What we can learn about marriage from basic creation

 The Gospel for this week is not the easiest to address here this day in this culture.

Today we are looking at what Jesus was saying about marriage,

            and we will see the presenting issue

                        and then the deeper issue.

 

Now, when dealing with marriage and divorce, it can get very personal.

So this can be sensitive territory for many people in the congregation 

who have been divorced from their first spouses and remarried to others.

 

“What God has joined together, let no one separate.”

            We quote this verse in every marriage ceremony.

“What God has joined together, let no one separate.”

            But in light of what we commonly experience and observe in this society,

                        what do we take this to mean?

 

When we read this Gospel selection, we bring to it a lot of baggage.

We make tremendous assumptions about what the text says,

            assumptions based on  

socio-economic, political, theological, and cultural frameworks.

We read into 

this Gospel event of conversation between the Pharisees and Jesus 

all the meaning structures of a culture 2000 years later.

 

Let’s reflect some about the passage.

 

 

The first question that comes to my mind is

 why were the Pharisees asking Jesus about divorce.  

How was their question meant to be a trap for him?  

Were they looking primarily to see if he would uphold the Torah, 

the Law of Moses?  

Were they expecting him to do something funny

with the laws of marriage and divorce 

like what he did about keeping the Sabbath?  

And how is it that, as usual, Jesus turns them around in their thinking?

 

It would seem that they were focused on the Law of Moses, 

and Jesus asked them specifically about their reading of the Law of Moses.  

They, of course, respond with a law 

that indicates male ownership of the woman, 

his prerogative to keep her or get rid of her.  

The law is about how to dispose of her.

 

Jesus points to the hardness of heart of the men, 

as necessitating the commandment,

which indicates to me that the addition of a commandment about divorce

            implies a concession, an allowance, and a backing away from

                        some original intent of the Law regarding marriage.

 

There were marriage laws about inheritance rights

                        to insure the passing on of property to appropriate heirs.

But the divorce law was to restrict the callous abandonment of women.

 

Notice then how Jesus moves them to a new frame of reference.

He broadens the scope 

from a theological, political, sociological, or economic construct 

                                                                                                            to creation.

 

Jesus goes back prior to the Law of the Covenant, 

to the arch÷ of creation, the Source.  

He points out that from the beginning 

the MdÎa was male and female, inclusive of both.  

 

One thing that this indicates to me that I pick up on 

is that he is bringing the woman into consideration here 

on an equal footing with the man.  

In creation there is no intention 

for the man to have political dominance over the woman, 

and ownership is a non-issue on the level of creation.

 

Then Jesus talks about relationships of family, 

the basic human configuration of community.  

 

When a person (anqrwpos generic human as opposed to anh÷÷r specifically man) 

leaves the father (of him) and the mother, 

he glues to (proskollhqh÷setai) the woman of him (his wife).  

 

Can this be read as indicating a natural move on the level of creation

into relationship, relatedness?  

If someone leaves one configuration of relatedness, 

will that person inevitably or instinctually or habitually 

seek to be in relationship with others, 

and, more specifically, in close relationship with one other person?  

 

And we could say that two is the most basic and irreducible number 

to constitute community.  

 

But even in this connection of relatedness the two become one, 

a unity so foundational 

that it is not just a theoretical or spiritualized oneness, 

or even a oneness of like-mindedness or affinity, 

but a physical oneness, organic, ecological.  

 

This does not necessarily have to refer exclusively to sexual union, 

but in recognition of the same kind of oneness 

as the genetic bonds of father and mother 

that this person had left behind.  

The unity of creation is so intrinsic 

that it is impossible not to get glued into union, if not relationship, 

with others.  

 

Of course, humans, acting out of hardness of heart, 

will pull away from relating with others, 

will frustrate relationships, 

will hold to illusions of alienation 

or create alienation in relationships.  

This is not the flow of the life of creation, 

which is life in the Spirit of the Resurrection Jesus.

 

In the Gospel reading Jesus ends with the statement, 

“What then the God has yoked together/joined/united,

let not a person make apart -- let no one separate.”  

 

The reality comes down to union of all creation.  

We see distinctions and separations, 

we view the world in terms of duality.  

We talk and act as though there were this and that.  

But all is that.  

 

So in essence Jesus has shown the Pharisees 

that their laws about divorce are illusory constructs 

that are frustrations in the face of the reality of creation.

 

So, brothers and sisters, what do you think?

 

Here is an invitation 

to examine your own experience of marriage and divorce.

What is the purpose of marriage?

What is marriage based on?

 

And how much of how we might answer those two questions 

is composed of assumptions we make about marriage 

that are actually conditioned by culture, economic, or sexual politics?

