No God - No Peace / Know God - Know Peace, Thursday Night Sermon Dec 6, 2018

Last Thursday Night was our first night after changing the time from 7 pm to 6 pm, which was done for just the winter months. Our turn-out was a bit off and I suspect several people forgot that we were moving up an hour.  Also, as the weather has continued to get colder, I have noticed more and more folks watching the 'Livestream' on Facebook that were coming to the service when the weather was a bit more favorable. This really is not a concern, the important part is that folks are taking in the service, no matter which route they take they are still being reached... Praise God.

The sermon covered the fact that in our lives we will never know peace if we are expecting that peace to come to us from the world... The only place we can find peace in this life is if we focus upon God and find comfort and reassurance in His love, grace, and peace.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In God's peace,
Roy

Philippians 1:1-11 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Salutation
1 Paul and Timothy, servants[a] of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops[b] and deacons:[c]

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart,[d] for all of you share in God’s grace[e] with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Footnotes:
a) Philippians 1:1 Gk slaves
b) Philippians 1:1 Or overseers
c) Philippians 1:1 Or overseers and helpers
d) Philippians 1:7 Or because I hold you in my heart
e) Philippians 1:7 Gk in grace

Dry Bones, Ezekiel 37:1-14 - A Sermon on Change in Rural America

Below please find the manuscript and the video of the sermon I gave yesterday in the Lake City Town Square.  It was our Annual Lake City Ministerial Association Community Worship and this year I was asked to deliver the message.  

The audio is difficult in a couple of places due to the wind, it was fairly windy in the Square, and pretty chilly as well.  The sermon was well received and I was asked to publish it in our July Newsletter as well.

It wasn't a terribly long sermon, but, it was at first a poignant but ultimately (hopefully) an inspiring message.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Mercy,
Roy

“Dry Bones” 
A Sermon given by Pastor Roy Karlen, 6/25/17

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV) The Valley of Dry Bones
1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

Ezekiel is a prophet speaking to the Jewish people during the Babylonian Exile.  Truly, the chosen people of God are wondering if God has forsaken them... has God forgotten Israel.  Here in Ezekiel, we hear what is at first a terrifying and frankly depressing tale. 

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.

These bones are the bodies of those killed in battle and left to rot and decay in the elements... to have their bones literally picked over by scavengers.  These dismembered bodies have been left behind... forgotten... left to decay. Dislocated and scattered across the landscape. These bones God tells Ezekiel are the 'whole body' of Israel.  What starts out as a dark and depressing passage ends up with the dismembered bodies being “re-membered”, reassembled and reanimated with the breath that God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy.  And then we have the final promise; I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.  The promise that will come true with the return from Exile and the reconstruction of the Temple, God has not forgotten Israel... Israel, now broken and scattered, will be restored... Israel is not forgotten, it is remembered.

More and more we Christians can easily feel like Ezekiel's “dry bones”.   Right here today, as we worship together, unfortunately, Father Lynn is not with us, as today is the last day of worship at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Auburn, and he is there to lead their final service, their closing ceremony, and luncheon.  Far, far too many churches both Catholic and Protestant are closing, and we can't help but feel like “dry bones”.  We like the bones viewed by Ezekiel feel dismembered and scattered... maybe at times... we even feel forgotten by God... just like the Jewish people in the time of the Exile.

Here in rural and small town America perhaps this feeling is greatest of all.  The demographics of rural America have been shifting for decades and continue to do so, as our population continues to age, those fewer and fewer who are younger... are continually less and less likely to be attending Sunday worship.  We struggle to find ways to be relevant in a changing society, ways to reach and enrich the communities in which we live and worship.

As much as we as human beings dislike it we are forced to face the need to change... ironically, the only thing constant in this world is change... yet nearly all humans dislike change, and to be honest... most of us fear it.  Change can be exciting... and some few do constantly crave change, but even those few are beset by fear.  It's likely the fear and the release of endorphins is what they actually crave.

Change is flat out scary...

I have preached a fair amount lately at Woodlawn about change and I apologize to those here from Woodlawn for having to revisit this topic.

A large part of the problem with change is that it's seldom comfortable, it's said that growth resides just outside our comfort zone, that's because growth requires change.

