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!