October 7, 2012 19th Sunday After Pentecost

Mark 10:2-16
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
 5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.
] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

“Let’s Talk About Marriage”

In dealing with the sticky question of marriage and divorce Jesus goes back to the original intent of marriage as recorded in Gen., 2, before the fall into sin of Gen. 3, and reminds us that it all started out good.  God created all and it was good.

The question  of the Pharisees probably was loaded. (Most questions of the self-righteous are!)  An attempt to trap this liberal in his own words.
But Jesus traps them.  They wanted to talk about rights and advantages as under the law,
Jesus reminds them of the responsibilities which follow on those rights and advantages.
They wanted to talk about divorce, Jesus confronts them with the real issue - marriage.

Marriage is a holy estate ordained by God and to be held in honor by all.
It is hard work.  It takes effort, skill, and even training.
It gives energy to life, for as Dr. Eugene Kennedy says, it is to “give life to each other.”

The real question is not, “Is divorce lawful?”
The real question is, “Is marriage life giving?”

Catholic priest:  “:There is one thing worse then divorce; and that is a loveless marriage.”

“Like A Child”
 
To be child like is to be open, willing, receptive.
A child like faith knows a dependable confidence and assurance in the midst of life’s insecurities.  It dares to ask questions and live with a certain creative mystery in the presence of a loving God.  It trusts where there is no other way and rests in the love which is beyond human understanding.

It usually isn’t difficult for a child to accept a gift - it is a natural response, often with joy.  The child doesn’t think about deserving the gift; the child just accepts the gift.

The Kingdom of God is ours as a gift - all we have to do is accept it.
Faith is accepting the gift of God’s Kingdom, openly, freely, confidently, joyfully.

A child also has a great capacity to trust.  When we trust we believe the offer of a gift, and  accept the gift without thought to why or how or why me?  The gift doesn’t depend on me.  It is freely given out of love; like a child I can accept  it, in love.