Sermon Mark 10: 2-16

This must be the first time I've preached on divorce. And I suspect that many pulpits will be silent on the issue this Sunday and instead choose to preach on the part about welcoming the children.

Many in the Church who think we are unfaithful point to this text as proof that Jesus says that divorce is not allowed.

But is it the case that the United Church is disagreeing with Jesus? Perhaps not! Let's look at the text; We have the Pharisees who ask Jesus about whether divorce is allowed. You know who the Pharisees represent, "Those who live by strict rules; black and white; what is good and what is evil are very clear, you just follow all the rules." Now we know all the Pharisees weren't like that, but in the Bible that is who the word "Pharisee" represents; those who think God is a divine policeman with a whole list of rules. Step out of line and you are zapped by lightning. We know through Jesus, that this is not what God is like at all.

And yet, isn't it strange that Jesus seems to challenge the Pharisees, in this case, for being too liberal; too lax, too open about divorce. Jesus goes on to say that divorce was only allowed because of "Human hard-heartedness" and that God's intention is that a man and a woman should join together and become so close that they are "one flesh"; that they are family. Let no one break apart what God has brought together. That is God's intent in marriage!

How strange it is that in this text, Jesus seems to become the Pharisee of Pharisees!!! He says that those who divorce and remarry are adulterers! Remember the Ten Commandments: "You shall not commit adultery." Serious stuff, if you think this is about Jesus making new rules. If you read this text like a Pharisee!

Don't misunderstand; the text is clear; the God's hope for human marriage is life long commitment between two person; God's intent for those who enter into marriage is that relationships develop so deeply that the marriage bond can not be broken.

And yet, we know the reality of the human condition and of course Jesus knows it even better. We do fail! Let's be honest, about 1/3 of marriages in Canada end in divorce. It is a bit better for Christians but the numbers are not very good either.

We have become a society where divorce has become so accepted, that there is little sense of failure associated with it. Some even speak of our culture accepting "serial marriages". You marry a person and when they stop "meeting your needs" you get another, and so on. God forbid that we Christians would take our relationships so lightly. To become married, God says is to become like family; one flesh. The intent of God's plan is permanence in married covenants. Marriage is intended as a reflection of God's permanent relationship with us.

And while Jesus points out God's intent, he is also exposing the reality of human intent in treating divorce as "just one of those things"; as not being that serious with God; and that attitude is what Jesus calls adulterous!

It says something about the state of Christian marriage these days that so few take it so seriously. The church even takes it less seriously. In the past, one had to prove to the church that their vows of Christian marriage were serious. They had to show that by being married they could better live out their baptismal vows. Marriage was part of ones call as a disciple; to fail at marriage was to fail one's calling to Jesus Christ. And in our United Church, too often we condone the remarriage of people who show no sense of remorse or repentance over a past failed marriage.

In the past the Church took marriage and re-marriage much more serious. Such was the seriousness of marriage, for if one could not love the neighbour that slept next to you how could you love any other neighbour. Adultery was and is a great betrayal of all relationships! And God help the church when it supports an casual approach to marriage; when it does it is supporting a spirit of adultery in our culture.

And for those who are single, don't believe that adultery does not apply to you. For it has been the understanding of much of the church that when we are given to Christ in baptism, that we become part of the body of Christ. That when we join our bodies with others in casual sex, we are abusing the body of Christ. Such is a difficult thing to understand in an individualistic society ... safe to say ... what we do with our sexuality has concern to God. Because ultimately, what we do with our bodies affects others and affects who we are. For God knows that often when we human beings say, "I love you." Too often we mean, "I love me, and want to use you." We need the help of community and of God, if in all of our lives, we are to love God and be in right relationship with all of creation.

And yet, Jesus knows that despite God's help, we do fail in our relationships and some marriages come to a point of being unrepairable; they become a mockery of God's intention to "be one flesh". And sometimes because of violence or unrepentant adultery in the relationship one person needs to end the relationship; the relationship again has become a mockery of God's intentions for married life. The truth is that often the reality of human sin and failure gets in the way of God's intent for us!

However, we know from the life of Israel, that even when the people betrayed God, that God's love remained steadfast, and God called the people to try again to be faithful. And we know that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, and all of us left him, that on the third day, he rose from the grave and spoke a word of peace. Calling us to continue as his people.

Today Jesus gives us a challenge to consider God's intent for our relationships; to not have an adulterous spirit and treat marriage as something that just comes and goes depending on our needs. But the life of Jesus tells us most clearly that is a God of Grace, willing to give those who are truly sorry the opportunity to try again. It is in that Spirit; in Jesus Spirit, that we do allow for the opportunity for those, whom others would condemn as unacceptable, to enter or re-enter into a covenant of marriage. And we have witnessed in these relationships God's intentions being fulfilled, where two persons have become "One flesh". AMEN.

Call to Worship
God of True Love.
Come and walk among us.
Open our eyes to your Grace.
Help us to hear your Word of Live.
Grant us your Presence that we might be transformed
more wholely into the likeness of Jesus Christ

Confession
O Risen Christ, you lived with integrity, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and following the will of your Father in Heaven.
You spoke truth to human powers that would warp your intentions into rules that would enslave us.
You opened the eyes of those who were blinded by pride, indifference, envy, despair or grief, that they might enter into a renewed relationship with God.
How often we are tempted to live by our own power and our own ways, rather than seeking your will and your way. Often we think we are doing good, and the results are evil. Sometimes we even avoid something as evil, only later to find out it was the good. Grant us your grace that we can be freed from our confusion, that we might live in more human ways with each other, with your good creation, and with you.
Reveal your Word to us that we might life more faithfully as your people.

Offering
We offer the work of our hands and minds, to serve your intentions. We know through Christ that your desires and intentions for us are greater that we can ever imagine. Accept this offering as a sign of our trust in you, and use it for spreading the Good News of Jesus way. For it is in his name that we pray, AMEN.