A Double Standard Mark 10:2-6

I was a freshly minted M.Div. grad and was serving my first parish. I received a call on a Friday afternoon from a woman who asked if I would perform her wedding. She admitted that she had been on the phone all afternoon, being turned down by every pastor with whom she spoke, because she was divorced. Since there was divorce in my family, it was not something that I had ever thought should be a barrier to re-marriage. Even then, as a young man, I knew to ask questions as to whether or not the pain of that split had healed enough to give a second marriage a fair start and whether or not the divorced individual had become jaded about the whole idea of marriage in general. I have been surprised at how many couples have been so grateful that I would perform a wedding for them, since one or the other had been divorced. These days, most of the couples who come to me for premarital counseling have been living together for some time, and that is something that the church has also looked at with discomfort over the years. But many of us have come to the conclusion that we are happy that a couple wants to make a public commitment of faith and fidelity to one another, and we want to encourage that.
Jesus' comments about divorce are troubling. “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” If that be so, there are quite a few adulterers out there, and some of them are clergy!
We would do well to remember that Jesus was responding to a trap set for him by the Pharisees. If he said that divorce was wrong, he would have gotten himself into the same hot water that John the Baptizer had when he criticized Herod for breaking up his brother's marriage in order to secure his wife. If he said that there is nothing wrong with divorce, he would have been guilty of a blasphemy. So, what he did was to remind all present that men and women were created one for another, for companionship and happiness. As usual, he was looking at the big picture, and that transcended laws about marriage and divorce. He wanted folks to enter into marriage very seriously, with the intention of spending the rest of their lives together. And who better than Jesus, and God, for that matter, understands when unforeseen problems may cause a union to split? When a dissolution of the covenant occurs, are we to believe that one has no right ever to fall in love again? Is that the kind of God we claim to love, and who claims to love us?
I don't think pastors are as likely to refuse to perform marriages because of divorce as they were thirty years ago. I think we look at this scripture passage as a cautionary tale; couples should enter into marriage for life, not simply for convenience or as a filler for a temporary loneliness.
Having said that, why are many of us able to look at these verses with a larger view in mind of what Jesus might have met, but many cannot look beyond some much less specific verses concerning same-sex behavior and use those as absolute bans on same-sex unions? Shame on us for our double standard!

This Story is NOT an exclusive! Mark 9:38-50

The disciple's concern seems to have been a reasonable one: they observed someone casting out demons and not doing so in Jesus' name. Shouldn't someone doing such an act give credit to the one who had perfected the method of doing so? If others were permitted to commit the acts of healing that Jesus performed, without attribution, wouldn't that dilute the brand? Jesus gave a wonderful response: "Whoever is not against us is for us!" WHAM! So much for exclusivity and being a special member of the club!

The disciples knew that they were on to something special with Jesus. When folks discover that they are a part of a movement that is achieving some form of notoriety, they sometimes want to keep the group small. Think of children, boys or girls, who found a kid's club in the back yard. It may be for girls only, for boys only, or for the kids who founded it, only. Such an activity is the first exposure to a form of exclusivity for many of us, and it feels good. It is grand to be a part of a group to which not just anyone is invited. Harvard is proud of its acceptance rate of just nine percent this year. When I was in college, fraternities and sororities tended to define themselves by whom they excluded, and not by whom they admitted.

Christians have not learned to let go of the club mentality, in some instances. Some churches seem more like country clubs, while other churches limit membership to those with beliefs that conform to the majority of members. But such places forget Jesus' admonition that those who imitate us are at least not working against us.

Christianity is a faith of the open door. Throughout the centuries, some faith communities have spent more time and money trying to figure out how to keep people out rather than how to make even more folks feel welcome. We need look no further than recent debates in American churches to see that we have a long way to go before all of the fences come down. My own denomination has been a great disappointment to those for whom the open door has been a hallmark of our heritage. Thankfully, a recent agreement with another denomination enables a full exchange of clergy between our faith communities. The Lord does, indeed, work in mysterious and wonderful ways.

