First Lesson: Jeremiah 31: 31-34 Responsive Reading: Psalm 46 Second Lesson: Romans 3: 19-28 Gospel Lesson: John 8: 31-36 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin by telling a story based on a real story. There was a church that I’ll call First Lutheran Church that sat in a town that I’ll call Leidner. Leidner was your typical Minnesota German farming community with the church made up of generations of the same large extended families. First Lutheran had gone through a decade of pastoral turmoil. Pastors had either been forced out or left for better jobs. Leidner was now going through another pastoral transition. Leidner was filling the pulpit Sunday after Sunday with whomever they could find that would be willing to preach. Nick had recently agreed to fill the pulpit. Nick was a chemical dependency chaplain in a neighboring community. Nick had all sorts of good qualities; he was kind, he was active in the community, and everyone knew how much Nick and his wife cared about people. Nick gave a decent enough sermon. Nick grew up in Leidner and had all sorts of family living there. People from First Lutheran Church began to wonder about Nick. They wondered if Nick could be their new pastor. A few individuals from the Call Committee decide to feel Nick out about the situation. Nick would proclaim his interest in the call at First Lutheran Church, which seemed like good news until Nick declared a couple stipulations. Nick wasn’t going to baptize babies nor confirm kids. Nick didn’t believe that either of these things had support in the scriptures. One of the members of the Call Committee called a former pastor to ask what of hiring Nick to which their former pastor Larry said “As long as you stop baptizing babies, you cease being a Lutheran Church, you might as well just call yourself First Church of Leidner and stop the charade.” Today, we celebrate Reformation Sunday. We celebrate the famous event of Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses which people consider to be the birth of the Lutheran Church. The truth is, though; we are not Lutherans because of anything within the 95 Theses. Our Lutheranism has an entirely different basis. Some of the most common conversations that I have in the ministry are in regards to Confirmation. People will often say to me “I wish I had learned more in Confirmation.” You ask people what separates Lutherans from Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, or Non-Denominational Christians the answers are often difficult to express other than we like the Hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” What I want to do this morning is an attempt to sum up the Lutheran Faith in fifteen minutes, hence the sermon title. The key to understanding the events that we remember this morning in Luther forming a new church can all be summed up in “What we believe about Baptism.” You understand our beliefs about Baptism then you know Lutheranism. The reason that Baptism is so important to use is that it proclaims everything that we need to know about God’s relationship with us. To understand our beliefs about Baptism look no further than Luther’s Small Catechism from which I quote. What does Baptism do? It works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare. How can water do such great things? It is not the water indeed that does them, but the word of God which is in and with the water, and faith, which trusts such word of God in the water. For without the word of God the water is simple water and no baptism. So what is the meaning of Baptism? This week a friend of mine linked to an old article on the website First Things[1]. A woman named Amy Julia Becker writes the article. Becker recalls how a few hours after the birth of her daughter, her husband breaks the news that they think Becker’s daughter Penny had Down Syndrome. The most difficult thing in the hours after receiving this diagnosis was hearing other parents cry out “she’s perfect” upon holding their babies in their arms when Becker knew her baby was anything but perfect. Becker then began to ponder that Penny’s Down Syndrome was a reminder of a harsh spirituality reality that the whole universe is out of whack[2]. We see this truth whenever we turn on the nightly news. Becker could see evidence of humanity’s brokenness whenever people would be awkward in responding to the daughter. Becker eventually came to see that Down Syndrome’s meaning we can perhaps find in that our imperfections remind us of the need for each and every one of us to receive God’s redemption. The story with Down Syndrome babies, Alzheimer's patients, and Infants is pretty much the same. Their hope rests in God’s goodness, not their ability to articulate the how and why? Today’s lesson comes to us from Romans 3. The key verse is Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” These verses describe