Richard Davenport October 7, 2018 Proper 22 Using God s Gifts Text: Mark 10:2-16 (NIV) 2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? 3 What did Moses command you? he replied. 4 They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. 5 It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law, Jesus replied. 6 But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. [a] 7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, [b] 8 and the two will become one flesh. [c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. 10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. The Little Children and Jesus 13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. Footnotes: a. Mark 10:6 Gen. 1:27 b. Mark 10:7 Some early manuscripts do not have and be united to his wife. c. Mark 10:8 Gen. 2:24 Divorce is never a fun topic. The fact that it exists at all speaks to how sinful we all are. You meet a special someone. You go on some dates. You get to know each other pretty well. After a while, maybe a short while, maybe a long time, you both decide you can t imagine spending your life apart and you want to truly put your lives together and live as a unit. Everything goes great for a while. Then, at some point, it all falls apart. She s sleeping around on him. He isn t paying any attention to her. Whatever the case may be, what was one becomes two again. The relationship slowly degrades until there s nothing left. The two agree
to separate and there is nothing left. The only emotions that remain are anger, disgust, indifference, perhaps, at best, a mild acceptance. The Pharisees here don t really care so much about divorce. The topic could have been anything. They just needed Jesus to say something they could latch on to so they could prove he s a phony. It s pretty callous to treat such a good thing as simply a tool for attacking someone, but the Pharisees weren t above using any means at their disposal to get rid of Jesus. The plot was a pretty simple one. Get Jesus to speak out against something God has allowed and you can call him out as a heretic. In a sense, their plan worked. Jesus spoke out against divorce, but the conversation didn t go quite liked they planned. In fact, the Pharisees don t really have a response to this. Did God give them permission to get divorced? Yes, the Pharisees aren t wrong. They can cite the Law of Moses where it says exactly that. A husband could write out on a sheet of paper that he wanted a divorce and give it to his wife and that was that. They didn t really have to give a good reason. It was basically no-fault divorce. There isn t much more to say about it. It s right there in Deuteronomy 24. Jesus can t really go against that or find fault in it because didn t find fault in it. The last word on the subject had already been given. All they need is for Jesus to stumble around trying to refute it and they ve got him. The Pharisees should have had an easy time of it, but Jesus points something out they failed to consider. As many kids have discovered, you can badger your parents for something over and over again. If they finally lose their patience and give in, that doesn t mean it will suddenly be good for you. Almost everyone has had this experience growing up. You ask dad for something, maybe it isn t anything major, a cookie perhaps. He says, No, wait until after supper. That should be enough of an answer, but it isn t. You re all geared up and you wait that cookie, have to have that cookie. So you keep asking. No! you re told. Stop asking! But you can t. The train has left the station and it won t stop now. You cajole, you beg, you whine. Sometimes this might have brought punishment of some sort, but not this time. This time dad snaps and gives in just to get you to go away. You got the cookie! It tastes good and it tastes all the sweeter because of the hard won battle you fought to get it.