Preschool: The Image of Christ. Mark 9:30-37

There are several preschool classes that meet right next door to my campus. Often, we see the children playing on the quad, or the really tiny ones being moved around campus in mega-strollers that rival SUV's in size and comfort. The older toddlers will sometimes come on campus "leashed" together like a sled-dog team, always with a tot at the head of the line leaning forward to try to make the group walk to his or her pace. Last week, some of the older kids, in the four-to five year range, were playing on the quad. Two little girls were giggling as they kept pushing the other to the ground, only to have that child arise and push her opponent to the ground. The teachers had gathered the other children and were moving out, but had to pause while these youngsters played out their shoving match, with full belly laughs punctuating the mid-morning air.
Whenever I see these children on campus, I stop and watch them, with a mixture of laughter and tears. I laugh, because their laughter and frolicking nature is infectious, and I cannot help but to join in. Sometimes there are tears, because in these little ones I see my daughter, now a beautiful woman, when she was in preschool, walking along, singing, smiling and laughing. At other times I see my son, a handsome young man now, when he was little more than a toddler, ball cap on backwards, trying to climb on the jungle gym.
Perhaps it is because I am a father that I so love the instance in Mark when Jesus places a child before the disciples and tells them that when they see a child, they are seeing him. In that day, children were considered nuisances, invisible and powerless. Being a parent, I cannot fathom how such an idea about children can exist, even though I know of changing cultural norms. When we become parents, something that happens to someone else's child happens to our child, in a way. We identify with all children as if they were our own. We feel protective, proud or happy for them, just as their parents do.
A couple I know adopted a little girl from China. She had been found in a field when she was three weeks old. She had been left to die. Thankfully, she was rescued, and a little less than one year later, she was in a new home with a loving family. Jesus tells us that such children are the embodiment of Him. Christians cannot look into the face of a child without seeing the eyes of Christ. Think about that the next time children are playing in a yard or making noise with their excited chattering. At such times, we hear the voice of God!

It's Not Our House - Mark 7:24-37

One common trait of many clergy is that they know what it is like to live in a house that does not belong to them. Though parsonages are becoming less common, there are still plenty of them around. Clergy families move into houses that have served as home for generations of families, and some of those houses have all manner of color schemes reflecting the personal taste, or lack thereof, of those who lived there previously. My first parsonage was falling apart when I arrived as a single pastor, with holes punched in the walls and a rocking toilet in the bathroom and shreds of wallpaper hanging from the ceiling downstairs. The master bedroom was painted lavender, and the kitchen had gray plastic tile up the walls and across the ceiling. When I left, five years later, the house was charming and greatly improved, at least, in my opinion.
The lesson from Mark this week reminds Christians that we inhabit a house that was not built for us. Our spiritual home was built for the children of Abraham, and we, through family circumstances, have become heirs of the house. Though we seldom think about it, we have more in common with the Syrophoenician woman in Mark's account than we would care to admit. Jesus treated her with feigned hostility, reminding her that she was technically allowed in the house, but she had the place of annoying pets who were tolerated, at best. The term "dogs" was commonly used at the time to be descriptive of all Gentiles. The actual Greek word would translate as "little dog" or "puppy." Of course, we twenty-first century types imagine a cute and cuddly puppy whom no one could despise. The view in the ancient near east was not as loving, and Gentiles were despised. Scholars have puzzled for a long time over Jesus' hostile treatment of the woman. In the best light, he is described as having thrown a challenge to the woman to see how she responded. In the worst light, he is portrayed as a man of his time and place, complete with ethnic prejudices. Regardless of the motive, his words about the children's food being kept from the dogs must have cut like a dagger in the heart of the women whose daughter lay ill. She loved her daughter enough, and perhaps had enough faith in a God who would embrace even those outside of the "family" to dare call on God's mercy. Jesus could not resist, and the child was healed, without even having to be in Christ's presence. Heidi Husted, writing in the Christian Century on August 16th 2000, states that this is the day that the gospel "went to the dogs." Mark shows us how Jesus opened the good news of the gospel to the world. We Christians are not the first heirs of the "big house" but we have been invited to make it our home. Can we do any less than offer the same hospitality to the excluded in our world today?

Imperfect Leaders of True Faith

My commentary on the lectionary texts will return later this week. Over the weekend, I watched both the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy and a documentary about former President Jimmy Carter. It is interesting that I should have focused in on these two men, since they were bitter rivals during the presidential primary in 1980. But they have a commonality that binds their lives together: their Christian faith. Kennedy was a deeply flawed individual, and the mere mention of his name will induce his critics to invoke the name of Mary Jo Kopechne, the young woman who died in the famous traffic accident off Chappaquiddick Island. He was also a drinker and partier, most famous for his bad influence on William Kennedy Smith, his nephew, who was charged, and then acquitted, with rape. With all of this on his resume, it is a wonder that Kennedy can be remembered for anything positive. But he did much good for the country, and his was a voice that spoke out for the poor, the elderly, those with physical disabilities and those needing healthcare. Many are wondering if anyone will aside in congree to take up his agenda for social reform.
Jimmy Carter is not considered to have been a great president, and his greatest legacy may consist of the things he has done since he left public office in 1980. While other former presidents travel the lecture circuit to pad their bank accounts, Carter has worked tirelessly with Habitat for Humanity, helped to create the Carter Center at Emory University, which seeks to advance the cause of world peace, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A couple of years ago, Carter came under attack from members of the American Jewish community, and world supporters of Israel for using the term "Apartheid" in the title of a book that discusses the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. The documentary, Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains, shows in great detail the abuse that Carter took from people who had, up to that point, agreed with his efforts for peace in the region.
In the lives of Kennedy and Carter, their Christian faith formed the foundation for their prophetic activity. Such a faith does not proclaim that either man is, or was, without flaw, but that each man spoke from the heart of his religious beliefs in order to call attention to what he saw as social injustice.
We live in a time when congress is hopelessly partisan and unlikely to bring about any major legislative reform that will benefit the people of the United States. Even our president, whose election brought such hope to so many, has shown signs of bowing to the forces of political expediency, especially in the matter of healthcare reform. President Obama also claims a faith rooted in the Christian tradition. May the lives of Kennedy and Carter remind him of what is possible when one puts the needs of others ahead of immediate political security and expediency.

