A sermon preached at Old South Congregational Church, United Church of Christ,
Hallowell, Maine, October 8, 2006.
Text: Mark 10:2-16
When we were living in London, we did a lot of sightseeing. One of the sights that got a full day of attention was Hampton Court Palace, a former royal palace where Henry VIII spent some time and where King James I commissioned the King James Bible. On our day of exploring the palace, Margaret picked up a children's activity pamphlet. This activity set her off learning about and figuring out royal ciphers. A cipher is a kind of monogram. Royal ciphers can be found all over London, and probably all over England. You see them on post boxes and on buildings and on certain uniforms.
But, to figure out a cipher, you have to know something about the line of British monarchs and you have to know a little Latin. The cipher of the current queen, for instance, is E and R with a roman numeral 2 between the letters. E is for Elizabeth. R is for the Latin word for queen, "regina." And, the roman numeral II tells us that she is the second Elizabeth to serve as queen. This, despite the fact that one of the yeoman warders at the Tower of London, told us that the E and the R on his uniform stood for "elderly" and "rude."
Once we learned a little something about ciphers, we not only found them all over Hampton Court Palace, but we started noticing them all over the place. And, knowing a little bit about the history of British royalty, and a little bit of Latin, we could figure out all of the ciphers we encountered.
Why am I telling you this? We encounter lots of things in life that require that we know a little something in order to figure out meaning. This is true of the Bible as well. Today's passage, in particular, is a great example of a passage that really requires some knowledge about certain things. This is not the kind of passage that ought to be just plucked out and read without a little further exploration and some understanding of context. This is what is often referred to as a "hard text," not simply because it seems to contain a message that goes against our way of life, but because it demands some context that is not contained in most Bibles and because it requires an appreciation of the fact that this was a lesson that would have been difficult even in the first century.
This is the kind of a passage that I could preach on for quite a long time. It is packed full of things that are deserving of our attention. I can hardly do it any justice in the space of a normal sermon. But, it seems unkind, and I suspect unwise, to preach for several hours, so, please be aware that we are barely scraping the surface today.
I will be splitting up today's passage into two parts-- the first being the marriage and divorce teaching and the second on the teaching regarding children.
We'll begin with the teaching on marriage and divorce. Let me read that part of the passage again and ask that you listen closely to what it says and then I'll highlight a couple of parts of the passage:
"Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' He answered them, 'What did Moses command you?' They said, 'Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.' But Jesus said to them, 'Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. There what God has joined together, let no one separate.' Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.'"
On the surface, this passage conveys a particularly severe view of marriage and divorce. With half of all marriages ending in divorce and many, if not most, of those divorced people getting remarried, we may find ourselves in one of those wiggly spots. Could Jesus really be saying what he seems to be saying? Well, not exactly. And, this is where context is important.
It is important to take notice of the very first part of this passage: the Pharisees had come to test Jesus. And, as usual, Jesus begins answering the questions with more questions. Pharisees, at least according to Mark, were leaders among the Jews who were very concerned with law and the following of the law, as if the law itself were the path to holiness.
The Pharisees test Jesus on his knowledge and his appreciation for the law. The book of Deuteronomy lays down this legal principle:
Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not
please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and
so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and
sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house and goes off
to become another man's wife. Then suppose the second man dislikes
her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand and sends
her out of his house (or the second man that marries her dies); her
first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again
to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be
abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land
that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. (Deut. 24:1-4)
Jesus takes the Pharisees' challenge and places it on a whole new plane of existence. Ultimately, Jesus teaches that holiness is not gained through the mindless adherence to law, but through the new law that is written on the heart and is exercised through our hearts and our minds. But, this is getting a little ahead of ourselves.
Let's talk about divorce first and then marriage in this section of the passage. The most important, I think anyway, of the lessons of divorce is the fact that Jesus does not support the traditional Jewish understanding of divorce which was wholly in the power of the husband. Though put negatively in terms of the peril of divorce, Jesus clearly states that divorce could be initiated by either the husband or the wife. It is difficult to understate the significance of such a statement in the Jewish community. As The Interpreter's Bible so deftly asserts: "The passage provides an impressive picture of the towering greatness of Jesus as a champion of women." The Interpreter's goes on: "Against the customs of his time, against the prevalence of the idea of male dominance which runs through Hebrew thought and practice, he gave to his nation and to the world a new conception of women as persons equal with men in the sight of God." (pg. 795)
Now, is Jesus saying that men and women, husbands and wives, may go out and wantonly court marriage and divorce? Not at all. But, it is critical to understand the very plain and powerful statement that Jesus was making in response to the ridiculous test put out by the Pharisees.