To grow... to improve... one cannot be comfortable... and one must embrace change of some kind.  Off and on for much of my life, I've lifted weights, and I can tell you that if you do not constantly challenge yourself you will not get stronger.  One cannot constantly lift the same amount of weight and expect to gain either strength or muscular size, rather one has to constantly increase the amount of weight or the number of repetitions that one lifts the weight if there is no upward change one will actually start to recede in strength and size.  But change is as I said scary, constantly having to face new and different challenges is daunting.  

The other thing about change is that far too many want things to change, without changing anything that they're doing.  For example, I like many others, would really like to lose some of the girth I've put on in middle age around my waist, the only problem is I'd like to lose that extra chub without changing the amount or kind of food I ingest.  You see, I really like my diet... I like my bagels, I love cheese, and then there are desserts... and giving them up would be PAINFUL...  We all would love change so much more if we didn't have to change anything to get it!

I'm reminded of the cartoon about a search committee looking for a new minister.  They say to the candidate being interviewed “We're looking for a dynamic, creative, and excited leader... who will do everything exactly the same way we've always done it”.

Surely you've heard the saying that the last words of a dying church are “But we've always done it this way”.

Change is nothing new to Christianity, in fact, the amount of change that has occurred within our chosen religion is stunning.  As much as we here in this day and age are apprehensive of what lies ahead... think of the Disciples and the 'change' that they faced.  In what had to seem like a whirlwind... they met a radical thinking Rabbi, traveled from village to village with him spreading his “Gospel”, found themselves in Jerusalem... where things really took a turn and to say things changed would be the understatement of all understatements!

But change didn't stop there, it kept going from then until now.  If we went back in time to the resurrection and then skipped through the centuries until now we'd see changes that we honestly wouldn't believe.  But we don't need to go back in time to live through some of the greatest changes that the church will ever endure.  We are now living through great change... and all of us here will live the rest of our lives in the midst of this change.  

As I mentioned Father Lynn is not here due to commitments to the closing of St. Mary's in Auburn, all across the State there are Catholic Churches being closed and parishes being consolidated.  And it's not just the Catholics that are changing as we all know too well.  In just the last year the Methodist churches in Glidden, Lohrville, and Lanesboro have become yoked and called one minister to lead all three congregations.  It was the limitations on the timing of worship services that caused us to have to delay our worship here today to allow Lorinda to be here and be a part of this service.

First Baptist Church here in Lake City will be voting as will Woodlawn Christian Church to see if the two congregations will merge.  But to be honest the changes won't stop there... not for Woodlawn Christian and First Baptist, nor for any of the rest of us gathered today.  We all will have to reconsider and learn at least slightly different ways to be church, how we do church, where we are church, who and what is the church, and together we'll have to devise ways to attract the younger generations that have disappeared from Sunday mornings to come and join us in worship.

These ideas and predictions can and do sound frightening.  But, let us not forget that even though we are here in a small community in the middle of the USA, we are not alone.  These changes need to be made... and the same difficulties facing us here are facing churches in small towns and rural communities all across the nation from the east coast to the west.  Today with our interconnected world we can communicate and learn from others what is working and what needs to be replaced.  

But, we can't just wait for others to lead the way, we too need to be leaders and learners... the task is daunting and frankly we all wish it didn't need to be done... but we all know in our hearts it's coming.

As difficult and perhaps impossible as the future may appear... I will confide in you, there is NOONE, and there are NO PEOPLE... who are better inclined, and who have a better mindset... and skill set... to change the church... than the people of the small towns and rural communities of America.  Remember your heritage people... we are all the descendants of brave men, and even braver women who set off from their old ways of life as diverse as they were... and came here to the Midwest to settle and start a new life.  These people didn't back down from pain, trials, difficulties, and inconveniences, they established churches, and towns, and communities where there was once only endless prairie and woodlands.  Theirs was the 'can do' spirit, and problem-solving skills which are etched within our cultural DNA.