            (and by sexual politics, 

I am referring to who has power over another)

 

 

What was it, in the creation story, about finding a helper as a partner 

that could not be found in any of the animals?

                        We don’t have the same genetic bonds, for one thing.

Partner in Hebrew means corresponding to, that which is an obvious equal.

 

I think that the way Jesus was looking at divorce 

leads to a radical reframing of the character of marriage 

not as a social, sexual or familial matter, 

but as a matter of union with God.

 

“What God has joined together, let no one separate.”

The reality is union of all creation.  

We see distinctions and separations, 

we see in terms of duality.  

We talk and act as though there were this and that.  

But it is all one.  

 

God has joined together, 

God created all as one ecological unit, one unity of being.

But in our minds we have separated, put asunder.

 

In the creation story 

Eve and Adam were originally one with each other and with God.

 

We say that in Christ we are a new creation,

            one with each other and one with God.

 

May I suggest that we look at marriage 

as a relationship of union that is an icon of God?

            The Prophets of the Old Testament certainly did!

            There are many examples in the texts of this marriage image 

                        between God and humankind.

 

May I suggest that all our relationships

- in families, in friendships, and in faith communities - 

all therefore are also to be of that same reality of union with God?

 

May I suggest 

that whenever we make separations between beings 

we are putting asunder the unity of God? 

that whenever we make distinctions 

            we are dividing creation?

 

So basic human relationships, how we see one another,

            as separate, or as another unique expression of who I am…

We start with the first form of community, the marriage of two people,

            the relationship between two people,

and we build from that relationships within family,

            within tribe,

            within a society, culture, town, city, nation, the world.

 

If we could really see the basic unity, what God has joined together,

            on the first level of two together,

then our view of the world should change,

            and how we are with everyone else would change.

 

Perhaps we would even see the basic heresy of war as a strategy for peace.

Perhaps we could see the necessity of welcoming the stranger,

            those different looking or speaking a different language,

                        the alien, the refugee

as included in this unity of God.

 

What God has joined together, let no put asunder.

 

Some things to ponder…

Are you adaptable?

 Charles Darwin, of evolutionary fame,

            did not coin the phrase, “the survival of the fittest.”

Rather, he argued, it is those species that can adapt and change that survive.

 

We, of the human species, try to figure things out.

We look for meaning that we can understand, 

that we can accept.

We are selective in what we accept,

            what fits our view of life, our world view,

but that can work against us.

For in this current time of multiple environmental crises,

            adaption can mean the difference between life and death.

 

Today’s Gospel reading is a continuation from last Sunday.

 

Jesus was not the Messiah the people of his time and place and culture 

had believed would come.

He didn’t fit this meaning frame of reference. 

Instead he said,

            “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, 

and they will kill him, 

and three days after being killed, he will rise again.”

 

This was the message no one wanted to hear; it was too hard to take in.

“They did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.”

 

So instead the disciples are hanging onto the idea of Messiah they wanted,

                                    what they thought they needed,

            and they vie each other

about who among them was the greatest of the disciples, 

who would get the places of importance and honor

                                                next to the Messiah as they expected him to be.

But Jesus said,

            “Whoever wants to be first [among you] must be last of all

            and servant of all.”

 

The disciples were going to have to change their whole way of looking at Jesus 

            and change their whole set of expectations

                        not only about him but about themselves.

And so must we.

 

Why are we here?  at church            as self proclaimed followers of Jesus

Is it for ourselves first?

            to assure ourselves of being in God’s favor?

The Gospel for today says no.

It is for others.

            Not first, but last and as servant to everyone else.

Yes, that is what Jesus said.

 

For us as a faith community, a congregation of the faithful,

            when there are newcomers, it’s for them that we are here.

When there aren’t any newcomers that day, it is for each other.

 

Lose yourself in terms of what you hope to get here, 

and turn your attention to your brother or sister across the aisle from you, 

and you will find yourself, 

you will receive more than you would have anticipated.

 

Now with that in mind,

            let us turn to the week’s reading from James, 

                        as we make our way through 

                                    this hard hitting and tell it like it is Epistle.

 

James 3:13

“Who is wise and understanding among you?  Show by your good life 

that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.”

 

This week’s selection zeroes in on what is wrong 

            with a lot of what we see going on in the world at the moment:                                                the violence of war, the conflicts and disputes

greed and ambition in the corporate business world 

                        and among nations

the envy, coveting, and craving,

all that in the face of grave natural disasters 

                                                of the environment and pandemic.

This is not only on the global scale,

            but, even more so, close to home;

                        in fact, within our own hearts is where most of this takes place.