Let's talk briefly, then, about marriage. Jesus is very clear about the sanctity of marriage. But, is he also saying that those who are divorced and remarried are in violation of the will and purpose of God? Not exactly. In dialogue with the Pharisees, after all, it is unlikely that Jesus would be setting out simply to replace the old legalism of the Pharisees with a new legalism of his own.
Marriage, though, is still a serious business and a profoundly spiritual institution. Marriage is, as seen by Jesus, a holy estate through which God's purposes may be made real. Marriage is not a matter of convenience or pleasure, but of God's holy purpose.
In offering his views on divorce and on marriage, and elevating the status of women, Jesus is also making a clear statement about the mutuality of marriage: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So, they are no longer two, but one flesh." Significantly, Jesus indicates no order in that relationship, no chain of command, no one more powerful or important than the other. The one plus one equals one equation of a Christian marriage provides a model of mutuality and respect, of equality and reverence. This, too, would have been a profoundly radical statement in first century Jewish society.
This also provides some guidance for those situations where a marriage may find its way to a divorce. Where brutality, cruelty and violence are real, where no accommodation is made for mutual respect and a space for the holy to dwell, then it seems that divorce is not only acceptable, but even to be recommended. Certainly, the ideal is for people who marry to stay married, but that ideal also includes the foundational aspects of mutual care and respect. The drive to save all marriages at any cost, to "legalize" the maintenance of a violent marriage because of the perceived retribution of God is to fall into the same simple-minded trap as the Pharisees.
We have barely scraped the surface of this fascinating and important passage, but we must also move on the last part of the passage that appears to focus on children-although I would offer a slightly different point of view: "13People 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."
Certainly these verses are offered to indicate Jesus' attitude toward children. Again, Jesus is in opposition to the normal customs of his community as children were largely ignored until they were old enough to be useful. In this passage, Jesus is said to have become indignant when he saw that the disciples had spoken sternly to those who were bringing children. If you want to know something about the things that Jesus really cared about, the word indignant is a good clue. In Jesus' eyes and in his proclamations of the purposes of God, children are to be welcomed openly and extravagantly. They are a vital part of the community as well.
As important as this lesson is, however, we need to turn our attention to the last little bit-so that we don't miss it. It may be the most important of all for today: "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." Now, what is Jesus saying here? Could it be that the larger society is doing something right in our youth-obsessed culture? Are we supposed to remain immature and childish for all of our days? I think not.
But, to hold up a small child as the model for gaining the kingdom of God holds a profoundly significant and valuable lesson for our lives of faith. This isn't to say that Jesus is idealizing children or childhood, as if all children are models of good behavior and innocence. His lesson goes much deeper than that. In his object lesson with the children, Jesus seems to be teaching that, even as we attain adulthood, our lives of faith require that we acknowledge that we remain dependent-dependent on God.
And, just as children are clearly subject to lessons and instruction, so are we in our lives of faith for all of our lives. Jesus looks to the children and uses them as a powerful example of what it means to engage in a life of faith and as a follower of God through Jesus Christ.
The other day, Margaret sat down to do some of her special math homework-she is in a once a week advanced math class, so the homework for this class can be challenging. On this particular occasion, she was learning about and working on factors. The first problem asked for the factors of 63. She had written 1, 7, 9 and 63. I asked her if she thought that was the right answer. Yes, mommy. I asked if she was sure. Yes, mommy. Did she really go through all of the possibilities to come up with that answer? Yes, mommy. (Now, she is getting mad) Well, I said, I don't think you've got them all. Yes, I have, she said. What about 3, I asked. No, she said, 3 is definitely not a factor of 63.
This went on for a while until she finally calmed down and went off to be by herself and then she came back some time later with the right answer, which, of course, involved the inclusion of the number 3. Margaret is stubborn. I am stubborn. And, I know that some of you are stubborn too.
Stubbornness can be a stumbling block in our lives of faith. It is one of many stumbling blocks in our lives of faith. Jesus reminds us that even as adults, we have much to learn. And, sometimes, I suspect that that includes unlearning things that we hold dear.
But, this is not just about living our lives of faith, but also about receiving the kingdom of God. We have much to learn.
"And Jesus took them in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them." May we too feel the arms of Jesus around us, his hands laid upon us and his blessing in the midst of us. May we embrace that openness of spirit, that humbleness of heart, that recognition of dependence as we move forward as a community of faith, as the church especially as we face challenging times.
May God continue to be with us, calling us to faith, to peace and to love.
Amen.