Trinity 19

Opening Verse of Scripture 

‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

O God, forasmuch as without you we are not able to please you; mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Faithful Lord, whose steadfast love never ceases and whose mercies never come to an end: grant us the grace to trust you and to receive the gifts of your love, new every morning, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

First Bible Reading Genesis 2.18–24

Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.’ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Second Reading Hebrews 1.1–4; 2.5–12

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere, ‘What are human beings that you are mindful of them,
or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour,
subjecting all things under their feet.’ Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honour because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, ‘I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,  in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.’

Gospel Reading Mark 10.2–16

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, “God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’ Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Post Communion Prayer

Holy and blessed God, you have fed us with the body and blood of your Son and filled us with your Holy Spirit: may we honour you, not only with our lips but in lives dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Commentary

Divorce is not an easy subject to tackle but it is hardly possible to avoid dealing with what Jesus says about divorce in the reading from Mark today. It would be so much easier just to skip across to the last few verse where Jesus says those amazing words ‘Let the little children come to me.’ However we have to grasp the nettle and deal with the difficult sayings of Jesus and try to understand what was going on. Perhaps that is even more the case in this instance where Jesus is questioned on divorce which is a subject that almost everybody has been affected by in one way or another. I do find it interesting that immediately after speaking about divorce Jesus is shown blessing the children that the disciples once more tried to prevent from coming to Jesus. Whilst divorce is a bit like a hand grenade which injures anybody close, it is often the children who suffer most when things go wrong in marriages. Having said which, sometimes they are hurt even more when people try to stay together when there is insufficient love between them to enable them to be kind. It just goes to show the complexity of this difficult subject.

In yet another episode the reason why Jesus is giving his teaching is not because he wants to preach a sermon on a particular subject, in this case divorce. Rather the reason why Jesus speaks about divorce is because he is once again challenged by the Pharisees. Note the difference with many preachers who like nothing more than the opportunity to devote sermons to particular sins and divorce is considered a sin in many churches. The Pharisees want Jesus to respond to their question about divorce in an unguarded manner. In doing so they hope to be able to trap Jesus and the subject of divorce was a very controversial one at the time. You will remember that John the Baptist had spoken about divorce and it ended up with him literally losing his head. He had spoken out against the relationship of Herodias and Herod Antipas who had both divorced so that they could marry each another. In this context we can make sense of what Jesus says in verses 11 and 12, where Jesus says that if a man divorces a woman in order to marry another, he is committing adultery. Note Jesus then adds that if a woman does likewise, she too is committing adultery. That simple comment about a woman also being guilty is easily understood in the context of Jesus making the same criticism as John the Baptist before him.

The trap the Pharisees set is to test whether Jesus agrees with Moses instructions in Deuteronomy 24.1-4 which allowed men to divorce wives they found displeasing. The law as given by Moses permitted divorce if a husband found something “displeasing” in his wife. (Deut. 24: 1-4) The interpretation of the school of Hillel was that a man could divorce a wife for almost anything, burning the toast for example. On the other hand the school of Shammai were more strict and allowed divorce only if the woman was guilty of serious transgression, such as sexual immorality. In the same account of this episode recorded by Matthew the Pharisees specifically ask if it is lawful to divorce a wife for any cause, as according to the school of Hillel. In Mark they ask if divorce is permissible in any circumstance 

The Pharisees want to see what Jesus will say, specifically whether Jesus will ‘drop himself in it’! As Jesus sometimes does, he dodges answering the question and instead asks them a question , “What does Moses say?” They reply that Moses allowed for a certificate of divorce. Jesus then goes behind the question and looks at the deeper issue which is not whether divorce is allowable, but more fundamentally ‘what is marriage’? Jesus tells them that the law of Moses allowed for divorce, but that was only because of “your hardness of heart.” In other words, it was a concession to human weakness. It would be better to look at God’s purpose for marriage in the beginning, and Jesus then quotes the immortal words from Genesis,

“God made them male and female.” “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’

Jesus is clear that the ideal is for a life-long commitment, only then do we think about the issue of divorce, and when it might be allowable. God’s will and purpose for marriage is not that it can be broken up when a woman burns the dinner, rather that it be a life-long, unbreakable, commitment, a sacred covenant. Marriage is not an experiment to see how it might work out; it is a holy bond intended for human flourishing. That is why at marriage services we say that it is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.

Jesus makes clear that just because something is permitted does not make that thing part of God’s will. In the case of divorce, God may have had Moses make it possible for his community, when necessary, to divorce, but that doesn’t mean that God designed divorce as a kind of escape route for when the going gets tough. God clearly chooses a better way than divorce and that way is for relationships to be stable.