I grew up as most of you know in West River South Dakota, I grew up as a cowboy.  Now, a few years back when the media seemed to think calling someone a cowboy was an insult, I never understood that... for you see a real cowboy is somebody who is able to overcome, to do the job that needs to be done... no matter what it is, with the meager tools at hand.  Whether it be whatever they have in the pickup they're driving or if out on horseback and even less well equipped... armed only with a pair of fencing pliers strapped to their saddle and maybe a few other odds and ends in a saddlebag.  Where I grew up... when you wanted a difficult job done... you wanted a cowboy there.  I've pulled calves in the middle of nowhere with nothing more than a rein from a bridle and the strength of my back because the job had to be done and that was all there was available to do it with.  But, that spirit wasn't and isn't just the spirit of the cowboy, as I said, most all of us in the Midwest come from pioneer stock.  Our great-grandparents, or great-great-grandparents, or great-great-great grandparents left the old country and came here to America to make a new life.  Now that's change 

Today we need to recall our ancestors 'can-do' nature, their creativity, their determination, their ability to adapt and overcome.  But, what we need most of all is to remember and reinstate their ability to work together.... to rebuild the Christian faith here in America and beyond.  Together, our creativity, our melded brain power, and our determination to succeed can and will make up for our lack of other resources.  We are tailor made to do the job with the meager tools at hand... all that we are, all that our ancestors taught us, has brought us to this hour, prepared to do the work of, and to work for God.

As I said earlier we can easily feel like dry bones, we can even start to wonder if God has forgotten us.  As many of you know I don't believe that God causes bad things to happen to anyone, so I don't believe that God wants the church to be in decline.  God has not caused this decline, it is a factor as I said earlier of the changing demographics of the Midwest, we can see this all too well in the consolidation of the school systems, the population is changing.  I don't think this is caused by God, but what I do believe... what I do believe about God... and His presence in the midst of all difficulties and tragedy, is that He can and will use these circumstances to further His Kingdom.  What I am starting to wonder and will share with you today, is if God is using this change of demographics to force His often far too divided children to return to dialogue with one another.  To reconsider our differences... most that know me know that I am above all else an advocate that ours is a God of reconciliation... is God using these difficult days to reconcile His children?

Jesus spent his ministry preaching to the small villages, it's where this movement that we love and call Christianity started and flourished.  I have come to believe in my heart that it is out of the small towns, the small communities... these places that might be thought to be the least likely of all, that it's here where Christ will resurrect His Church.  

We know that somehow somewhere the Church will rise again.

Why wouldn't the most unlikely... just as Christ was in His time, the least likely... why wouldn't God use the most unlikely... to be the spark to reignite His people.

He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live”.

I answered, “O Lord God, you know”.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them; O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

How and why do I believe that the Church will be resurrected?  Why do I believe that like the dry dismembered bones of Ezekiel, that we will be re-membered and restored?  I believe because my God told me so...

O my people, I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live...

Acts 17:16-34 "The Idols We Worship" - Sermon given May 21, 2017

Idols, we all have them, and they all get in our way of worshiping and having a proper relationship with our Creator God.  There lies the problem with idols, they replace at least in part our devotion to our Creator, in this regard, they really are no different than 'sin' for a sin is something that disrupts our relationship with God.  One of the common themes with both our 'idols' and our 'sins' is that we tend to want to hold on to them.  We're all very gifted at pointing out others idols but we really don't want to let go of our own.

Often when this bit of Scripture is preached idols such as money, cars, homes, jobs, even status in the community are pointed out and we are admonished for the role we allow these things to play out in our lives.  In the sermon, I didn't touch on these types of 'idols' but I did point out how a Church Building, the Bible, and Angels can be elevated to the point of becoming an idol and disrupting our relationship with the Father.  The primary thrust of the sermon though was on how hatred, ego, the desire to be right, and most of all the desire to 'win' can all become idols and clearly upheave not only our relationship with God but also our relationships with each other.  We need to bear in mind that not only does the Father want us to be reconciled to Him, but He also wants us to be in community and reconciled to each other and to His entire Creation.

There are so very many things in our lives that are actually good and positive things that can become (if their role and purpose are misused or mistaken) 'Idols' in our lives.  I mentioned in the sermon the Bible, this seems like such a strange thing to list, but we need to remember that we are not called to 'worship' the Bible, rather the Bible is a tool and a guide in our worship of God.  Our church buildings can and often do become 'Idols' for us.  Here at Woodlawn Chrisitan, we are very blessed with an extremely beautiful building and especially a magnificent Sanctuary.  But, we need to remember as the old song says, "The church is not a building, The church is not a steeple, The church is not a resting place, the church is a people!"  No matter how much we love this old building, and no matter how important it may feel to us, we need to remember that it isn't what we worship but rather a place to worship.

