First Reading: Genesis 2:18-24
18The Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman,
for out of Man this one was taken.”
24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Psalm: Psalm 8
You crown us with glory and honor. (Ps. 8:5)
1O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in | all the earth!—
2you whose glory is chanted above the heavens out of the mouths of infants and children; you have set up a fortress against your enemies, to silence the foe and avenger.
3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set | in their courses,
4what are mere mortals that you should be mindful of them, human beings that you should care for them?
5Yet you have made them little less than divine; with glory and honor you crown them.
6You have made them rule over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet:
7all | flocks and cattle, even the wild beasts of the field,
8the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the sea.
9O Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Second Reading: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
1Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
2:5Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6But someone has testified somewhere,
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them?
7You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned them with glory and honor,
8subjecting all things under their feet.”
Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,9but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying,
“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
Gospel: Mark 10:2-16
2Some Pharisees came, and to test [Jesus] they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6But 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, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
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.
CHILDREN’S SERMON: “Two Men and a Bear” by Aesop
Two Men were traveling in company through a forest, when, all at once, a huge Bear crashed out of the brush near them. One of the Men, thinking of his own safety, climbed a tree. The other, unable to fight the savage beast alone, threw himself on the ground and lay still, as if he were dead. He had heard that a Bear will not touch a dead body.
It must have been true, for the Bear snuffed at the Man’s head awhile, and then, seeming to be satisfied that he was dead, walked away.
The Man in the tree climbed down. “It looked just as if that Bear whispered in your ear,” he said. “What did he tell you?” “He said,” answered the other, “that it was not at all wise to keep company with a fellow who would desert his friend in a moment of danger.”
Misfortune is the test of true friendship.
Let us pray: Lord, may the words of my mouth and the mediations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Strength and my Redeemer.
SERMON
Jesus now begins to travel south from northern Israel, the Galilean area, to “across the river” from Judea. He is approaching Jerusalem. He has been trying to prepare the disciples for what they are about to experience when they arrive there. He will be betrayed, killed and rise again. But they can only think about him finally becoming the promised Messiah and restoration of Israel to its former glory. We are coming to the climax of Mark’s Gospel. To us onlookers, it looks like somehow life is going along as normal. The Pharisees, as usual, are testing Jesus with trick questions and the disciples, as usual, are doing crowd control.
In the midst of the ordinary we are presented with two scenes to ponder today. The issues are ordinary, divorce and noisey kids disrupting people, but Jesus’ response is noteworthy. In scene one the Pharisees are questioning Jesus about divorce. In the second scene the disciples are trying to control the people bringing their children to Jesus for his blessing. Divorce and care of single women and mothers was a touchy subject and still is a divisive subject that has probably touched all our lives. It is a land mine to preach about as our feelings run so deep, feelings of betrayal, guilt, defeat and shame. Divorce shatters a relationship, shatters dreams, and tears apart families and presents a quagmire of situations to navigate.
9Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
One of the ways Lutherans like to look at Scripture is to look through the lens of Law and Gospel. The Pharisees were the guardians of the Law, meaning the Ten Commandments, and the hundreds of smaller laws that defined how they understood God’s meaning for the big ten. The text says the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus. Perhaps they wanted Jesus to be so definitive like John the Baptist who publicly condemned Herod’s marriage to Herodias, Herod’s brother’s former wife that he became an enemy of the State. John the Baptist was beheaded in that story. Perhaps they wanted Jesus to disagree with Moses, a forefather upon which they based their laws. One of the trick questions the people always asked us in Kenya was, “How many wives did Solomon have?” The Kenyans practiced polygamy and they knew Christians took only one wife and so many denominations forced them to put away all but one wife to be an elder in the church. Women, on the other hand, often asked in women’s meetings if family planning was a sin because they had had many children, almost bled to death at the last birth but knew if they stopped bearing children their husband would take another wife. I have heard the lament “I now know what ‘til death do us part means’” as their husbands living in the cities certainly had AIDS and would bring it home to them. Female and male identity is closely tied to the ability to produce children. Divorce is just a thorny topic that skims across the top of male/female relationships.
Lest we think this is solely a sexual issue, though, focusing on married bedroom relationships, I think the question of divorce is a valid question for singles also. Singles can be trapped in tense committed relationships with parents or bosses or friends who are abusive, who have demanded more than the person can give as the other person in the relationship diminishes with disease or spends years in jail, or or or. How long, Lord, do I have to live in this relationship? I’m so tired? It is so unfair! Where do I find the energy to face tomorrow trapped like this? Last week we ended with Jesus saying we will all be salted with fire. Navigating relationships affects all of us. Breaking relationships hurts all of us. For many, married or not, it is like walking through fire.
Jesus first directs the Pharisees to the Law. What did Moses say? As I ponder that question, I wonder if it is not like going to court and asking, “What is your side of the story?” Everyone wanting divorce has a story to tell about what they are having to endure. Every victim of divorce has a story. Every family touched by divorce has a story. We use words like infidelity, abuse, or abandonment. The relationship has broken down and is not working right and separation seems like the best solution to someone. Hollywood and our musical crooners often paint marriage as “some enchanted evening.” But we all know that is not true. Relationships are work and they get all mixed up because of sin. The Pharisees respond that Moses and the law allows divorce. Men could walk away from a relationship under certain situations.