Now whilst what Jesus says clearly rules out divorcing wives who are not great cooks, this does not mean that Jesus expects that everybody will marry a partner with whom a life long commitment will be possible, for all sorts of reasons. Even in its mostly conservative expression the law of Moses allowed for divorce because of adultery. Jesus makes clear that divorce was allowed by God due to human frailty. Divorce is something which happens when relationships break down and it is destructive and hurts people and those around them, however this does not make it some kind of unforgiveable sin. We all fail and fall short and when that happens, whilst recognising that something has gone wrong, we need to move on.

Jesus does not give the Pharisees an easy win in their attempt to have him upset Herod and follow John the Baptist. He does nevertheless show that God’s intention is that human relationships should be loving, compassionate and lasting. It is interesting that in this dialogue Jesus is asked about how a man and woman in a permitted legal relationship at that time should behave when things go wrong. This passage is frequently used in churches for an alternative purpose of suggesting that the relationship between a man and woman is the only form of relationship acceptable and intended by God. We need to remember that Jesus is not giving a sermon on human sexuality, Jesus steers well clear of such pronouncements, Rather he is responding to a question about divorce between a man and woman and his answer stresses the importance of commitment within that context. This passage does not therefore give an excuse to condemn those in other relationships and neither does it condemn to continued suffering those in abusive relationships. Charles Royden

Meditation

In our reading today people were bringing their children to Jesus for a blessing, and the disciples seemed to think that it was wasting Jesus’ time and told these people off. We are told that Jesus was ‘indignant’ at the disciple’s attitude. The children must be allowed to come to Jesus and he tells the disciples that the Kingdom of God belongs to people who are like them. What is it about children which Jesus is telling us we must be like? We all have different feelings about children, some find them cute and interesting, others like the disciples find them annoying and a distraction from the serious adult stuff. How often do we hear complaints about children in churches who make a noise and won’t sit still? The disciples clearly thought that the children should be seen and not heard Jesus saw them as an example of those he cared about the most, those without power, the weakest, the poorest and the ones who could be pushed aside because they never had a voice loud enough to speak for themselves. Charles Royden

Hymns

• Lord, as the day begins (Little Cornard)
• Who put the colours in the rainbow?
• Jesus, good above all other (Quem pastores laudavere)
• Love divine, all love’s excelling (Blaenwern)                                           

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead

Blessing and honour and thanksgiving and praise, more than we can utter, more than we can conceive, be unto Thee, O holy and glorious Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, by all angels, by all men, and all creatures for ever and ever Amen. (Thomas Ken 17th Century)

Thanks be to thee, Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which thou hast won for us, for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for us. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may we know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee nearly, day by day Amen. (Richard of Chichester, 13th Century)

Eternal God, light of the minds that knows you, the life of the souls that loves you, strength of the wills that serve you; help us so to know you that we may truly love you, so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve in perfect freedom. (Pope Gelasius, 8th Century.)

Dear Master, in whose life I see all that I long, but fail to be, let your clear light for ever shine to shame and guide this life of mine. Though what I dream and what I do in poor days are always true, help me oppressed by things undone, dear Lord, whose deeds and dreams were one. (John Hunter, 19th Century)

Bless our land, O Lord, may we be a nation of laughter and joy, of justice and reconciliation, of peace and unity, of compassion, caring and sharing. (Desmond Tutu, 20th Century.)

Additional Material

Commentary

God has a very high view of people. After all he created us - a little less than God - as Hebrews has it, quoting psalm 8. We are meant to have dominion over everything as the crown of creation – in the image of God ! This applies to men, to women and to children. Mark 10 shows us Jesus as the champion of women against the customs of his time – Jesus sees women as people equal with men in the sight of God – chattels ! And he made time for children, using them as examples of what we might become at our best.

But this ideal of what people should be is different from the present reality, which is so often the dark tragic story of failure. Endowed with knowledge we have invented destruction. Given freedom, we have chosen slavery.
C.G. Jung wrote; ‘We are unable to suppress many of our emotions; we cannot change a bad mood into a good one and we cannot command our dreams to come and go'.
 

Made for mastery, people are slaves to fears. Made for peace and joy, hearts are so often in torment. Made for love, people hate, made for strength, people are too weak to throw off the shackles of sin. So we see hatred between races and groups, all sorts of divisions and chaos. We are in a real sense in bondage to sin and death. 