May this week be a wonder and a blessing to you all!

And please, please... be a blessing to someone today!

In the Father's Care,
Roy

Acts 17:16-34New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace[a] every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19 So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor[b] he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God[c] and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’
29 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 At that point Paul left them. 34 But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Footnotes:

a) Acts 17:17 Or civic center; Gk agora
b) Acts 17:26 Gk From one; other ancient authorities read From one blood

c) Acts 17:27 Other ancient authorities read the Lord

Humboldt Christian Church - Preaching this Sunday

I will be preaching down in Humboldt this Sunday at the Humboldt Christian Church.

Looking forward to seeing all the wonderful people in Humboldt and hopefully it will be a beautiful day for a road trip.

God Bless!
Roy

God's Great Beauty!

Something I found online today.  The majority of this video was shot in my home State of South Dakota with just a bit shot in Wyoming.  Such gorgeous skies up there in good old SoDak.  I do miss seeing them out in the countryside.

Simply amazing beauty up in God's Country, may this video find you enthralled with all that our Gracious God has made for our enjoyment and awestruck wonder.  

In Christ,
Roy

The old Highway 16 Bridge crossing the Missouri River at Chamberlain, SD
WmRoy Karlen

Helping out in Wakefield Nebraska / Clearing debris from the tornado

This past Friday I traveled to Wakefield, NE along with other American Baptist Men from Churches in Omaha, Lincoln and Norfolk.  We spent our time there helping to clean up debris from the Tornadoes on June 16th.  The town of Wakefield itself was very lucky as the actual twisters very, very narrowly missed the town.  But unfortunately, they did impact some residential areas outside of the village.  Several farm homes were destroyed and a great number of farm buildings were heavily damaged or completely demolished.  There was a great deal of shredded steel from granaries littered across the fields.

Tornado Damage near Wakefield, NE

On the farm where we were helping there were two large machine sheds that were ripped right up and entirely torn to bits.  The tractors, combines and other equipment remained behind and amazingly enough suffered very little damage.  All the buildings in that location were either completely destroyed or very heavily impacted save one building.  That building happened by providence to be the location where five individuals took shelter.  Even more remarkably, it was located adjacent to the two large machine sheds that were ripped down.  All that remained of those two sheds was the bases of the poles that had supported the sides of the structures.  The brick home on the property was leveled to the foundation and scattered, the man that lived there survived by taking refuge in the basement. 

American Baptist Men helping clean up fields near Wakefield, NE
I am on the far left side of the photo with my back to the camera.

We were able to clear several fields for the Farmer that we were assigned to assist and he was very appreciative of all our efforts.  Large sections of the fields we were in will have to be torn up and replanted as soon as possible.  All the wreckage, wood, brick and steel will need to be removed first or else it will run the risk of damaging the equipment used in replanting.  I am afraid though that some of the areas aren't going to dry out sufficiently in the time frame needed in order to replant.

Cleaning up after the Wakefield Tornadoes
American Baptist Men of Nebraska

American Baptist Men helping clean up fields near Wakefield, NE
I am to the left of the tractor with my back to the camera.

I did ask and this farm was insured so they will not have a total loss from the storm, whether or not they are able to replant.  Of course there is no way to be made completely well from such a disaster, the loss of man hours and the expense of cleaning up is just over whelming.  Thankfully, these days most farmers opt to carry crop insurance.

Tornado damage near Wakefield, NE

Besides the American Baptist Men, there were also a number of other organizations with people in the Wakefield area assisting with the clean up and recovery.  It is a wonderful thing to see the outpouring of assistance that these natural disasters bring to the forefront.  I should also report that members of our congregation 'Sunset Hills Baptist' also sent members to Pilger on this past Thursday.  At this time I do not know what type of work they were assigned to but Bob Slechta and I drove through Pilger on our way to Wakefield and it was obvious that cleanup there will be ongoing for quite sometime.

Video of twin tornadoes that hit near Wakefield, NE

As terrible as the effects of these storms are they provide us with the chance to demonstrate and to truly be 'the hands & feet of Christ'.  It's in our responses to these misfortunes to our fellow man that we best model to others the love, grace and care of our God the Father.  Praise to God, that so very many have and do respond at these times of need.

