Sermon Sampler - Love, Marriage & Divorce (4/29/12)

“I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife…and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Matthew 19:9

So this is a heavy word coming straight from the mouth of Jesus!  What do we, as 21^st century Christians do with such difficult and seemingly problematic passages of scripture (especially ones uttered by Jesus himself)?  It’s probable, that if you’re like the typical Western 21^st century Christian, you simply ignore such difficult passages and go about your merry way.  While this may be a normal practice, if our goal is discipleship then we must embrace the good news complete with the parts that seem difficult.  Beginning this week we will be looking at passages just like this one, and instead of simply ignoring them (or proclaiming them irrelevant) we will discuss what’s really being said, and what that means for our lives. 


So what do we do with the above passage?  As stated above, it initially appears that we have two choices, either accept a view that at the very least is difficult and at worst could be harmful or reject/ignore a passage of scripture because it seems to no longer fit with our cultural realities.  I would like to propose a third option.  When asked about divorce, Jesus began by speaking about marriage, and how wonderful marriage is meant to be.  As people we have a tendency to focus only on the negative.  Jesus tries to redirect this negatively focused conversation toward a more productive one about the goodness of marriage.  He tries to turn the focus not on the less than perfect reality, but toward a better, more perfect way.  It's only upon further pressing by the pharisees that Jesus weighs in on the divorce question.  When he does speak about divorce his warning comes exclusively to men who under Jewish law had all the power in the marriage relationship.  Furthermore Jesus is clear that the laws concerning divorce were created as a compromise, a type of last recourse, not as an ideal or even good option.


You might be at this point asking "what does this say to those who've been affected by divorce?"  My parents were divorced when I was very young, and I grew up seeing many aspects of divorce with a mother, a father, and a step-father.  I got to experience custody battles, missed visitations, and verbal disputes by my parents right in front of me.  I think anyone who's experienced divorce would agree that divorce is less than ideal.  Having said this, and fully acknowledging the consequences of divorce, there certainly are circumstances where divorce becomes the best of several bad options.  Jesus words in  Matthew 19:1-12  are meant to be more of a reality check for his hearers than they are a law for Christians afterward to adhere to.  He's speaking out against and unjust system that allowed men to capriciously dispose of a wife for little to no reason.


What may be more meaningful to glean from this passage is the spirit of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  In other words Jesus invites his listeners to focus on the good potential and intention of marriage, not the unfortunate reality of divorce.  The same could very well be applied to our view of the Church, humanity, and ourselves as individuals!  Certainly God created humanity and proclaimed us to be "very good" and despite sin and imperfection God still longs to guide us toward that more perfect path, toward becoming very good!

                

Sunday's Scraps (4/29/12)

Every week pastors around the world put hours into sermon preparation.  Some of this preparation includes biblical study, theological discernment and cultural and historical reading to help establish/understand the context of the passages upon which they are preaching and teaching.  Luckily for their congregations most of this minutia get's left on the cutting room floor!  Some congregants prefer a more in depth look into the Sunday messages, and for those brave few, here it is:

Primary Text: Matthew 19:1-12
*It's important to note that this passage of scripture is echoed throughout the synoptic Gospels ( Mark 10:1-12  and  Luke 16:18 ) as well as earlier in  Matthew 5:31-32 .  Matthew's account of Jesus words includes what has become known as the exception clause ("except for marital unfaithfulness").
vv.1-2 - This teaching passage comes immediately on the heels of Jesus journey from the urban area of Galilee to the more rural setting of Judea, and follows a series of general healings performed by Jesus presumably in the area of the teaching itself.
v.3 - "test" (NIV) is the Greek word "peirazo" which literally means "to make trial of" or "to test".  The word can have negative connotations meaning "to test maliciously, attempting to find fault".  Likely the intended meaning in this passage.
v. 3 - "any and every reason" - Gk. "pas aita" - each and every reason -  In this case it would appear that the pharisees are implying an alignment with the school of Hillel (see below*).
v. 5 - "cleave" - Gk. "proskollao" - to glue upon -  Jesus is here quoting  Genesis 2:24 and the reference to "cleaving" (here and in Genesis) is likely a euphemism for the sexual act.
v. 6 - "joined together" - Gk. "suzeugnumi" - to fasten to one yoke -  Here the marriage relationship is described with a word originally used for farming work.  Essential to a yoke is that both parties fastened to it share the load equally and work in unison with one another.  A beautiful ideal for a marriage as well.  It would appear that Jesus, by quoting this passage, is imagining this metaphor of equality as a part of God's original plan and still valid for marriages of his time.
v. 7 - "command" - Gk "entellomai" - to order or command - The pharisees are claiming that Moses commanded them to divorce their wives.  They are correct that in order for a divorce to be legal there is a command to give a "certificate of divorce".
v. 8 - "permitted" - Gk "epitrepo" - to permit, to allow - Here Jesus points out that while there is a command to fulfill the requirements of a divorce, the act of divorce itself is a compromise.

*Often times the context of a passage, the time it occurred, the time it was recorded, and the culture of the people receiving the message originally, etc. is often crucial in correctly understanding it's message.  This is true with the above passage from Matthew, so here are three things to consider:

1) John the Baptist had been put to death by Herod largely for being critical of Herod's marriage to Herodias.  The criticism had to do with the fact that Herodias had previously been married, then divorced, and then married Herod.  Obviously any public conversation around divorce would immediately bring to mind the cautionary tale of John the Baptist.
2) The pharisee's question likely was based on a dispute of the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4.  There were two major school's of thought on the passage, which dealt with the potential reasons surrounding a divorce (according to Jewish law).  The school of Shammai interpreted the word "indecent" very strictly to mean only unchastity (the wife not being a virgin prior to the marriage).  For Shammai, this was the only allowable reason for divorce.  The other competing interpretation of this passage came from the school of Hillel.  This school interpreted the words "indecent" and "displeasing" very liberally and allowed a man to divorce his wife for a host of reasons (including preparing an unsatisfactory meal).  Hillel's interpretation was more popular (at least with the men) and was likely the school of thought ascribed to by the pharisees questioning Jesus.
3) In Jewish culture at the time, marriage was seen as a business transaction where the man was in a very real sense purchasing his wife.  Furthermore under Jewish law only a man could initiate a divorce, the woman was largely without recourse and certainly could not divorce her husband.  It's important to understand Jesus critical words in light of a system where men were almost exclusively in control (therefore the condemnation would also be directed at those men in control).