the whole Christian experience. We all sin, we all have pain. God bestows unto us his salvation as a “free gift”. None of us will appear to be worthy on the last day, yet God will declare us worthy on the last day and Baptism serves as our sign of this. We do not baptize ourselves; rather God baptizes us. Baptism is the sign and seal of what God has done for you in Christ Jesus. What Baptism reminds us is that there is no such thing as a perfect person. A two-year-old is just as much a real Christian as anybody else[3]. Let me tell you a story about a girl that I met hiking that I’ll call Annie. Annie grew up Missouri Synod. Annie went through Confirmation but was bored out of her mind during it. Annie then after high school left the church for some years and engaged in many of the rebellions of youth. As Annie entered into her mid 20’s, she decided to try to reconnect with her spirituality. Annie starts reading the Bible seeking to grow in her faith. Annie decides that she should be re-baptized as a mark of dedication of her new level of spiritual commitment. She then asks me whether I would baptize her in the Baptism River up by Finland? My response was when you are Baptized as an infant this is when “you become a child of God”. Baptism is not about your dedication to God, rather it is about God’s dedication to you. The reason we baptize infants is because none of us can even begin to imagine every twist and turns that our faith journey might take. Where plenty of Lutherans misunderstand Baptism is thinking about it as a one-time act, Baptism is instead a daily event[4]. We die nearly every single day to Sin. Last Saturday, I was at the Gophers-Nebraska Football game. Nebraska was pounding the Gophers all over the football field. I had to watch Nebraska fans celebrate before me. I know what I wanted to say, but then I remember that I’m a sinner and what I want to say is that which should not be said. I know that I’m a sinner no matter how much I pray, read the Bible, or even regardless of how well that I preach. I die every day to my sins, yet God in his gracious response to me brings me forth to new life in Baptism through in the words of Titus 3 “A washing of renewal and rebirth[5]”. We hold Baptism in such high importance because of what it says about a Christian’s life. 1. We do fail. 2. We do sin in thought, word, and deed. 3. We can not escape ourselves, no matter how hard we try 4. Our great spiritual hope is that our God will pour out upon us his mercy and his grace. We cannot separate our understanding of Baptism from our understanding of sin. All sin is brought forth by either spiritual pride or spiritual despair. Spiritual pride is our trying to rebuild the Tower of Babel[6]. We put together a list of our accomplishments as a means of trying to impress God. Nick, who I talked about earlier, had an great resume as a Christian. I wish that I was as good a guy as Nick. The problem with guys like Nick in how they see God is always going to be spiritual pride. There can often be problems though with being too successful a Christian in that you lose sight of what makes Christianity. Martin Luther was not a successful Christian. Martin Luther was rather an “honest” Christian. Luther only posted the 95 Theses after spending nights sleeping on concrete floors hoping to motivate himself to do better. Luther’s problem was not spiritual pride, but rather spiritual despair the concern of Luther being too far gone that God could not possibly save him. When Luther finally did encounter the Gospel “The righteous shall live by faith.” Luther had been set free from a tremendous burden that it was not about Luther at all. Luther was free from not having to judge even himself, Luther’s eyes from that day forward would be perpetually pointed in the direction of the Cross. Baptism is ultimately express of The Cross because it reminds us of our God pours out his blessings unto the unworthy. Let me close with a final story that I’ve told before. My first week in the ministry in Lamberton, Minnesota. A guy that I’ll call John dies. John wasn’t much of a church member; John wasn’t much of a husband, the one thing that people knew John for was how mean a drunk that he could be. John was going to be my first funeral as a minister. I’m talking to a guy that I’ll call Ed. Ed was one of the most influential members of this church. Ed was a big land-owner that is huge in a farming community. Ed was one of the church’s biggest givers. Ed asks me why we have John’s funeral within the church then Ed starts giving me a list of all of John’s faults. I knew that everything that Ed was saying was true. I said to Ed ministry that “John needs God’s Grace just like the rest of us.” I wasn’t going to get up there and proclaim where John was going to go upon death. What I was going to say though is God will save who he wants. Salvation