Sermon- 18th Sunday after Pentecost

The Gospel According to Mark 10: 2-16

2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ 3He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ 4They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ 5But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” 7“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,* 8and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’
10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ 16And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

This text is the background for the first sermon I ever preached in this congregation three years ago today. I’ll be the first to tell you that things haven’t gotten any easier! I imagine that none of you are surprised to read this text in the bible- whether divorced, single, married, or some place in between, this text isn’t a secret. I am the child of divorced parents- and I remember hearing these verses read in church and thinking, my parents are in trouble. It seemed that they did not do what God wanted.
Now, it would be easy to spend a little time in the Hebrews text for today, even in the text from Genesis, but the words of this passage from Mark sound out in our sanctuary in such a way that they just beg for us to look deeper. They are the elephant in the room this morning. Let me begin by saying that we wade into this text with some fear and trembling, knowing that each one of us brings an experience to God’s word this morning that is significant. I bring the pain of divorce as I experienced it as a five year old girl. Some of you bring the pain of divorce in your own relationships, or in the relationships of children or loved ones. Too often this text has been used as more of a weapon than a tool. Instead of looking deeply into what Jesus might be saying, holding it gently, this text can become a way of knocking people upside the head. Don’t get divorced. As if that is the only answer to the complicated question of human relationships. To the complexity of our human experience God does not answer with a simple yes or no. Always, always, we read our texts as they are wrapped in grace. So with grace at the forefront of our minds let’s dig a bit deeper.
Our text begins with the Pharisees coming to Jesus once again. Now, it was only a few weeks ago that we remember these Pharisees coming to Jesus to ask a different question. They are a set of religious leaders who are intent on bring the community back to the law. To the Pharisees the ignorance of the law has led to the brokenness of their community, anything but the law puts the people in danger, and moves them further away from the religious structure of the day. And when the Pharisees come to Jesus, we often see a little glimmer of bad intent in their question. They don’t really want to know the answer. They just want Jesus to say the wrong thing, so that the one who says he came to abolish the law, who flagrantly ignores parts of what is so important to these Pharisees might get into some trouble. So, these Pharisees approach Jesus to ask him a question- is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
Simple answer- yes. Moses wrote the law, so it is lawful. These Pharisees obviously know the answer- they are teachers of the law! But, it is even trickier to answer than at first glance. First, the Jewish community was divided on the interpretation of the law. Some suggested that a man could only divorce his wife if she committed adultery. Other communities suggested that it was permissible if she did anything that displeased him. Rarely, if ever, could a woman divorce her husband. And, not only that, but we ought not forget that only a few chapters ago Jesus’ own cousin, John the Baptist, lost his head after condemning the King for divorcing his wife in order to marry his brother’s wife. So, this question of divorce has a lot riding on it.
So we have this question hanging in the air, and it appears that Jesus isn’t ready to give a simple answer. Is it lawful to divorce? Why doesn’t he just answer yes or no? Why not give a simple answer to this simple question? Apparently, because it isn’t so simple. When faced with this tricky questions Jesus has a way of leaving the question behind and bring scripture to the foreground.
So he tells them the story from the beginning when God created. God made all of creation that they might be joined together. And the hardness of heart buried deep within that creation got in the way, and Moses wrote for the people the commandment. What God has joined together, no one should separate. That’s all Jesus tells those questioning Pharisees. The rest comes later.
Many of us have heard these words used as a way to explain who should and shouldn’t be allowed to get married. I don’t think Jesus is saying much about that here, actually. He is saying some pretty difficult stuff, especially for us who are so frequently touched by divorce.
But, let’s keep going. Alone with the disciples Jesus goes even further, saying that whoever divorces and marries another commits adultery.
Geez. We could do some textual backflips and try to make it seem like Jesus wasn’t really saying what he said. I don’t think that is fair to this text. We can just say it is bound in time and walk away. Or we can even say that if something like this exists in scripture than this is not the kind of community we want to be a part of. But, imagine with me that Jesus is saying something difficult about divorce. And here’s what I think he is saying:
Divorce hurts. Divorce hurts. As the child of a divorce, I can tell you, Jesus is right, it hurts. Divorce hurts and God cares. Divorce is literally the ripping apart of two that have become one. And when we rip apart relationships it just plain hurts. I don’t care if you are married in a church, in a courtroom or in another kind of ceremony that seals your union- when we unite in those intimate ways with the person most important in our lives, when that relationship breaks, when that vulnerable, intimate relationship is ended it hurts. It hurts and God grieves.
I think the greatest lesson we can gather from this text is not about divorce being a yes or a no, but about divorce being something that goes against God’s intention for our creation. Anyone who has been touched by divorce knows this to be true. This is not what a family would choose, this is not what partners would choose. But it happens, and when it does, we come with deep grief, and deep pain. Knowing this is not how anyone wanted it to be. Now, please hear this, divorce is not tied to salvation. Divorce is not even tied to God’s love for you. You need not be concerned about your salvation, because that is a gift of grace through faith. And because we know that God loves us, despite ourselves, even when we break covenantal relationships with each other, we can hear this text with new ears. When our community is broken, especially when our community is broken by divorce, God deeply cares. God’s care for the most vulnerable, for children, for widows, for those plunged into the vulnerability of life by the act of divorce, God deeply cares. Jesus deeply cares. What has been brought together can only be broken by the most painful of actions.
But beyond the question of divorce, Jesus seems a bit more confused and distressed by the hardheartedness that wins the day. Men are permitted to divorce their wives when something better comes along, casting these women out with no safety net because their hearts are hardened. The disciples ignore the plight of children being brought to Jesus in order to receive a healing touch because their hearts are hardened. What Jesus cares most deeply about, in our text, is those who are left out, those who are most broken, most vulnerable, most alone. The work of God through Jesus is always to bring unity, to bring healing where things and people have been torn apart.
When we come to the table together, we are broken and we are hurting, we are divorced and we are married, single and in committed relationships, we are men and we are women, we are children and we are adults. God cares, God cares deeply for us, whatever we bring to the table, because that is who God is. Jesus cares for the most vulnerable above all else, seeking to heal what is broken in our world and in our lives. And because of that deep care, we are able to eat of one bread and one body, we take the flesh of Christ into our own flesh, and we are recreated, healed, and united. Our hard heartedness might fall away, for just a moment. That we might see in this bread and wine the one who is most concerned, who is most grieved by our brokenness, who is most with us in our pain and in our struggle. The one who can never be torn from us, because we have been joined to Christ in baptism. And what God has brought together in this, no one, even ourselves, can ever separate. Amen, and thanks be to God.