PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear and force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes. 

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one. 

– John O’Donohue

Mark 10:2-16

² Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³ He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵ But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶ But 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,^[a]8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹² and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But 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. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Debbie and I have a unique story of how we moved towards marriage and how our marriage has turned out over the years.  Of course, everyone has a unique story in their lives as well.  It’s crazy at times though to think about it.  

Debbie and I met at the University of Kentucky.  We dated off and on, more off than on, actually.  But we did become great friends.  

Eventually, about 8-9 years after we first met, things changed between us and we had a growing sense that we’d be getting married. And, we did.  It’s been an adventure…and lots of misadventures, over the years…and, honestly, our story has had moments of wondering what we were thinking 27 years ago and even wondering where we are going.  It’s had some really hard things to walk through…as well as some really good things.  

In our gospel text, the folks questioning Jesus were not trying to be funny.  They were trying to put Jesus in a box with this question of marriage and divorce.  It was political given that the Jewish king, Herod, had just married his brother’s wife after she divorced him.  It really had much more to do with getting Jesus in trouble with the authorities than proving a moral argument.  

At the time, Mosaic law had allowed a woman or a man to divorce their spouse easily.  In a patriarchal society though, that would be tough on a woman, as they would generally not have a way to support themselves and their children, if they had any.  And, the man could initiate a divorce, but not the woman.

Plus, Jesus, as he often did, takes this discussion into a deeper place of understanding.  Marriage and divorce were defined radically different in the 1^st century, and it is hard for us to put ourselves in the context of 2000 years ago, but we can get the trajectory of what Jesus is saying in this passage. That persons can be called together for a season and that everyone is of value, regardless of marital status.  And, he also takes Jewish law at the time and says that both persons are subject to their understanding of adultery.  Which, again, is different today than 2000 years ago.  The Bible has lots of different definitions of adultery, and we are not going to get into all of them today, but in Jewish understanding, it could be defined as idolatry…placing something that you want over your made in the image of God Self.  Let that sink in for a bit, God is calling us away from any attachment that divides us and keeps us away from the God who resides within us and around us…as scripture says elsewhere, God is a jealous God and wants us to be fully alive and whole…

And, also remember that in the Gospel of both Mark and Luke in other passages, Jesus states that there is no marriage in heaven…that it’s not necessary as we are in a deeper union, a deeper “oneness” if you will, will all people and creation.  

Jesus goes on to say that God pulls and shapes and molds folks together, and that what God calls together, we are to honor it.  Again, taking a deeper trajectory towards God’s desire for us to be one and to honor that there are seasons of life where we are called together.

God also gives us grace and calls things into being out of what may have felt like death.  Whether those of us here today are in a relationship or not, we have probably experienced a death in a relationship at some point, either metaphorically or physically.   And, again, it’s good to remember that no matter what our stories are, that in life, there is birth, death, and rebirth…resurrection of some sort.  There is a cycle of growth in our faith tradition that leads to wholeness no matter what our relationship status is.  

Jesus is speaking more to the matter of one’s heart, Moses, or Jewish Law, gave concessions for divorce because of a hardness of heart, and unwillingness to grow, to change, and to be in covenant relationships with one another.  

All of life is gift, and those that come and go in our lives are gifts…and, when we are with others, we know that those relationships can be sources of joy as well as hard and trying.  Yet, it’s still gift.  

Our gospel lesson goes on to share a story about children wanting to come to Jesus.  But, the disciples were on some sort of exclusive power play.  They didn’t want to be inconvenienced so they rebuked the children.  Jesus was indignant, mad, frustrated.  He in turn rebuked the disciples and told the children to come to him.  

As we’ve said today and in previous weeks, children were non-persons,  they were on the margins, yet Jesus says that the kingdom of God, God’s Presence, is with them!  Jesus is saying explicitly to his audience and to us today, if you want to enter the Kingdom, if you want to experience God’s Presence, you must welcome those on the margins.  And, we must be willing to identify with those on the margins.  Jesus is not giving some romantic notion that we must become like little children in all of their innocence, Jesus is saying we must be willing to have our identities shaped by those on the margins and our relationship with them.  We must be so committed to those on the margins, that we are one with them, that we are identified with them.  And, that we have a trust beyond circumstances that we’ve talked about…and that begins in being like children before we put on the egos that we created to make it in this world.  

This passage says so much to us as image bearers of God, we must be willing to stand with the homeless, the refugee, the immigrant, the foreigner, those who are different in any shape, color, orientation, or background from us.  Jesus has this object lesson with children to tell us throughout time, that God does not show favoritism and that God’s church, God’s body, must not as well.  God is calling us to be one with God’s self, and God’s self is one with all of humanity.  It’s fitting that we have this passage today on oneness with all, even those on the margins, those different from us, as we perform this sacred moment or sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, reminding us of the relational commitment that God has made to us in creating, saving, and sustaining us.  This same God who calls us into responding to that commitment to us by recognizing and  living in God’s oneness with us.