comes via way of God’s decision, not our own. If God chooses to save lousy Christians like John, along with good Christians like Ed, the only hope that either of them will have in either life or death comes from God’s grace and mercy. We struggle with Baptism because we want Christianity to be comfortable when in reality Christianity is never comfortable. We always seek to trust in our accomplishments, rather than to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to leave it all up to God. I had to DO something…so should you are the cries that failed Christians tend to hear. The great spiritual truth as Amy Becker came to realize about her daughter Penny is none of us is perfect. This imperfection if why our faith is always pointing towards the cross. One day, Becker is sitting down reading a book with her daughter Penny about Jesus blessing the little children just like her[7]. At which point, Penny bowed her head and began to pray. This scene reminded Becker that one day the world will be whole once again, but it will be God’s doing not ours. “Let the little children, come to me[8],” Jesus said. “Let the Alzheimers Patients, come to me[9],” Jesus said. “Let the troubled monks like Martin Luther, come to me[10],” Jesus said. “Let the broken sinners, come to me when they have nowhere else to turn[11].” Baptism reminds us that we don’t know how and why we ultimately believe. We merely trust God’s promises to come through for us in the end just like he promises in our Baptism. Amen [1] Becker, Amy Julia. “Babies Perfect and Imperfect”. First Things. Nov.2008. Web. Oct.22.2015. [2] Becker. “Babies Perfect and Imperfect”. [3] I found this point made in the comments section of the article “What I Like About Lutheran Baptism” by Chaplain Mike on Internet Monk published on May 25th. [4] Chaplain Mike. “What I Like about Lutheran Baptism” [5] Titus 3:5 [6] Genesis 11:1-9 [7] Becker. “Babies Perfect and Imperfect”. [8] Matthew 19:14 [9] Paraphrase of Matthew 19:14 [10] Paraphrase of Matthew 19:14 [11] These paraphrases make the point about God is the actor and we are the audience in not only Baptism but also salvation. First Lesson: Job 23: 1-9, 16-17 Responsive Reading: Psalm 22: 1-15 Second Lesson: Hebrews 4: 12-16 Gospel Lesson: Mark 10: 17-31 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Today, we come to one of the most famous stories in the Christian Gospels in the tale of Jesus’ encounter with the Rich Young Ruler[1]. Everyone knows the famous verse from this passage “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God[2].” Plenty of people will assume that the point of this passage is to demonize the rich, demand that they give more of their money to less rich people like us. Even the name Rich Young Ruler implies a villain like “corporate overlord” or “evil CEO”. The Rich Young Ruler sounds like the type of guy that would steal presents from children. Perhaps when people think of bad guys, then they’ll think of the Rich Young Ruler. Let me tell you a little secret about the Rich Young Ruler, your life is way easier than his. The Rich Young Ruler would want you to share some of your wealth with him. Consider the realities of the Rich Young Ruler’s life versus your own. Where you enjoy indoor plumbing, the Rich Young Ruler did his business in a latrine. Where you enjoy the convenience of just flipping a light switch, the Rich Young Ruler had to make due with oil lamps. Hot water, washing machines, the ability to zap meals in the microwave within minutes would have been things beyond even imagination for the Rich Young Ruler. In fact, our standard of living blows away that off even the richest men in Jesus’ day. So if the problem is his comfortable lifestyle, then everyone born in the Western World in the last hundred years would be in a world of hurt. Perhaps though there is something else wrong with the Rich Young Ruler. The truth of the story was that the Rich Young Ruler seems like a pretty good guy. He seems like the type of guy that any parent would want to have date their daughter. The Rich Young Ruler is well-mannered: He refers to Jesus as a “good teacher[3].” The Rich Young Ruler is devout “Teacher, what must I do to inherit Eternal Life[4]?” The Rich Young Ruler is well-behaved “I have kept all the commandments: you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother. This guy had kept all these things since the day of his birth[5]! The Rich Young Ruler was probably an honors student, varsity lettermen, pretty smile, and did all sorts of service projects and charity work within the community. The Rich Young Ruler had all kinds of friends. The Rich Young Ruler was probably kind to his girlfriend. If the Rich Young Ruler wanted to join our church, we would be shouting “Hallelujah.” What is worth knowing about the Rich Young Ruler is that he probably had a limitless future