 

James writes:

“…if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts,

            do not be … false to the truth.”

 

Whatever is going on out there on the macro level,

            we can be sure that it is a reflection of what is going on

                        in here on the micro level.

That’s where it all starts.

 

Again quoting James:

“Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? 

Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 

You want something and do not have it; [so you are murderous.] 

And you covet something and cannot obtain it; 

            so you engage in disputes and conflicts. 

You do not have, because you do not ask. 

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly,

            [in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.]”

 

That is our human situation spelled out very clearly.

 

So James gives out the free advice:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. 

Resist the devil [resist evil], and it will flee from you. 

Draw near to God, and [God] will draw near to you. 

 

Beautiful words, true words.

But how do we really follow through with them?

How do we actually do what James is telling us?

 

We could look at this as an exhortation to a program of moral behavior

            so that we could somehow purify ourselves.

Purify ourselves…

            But that doesn’t sound very grace filled to me,

            smacks of “works righteousness” – work it out on your own strength.

 

Or maybe this is an invitation into a spiritual process,

            a spiritual process of openness of heart to the Spirit working in us

            bringing to ever greater fulfillment the work of salvation within us.

 

“Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.”

This is a spiritual process of openness of heart,

            through, say for instance, prayer, 

                                                and what has been said about meditation.

 

Meditation is a way to submit ourselves to God

            a way of drawing near to God, 

                        and discovering God drawing near to you

                        by simply sitting in the presence of God doing nothing,

            a way toward purifying the heart

                        and moving from being double minded

                                    to being unified and integrated as a whole being

                                                                        in union with God.

 

Prayer is a way to submit yourself to God,

            for that spiritual process of inner refinement and healing and cleansing

 

“Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.”

 

                        so that the wisdom from above might dwell in us,

                        that Wisdom who is Jesus himself, the Word of God,

            so that the fruits of that wisdom may be fully evident:

                                    peace, gentleness, willingness to yield, 

                                    full of mercy, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy,

                                    a harvest of righteousness sown in peace.

 

Practice compassion for one another 

until this becomes the characteristic that best describes 

both you yourself individually and as a parish family

Practice here so that you can be that way everywhere else too.

 

From one of the verses in James skipped over in the Epistle reading

            James 4:4

“Friendship with the world is enmity with God” 

Friendship with the world is enmity with God 

because the world mind set 

            makes distinctions, and therefore separates and divides – 

people, groups, positions held, even belief systems 

– making for exclusivity and exclusion.

This is at enmity with God 

because in God we live and move and have our being.  

All, we come to see, is in union in God. 

On the level of creation everything belongs, nothing is left out.

This is a truth that endures, that does not pass away.

 

Now remember this however:

            Being of one mind does not equal all thinking the same thing!

Being of one mind in the diverse expression of creation 

is evident in the flow of life.  

Is the flow of life experienced as rough and frustrating, 

or as easy and naturally flowing?

 

Verse 36 Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them

            and told the disciples to welcome such little ones.

 

The child who is the example of the least of them, the weakest, the last,

            not the leader, not the greatest – but the most adaptable - 

is the one whom to welcome, is to welcome Jesus himself, the servant of all.

This is a test.

This last week ALL the readings for today screamed at me, saying, “Preach me!”

 

But don’t worry – I won’t inflict a 10 point half hour long sermon on you,

            IF you will agree to do some scripture reflection of your own

                                                in this next week.

 

First, all I’m going to say about the Isaiah lesson 

            is that I pray that I could be like the Prophet Isaiah

                        to have the tongue of a teacher.

I think that my usual intent for my sermons is teaching

            with a strong desire to make the teaching relevant.

So I am going to do my best with that this morning,

            but you have to make the application, each of you for yourself.  Okay?

 

The Gospel:  Jesus said, “Who do you say that I am?”

 

This is a test.

 

This will come up if you are going to be in the discipleship school

            of this great spiritual teacher, Jesus.

 

He asks this question of the 12 in order to check out their discipleship,

            and then, according to how they answered, 

            to give them specific teaching

                        that will be crucial to their discipleship,

and not only theirs, but ours also,

            that is, if we really want to be identified as his disciples.

This discipleship stuff takes up a lot of the Gospels,

            so it really behooves us to give some effort to understanding

                                                the discipleship program that Jesus is cranking out.

 

How do the disciples do with the test question?            

 

They report first that others are into some reincarnation ideas about Jesus,

            about him being Elijah or John the Baptist come back again,

            or that Jesus ranks right up there with the prophets.

 

But as for themselves, the disciples, Peter seems to be speaking for them

            in laying the claim on Jesus that he is the Messiah.

