SERMON
I sometimes think the gospel ought to come with a warning attached. You know, like the warnings on cigarette packets or wine bottles. Today’s Gospel warning might read something like this, Caution: the following text is not meant to be personal. Perhaps we could arrange for a sign on the back so when Deacon Beth raises the gospel book you’d see the warning. It could read: Nothing personal, folks.
Because the gospel we heard today is something we think is all about us. We take it literally and personally. Most of us know the divorce statistics. We may even be part of those statistics. Those same statistics tell us more than half the adults here have been divorced at least once. We’ve gotten divorced. We have friends who are divorced. Our grown children may be divorced. Our parents may be divorced. Or more simply, we know someone who is divorced, is going through a divorce, or contemplating a divorce. Most of us hear this passage and sit there hurt, or angry, or ashamed. If not for ourselves, then for someone we know. Doesn’t Jesus understand what we went through? Doesn’t he understand what our parents, children, or friends went through?
Well, here’s the deal. Yes, he does understand, but Jesus isn’t talking about divorce and you. And he isn’t talking about divorce and me either. And he isn’t talking about divorce and your family or friends.
This is a question about the law. It’s global rather than personal. And yet, it is personal in the sense that Jesus takes an opportunity to teach us how to live with one another in community.
Look at the context here. How does this passage begin? “Some Pharisees came, and to test him (Jesus) they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’” It’s about the law, folks. Jesus isn’t having a nice chat about whether or not someone should get divorced, he’s being asked to play judge and jury about the legality of divorce, rather than the personal.
In Jesus’ time there were varying opinions on the legal aspects of divorce. And it wasn’t about whether or not divorce was legal; everyone pretty much accepted that it was. It was about under what terms the divorce could take place.
In his usual way, Jesus changes the emphasis. He takes a question about legality and turns the emphasis to relationships instead. That’s why Jesus talks about Genesis rather than focusing on the question. He’s reminding us of God’s original intent for us, which is to be blessed by our relationships.
And why does Jesus then talk about adultery, which may also seem personal to some? Because he’s reminding us again of something we seem to have forgotten, especially in our society. Years ago, when you met someone, you spent time together. You got to know them by having coffee together, or lunch or dinner, or taking a long walk, or strolling through the park hand in hand. Now, when we meet someone, unfortunately the first thing many people do is get physical. That’s as close as I’m going to describe – at least from the pulpit – what happens in most relationships. We don’t teach people anything but “Just say no,” whether it’s drugs or sex. (Oh! She just said sex from the pulpit!)
So I wonder what would happen if we actually told people what it’s like to have a loving physical relationship with someone, and how that bonds you to the person in a way that other things do not? When two people engage in that physical, emotional, and spiritual relationship and they break up, it’s as though their flesh is torn. No wonder Jesus calls it adultery. One of the definitions of “adulterate” is, “to make inferior, impure, not genuine, etc. by adding a harmful, less valuable, or prohibited substance.” And the intention of our Creator God from the beginning is that we have those relationships in such a way that they help us to thrive and be interdependent with one another. But does God want us to stay in relationships that are harmful to us? Of course not!
The other thing Jesus is telling us here is that this is about our communities, the places in which we live and worship. Again, nothing personal except it is part of our responsibility. Jesus uses the Pharisees’ question to point toward the purpose of the law. The purpose of the law, in fact all law in its original intent, is to protect those most vulnerable.
In Jesus’ time when a woman was divorced her status changed entirely. She was generally poverty-stricken. She lost her standing in society. Her good reputation was gone. So Jesus is deflecting this question by asking how men of his time could treat divorce like a convenience when what it does is adulterate our Creator God’s plans for us and our relationships. And, it makes those most vulnerable even more so.
Up until now the whole conversation has been about divorce. But now the subject gets changed to those most vulnerable: women and children. Once again, Jesus looks for and blesses the most vulnerable: the children. He blesses those with no protection, those treated as a commodity.
And so, in the end, what we have here this morning really is good news. The only warning label we need on the Gospel book is “Listen Carefully.” Because the good news is that the community of Jesus is a place you can come when you are most vulnerable, most broken, and most bereft of blessing. You and I have a place here because no matter how imperfect, or inadequate, or incomplete we are, this is the place to be. And it’s the place to bring your friends, no matter how imperfect, or inadequate, or incomplete they think they are. You know, St. John Chrysostom had something to say about this: “Enter into the Church and wash away your sins. For there is a hospital for sinners and not a court of law.” This is the place to be healed, to be renewed, and to be blessed. AMEN.
The Rev Nicolette Papanek
©2015
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