ORDINARY 27

Gen 2:18-24

Heb 2:9-11

Mk 10:2-16

A parish priest was trying to teach his Confirmation class about the Sacraments and he asked them whether they could match up each Sacrament with a verse from Scripture. Baptism and the Eucharist proved to be pretty easy, but when it came to marriage there was a stony silence. After a while a timid little hand went up and when asked what the text was, a little voice said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Today we will head into the rough waters of the Christian understanding of marriage and divorce. These are confusing issues for Christians because fewer heterosexual couples are marrying, but those who do enjoy the experience so much that they do it several times. At the same time there is a concerted push for the civil union of same gender couples to be treated not as the ensuring that all people are treated equally in civil and legal matters, but as a marriage, and for these to be conducted or blessed in churches when requested.

Determined people will stop at nothing to get their way, and in the gospel reading another determined group tried to back Jesus into a corner over the issue of the provision in the Law of Moses for a man to divorce his wife. Note that it was not legal for a wife to divorce her husband, and what was forbidden in the law was the remarriage of the first wife and husband after one or both had married someone else who had died or whom a divorce had been granted.

Jesus said that Moses allowed the concession of divorce because the Children of Israel were unteachable. They didn’t understand what God’s intention at creation was. Jesus’ view was that marriage was not about political or economic alliances, nor about being provided for or finding an easy way to satisfy sexual desire. It was about God’s plan for creation and Jesus emphasises this by quoting from Genesis. We heard this quote in our first reading for today.

In this version of the Creation story, man is created first. He then names all the animals but none are considered to be a helpmeet for him. In other words none are deemed to be a suitable partner. They lack human speech, so the man remains lonely. The words ‘suitable partner’ expresses the equality of two beings before God. The woman who is created is the counterpart of the man. There is a unity between them, but it is only when a couple is aware of their differences from each other and others that a real partnership between them is possible. So the relationship is one of equality with difference, and it is their unity together with their difference that makes procreation possible. Their love for each other reflects the love God has which overflowed into creation, and so they are able to procreate be partners with him in the creation of new life.

Outside of the marriage union, humans share in God’s creative love in many ways and this is truly wonderful, but the Christian understanding of marriage is that its primary purpose is that it can only exist between a man and a woman who should at least be open to the possibility that they might procreate. Other relationships such as same gender unions may exhibit some aspects of the married relationship, such as the provision of love and mutual comfort, but without the ability to procreate, they Church cannot deem them to be marriages.

In his private conversation with his disciples, Jesus throws in a twist. As I have said, the Jewish Law permitted a man to divorce his wife, whereas Jesus includes the possibility of a wife divorcing her husband, so declaring man and wife to be equal in their relationship and both must take responsibility for their own decisions and actions. In both cases it is remarriage that he appears to condemn. What Jesus is stating is the ideal that he believes God has revealed at creation. St Mark’s gospel was written with the firm belief that the return of Jesus would be soon, so there is a sense of urgency about it, hence the edict about cutting off a foot or hand rather than being excluded from the Kingdom. This sense or urgency is reflected in the attitude towards divorce, and when it became clear that Jesus would not return soon, the Church became a more stable community and so had to revisit many of its moral and ethical issues.

Another point to remember is that the gospels are only addressing the Christian community, and any view of marriage found in Scripture assumes that both partners are true believers and that the marriage should be for as long as both partners are alive. In later writings when pagans had converted to the faith and only one partner was a disciple, the believer was urged to do their best in the marriage relationship and try to reflect God’s love for their partner. When one partner does not treat the other as an equal, and if there is no mutual love, caring, protection and a sharing of life’s burdens, can it be said that a marriage exists even if it once did? The Church has always said that an unconsummated marriage is deemed not to be a marriage, but there is much more to a true marriage than that, so the Church looks at other factors that can cause a marriage to cease to exist when asked to rule on the issue.

The good news of the Christian gospel is that human weakness, sin and frailty is forgivable. What is not forgivable is the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is treating someone who creates the chaos of evil as if that person were good. I believe that anyone who remains in such a relationship is endangering his or her soul.

God’s plan for humanity is that humans should enjoy the same relationship with him as Jesus does. The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us this. It is the relationship of a child to his or her father. So God’s purpose in creating us is that we should have that same loving relationship with him. However this relationship is only possible through our dependence on Christ who is the one who has reconciled us to God our Father through his sacrifice on the Cross. Once again though, Scripture does not indicate that it is as individuals that we share in this relationship, but as members of the community that Jesus gathered to be the Church. There is no such thing as a Christian separated from the Church, for a branch cut off from the Vine which is Christ’s body, will wither and die. It is not accidental that the Church developed the image of herself as the Bride of Jesus her groom. Here is the image of a relationship of unity and commitment that reflects God’s relationship with his children. So our relationship with God in the community of faith must be like that of a child and his or her father. In Jesus’ day children had no status in law and were not allowed to own possessions. They had nothing to lose in that relationship and everything to gain, so if we embrace God’s love with no agenda, we will receive his gifts with a hug, as Jesus hugged the children that came to him.

What today’s readings tell us is that we should try to live according to the way God has created us to live. All we can do is try, that is all we can ever promise when we get married or do anything else. We cannot guarantee success in all things, and when we fail, for we surely will in some things, we should not become hung up, repent, change direction and start again.

The Church presents us with God’s ideal, but also provides us with the way to move beyond the mistakes we make. Isn’t that good news?