Jesus Affirms Love As the Norm

19 Pentecost Cycle b proper 22 October 3, 2021

Genesis 2:18-24 Psalm 8
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 Mark 10:2-16
Lectionary Link

In the field of freedom in which we live, the probability of things going wrong, charity failing, and sin happening are certain.  The probability of evil and failure is certain.

And it is so certain that we begin to live our lives with the certainty of things being much less than perfect and certain about the reign of sin.

And if we normalize the reign of sin, which it is easy to do, because it is so common and predictable, we can begin to live our lives according to the inevitability of sin and failure.

And this is where we need the correction of the ideal and the normalcy of the perfect in the words of Jesus.  Lawyers can be very good at responding to the failure of love and charity and so they begin to think from the point of view of failure as the predictable norm.

What seems to be a common norm when it comes to marriage?  A common norm seems to be divorce, or the failure of charity.  Not just in our time, but in the time of Jesus.  So it was an issue, and an issue for religious lawyers who wanted to stump Jesus about whether post-divorce relationships for divorcees would be adultery.

And for many years the church preached that a marriage was so inviolate, that divorce was not permitted by the church.  In fact, divorce resulted in the discipline of excommunication.  Which is very counter to the pastoral wisdom of care, especially to women who often were the offended party in a divorce.   You've just gone through the heartbreak of divorce? Well, we offer you the rebuke of withholding the communion with Christ from you as the penance which we force on you.  Unless, of course, you can jump through all of the hoops of an annulment and get your first marriage declared as a "non-marriage" in the sight of God and the church.  The practice of the church was done for very good biblical reason; the church was claiming to uphold the high standard of Jesus as is expressed in the Gospel words read today.  The words are coupled with a reference to being child-like, and certainly one of the central purposes of marriage is to protect children and the child-like.

I believe that the practice of the church regarding divorce has missed an important emphasis of the words of Jesus.  Are God and Jesus, those who demand such a high standard that there is not forgiveness and love and second and third and many more chances?  I believe we misrepresent Jesus if we think that people who are divorced deserve the perpetual disapproval of the church and society, especially in a patriarchal world where divorced women have been most often the offended party and the party most faithful to the church in their actual piety.

So why the high standard of Jesus regarding divorce?   It was a rebuke to the emphasis of the religious lawyers.  "Jesus, since divorce is so common, how are you going to going to deal with it?"

Jesus was saying, "I'm not going to play your game.  Even as I accept human failure and the failure of human charity, I am not going to make failure the norm.  The standards are still the same, even in the face of failure.  Do not try to dumb down God's normal to human failure."

God's norm, lifelong union, remains the norm even though human beings fail.  I suppose that Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor both thought that each time they got married that they were doing it until death did them part from their multiple spouses.   Failure at charity does not change the standard.

Divorce does not make marriage less normal; divorce does not remove one's divorced partner from the world and it does not erase the history of having been married.

Jesus was simply saying, that he is more "for" marriage, than against divorce.  Why?  Because divorce cannot alter the basic standard of God and Christ.

Can we appreciate marriage within the cosmic symbols of the church mystics.  Marriage was a symbol of the union of Christ with the Church.  Marriage is a symbol of the union between God and humanity in that we are created in the image of God and meant to be united in and with God our Creator.  The union of a particular marriage relationship, and the union on the cosmic level is the normal plan of God from creation.  So, don't try to make sin and divorce the new norm, simply because it has become so common and rampant.

And then we see that Jesus uses a child as a metaphor again.  The early church mystics understood that they were called to be children of God, symbolizing the union of God and humanity that was realized because of the Holy Spirit's indwelling..

You can live in the kingdom of this visible world where sin and failure seem to be the norm or you can be born through the power of Holy Spirit energizing the rising of the image of God within you.  And when this has happened you can live in wonderment as the child who has realized that you are in the kingdom of God, in the family of God.

So, let us not get into the old historical habit of punishing and judging divorced people, or any other person whose lives have known significant failures, namely, your life and mine.

Let us continue to look to the standard of marriage and the union of God with humanity and creation as the high standard that we seek as we try to live out harmonies within our marriages, within our communities, within our environment as we interact with animals and the beautiful world of nature over which we have been made stewards.

The long and short of the Gospel words of Jesus:  Just because sin and failure are so common, don't make them our norm.  Let us make marriage and the mystical experience of being one with God, the spiritual norm that is always beckoning us to be better in our lives.  Amen.