As an adult, you probably know better. Just because you want a cookie, or anything else, doesn t automatically make it good for you. Otherwise drug addicts would the healthiest people around. Spoiling your dinner might be a fun choice, but it isn t a good and healthy one. Adults know better, but really, so do kids. The only difference between the kid and the adult when it comes to cookies is the kid doesn t care about anything else. He doesn t care about spoiling his dinner. He doesn t care about eating junk food. He doesn t care about disrespecting his parents or any of the various health problems that could come up if he continues to eat cookies. He just wants his cookie right now, no matter the consequences. If only that stopped being the case once we became adults. Divorce is proof that it doesn t. God creates this wonderful plan at the beginning of creation. A man and a woman living together as one. Not just living together like many do today, cohabitating, living together and sharing some of the aspects of marriage but without the commitment. Adam and Eve were put together in a relationship that meant care, compassion, self-sacrifice, and all of the other things that are embodied by godly love and humility. A few weeks ago, St. Paul described marriage as this beautiful example of God s love for the church. Anyone looking at a married couple should be able to learn something about how God loves us. But that isn t what marriage has become. It s much more about what I get out of it, instead of what I give to it. The vows made no longer matter. The privilege of modelling the relationship between God and his people, definitely not important. It s all about whether I feel I m getting what I need out of this marriage. If not, then it s time to move on. God s good gift becomes a means to feed our own self-interest. It s all about getting what I want, instead of giving myself to the one God gave to me. The gift of speech, which could be used for comforting and encouraging, is instead used for gossip and slander. God s gift of wealth could be used for generosity and compassion, but instead is used for greed and hedonism. The list goes on. In each case, we somehow come to the conclusion that because God gave it to me, he must be happy with how I m using it. Because God allows me to do it, it must be a good thing. Just like God allows me to believe what I want, worship what I want, love what I want. And just like God is grieved whenever we would go against the rules he put there for our benefit or cast
aside the gifts he gives to bring us joy. Unbelief is never going to make God happy. Gossip is never going to make God happy. Greed is never going to make God happy. Divorce is never going to make God happy. The Pharisees thought they were going to trip Jesus up. Instead he showed them how childish they were. Far from the theological scholars they were supposed to be. They didn t understand what they were teaching at all. They just knew the words. Their hearts were hardened and they had embraced sin as something God-pleasing. This sounds very much like what St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians, All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. He understands the nature of what God has given us. He has given you the power to make whatever decision you want in life. He gives you directions and guidance, which you are not obligated to keep, but he also warns you what may come if you don t follow his guidance. Jesus chastises them because they are asking the wrong question. But, more than that, they don t even seem to recognize what they are losing, or even care. God gives them many gifts that, when used properly, will make their lives better, gifts that will bring them joy and comfort, and not just to them, but to everyone around them. He gives so many gifts to each of us, each of us in different measure. Marriage, wealth, talents for speaking, writing, making things, organizing, and so many more. All are a sign of his love. Each of them is there to give you a special place in the world. You are unique and he wants you to know how loved you are. He wants you to know what his gifts are for. If you misuse them, they will fail you every time. They will bring you frustration, sorrow, and heartbreak. At that point you may be tempted to blame God for causing them to fail you, when the blame was yours all along. On top of all of these gifts God gives, he has the greatest gift he could give, his own Son. Jesus is God s gift to you, a message from him of how much he loves you. Jesus is here to take your sins away, so you can live with him. Jesus is here to give you life, so death will never be in control of you. Jesus is here to strengthen you against temptation, so you will not be dominated by things that want to destroy you. Jesus is here to be your shepherd, to protect you from danger and to lead you back to safety.
He wants you to know his gifts and to use them the way he meant for them to be used. We are all sinners and deserving of death. Through the gift of his Son, he gives you forgiveness. Since you have no way of paying your debt of sins yourself, God wants to give that to you as a gift. He doesn t want you to misuse it, on the chance you end up losing it altogether. Jesus spells out how God made marriage in the beginning. It was perfect. A husband and a wife put together, each made for the other. On seeing Eve, Adam exclaims, Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! He knew he had been missing something and now knew he was complete. Undoing this relationship and tearing it apart is to destroy something only God could give. What can be said of that? We look to the giver. We look to Christ and his mercy. We look to the one who gives of himself, even when it means his own life. He gives so that we may live. He gives without a thought of what he will receive in return because his love isn t based on what he gets. His love is found in giving, abundant, sacrificial giving. He gives life and grace to all who want it. He gives freely, gives perfectly, gives all that we need. This is what God s gifts are for. Just as his gift of forgiveness and his gift of life brings us peace and joy, all of his other gifts are there to strengthen us and bring joy. Marriage exemplifies the goodness of our loving God, as does generosity with wealth, and giving encouragement and comfort to others. When you falter and temptations get the best of you, look again to Christ, the giver of all good things, hold out your hand and receive his forgiveness again. Look to him for guidance and strength. Receive his gifts in the spirit he gave them, that your joy may be made complete in him.