A Second Look at a Remarkable Entrance

I had heard about the wedding entrance at the Kevin Heinz-Jill Peterson wedding in Minnesota that had popped up on YouTube this past week. So, I watched it. Immediately, I thought it inappropriate. I was not familiar with the song and I thought that the dancing was a bit over the top. I thought of all of the couples that will try their own version so that they can get onto YouTube and get their fifteen minutes.
And then a strange thing happened - I watched the video again, and again and again. It was not until about the third or fourth time through that I realized what it was that kept me coming back. The sense of sheer joy that permeated the whole event is undeniable. Watch the video and look at the faces of everyone in the wedding party, the members of the congregation and even the pastor, God bless her open and welcoming heart. Several biblical images now come to mind whenever I watch that video. A few weeks ago the lectionary included a reading where David danced, half naked, before the ark. He danced with pure joy and devotion to God, for he felt that he had done a good thing by bringing to ark to Jerusalem. And today, when I watched the video and observed the section where the whole wedding party reassembled in the back of the church and came down the aisle together, in a processional that reminded me for all of the world of the biblical description of Palm Sunday, I was moved again. Follow that with a joyous bride hardly able to control her happiness as she boogies down the aisle and I ask, how could God not be smiling? The youth and vitality and sheer happiness of those involved in the dance is inspiring and will assure that the knock-offs that are bound to appear on YouTube soon will be faint copies at best. Jill and Kevin, may the joy and sheer exuberance of your wedding entrance remain a part of your married life always.

Mark 6.14-56.. John Had the Last Word

I am always amazed by the blank stares I get from students when I ask what, or who, a prophet might be. I should say that I get blank states after I tell them that, no, it's not someone who predicts the future. I like Walter Brueggemann's definition of a prophet as one who criticizes, energizes and proposes a new way. His take on this is important, because anyone can criticize. Criticism is one of our favorite pastimes: we love to moan and complain. It becomes more difficult to carry out the second criteria of prophetic speaking, energizing. We can gripe and say what is wrong, but only a few can actually get people's attention and begin to energize them with thoughts about the way things could be. Barack Obama was able to do that during the eternal election season of last year....and the year before. He captured the imagination of the American people, especially young adults, in a way that no one had for quite some time. As now President Obama is discovering, it is very difficult to carry out the third criteria of prophetic speaking, that of providing a roadmap for a new way. No matter how much we may say that we want something new, we are very attached to the old ways, and cannot escape thinking in terms that Brueggemann refers to as the "royal consciousness" which is the mindset that is determined to hold on to power at all costs. Many people don't want the changes in the tax structure and health care, to name two elements, that must happen for a new way to emerge. Vested interests are loathe to relinquish power.
John the Baptizer didn't care what it cost him to speak truth to power. The Bible portrays him as somewhat of a curious character. He lived in the desert for a while, maybe Qumran, maybe with the Essenes. He dressed in animal skins and ate honey and wild locusts which were probably the pods of the locust tree, and not the bugs. Sorry, sci-fi fans. Because John had publicly criticized the shenanigans perpetrated by Herod to get his brother's wife for himself, Herodias, said wife, was upset with John. When the opportunity came to silence him through her daughter's request to have John's head on a platter, Herodias must have thought it was a good day indeed. She was able to silence John, eternally. Or did she? John spoke of the new kingdom and the one who would bring it. In spite of John's death, a glimpse of the kingdom came with Jesus. Though the kingdom has yet to come in all of its fullness, we people of faith are supposed to be working for it and looking for it. When we speak prophetically, meeting the above-mentioned criteria, doesn't John, in fact, have the last word?