October 8, 2006
Text: Mark 10: 2-16
Divorce. That is what the Pharisees are asking Jesus about. Is it okay, Jesus? Is divorce lawful? And Jesus says that what God wills is not what the law allows.
The law of this land allows divorce. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allows divorce and remarriage. But God intended things to be better than that. God wills that in marriage we might find love, patience, forgiveness, physical pleasure, recognition, respect, that two might become one flesh. God’s will is that we might find great happiness in marriage. God does not want us to get divorced because that is not how God meant for things to be. But we live in a broken world.
People get divorced. This is not new. In Jesus’ day divorce was very common among Romans, and was hotly debated amongst the Israelites.
Divorce is one of life's tragedies, part of the world's brokenness and our own brokenness. It brings heartbreak and suffering impossible to calculate. Divorce can rip through a person’s sense of trust, community and identity, leaving them bewildered, lonely, grieving. Divorce can cause a spiritual crisis: Who am I all by myself? Am I unlovable? Have I sinned? Does God love me?
Unfortunately, during this critical time many divorced people stay away from church, afraid they will be judged. It is very sad they might stay away from the church because the church has a vital role to play in supporting people going through divorce. The church needs to be a place where divorced people know they can find a home.
As a church family we all have a stake in each other's marriages, and we're called to celebrate each other’s marriages when they succeed, and to support and pray for those whose marriages don't make it.
See, a couple does not get married all alone. Usually pastors marry a couple only after several sessions of pre-marital counseling.
The couple usually has friends and family “stand up” with them. Having bridesmaids and groomsmen comes from a long tradition based on superstition. The men and women standing up with the bride and groom were couples similarly dressed and were “decoys” in a way, used to confuse any bad luck that might try to fall on the couple. Of course we are not superstitious. But the bridesmaids and groomsmen today are friends and family that stand with the couple in solidarity as they pledge their love.
When a bride and groom stand before God and family and friends and promise to be together for “better or worse” for the rest of their lives, the invited guests are not just spectators. They should come to make their own promise to support the couple in the new relationship. At a wedding, the couple takes their love public. They ask for the love and support of the community.
And so, yes, divorce is not the will of God. But I think, the sin of divorce is a corporate sin, a community sin. It is a sin in which we all share some blame.
And because divorce is hurtful and part of the brokenness we all share, I wish we had a ceremony for divorce. We could just invite all the same people that came to the wedding, and have a worship service of confession and forgiveness. We need a Liturgy for Divorce. Maybe we could say something like “We gather today to support and bless this man and this woman as they confess their brokenness, forgive each other, receive God’s forgiveness, release each other from their marriage vows and commit to starting a new life.” The invited guests could all confess (silently or aloud) what they did and what they failed to do for the couple. And all could find forgiveness.
Because that is core to what we believe in. Forgiveness. The message of the Gospels is forgiveness and love. The message is just how far God will go to claim us, redeem us and prove that love for us. He went all the way to the cross.
Whenever Martin Luther felt bad, unforgiven, or suffered from doubt, he would take great comfort in the words, “Nevertheless, I am baptized.” That was how he remembered God’s awesome promise of love and forgiveness. “Nevertheless, I am baptized.” Holy Baptism is God’s gift, bestowing love, forgiveness, and grace. And as Luther was fond of saying in his book the Catechism, “This is most certainly true.”
If you know me, you know I love Sundays when we have the privilege of receiving someone in Baptism. In Luther’s book The Large Catechism, he wrote that Baptism, “overcomes and takes away sin.” Sin is washed away. Baptism is God’s claim on us.
That is why one Baptism is good for life, why once is enough. God is faithful to God’s promises. And though we will certainly fall and sin, once God claims us, we are God’s and God loves us with a love that will not let us go.
At Baptism, the pastor says, “Through water and the Holy Spirit we are reborn children of God...the body of Christ.” This is a statement of our unity. With our many brothers and sisters in the world, we are all on a baptismal journey.
We had a traveling cross visit us at Cross of Hope. Many of you had your photo taken with it. It is a cross that was commissioned by Bishop Allen Bjornberg of the Rocky Mountain Synod, and the cross travels from church to church. When the cross is here visiting, we are told to, “LIFT HIGH THE CROSS.” While it has been here, the cross had the privilege of visiting classrooms, a MOPS meeting, POWW, Confirmation Class, preschool chapel and even went on two hospital visits.
When I prayed how best to “LIFT HIGH THE CROSS,” I thought that we lift high the cross when we preach forgiveness: the forgiveness offered to us through Jesus Christ. We lift high the cross when we preach the forgiveness that is more than sufficient for our brokenness, for divorce, and for adultery, and for whatever may be heavy on your heart right now.
The ELCA’s logo has the words, “Living in God’s amazing grace.” Like Martin Luther, we can all say, “Nevertheless, I am baptized.” I am loved, forgiven, claimed by God. We believe in one Baptism, but we can return daily to the promises made in Holy Baptism. When we baptize, we trace the sign of the cross on the forehead. The baptized (us) are invited into the fellowship of the cross and the promise of the resurrection of Jesus. In faith we must keep returning to the forgiveness of sins, and the love of God. So, lift high the cross and live in God’s amazing grace.
Amen.