Tornado damage near Wakefield, NE

Tornado damage near Wakefield, NE

On another note, this afternoon I started reading a new book.  It's another book by Bart Ehrman entitled "Peter, Paul & Mary Magdalene".  It's an in depth look into just what we do and don't know about these figures in Christianity.  Ehrman is the chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Ehrman is widely considered a leading authority on Early Christianity, Jesus and the New Testament.  He is however, a controversial figure in that he is currently a professing 'Agnostic'.  I will point out though that he has received his seminary training, ordination and has served in an American Baptist Church as a minister.   Ehrman is one of my favorite authors due to the depth of his knowledge and his engaging writing style.

Well it's getting late and I need to get going.  May this blog post find you all well and blessed by our Lord.

In Christ,

Roy

Tornado Warnings Today

Update: June 30th, there is currently a tornado in Wayne County, NE.  Please pray for those in the affected areas.  Another day of rough weather in Nebraska.

A Wedding and Roy's Ramblings

This past Saturday (May 17th) my nephew Bryant was married to his fiancee Emily.  The wedding was at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church at 118th and Fort Street here in Omaha.  I had never been inside of this Church before even though I used to live just a few blocks from it at one time.  It's a very nice building and it served as a wonderful setting for a wedding.  Bryant and his new wife looked to be a very happy couple and I pray that they have had adequate pre-marital counseling to help them forge their way towards a very happy, rewarding and lifelong marriage.

I really enjoyed the Priest's Homily during the service as he very ardently stressed the indisputable fact that a marriage is a covenant with God, and not something to be taken lightly in any way shape or form.  These are sentiments that I've shared on this blog before and ones that I desperately wish were beaten into the hearts and minds of each and everyone who goes before the Lord in a house of worship to recite vows of matrimony.

Past blogging on Marriage

The Priest also stressed the importance of children in a marriage.  While we may wish to simply attribute that to it being a Catholic wedding, it is something that is absolutely important for all of us Christians to consider.  Certainly one of if not the primary function of a marriage is to bring new life into this world.  Furthermore we need to raise that new life in such a fashion as to instill a love and devotion to God; this is the most important thing we can do for our children in trying to set them up for a successful marriage of their own.  Without a steadfast belief and realization that marriage is a covenant with God the Father, as well as our spouse we will always take our vows far, far too lightly.

It is no small thing when we go before God and pledge to Him that we desire to be joined together in His eyes as no longer two people but one.  It has been realized for many years that divorce is a serious problem for not only society at large but for Christians in particular.  Now there are studies that contradict each other as far as to the rate of divorce among Christians as a whole, as well as among the various sub-categories of Christians, and I really am at a loss to say which study may or may not be more accurate.  But honestly, who among us needs an actual study to realize the scope of this problem in society.  Which of us does not know of several Christian friends who have divorced. Which of us does not know of a minister of the Faith who has divorced, for crying out loud I know of ministers who have had affairs (within their congregations to boot) while in the pulpit, gotten divorced, remarried and are still in the ministry.  Can we honestly say that this is not a serious problem for us as believers.

Scripture tells us that Jesus himself held no place for the concept of divorce.  

Mark 10:2-12

New International Version (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.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ 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.”

Luke 16:18

New International Version (NIV)

18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 5

New International Version (NIV)

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 19

New International Version (NIV)

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

It is important to note that in Mark, Jesus does not provide any exceptions for divorce.  We see this repeated in Luke and then in Matthew we see divorce mentioned twice and both times the exception of sexual infidelity on the part of the wife (and the wife alone) is given as the only legitimate reason for divorce.  Now how can that be, why would Mark and Luke give no exceptions but Matthew clearly provide one.  Well in my opinion the answer to that is fairly clear and straightforward.  Let me elaborate upon that a bit.

Nearly all Biblical Scholars are in agreement that Mark was the first Gospel to be written (though almost certainly all of the genuine letters of Paul were written prior to any of the Gospels) and that the authors of both Matthew and Luke had copies of the Gospel of Mark along with what has come to be known as the 'Q Source' which was an early collection of Jesus' sayings and teachings.  No copy of this 'Q Source' has ever been found it's existence has rather been inferred from the writings of Matthew and Luke.