Our reading today from Hebrews speaks of God placing all things under our control, but we have used our power to abuse the planet which God had created 'good'. Then Hebrews shows us how the mess we make can be changed into the ideal, 'But we see Jesus'. Jesus changes things by his sufferings and his glory he can make us what we were meant to be, and without him, can never be. He can do this because he has ‘tasted death for everyone.’ His death was the defeat of sin and glorious promise to all who believe. And it’s the wonder of his grace that he is ‘not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters too'! That is how much we all mean to God. Richard Ledger 

Meditation

The state of humanity is often linked to ‘The Fall’ in Genesis and the doctrine of original sin proves the sinfulness of all humankind. Steve Chalk in his book ‘The Last Message of Jesus’ points out that Jesus believed in original goodness ! God declared that all his creation, including humankind, was very good, and it is the original goodness that Jesus seeks out in us. He isn’t denying that our relationship with God is in need of restoring and reconciliation, but he is rejecting any idea that we, or anyone else, are ‘beyond the pale’, beyond the reach of God’s love. Steve Chalke reckons that it is a serious mistake to see humanity as inherently evil and steeped in original sin, instead of inherently made in God’s image and so bathed in original goodness, however hidden it may become. He say that the doctrine of original sin was borne out of Augustine’s view that the material world and everything in it was evil and corrupt. This ‘fallenness’ Augustine said was like a virus that is passed on. The Eastern Church especially followed the teaching of Irenaeus who believed that all people were God’s image bearers and though flawed, were like flowers in bud, slowly coaxed into full bloom by God’s love. Now there’s a thought !

So how do we view other people ? Especially those different from us. What about people who do ‘bad’ things ? Do we write them off – condemn them? Or could God’s love slowly coax them into full bloom ? Isn’t this what we are praying for when we pray, ‘Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ ? Everything – everyone – made new in Christ. One of my favourite Bible passages is the parable of the prodigal son – sometimes called the parable of the loving father. Do look it up in Luke 15. A story of amazing grace. Richard Ledger

Meditation - Thinking about Divorce

The often repeated claim that the correct Biblical norm for relationships is for a man and a woman in marriage, seems to run contrary to the many great spiritual leaders such as Abraham, King David and Solomon. In the Old Testament the men are able to have sex with wives, concubines and slave girls. The emphasis seems to be placed more upon having children than fidelity to a monogamous relationship. Even the birth line of Jesus himself involves incest to produce a child when Lot has sex with his two daughters and the resulting offspring come to be Moab and Bennami.(Genesis 19:30)

Marriage and divorce are equally divisive subjects. Some Christians and churches follow the teaching of Jesus in Mark 10:11 that divorce and remarriage are tantamount to adultery. Other churches follow the teaching of Jesus in Matthew which allows for divorce and remarriage under certain circumstances (Matt 19:9).

Meditation

Turner was one of Britain’s greatest artists. It has been said that before Turner, nobody painted sunsets. He taught people to “really see” sunsets, even though they were so obvious. In Turner’s water scenes, both the water and the sky are filled with brilliant, golden and hazy light, and it is difficult to see where the water finishes and the sky begins. Living at the same time as Turner was another English painter, John Constable, who saw and painted the beauty in ordinary country scenes. He said: “There is nothing ugly; I never saw an ugly thing in my life. Let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade and perspective will always make it beautiful.” Both artists remind us that the physical world and the spiritual are not separate, but overlap and are inter-mingled - the “veil” between them is thin. God’s coming to us as a human being reminds us that it is not helpful to try to draw lines between what is “sacred” and what is “secular”.

Prayers

Time to Pray
Take time to think…
It is the source of power.
Take time to play…
It is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to laugh…
It is the music of the soul
Take time to pray…
It is the greatest power on Earth.
Words written on the wall of the Missionaries of Charity children’s home, Calcutta, India

God provides
You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use,
to bring forth food from the earth, and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine and bread to strengthen the human heart
Psalm 104:14-15

Love of others
Eternal goodness, you want me to gaze into you and see that you love me. You love me freely and you want me to love and serve my neighbours with the same love, offering them my prayers and my possessions, as far as in me lies. O God, come to my assistance.
St Catherine of Siena (1347-80) Italy

Tempest-Tossed
Lord of the elements and changing seasons, keep me in the hollow of your hand. When I am tossed to and fro by the winds of adversity and the blasts of sickness and misunderstanding, still my racing heart, quieten my troubled mind. Brother Ramon (b1935)

Writing a letter
Just as day declines to evening, so often after some little pleasure my heart declines into depression. Everything seems dull, every action feels like a burden. If anyone speaks, I scarcely listen. If anyone knocks, I scarcely hear. My heart is hard as flint. Then I go into the field to meditate, to read the holy scriptures and I write down my deepest thoughts in a letter to you. And suddenly your grace, dear Jesus, shatters the darkness with daylight, lifts the burden, relieves the tension. Soon tears follow sighs, and heavenly joy floods over me with tears. Aelred of Rievaulx (c1110-67)

God in every breath
Dear God, be all my love, all my hope and all my endeavour; let my thoughts and words emanate from you, let my daily life be lived in you, and let every breath I take be filled with joy for you. Amen.  After St. John Cassian (c360-435) Scythia.