ahead of him. Here’s a secret to understanding our story: Jesus knew all this. Jesus knew that the Rich Young Ruler would seem to be the ideal applicant to the Kingdom of God, only the Kingdom of God looks beyond resumes. Then Jesus puts another demand upon the Rich Young Ruler “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven[6].” We know that the young man went away sad and assumed he was sad because he was being asked to give up his money. Those who he heard Jesus speak to the Rich Young Ruler were amazed at Jesus’ words. “‘Who then can be saved[7],’ if not this guy” the Disciples said. These words coming from the very men who seemingly did everything Jesus asked in leaving their fishing nets and boats behind to follow him. The Disciples knew that this wasn't so much a passage about wealth, but rather the standards of salvation. The key question that the Rich Young Ruler asks comes in verse 17 ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The answer to the Rich Young Ruler’s question though does not come till verse 27 “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Jesus wants the Disciples and the Rich Young Ruler both to think about salvation in an entirely new way “But many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first[8].” The thing about the Rich Young Ruler is that he thinks he can deal with God as he has dealt with others. The Rich Young Ruler could merely pull out his gold coins, disperse them liberally without having to do anything more uncomfortable than that. The Rich Young Ruler had gone through life knowing and expecting that he had the best of everything. The Rich Young Ruler had never lost at anything in his life. This guy Jesus wanted to give him a tip how to handle this tricky “eternal life” situation. The Rich Young Ruler is not arrogant. The Rich Young Ruler hears Jesus’ words and walks away sad[9]. The Rich Young Ruler didn’t want to make the ultimate sacrifice. This tale brings up current events, last week’s big news story had to do with the Oregon community college shooting[10]. The Gunman according to reports asked people in the classroom about their religion. The Gunman then declared “Good, because you’re a Christian, you’re going to see God in just about one second[11].” There seems to be some history of animus by the gunman towards Christians, and a few of the victims were publically professing believers. In the wake of this it raises an interesting question “If a gun is pointed at you, what would you say?” Everyone after the fact can say they would have said “yes” that they would choose to enter “heaven[12].” The gunmen dare gets more complicated say if you have young children at home or are their elderly parents or spouses’ only caregiver. Answering this challenge also raises the issue of whether martyrdom is dying before a government or a mentally ill gunmen? Being forced to give of our faith with such high stakes are hard. We can demonize the Rich Young Ruler for walking away sad, but these people often drive nice cars, play on I-Pads, and live in warm, comfortable homes. We probably aren’t even as devout as the Rich Young Ruler. The question that Jesus is posing to the Rich Young Ruler is not whether he’d be willing to die for Jesus, the question is rather would we be willing to let Jesus die for us[13]. For everyone following Jesus, that day was not a believer that went through life with limitless courage. Peter stood and watched the Rich Young Ruler walk away sad. Peter was the member of the Disciples that Jesus trusted so much that he was going to take over for him upon his death, yet Peter would deny knowing him on three separate occasions. The moral of our story is Jesus’ followers’ humanity. Peter was human, and the Rich Young Ruler was human. We are human. When Jesus heard the Rich Young Ruler claim to have followed all of the Commandments, He knew having spent time on the lakes in Galilee that something smelled fishy. D.L. Moody was a great traveling evangelist in the 19th century. Moody starts preaching about sin “one day.” A man from the crowd starts encouraging Moody’s sermon by shooting out “I haven’t sinned preacher in five years”. Moody at first ignores him, but the man wouldn’t be quiet about not having sinned in five years. Moody interprets the meeting to ask the man “Brother, you haven’t sinned in five years.” The man nods his head with vigor. Moody says, “Sir, that’s quite a feat what I want you to do is go home, find your wife, bring her back here, and have her confirm your story about not sinning for five years.” The man snuck out the back of the tent never to be heard from again. The famous phrase about “the camel going through the eye of the needle” is pure hyperbole, given for dramatic effect[14]. This illustration is used to make a spiritual point that in the words of Romans 3 “No one is worthy of salvation, no