So why would Mark clearly provide no exceptions for divorce, then Luke follow suite, but Matthew decide to interject a way 'out' so to speak into his Gospel.  Much 'theological hay' has been made over this, but in my opinion the answer is clear and easily determined.  Mark is the earliest and also generally considered the most reliable of the three synoptics and the one generally defaulted to in times of disagreement.  Luke followed Mark's lead but Matthew, who it is extremely important to realize is writing to a predominately Jewish audience, included a very specific exception.

Matthew has allowed for a divorce in the circumstance that the wife has been unfaithful (and again please note there is no exception for an unfaithful husband).  But why add this exception, well Judaism is a very patriarchal culture and within traditional Judaism ancestry is of considerable importance.  One need only to look at the various genealogies in scripture to see the importance of this factor in Hebrew culture. If a woman has an affair and proven herself to be an unfaithful spouse, the husband can no longer be certain that any child born is in fact his own (there were no paternity tests in those days).  This would disrupt his family legacy and could result in having the child of another man inherit his property.  These are not things which would go over well in a patriarchal society.  As a side note it should be noted that this emphasis on patriarchy is a factor in the prohibition on homosexuality... but that's a whole other blogging subject that will have to wait for another day.

It seems fairly obvious that the author of Matthew added to or revised the teachings of Jesus as reflected in both Mark and Luke.  This exception was added to placate the group that this Gospel was originally addressed to, a group of Jewish Christians who almost certainly did not differentiate themselves from Judaism as a whole.  Rather this group would have viewed themselves as just another of several dozen different sects of Judaism that existed in the first century AD.  I've attached a link for those that might wish to learn more about the people and culture to which this Gospel was addressed.

Link to information on the Gospel of Matthew

For the author of Matthew to have completely banned all divorce after Jesus' lead would have likely been too difficult for this rigidly patriarchal society to have accepted.

Of course nearly always all of these passages are brushed away with the pass of a hand, saying something like, "in those days if a man divorced a woman she would be destitute, she would have to resort to prostitution just to survive."  Well, let's hold on just for a moment.  If Jesus was merely putting this strict of a position against divorce as a protection against women being left in poverty, than why didn't he merely require them to be provided for by the divorcing spouse.  And let's look further into these passages of scripture because there's something here that everyone loves to look beyond (or is it we just want to avoid it).

Perhaps the most troubling portion of all these pieces of scripture is all the commentary on adultery.  All  of these passages point to the man as committing adultery if he divorces his wife and remarries, but in Matthew and Luke the man who marries a divorced woman is also guilty of adultery, and than in Mark even the wife commits adultery if she divorces her husband and marries another man.

If Jesus' primary concern with admonishing divorce had to do with the financial welfare of the woman than something here does not add up.  For why would it be a sin (adultery) for the woman to divorce her husband and remarry another man, isn't she thereby merely shifting who is paying the bills so to speak.  And for crying out loud, why would it be a sin for another man to marry a divorced woman, shouldn't he be lauded as doing charity rather than condemned of a sin.  It seems painfully obvious to me that the old argument of concern for the welfare of the woman doesn't hold up to scrutiny.  Of course I'm certain that Jesus cared deeply for the welfare of all, but I don't believe that's the underlying theme here.

What happens in a divorce... well, we of course break a sacred vow, a covenant made not only with our spouse but with our God.  This 'brokenness', this betrayal of faith puts us out of relationship not only with our spouse but with God, this is the sin that is involved.  Above all else, God is a God of reconciliation.  God is in the business of love, grace, forgiveness and salvation but honestly in my opinion all of these are just stones along the path to reconciliation.  God wants you, God wants me, God wants all humanity and all his creation to have a deep and profound relationship with Him.  The problem with divorce as I stated before is the brokenness, we are out of relationship.  The problem with remarriage outside of the original marriage is also one of brokenness, for these remarriages prevent the reconciliation of the original covenant... the original marriage contract.  The husband that remarries blocks that reconciliation, the wife that remarries blocks that reconciliation, and (what seems so extremely unfair at first glance) the new spouse is in a state of sin because their marriage to the divorced person blocks that reconciliation as well.

