow. But where, in it all, is the
Lord who created and blesses marriage?
And
so it shouldn't surprise us that divorce quickly becomes an option.
So it was for the ancient Jews, so it is for the modern Americans.
Jesus' teaching on marriage could not be more timely for us.
Single
people – those not yet married – don't tune out here. For by
leading a chaste and decent life you honor your future spouse. And
to those who are widowed... you, also, are to keep marriage sacred
even though death has parted you from your spouse. You, too, can
still honor marriage by hearing Jesus' words today, and by upholding
and supporting those around you in their marriages and families.
So
we come to our text. The Pharisees can't trip up Jesus. He is the
one who puts men to the test, not the other way around. So here, as
always, their attempts to trap and trick him fail.
But
there's more to this than Jesus besting them in a theological debate.
There's instruction on marriage and family. There's teaching on sin
and blessing. And there's hints of a deeper reality that comes in the
kingdom of God through Christ – where the marriage is forever, and
the children are eternally blessed.
Their
question about divorce reminds me of my 7th grade
confirmation students asking, “Is this a sin? Is that a sin?” It
is the little legalist in all of us that wants to know what can we
get away with? How far can I push the limits of the law, and still be
good to go? Behind that is the assumption that if we simply avoid
this or that, we can avoid sin and justify ourselves. If divorce is a
sin, then just don't get divorced, and you haven't sinned. But if
divorce is permitted, and all you need is a certificate, then get the
paperwork and you're free and clear, right?
Wrong,
according to Jesus. He takes them, and us, back to the source, the
foundation of marriage – he takes them back to Eden. There, God
created male and female. There, God instituted the one flesh union of
marriage, and blessed it. There, and then, he established for us
something that holds great blessing and something that should not be
put asunder. So the question begins not with do's and don'ts, but
with the free blessing of God for us. Sadly, we don't always receive
God's gifts as the blessings he intends.
Jesus
pulls no punches, so let's not either. Yes, divorce is sinful.
It is a painful reality in a sinful world. And it is a sin which
Christians too often give a pass. “Oh they were just too
different”. “They grew apart.”. “They couldn't make it work”.
We treat divorce as something that just happens by chance. We say
it's nobody's fault. But sinners do sinful things that lead to
divorce. Jesus says it is because of hardened hearts.
And
other sinners gloss it over, so as not to make anyone feel bad. But
providing cover for a sin by acting like it's not a sin, is just as
sinful. There's plenty of guilt to go around, and ample reason for
all of us to repent. Even
for those of us “happily married”, do we honor God's gift of
marriage as we should? Do wives submit to and their husbands as to
the Lord? Do they respect their husbands as they should?
Do
husbands love their wives as their own bodies, nurturing and caring
as we should? Do we lay down our lives for our wives? Paul's
instructions for marriage in Ephesians could accuse us all. And if
our marriage was compared to the scrutiny of our marriage vows, how
many of us love, honor, and cherish as we should?
We
all stand condemned. We all dishonor the gifts God gives. We all seek
to put God's blessings asunder.
Jesus
is not in the business of seeing people divided, separated, torn
apart. He is about making whole, making one, reuniting and
reconciling. Not only sinner to sinner, but sinner to God.
In
Christ, God and man are made one – even in the person of Jesus.
True God and true man – being of the substance of the Father, but
conceived in the flesh of man in the womb of Mary. God and man are
“joined together” in the incarnation, a not so subtle indication
of his overall mission to bring God and man, once separated by sin,
back together forever.
In
Christ, God reconciles the world to himself. At the cross, even as
his body is broken, Jesus repairs, restores, revives and renews. Even
when we were enemies, outsiders, and wanted nothing to do with him,
he sought us and made us his own.
We
are united to him, buried with him and raised with him in Baptism. We
are united with him and each other in the Holy Communion. There, we
are together with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven.
There, we are united in a physical but mysterious way with our Lord,
with his Body and Blood.
What
God has joined together, in Christ, let man not put asunder. Let man
not separate. You see, for a Christian, marriage is much more than
just two people who vow to be together until death. Christian
marriage is a picture of the very union between Christ and his bride,
the church. We are, all together, the bride of Christ. He is the
ever-faithful bridegroom. We were the damsel in distress – the
distress of sin and death. He is the knight in shining armor, our
champion, who rescues from the dragon us and wins us a happily ever
after.
And
is it an accident that our text about marriage is followed by Jesus'
regard for the little children? For one of the great blessings of
marriage is that through the one flesh union, God brings forth new
life. In the bearing of children, the two, quite literally, become
one. Even as much as we are part of his bride, the church, so also
are we, through Christ, children of God. And Jesus regards even
little children.
I
remember as a child of about 8 or 10, being given the great
responsibility of ordering some lunch-meat while mom shopped for some
other groceries. And so I stood at the deli counter, waiting for my
turn. But the people behind the counter didn't seem to notice me, and
only waited on the adults. Maybe they didn't think that I was old
enough to do my own shopping. Or maybe I was just too short to see.
But
Jesus regards the little ones. He has a special place in his heart
for them. He touches them and blesses them, blesses even us. He gives
us all blessings at the font. He brings us to himself, even when some
would say the blessing isn't for children. He calls us his own, calls
us by name, and commends us to the Father.
Receiving
his kingdom like a little child means to receive him, Jesus, with
childlike faith and trust in him to make it all right.
Our
Lord Jesus Christ speaks teaches us today about marriage and
children. He calls a sin a sin, and points us back to basics when it
comes to what is right and true.
But
he is also the one who brings forgiveness, for all who sin - for the
divorcee and those who dishonor marriage in any way, for all those
who are separated from God by our sins. He brings life to those whose
lives are torn apart and in tatters. He brings salvation, renewal and
reconciliation to all who receive him like a child, and look to the
blessings of his cross rather than trusting our own devices.
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one put asunder.... in
Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