one[15]”. This week I came across an article about the pop singer Justin Bieber[16]. Bieber had recently said the following “that he loves Jesus and wants to be like him”. But on the other hand, “You don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. If you go to Taco Bell that doesn’t make you a taco.” Justin Bieber seems to be the modern definition of the Rich Young Ruler. What Bieber is saying is true on some level that there are plenty of bad people that go to church, and plenty of people that appear to be saints that don’t[17]. Yet where Bieber is like the Rich Young Ruler is he doesn’t see the need to bow down before the almighty. Christianity is more than just a lifestyle, Christianity is about encountering Christ in your life. We only encounter Christ when we humble ourselves in the Lord’s presence receiving the gifts of the Gospel given in Word and Sacrament. We receive the Lord’s blessing when we gather with fellow believers in need of spiritual healing that don’t necessarily look like us or think like us. The Rich Young Ruler like many people is unwilling to surrender the spiritual pride they desperately long to cling. In the words of Robert Farrar Capon, Jesus is meaning to illustrate that salvation “is for the last, the lost, the least, and the little[18].” Basically everyone that the Rich Young Ruler was not. To paraphrase Capon, We can conceive the world like the Rich Young Ruler thought existed: sinners cast into hell, whereas the holy are lifted up to heaven. The problem is that there’s way too many sinners on the nightly news, and everyone else’s s sins seemingly lead to death, so, therefore, the cross of Christ becomes the means through which all things are made possible[19]. The thing about the Rich Young Ruler is he had a lot of possessions just like we have a lot of possessions this much is certainly true. The problem with the Rich Young Ruler though is he was letting his possesions define who he was. The truth is no matter what you may own today; it will not possess any value where you are going[20]. In fact, we take a whole lot of different things to death: we take regrets, we take failed relationships, we take sin, and we take judgment. What Jesus is trying to get at today is that winners in the end don’t end up as winners whereas losers encounter an outcome beyond what they themselves can pay. Amen [1] Mark 10:17-31 [2] Mark 10:25 [3] Mark 10:17 [4] Mark 10:17 [5] Mark 10:19-20 [6] Mark 10:21 [7] Mark 10:26 [8] Mark 10:31 [9] Mark 10:22 [10] Stetzer, Ed. The Targeting of Christians and How Christians Respond: Reflections on the Oregon Shootings “. Christianity Today. 2. Oct.2015. Web. Oct.8.2015 [11] Stetzer, Ed. “The Targeting of Christians and How Christians Respond: Reflections on the Oregon Shootings.” [12] I came across a really interesting discussion of this question on Reddit’s Christianity page in a discussion thread entitled “I have an unpopular opinion” posted on Oct.6.2015. [13] Taken from Reddit poster GoMustard in the “I have an unpopular opinion” thread. [14] Capon, Robert Farrar. Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Eerdman’s Publishing. Grand Rapids, MI. 2002. Page 388. [15] Romans 3:10 [16] Nussbaum Keating, Anna. “Go to Church, Justin Bieber”. First Things.6.Oct.2015. Web. Oct.8.2015. [17] Nussbaum Keating, Anna. “Go to Church, Justin Bieber”. [18] Capon, Robert Farrar. Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Page 388 [19] Capon, Robert Farrar. Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. Taken from page 389. [20] Capon, Robert Farrar. Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus. The reference comes from C.J. Green in an article entitled “Grace in A Most Violent Year”. Mockingbird. 12.Aug.2015. Web. Oct.6.2015. First Lesson: Job 1: 1, 2: 1-10 Responsive Reading: Psalm 26 Second Lesson: Hebrews 1: 1-4, 2: 5-12 Gospel Lesson: Mark 10: 2-16 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin this morning with a story. A while back my dad, Grandma, and I drove down to a wedding. The wedding was for a couple friends of my sisters that I’ll call Billy and Maggie. Billy and Maggie had recently had a child together. There were family members who weren’t happy about this. My sister Anne was the Maid of Honor and I was the preacher. I remember Anne calling me beforehand asking that I don’t bring up the child to keep fanning the flames. I told Anne “What happened in the past is the past, my concern is rather Billy and Maggie’s future.” Billy and Maggie’s wedding was not the place to editorialize about all the lifestyle choices that might have rushed them quicker to that day. Billy and Maggie’s wedding was rather about people gathering together promising to walk alongside Billy and Maggie going forward. As Dad, Grandma, and I traveled to the wedding that day. Grandma was in a foul mood. Grandma kept referring to Billy and Maggie’s child by one of her favorite bad words over and over again along with throwing out some additional inappropriate church language. Dad debated whether to keep her in the car during the ceremony if she didn’t promise to tame her tongue. Grandma had one idea in her head about how the world is supposed to work: 1. Couple meets. 