So very many of us, myself included most of all, would love to see these passages of scripture suddenly disappear from the canon.  These are hard verses, and again so many of us just wish they were not there... but as I so like to say:

"If when reading scripture you never feel convicted, if you never see the hairy hand of God pointing a fat finger right back at you... well then you're not paying close enough attention."

But, there is power in these passages and we need to understand the gravity of the desire and drive that our God has to be reconciled onto us.  There can be little doubt that Jesus viewed divorce and remarriage as a sin, but what about all of us who have been divorced and who have been remarried within the Church.  Whereas I find myself in agreement with my conservative brothers and sisters on my stance on divorce being a sin, I part company with them in thinking that I can lay down any kind of pronouncement and/or judgment concerning it.  Long, long ago the church decided to look the other way concerning these passages and perhaps that's no small part of why we find ourselves encountering divorce so regularly today.

What are we to do about the messes we've made... in this world we divorce, we remarry and far too many divorce and remarry again or even again.  We are so very broken in the department of marriage that it simply has to be a considerable burden on the heart of our Lord.  God wants us to be reconciled, but for most of us this just simply seems impossible.  The good news is of course that we worship a God of love and grace, in Him and through Him there is nothing beyond repair.  Though many of us will simply have to wait for complete reconciliation until beyond the grave we are still able to turn to God, confess that we know we have strayed and broken His heart (not to mention all the human hearts we've trampled upon) as well as our sacred covenant with Him, and we will find that we are already forgiven.  

Now let us not say that "well okay since God is all graceful we can sin all we wish so who cares about divorce".  Paul addressed this in the letter to the church in Rome, since we are in Christ we are to be dead to sin.  Sin should no longer be within us, but of course we all know that Paul also said in Romans "For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing"   We will never eliminate divorce entirely from our society, in fact we'll never completely eliminate it from within the church or even amongst the clergy.  But we simply must do all we can do to eliminate it from our own marriages, our own families, our own churches.  We must do as much as we can possibly do in our human capacity.  We need to encourage those that we know are getting married to engage in pre-marital counseling, we need to encourage those that we know are struggling in their marriages to go and receive counseling either from a minister or a professional counselor.  We need to love each other enough to forgive and move forward and not simply give up and move on.

Thus far I have addressed marriage and divorce strictly from a theological point, but are there any pragmatic reasons for divorce.  Generally the two areas which are universally accepted as means for a divorce are physical and emotional abuse.  In the case of physical violence and physical abuse I certainly believe that our Lord would sanction removing oneself from such a situation.  

The subject of emotional abuse is a bit more difficult to qualify.  It would seem to me that emotional abuse is a bit like the famous quote from a member of Congress who supposedly said something along these lines concerning pornography, "I can't tell you exactly what it is, but I sure enough know it when I see it."  I think in almost all marriages there is from time to time something done or said that would qualify as emotional abuse.  Certainly in my first marriage I was guilty of what could only be classified as emotional abuse.  But did it rise to the level which would justify divorce... no, I don't think it did.  I believe in my own circumstance as well as a great many others what was needed was an honest and sincere commitment to counseling and trying to salvage the marriage.  The problem is that through ego and anger we tend to let the relationship turn so poisonous that neither an honest nor a sincere commitment can be made to counseling.

Far too often (perhaps always) we divorce over things that should have been addressed in pre-martial counseling.  Money, family, sex, children, where we want to live, what status we hope to have in our community, and others.  So often failed marriages point to infidelity as the reason for the divorce but generally in my opinion that is just a symptom of the real issue.

I will confess a concern for Bryant and Emily as they are burdened with having had both sets of parents divorce during their childhoods.  One can only pray that the Pastor chose not only to stress the covenant with God during the Homily but also during the pre-marital counseling as well.  I will continue to pray for Bryant and his new bride, along with  praying for his younger brother Tyler who was married earlier this year up in South Dakota.

Please note that any interpretation of scripture is the result of my own study, research, reflection and meditation, and does not reflect the position of my denomination either locally or nationally.  Furthermore my thoughts concerning marriage, divorce, and remarriage are also my own.  These positions are the result of my own life experiences, personal studies and observations.  So please do not become agitated over any commentary of mine, these are my thoughts and opinions and as they say "your mileage may vary".

God's grace, peace, blessings and love to you all in abundance.

In Christ,
Roy