October 8, 2006 Sermon
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Proper 22 – B
October 8, 2006 Allan Conkling
This portion of Mark’s Gospel presents us with a side of Jesus which frankly makes many people uncomfortable: Jesus the interpreter of Jewish Law, Jesus the corrector, Jesus the authoritarian; who contrasts the high standards of God with the human tendency to err and fall short of God’s glory. This reading could be used, and in some churches doubtless will be, as a way to make people feel bad, or give a lecture on declining morality and the evils of divorce. But I would rather use it as a teachable moment on the sanctity of God’s creation and our part as stewards of that creation.
When it comes to the subject of divorce I dare say there is not a person in this room who has not been touched in some way, if not first hand, then surely by someone we know. One look at the Standard-Times’ Community Life section will reveal column after column of divorces filed and divorces granted in San Angelo alone. Current estimates have for years shown that in the US 50% of all marriages end in divorce. While President Bush and the Congress have made “traditional marriage” a keystone of their domestic policy—to reduce soaring divorce rates by funding and legislation—it has had little apparent impact. People speak of “traditional family values” but the reality is that there has always been a “disconnect” between what people say and what they do in real life. Especially Christians. In reality, Christians are just as likely to divorce as anyone else…and studies have shown the divorce rate among Christians is just barely below the divorce rate of atheists and agnostics. In America’s Bible Belt, out of wedlock births and divorce rates are higher than anywhere else in the country, even though the region has the highest disapproval of “non-traditional” family behaviors.
Divorce is a sensitive topic. But it was even more of an issue in our Lord’s day. Not unlike our culture, the Rabbis had differing opinions when it came to divorce. Some were very liberal: For example, a man could divorce his wife if she proved she couldn’t cook, or simply if he found someone who could cook better. Others said No; that divorce was permitted only in cases of adultery…which for the woman was punishable by death. In Jesus’ day divorce was only available to men. Women could not seek divorce. In that patriarchal culture women were ranked only a little better than cattle, something to be owned, something to be used, and they could be dismissed if performance was not up to par. Against these prevailing attitudes Jesus attacked the coldness and cruelty of the Law which had reduced marriage to a legal contract, and had come to treat women as property. He affirmed the basic worth of both male and female. Quoting from Genesis, he affirmed that God’s plan from the dawn of time was that male and female were intended as be as equals.
Taken in context, this Gospel is part of a larger dispute with the religious leaders who were actually trying to trap Jesus and discredit his ministry. Instead he seized the moment as an occasion to teach of the primordial and ever-gracious will of God, a God who created humankind out of love, “male and female he created them.” In God, the basic goodness and dignity of all humanity has been affirmed from the foundation of the world. So then marriage is covenant, not contract. It is relation not institution.
So what does this say to us today? First, God has set before us the ideals of mutual dependence and bonds of affection. Marriage is of course a setting for these ideals to be lived out between men and women. In traditional Christian understanding, marriage partners are icons, the outward and visible image of God and the world, and Christ and the Church. Today marriage still remains as the highest expression of commitment in our culture and of our faith. Of course we humans fall short of God’s ideals, so when the death of a marriage occurs it is grievous. It demonstrates our brokenness. It affects not just the two people involved, but extended family, friends, children, and society at large in a widening ring of concentric circles. Divorce is not a ticket to freedom, nor a liberation, nor a relief…it is a failure, a broken picture, and a distortion of God’s intention that “the two shall become one flesh.”
On the other hand, I feel that Christians have a moral and pastoral duty to participate in, and be agents of healing and not of judgment in the lives of divorcing people. Churches should be places of inclusion not of exclusion for those who are divorced. One of the greatest disservices we can do as a church is to respond to divorce judgmentally or legalistically, or see in divorce a lessening of one’s worth as a human being or child of God. Jesus was looking at the selfishness and narrow-mindedness of the Pharisees when he said, “Therefore, what God has joined together one should not separate.” He was not telling people that they should stay in bad marriages, psychologically demeaning, physically abusive, or unhealthy relationships simply to avoid divorce.
As Christians we should also affirm that genuine intimacy is ultimately only possible when it is mediated by God. These days, single parenting, living together, blended, mixed or alternative family arrangements have, for better or worse, reshaped the landscape of our culture. They are not going away. However, there should be, at the heart of any relationship a commitment of love and respect. Vulnerability, self-surrender, and mutual up-building should be the hallmark. These are God-qualities, they are universal, and they are transforming. Without God, true satisfaction and happiness will never be found.
In the end we know that people will let us down. But God never will fail us or forsake us. That is good news! A loving relationship be it marriage, a partnership of commitment, a family, or a faith community can provide a glimpse of, and a call for, each person to be part of a sacred mystery. In following Christ, we affirm the wholeness and holiness of God – and ourselves as stewards for Christ’s sake.
Living and loving in these difficult times demands much, but rewards us with joy. Joy from a spirit dedicated to God and to our beloved. Grateful joy in that the goodness we taste will be with us in this age and in the age to come.
Copyright © 2003 Emmanuel Episcopal Church. All rights reserved.
Revised: 10/16/06