Jesus does not argue with them but changes the parameters. Divorce is not just a legal question about who gets what. Divorce is a moral dilemma involving the “hardening of a heart.” Jesus takes the conversation back to creation. God saw that it was not good for man to be alone and he created woman to be a helpmate for man. Please note that God did not make woman to bear man’s children, to be a sexual object for his satisfaction. We are created to be companions, to work together on the projects of life. That is easy to say and hard to do. God’s Plan A is that we allow the fire of relationships to refine our salt.
That is not an easy answer but let us remember that Jesus is talking about the Garden of Eden and before sin. Our lives now are not God’s Plan A. My mother taught me that it takes two to tango and that implies the pain of looking at the break and seeing how I contributed. We know, though, that sometimes life breaks love. Children get involved and choose to walk away from parents who are trying faithfully to love them. The other develops a disease that requires the soul wrenching decision about institutionalizing. People make bad choices that destroy the potential for good results. We cry. It was never God’s intention that the child he gave us, the love he brought into our life, or the deep friendship should end in separation. God wants us to be helpmates to others.
Jesus continues with God’s Plan B. When Adam and Eve hardened their hearts to God’s plan and ate the forbidden fruit, God had them leave the Garden. When Cain killed Abel, God had Cain chased away rather than forcing them to continue to live in a relationship that was destructive. We call it death. Death can be physical like at the end of our life or death can be social or psychological. God through Moses allowed an exit but there will always be scars.
Law is like a fence that protects us and warns us when we are in danger. The Law is couched in words of love, commitment and the heart’s desire of God to develop a nation of priests to bless all other nations. As my husband would say, the Ten Commandments are more like guidelines of how to live a happy, productive life that blesses others. God’s plan was not to draw lines between good guys and bad guys but a guideline of God’s desire for our relationships. As we read today’s Old Testament text, God’s desire is that we do not experience aloneness, that we be productive and multiply, and experience the “good life.” God’s Plan A is that we work together blessing each other. God’s Plan A includes all. But when Plan A fails, God is prepared with Plan B, the cross. Plan B is for everyone, not just married people, because we all fail in loving as God loves.
So perhaps our first reflection today is to ask ourselves what is going on when we harden our hearts. When I looked up “harness of heart” in a concordance, I was surprised to find it used only three times in the Bible, all in the New Testament, and only in two contexts. Jesus talks about hardening our hearts in marriage, in our relationship with another. The other context is to challenge us not to be like non-believers who live with hardness of heart, unable to access God. Both situations are a hardness in relating to another. When life does not go the way I want, often my tendency is to look around and place blame. It seems to me that at the core of broken relationships is a tension involving my will versus the will of another or I am fighting with what I perceive to be the will of God. In the ordinariness of life I am tested and must learn to run to God even as the little children crawled into Jesus’ lap.
Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
The second half of the text today switches to a tender scene where the disciples are discouraging parents from bringing small children to Jesus for a blessing. Jesus becomes indignant and rebukes the disciples. Is this our third or fourth Sunday when Jesus puts before us the little child – the dependent, the vulnerable, the helpless, the “becoming.” Do we need to read it again? It is so familiar to many of us but it is a fantastic statement with great depth that should not be thought of as only Sunday School appropriate. It is a statement of God’s love for all. Can we picture ourselves in this scene?
We use laws to divide, to assign guilt, blame and to find fault – we know that burden. But Jesus opens his arms and says to let my sheep, young and old, guilty and not so guilty come to me. All the weary and those carrying heavy burdens are invited into his presence like little children. God’s heart is that all can approach him and not be left out and alone.
A possible picture of faith is seeing ourselves as those small children, going to Jesus with our bumps and bruises, our failures, our crushed hopes and disappointed dreams, our feelings of rejection and unworthiness and all the separations and exclusion that life throws our way. We are folded into the arms of Jesus. He’s not afraid of our scars.
The text today clearly rejects divorce that divides and excludes as not God’s Plan A but realistically acknowledges the need for Plan B, divorce, because we live in a fallen world. I cannot get around that. The picture of welcoming the children is the picture of inclusion where none are to be left on the fringes alone and second class. God does not want us to be alone. He even sends the Holy Spirit to be with us always, even today.
So where does that leave us as we listen? I think there is one more lesson to be pondered. Those disciples questioned Jesus further about divorce and were the ones turning away the children. God does not want divorce but wants us to come to him like little children but the truth is that we often act more like the disciples. We create hierarchies of sin, in our minds thinking who are the worst sinners and which sins are more like mistakes that all people do. We are human after all! We demand of others standards that we ourselves cannot live up to. Jesus becomes indignant when we do that. The disciples were to allow the little ones to come to Jesus and not create false barriers. It is a good reminder today in our mixed up world that is so polarized and so ready to assign who are the good guys and who the bad guys are. That job is God’s. Ours is to welcome. God’s Plan A is that we not be alone but be with him. Plan B, the cross, is there for when we fail. In the ongoing ordinary challenges that face us each day and that will drive the crowds to yell “crucify him,” “we choose divorce,” Jesus will spread out his arms on the cross and say, “Father forgive them.” He cares for us and welcomes all. That is Gospel.
And the people of God said, AMEN, THANK YOU LORD!
Posted by srwantabee 
On the Way to Wonder 