Instructions for Life Together, Family Edition

Mark 10:2-16

19th Sunday after Pentecost B

World Communion Sunday

October 7, 2012

Bread and chalice used at the 2012 General Conference of The United Methodist Church. (Photo courtesy of the UMNS.)

Introduction

In today’s Gospel readings, Jesus deals with two kinds of family relationships: the relationship between husband and wife (Mark 10:2-12) and the relationship of adults with children (10:13-16). Today, as we celebrate World Communion Sunday, we remember that churches around the world are united as they gather around the Lord’s Table. We will see that Jesus’ instructions for life together—“family edition”—is also applicable for our life together as the church, the household of God (I Timothy 3:15).

I. No to divorce, Yes to faithfulness

A. The first part of the Gospel reading concerns a question about divorce. The Pharisees asked Jesus whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife—perhaps they are testing his obedience to the Torah. Jewish law permits divorce, and this is found in the Torah itself:

When a man takes a woman and marries her, and it comes to pass, that if he finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found an unseemly thing in her, he shall write for her a bill of divorce, give it unto her hand, and send her out of his house. (Deuteronomy 24:1)

In the Mishnah, there is a whole tractate on divorce, called tractate Gittin. It actually concerns itself with the written instruments or bills (gittin; singular, get) of divorce but also with the purchase of items and the emancipation of slaves. The following section is an exposition on what the Torah says is on when a man finds “an unseemly thing” in his wife. Surprisingly, the traditionally strict school of Shammai permits divorce only on the grounds of unchastity—the very same ground which Jesus permitted (Matthew 19:9)! The traditionally more moderate school of Hillel permits divorce if the wife spoils her husband’s dish, or if the husband sees someone prettier!

The House of Shammai say, “A man should divorce his wife only because he has found grounds for it in unchastity, `“since it is said, Because he has found in her indecency in anything Dt. 24:.” `And the House of Hillel say, “Even if she spoiled his dish, `“since it is said, Because he has found in her indecency in anything. `R. Aqiba says, “Even if he found someone else prettier than she, `“since it is said, And it shall be if she find no favor in his eyes Dt. 24:1.” (Gittin 9:10)

B. Jesus did not question the Mosaic authorship on the provision for divorce in the Torah. However, he reached back into the beginning of the Torah itself, unto the institution of marriage itself:

Therefore a man (אִישׁ,‘ish) shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife (אִשָּׁה ‘ishah, also translated as ‘woman’) and they shall be one flesh (בָשָׂר אֶחָד, vasar echad). (Genesis 2:24)

Then Jesus declares what the Church has always proclaimed in her wedding liturgy: “What God has put together, let no one out asunder!”

C. The relationship of God and to Israel, and of the Messiah to the Church, has often been compared to marriage. The Song of Solomon has often been seen as an allegory of the love of God to Israel. In talking about the relationship of husband and wife, St. Paul states that marriage is a mystic symbol of the relationship of Christ and the Church.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:22-33)

What the Bible says on the submission of the wife to the husband may be offensive to modern-day (read: feminist) sensibilities, but it also says that husbands have to give everything, even their very lives, for his wife! (Again, a husband giving his everything to his wife is also offensive to modern-day sensibilities: Do you mean “just because” the husband gives his everything to his wife, so the wife should submit  to him?)

D. If the relationship of God to his people and of Christ to his Church is compared to that of a husband to his wife, I propose the following:

1. Just as a person is to be faithful to his/her own spouse, so should a person be loyal to the denomination and local church that one belongs to.
2. Just as a person can be friends with other men and women, a believer may be friends with other believers and other denominations and local churches. There are certain occasions where one can attend services (weddings, funerals, other special occasions) at another local church, or of a local church of another denomination, while still retaining loyalty to one’s own denomination and local church.
3. A person who willfully tries to be a “member” of two local churches (that is, regularly attending both), either within the same denomination, or from differing denominations (e.g., two local UM churches; or one local UM church in the morning and a “mall church” in the afternoon) is like a person who commits adultery. The reasons for unfaithfulness to one’s spouse and church are the same: to be still seen as loyal to one’s wife/church while having ones owns “needs met” with the other woman/church (whether it is better preaching, music, etc.)
4. A person who willfully commits division and schism within one’s local church or denomination is as guilty as one who commits divorce. The reasons for divorcing one’s spouse and church are the same: when one finds “an unseemly thing” in one’s spouse/church, (whether it is bad preaching, bad music, ill feelings towards one fellow member or the pastor, etc.), one creates division and schism instead of helping to remedy the situation.
5. Just as Jesus allowed divorce only on the grounds of unfaithfulness, the only reason can one separate from one’s local church or denomination is when this church has become unfaithful to God and the Scriptures in its doctrine and practice. (However, Hosea the Prophet remained loyal to Gomer, his adulterous wife.)

Just as the relationship of Christ to his Church is represented by the marriage of husband and wife, so is our relationship with our local church and denomination!

II. No to adult pride, Yes to childlike humility

The latter part of the Gospel reading regards with children. (Much of our discussion on children was given last Sunday.) People were bringing their children to Jesus to touch and to pray for them, but the disciples rebuked them. This made Jesus indignant so he said,

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. (Mark 10:14)

This is a classical text used by our Church to justify our practice of infant baptism. By baptizing children, the Church shows the sacramental nature of Holy Baptism. Baptism is a sign of grace; and by “grace” we mean God’s unmerited favor towards us. Children have not done anything to be worthy of baptism; by their nature, they are simply qualified: “for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. If baptism is only for those who are able to “profess the faith for themselves”, this turns a sign of grace into just another “good work” or a reward for good works. Jesus seems to warn against rejecting this means of grace and turning it into a reward for good works: “I tell you the truth: Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall never enter it” (Mark 10:15). So even if an adult is baptized, it is not a reward for good works: it is still a sign of God’s grace which moved this person to be a child of God. By practicing Holy Baptism as a sacrament, a sign of grace for both young and old, the Church proclaims God’s grace to the world!