2. Falls in love. 3. Gets married. 4. The couple has a beautiful baby a few years later. Let me drive home the most important point that I will make all the morning: The World often doesn’t work like we want it to work. The Christian is going to be often called to respond to situations that they do not desire. This morning our lesson brings us to another issue of turmoil in the church the issue of divorce. The first question for this morning is “Is divorce a sin?” Evaluating the divorce issue causes to face a much more fundamental question of “What is sin?” Sin is everything that takes place within the world if there was no Adam, no Eve, no Serpent, no Tree. Sin is everything that takes place that God would not desire for his creation. Sin is evidence of everything that proves humanity’s imperfection. So is divorce a sin? The simplest way to answer this question is to talk to anyone who has gone through a divorce? Divorce is painful. Divorce hurts those involved. Divorce hurts children. Divorce fractures relationships between in-laws and between friends. No one ever walks down the aisle to “Canon in D “hoping to go through a divorce. Divorce will inevitability causes all sorts of painful conversations and sleepless nights. The issue isn’t whether divorce is right or wrong. Divorce is wrong in that it’s not what God intended for his creation. Divorce is a byproduct of the harshest of human brokenness. Most people come out of a divorce with all sorts of regrets regarding their previous decision making. People wouldn’t respond this way if divorce weren't painful to the very core of their being. Think of the most extreme situations regarding divorce: adultery, spousal abuse, never-ending conflict, all kinds of destruction to one’s emotional or spiritual well-being. When we consider these backgrounds than the words of Malachi 2 “God hates divorce[1]” make sense. Not only does divorce destroy human relationships, but divorce also brings baggage that is going to affect future relationships. Many people say Christians are too lax on divorce? That we’re hypocritical on the subject by allowing that which the Bible explicitly condemns. We do not celebrate divorce, nor do its participants. What we say is that divorce is often the lesser evil in a particular ethical conundrum. We would never hold a party to celebrate another person’s pain. I guess, we could kick someone out of the church for not being able to maintain idealized relationships in every area of their life. We would then have to turn around and throw out everyone who has ever had a bad relationship with a boss, fractured a friendship, or even gotten mad at a Packer fan. At this point, not only would our pews by empty but we would deny our calling to proclaim forgiveness moving forward. As we reflect on divorce this morning, we just keep coming back to the spiritual truth that human relationships are broken because humans are broken. Today’s lesson from Mark 10 contains the teachings of Jesus on divorce[2]. Today’s lesson includes a debate of sorts between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus critiques the Pharisees understanding of divorce as being too easy in Today’s passage. Only Jesus doesn’t condemn the Pharisees for the reasons that you might think. Jesus’ primary concern with the Pharisees understanding of divorce had to do with how they viewed women. In 1st Century Judea, divorce was used as a way to disrespect and dishonor women. Women were basically put on the street because they would have no means to earn a living without their husband supporting them. The Pharisees would often excuse this behavior as o.k. for any reason whatsoever. The realities of divorce for females especially were very different in 1st Century Judea then they are today. Jesus wanted to fight the power in the system. Jesus wished to let the Pharisees know that their whole attitude on marriage was all kinds of wrong. Jesus was challenging the flawed ideas of marriage that were present within his day. So to do this Jesus took a step back to the beginning of creation itself. “The two shall become one[3].” The best book that I’ve ever read on Christian relationships is Andy Stanley’s Love, Sex, and Dating. Stanley’s hypothesis is that the reason that human relationships are so screwed up in the 21st Century has to do with screwed up power dynamics that are brought forth from previous relationships. Sex is often confused with Love. Manipulation is too often justified as a way of winning or losing the relationship. No one trusts