First Presbyterian Church
Hard Sayings
Sermon for October 8, 2006
by Pastor Susan Barnes

In our reading from the Hebrews, the writer addresses issues in the early church. They lived in a society or honor and shame. Christians lived with dishonor because they followed a teacher who had been executed by the state as a criminal.

But rather than viewing Christ's death as embarrassing, the author of Hebrews viewed it as important for Christ's priestly ministry. The author speaks of Jesus as the pioneer whom God made perfect through suffering. That word ‘perfect' doesn't mean without error, but rather complete, finished, whole. The introduction explains a piece of the paradox that Jesus was divine and human both. Believers were expected to follow Jesus, and they “couldn't be expected to walk in the steps of one who hadn't walked in theirs.” 1

But some of them evidently preferred to concentrate on angels. In the old testament, also called the first testament, angels were messengers of God. But they were temporary, as transient as the wind, nothing to be relied on. Angels are not the means of redemption. Evidently some members of the early church looked to angels for assistance rather than Christ. Hebrews reminds them to rely on Jesus, the pioneer who makes the trail, clears the path, and shows us the way. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Hebrews 1:1-4 and 2:5-12.

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2 but 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.

3 He 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, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

5 Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.

6 But someone has testified somewhere, "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? 7 You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8 subjecting 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, 9 but 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.

10 It 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.

11 For the one who sanctifies l have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying, "I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you."

This ends our reading from the book of Hebrews. Jesus' words are words from God. We have his words in the gospel and we should listen to them.

Today's gospel reading contains sayings about divorce. We tend to hear these words as harsh condemnation of people who are divorced, and how people are guilty of adultery if they divorce and remarry. All of us have parents, children, sisters, brothers, and friends who are dear people who are divorced, and we hear these words as harsh ones. We hear them as a condemnation of people, who are in a state of continual sin because “they are divorced.”

It wasn't so long ago in the Presbyterian church that divorced people were not allowed to serve as pastors. Even today, there are denominations that will not let divorced people serve as any sort of church officer.

But I am happy to say that condemnation is not what this text is about;

Our reading happens at a time when Pharisees are arguing with one another about the interpretation of the law of Moses as it regarded divorce. In one place in the old testament, it says that a man can write her a bill of divorce if she displeases him and the divorce is done. She is his property, and he can dispose of her as he sees fit. In those days, a divorced woman had to leave her husband's home, where she lived, and go …. I don't know. In those days a divorced woman literally lost her family and her home.

So as you hear this text, listen to how Jesus reframes the argument and reminds the Pharisees of the relevant scripture.

Listen for the word of God as it is found in 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, 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.

This ends our reading of God's word.

Did you hear how Jesus brought in the Genesis text? He ignored the legal issue of how a man could dispose of his property. Instead, Jesus quoted from Genesis “God made them male and female. A man leaves his father and mother and joins his wife.” But that's not how society in the first century worked; the woman left her family to join her husband's family. Even though God made them male and female, both in God's own image according to Genesis, in that society a wife was her husband's property.

I think Jesus is reminding them that this system of patriarchal marriage does not have its roots in Genesis. God made man and woman. The man joins his wife, they become one. It doesn't say ‘she' becomes ‘his.'

And then later, Jesus talks to the disciples and says those words about remarriage being adultery. Those are the condemning words I remember. But even in these words, there is some good news. He says to the disciples that whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her --- that is radical.

In the law in Leviticus, a man can only commit adultery against another man by taking that man's wife. He can't commit adultery against a woman – she is her husband's property. Jesus speaks of women as if they are not property. And he goes further and says if the wife divorces here husband, she commits adultery. The radical part of what Jesus said is that a woman can divorce her husband. Jesus contradicted these Pharisees, who argued that only men could initiate and administer divorce.

Even with that understanding though, those are still hard words about divorce and adultery. So I appreciated hearing what Theologian Ched Myers said. He said, “This teaching recognizes the fact that divorce is a profound spiritual and social tragedy. No one who has undergone the fire of ‘one flesh torn apart (as I myself have) can dispute the weight of Jesus plea [in saying ‘What God has joined together let no one/man separate.'] ‘In the suffering perhaps more than in the happiness a man and a woman may discover how deeply involved they are. They may discover that they are no longer simply individuals, for in the poisoning of their marriage a part of them is dying.'” 2

Jesus' teaching also acknowledges, however, that divorce is a reality… Both parties must have the right to take initiative, and both must accept responsibilities and limitation involved in the death of a marriage.

I think it is no accident that Mark places Jesus words about divorce next to the incident where he welcomes the children. Divorce affects children greatly. In the culture of the time, children were also considered property. So far in Mark's gospel, the only children who have been mentioned have been the synagogue ruler's daughter who was dying, the Syrophoenian's daughter who was ill, and the boy who was unable to speak or hear. These children were all victims. To Jesus, who referred to children as “the least of these,” the children represented those who are vulnerable to those in power.

We know that children who grow up in secure homes, where they are cared for and loved, tend to do better in school and are less likely to do drugs or become alcoholics. That doesn't mean that people from good homes never experience these problems. It does mean that when they do, the love that has sustained the family helps them all get through the tragedy.

And sometimes children from abusive homes can learn new ways of behaving, and healthy ways of being a family. That's why Jesus is teaching the disciples to let the children come to them. He was teaching the disciples to value children. They are worth caring for. Even the disciples were to welcome children. They belong to the kingdom of God.” In those days, children were property of their father. They had no legal rights.

And then Jesus said “ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Little children had no authority or power. Jesus often reminds the disciples to be last, to be the servant of all, and to serve the least of these who are my brothers and sisters. And as we overhear Jesus' words, we are called to do the same. Not to pass judgment, but to welcome and extend God's grace to everyone.

One man told me “The pain of my parents' divorce was real but it was nothing compared to the pain my father brought upon himself and his children when he drank himself to death after he left my mother. I don't know whether he left in order to drink or if the pain of leaving made him drink more often.”

On many occasions, the person who is divorced becomes the least of these. I talked with a woman whose mother is divorced. She belongs to a Christian denomination that doesn't allow people who are divorced to take communion. When she goes to her daughter's Presbyterian church, when the communion tray is passed, she pretends to take bread, but doesn't, and raises the cup to her mouth but doesn't open her lips. It's as if because her church tells her she can't take communion at her church, she doesn't think she is worthy to take communion anywhere, not even in the church where her son-in-law is a Presbyterian pastor.

I know people who are divorced who just don't go to church because they don't think they deserve to anymore, as if because they are divorced, they are not allowed to hear God's word or hear anyone speak a word of peace to them. That breaks my heart.

And so we need to reach out to people who are feeling the pain of divorce. Those who are left especially need our comfort. Even those spouses who have had affairs and left eventually will feel remorse and sadness. They can try to medicate their pain with drugs and destructive behavior, or they can find a welcome among people of faith. Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He didn't come into the world to tell us the best way to judge sinners. He came to show us how to live with one another, reflecting God's love to all we meet.

1New Interpreter's Bible XII , p. 11.

2 Myers, Ched, Binding the Strong Man, p. 269, also quoting Tannehill, the Sword of His Mouth, 1975:97.