 

And Jesus sternly ordered them, 

            or we could translate it a bit more closely:

                        Jesus strictly set them straight 

                                                that they weren’t supposed to talk about it.

That’s a perfectly legitimate translation, 

                        “that they weren’t supposed to talk about it,”

            rather than the translation 

                        that they weren’t supposed to tell about him, and here’s why.

 

What he then teaches is something different about who he is 

            than the Messiah.

He teaches that he is going to suffer, 

            to be rejected by the religious establishment and leaders, 

            be killed and then rise again.

 

You see, the idea about the Messiah was that this would be the person

            who would have the endorsement of the religious institution,

            and who would free the people from political oppression

                        just like Moses leading the Children of Israel

                        out of slavery in Egypt to freedom.

This Messiah would free the nation from the oppressor Rome

            and would then establish Jerusalem as the capitol for the nation 

                        from which they would now rule the world 

                                                                                                instead of the Romans.

            The Romans would now be subjugated to their rule.

And this Messiah would live forever.

 

That was the common take at that time 

            on what the ancient Prophets had said about a Messiah.

 

But Jesus is not talking about overcoming the oppressors,

            not referring to this huge national issue at all,

and instead he is talking about facing what must seem like utter failure – 

                                                                        getting executed.

Peter can’t take this.

He’s still hanging onto his idea of Jesus as political Messiah.

So Peter tries to set him straight, not a smart move on his part.

Don’t mess with the Teacher.

That will just set you up for getting used as an example for the rest

            about how you haven’t gotten point of the lesson.

 

Sure enough, Jesus looks around at the disciples

            and here the Greek word for see means 

                        Jesus looked at their condition at that moment

                        and saw deeply into them

                        and could see where they were at in their thoughts.

So Peter gets used as an example for the rest of the disciples.

 

“Get behind me, Satan!,” Jesus says, 

“For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

 

Jesus calls Peter Satan, a name that means liar.

He says that Peter is advocating a lie,

and it’s a lie because he is not thinking about things as God does,

            but is thinking out of his own head, his own limited perspective.

 

That’s always the truth.

What we see of truth, of reality, is from a personal perspective 

            colored by our individual experiences and history

            a perspective which is limited. 

 

In fact,

            how can we then presume to say fully who Jesus is?

What we do say is limited.

            What we know is a limited slice of the whole.

                        What we understand is a constriction of the whole of reality.

 

The reality was that Jesus was indeed headed for execution

            for an incredibly important reason.

This was the way he could save the world

                                    and not just his own people,

            and he would do that through Resurrection, not insurrection. 

 

And then Jesus continues teaching his students, his disciples;

            the Teacher gives out homework.

 

“If you are going to follow me,

            you are going to need to take up your own cross,

                                                            your own means of execution.

Let go of your life as you have known it and fashioned, and nurtured it.

            Die to that in order to live in a whole new way.

 

Now here is a good example of homework meant to help us die to self:

            the Epistle lesson for today from James.

Listen to this and read this lesson with a good modicum of introspection.

 

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, 

            for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” 

-- Oh, preaching to myself here. --

“For all of us make many mistakes. … “  

 

The examples of the bit in the horse’s mouth and the rudder of a ship

            are given as apt illustrations of the power of the tongue,

of the words we say and how we say them and what effect they can have.

 

“So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.

            How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 

            And the tongue is a fire. 

 

“The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; 

            it stains the whole body, 

            sets on fire the cycle of nature, 

            and is itself set on fire by hell. …

 

“… no one can tame the tongue-- a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 

            With it we bless the Lord and Father, 

            and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.”

 

Reflect on these words.

            How much of this applies to you – and to me?

            Take it to heart.

            Think how important this message is to us as a parish family,

                                                as a community of faith.

            Do we need repentance?

            Is there a mess that you or I need to clean up, 

                                    apologize for, see reconciliation for?

We can turn things around.

            And in doing so we are practicing dying to self.

 

You may want to pull out this page from the bulletin and take it home with you.

 

And you may want to do the same with the Psalm for today, Psalm 116.

            Here’s the Gospel good news for today:

                        a hymn about God’s saving intervention in your life

                        that fits quite aptly with the way the world is at this present time,

            a hymn to encourage our faith 

                        when it may be lagging or we are feeling overwhelmed.

 

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, *…

2 The cords of death entangled me;
the grip of the grave took hold of me; *
I came to grief and sorrow.

3 Then I called upon the Name of the Lord: *…

4 Gracious is the Lord and righteous; *
our God is full of compassion. …

I was brought very low, and he helped me. …

the Lord has treated [me] well.

7 For you have rescued my life from death, *
my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.

8 I will walk in the presence of the Lord *
in the land of the living.

Amen.