anyone. Men are thought as out to get women, and women are considered as out to get men. Nothing is ever anybody else’s fault because it can’t be. All sorts of belief systems emerge trying to assign blame to a large percentage of the world’s populations. These situations merely speak to the brokenness or sin present in our world. What Jesus is trying to get at though is something different. Men and women were created as different entities at the beginning of time. When I took training to facilitate pre-martial inventories for Prepare and Enrich the differences in relationship expectations between men and women when it came to physical and emotional needs kept coming up again and again. Differences between men and women should be celebrated rather than denied. When these two entities come together in parenting, friendship, problem-solving, and togetherness, you see the highest of Christian callings being lived[4]. We have a lot of people out there this morning that have been married 50, 55, 60, and even 65 plus years. Think of the best thing that your partner brought to your life that you wouldn’t have had if you didn’t meet them. This sentiment is at the heart of what makes marriage such a beautiful entity. We are grateful for so many bonds in our congregation this morning. We also acknowledge that marriage doesn’t always work. Jesus knew that marriage doesn’t always work in Today’s Gospel, we then have to sort out the aftermath of human relationships in the wake of divorce. Jesus’ words remind us that we do not begin to consider either divorce or re-marriage lightly. If divorce is bad what about remarriage? Let me quote from the Sychar Lutheran Vision Statement- “We will perform remarriages, not because we do not mourn divorce. We perform remarriages precisely because God gave marriage for the mutual benefit and consolation of both male and female within a fallen world.” As with divorce, there are two possible solutions. We can either take the legal solution. We can say divorce is wrong which is true. We can say that God never intended for remarriage that’s also true. We can then say no to such remarriage requests. Christians have thought about divorce and re-marriage in these terms over the years. Plenty of people have had the book thrown at them because of their divorces. The other possible response is to remember that the world often doesn’t work like we often want it to work. We can go through life obsessing about the past. This type of behavior will only bring benefit for so long. Eventually, we admit that the past can only be given as much power as we allow it to take. We perform remarriages because we take the words of Genesis “It is not good for the man to be alone[5].” Seriously, Marriage does not exist because we become spiritually pure or perfect once you enter into it. If people view Marriage as the fixing solution to everything that’s wrong with them, then there are going to be all sorts of problems. Marriage instead exists for the sake of a Christian’s vocation. Marriage has everything to do not with making a believer right in the eyes of God, but rather how a believer interacts with the world around them. So even if someone’s first marriage were an unmitigated disaster, the pastoral response should not be consigning someone to a life of isolation. Marriage exists for the purpose of protecting us and restraining us. Marriage exists for the sake of a lifelong support system, even if the first support system did not meet its intended goal. If we can give someone a second chance for a better life, then we should celebrate it. No one is going to be a perfect person before they get married, no one is going to be a perfect person while they are married, and no one is going to be a perfect person once they leave a marriage. As we leave this place, our understanding of marriage will speak to our understanding of God’s grace. Marriage is not Baptism nor is it Communion. Marriage is not the means by which God creates faith nor sustains eternal life. Marriage is rather something given by God for our blessing and benefit within the confines of our life. We can not and will not get this right life, in spite of the best of our intentions. Sin is why we realize that within the institution of marriage and all of human relationships in general that God has placed a cross upon them. What we remember today, our God is not about defining us by our past, but our God is rather about creating new life within our future. In the beginning, God created them male and female. In the end, God will redeem them because God saves broken people even from their broken relationships with the world around them. Amen [1] Malachi 2:16 [2] Mark 10:2-16 [3] Mark 10:8 [4] Markquart, Ed. “Miracle of Marriage: Mark 10:2-16”. Sermons from Seattle. Web. Sept.29.2015 [5] Genesis 2:18 |
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