18th Sunday After Pentecost - St. John and Waterville Lutheran

First Reading / Genesis 2:18-24

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” ¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” ¹⁹So out of the ground the LordGod 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 every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The 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. ²¹So 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.²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then 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.” ²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Psalm 8

¹O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

²Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.

³When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;

⁴what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

⁵Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.

⁶You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,

⁷all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,

⁸the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Second Reading / Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, ²but 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. ³He 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,⁴having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

⁵Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. ⁶But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? ⁷You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, ⁸subjecting 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, ⁹but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. ¹⁰It 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. ¹¹For 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, ¹²saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

Gospel / Mark 10:2-16

²Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” ³He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” ⁴They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” ⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter.¹¹He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

¹³People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴But 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. ¹⁵Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Ring of Fire or a Pile of Ashes?
Moving from hardness of heart to discover God's intention in Marriage

"Ring Of Fire"

Love is a burning thing
and it makes a firery ring
bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire...

I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire.

The taste of love is sweet
when hearts like our's meet
I fell for you like a child
oh, but the fire went wild..

But then what happens? We discover our partner snores, leaves towels on the floor, forgets to take the hamburger out for supper, leaves the TV on, falls asleep while reading the newspaper, balances the checkbook like a game of darts...

We idealize relationships. Men and women envision marriage to be something it can never be. As pastor I witness the greatest tragedy and triumph on wedding days. The tragedy of human emotions coming together - the let down after months of planning - and the triumph that beyond this day we have what it takes at least for now to make it.

Have we struggle lately in our relationship with our spouse? How about with others? What is God saying to us today?
Hardness of heart creeps in and clouds our view. The anger and resentment over past hurts, failures, and disappointments leaves rooms for distance to develop and before we know it we are signing papers and labeling things like a supermarket gun.

Applying Scripture

1. God's Intention
1. v.18 "Not good for man to be alone so a helper is to be made."
2. We are built for relationships - with others, with our world, and with our pets - yet sometimes are pets get better treatment than our partners.
3. A man clings to his wife and they become one flesh - something repeated later by Jesus.
4. What did you learn about God today - "His name is Andy." "Andy walks with me."
2. Human condition
1. Moses allowed a certificate of divorce because of the hardness of heart.

2. A judge was interviewing a woman regarding her pending divorce, "What are the grounds for your divorce?"

   She replied, "About four acres and a nice little home in the middle of the property."

   "I mean," he continued, "What are your relations like?"

   "I have an aunt and uncle living here in town, and so do my husband's parents."

   He said, "Do you have a real grudge?"

   "No," she replied, "We have a two-car carport and have never really needed one."

   "Please," he tried again, "is there any infidelity in your marriage?"

   "Yes, both my son and daughter have stereo sets. We don't necessarily like the music, but the answer to your question is 'yes'."

   "Ma'am, does your husband ever beat you up?"

   "Yes," she responded, "most days he gets up earlier than I do."

   Finally, in frustration, the judge asked, "Lady, why do you want a divorce?"

   "Oh, I don't want a divorce," she replied. "I never wanted a divorce. It's husband. He says he can't communicate with me."
3. Divorce was never God's intention. The pharisees see a trap for Jesus to fall into.
   
4. Hebrews 1:1 declares that the new revelation of God's love and perfect power comes to us through Jesus - the same Jesus that declares marriage and human divorce a sad tragedy and result of our human sinfulness.
3. The solution
1. Unfortunately like it or not divorce is a reality in our nation, our community, and in our church.
   
2. "Receive the kingdom of God as a child would - a child comes as one who is seen as week and unimportant."