October 6, 2024 – 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B ( Proper 22 )
Genesis 2:18-24, Mark 10:2-16
Rev. Misa Furumoto
After God completed His masterpiece, which is this world, He finally created human beings in His own image. The first human was Adam, but here, he is still called just “the man”. The man was happily living in paradise with other creatures, but one day, God noticed that he seemed lonely. There wasn’t any creature who could laugh with him when he laughed, or cry with him when he wanted to cry, someone who could empathize with him. So, God said, “This is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper as his partner.” God then formed all the wild animals and birds from the ground and brought them to the man. He looked at each creature carefully, touching them, stroking them, nuzzling them, and speaking to them as he named each one. “You are horse, you are lion, and you are swan,” like that. But even then, he could not find a suitable partner for himself.
What should be done? God thought. Then He came up with an idea: instead of creating another completely different being, He would take a part of this human and create another being from him. So, God put the man into a deep sleep. Just like someone put under anesthesia, the man lay still while God removed one of his ribs and gently closed up the place with flesh. Then, from the rib He took from the man, God created a woman. When the man woke up, God brought this woman to him.
The man’s eyes widened, and his heart pounded as he excitedly said, “Lord, at last, I have found someone like me, with the same bones and flesh. She is the one for me. From now on, the two of us will be partners, supporting, helping, and living in harmony together.”
This was the very first family. It is the shape of marriage that God gave us, one of mutual support and equal partnership. However, as time passed, that understanding faded. In the Old Testament times, women’s rights were taken away. Men could have multiple wives as they pleased, and they could divorce their wives if they wanted. In fact, it wasn’t just during the Old Testament times—until just over 100 years ago in Japan and in many other countries, this was considered normal.
Jesus knew the true meaning and purpose behind God’s bringing together a man and his partner. Here, I dare to call a partner, not a woman because it doesn’t seem to me that God limited that partner to be female only. Anyway, he criticized the Jews particularly the Pharisees who adhered to the law written by Moses that said a man could divorce his wife simply by writing a certificate of dismissal. Jesus said, “Because of your hardness of heart, Moses wrote this commandment for you.” What is this “hardness of heart”? It is not made very clear here, but it is probably something like an iron curtain in our hearts that blinds us from God’s thoughts and His love. The very fact that divorce is mentioned is a result of a hardened heart. If one knows the love of God and can always share it with one’s partner, the thought of divorce would never come up, would it? Then, Jesus says, quoting from the Book of Genesis, “What God has joined together, let no one separate.” And later to the disciples, he said, “Whoever divorces one’s partner and marries another commits adultery against the partner.”
From these words of Jesus, Christians have long believed that divorce and remarriage are forbidden, no matter what. But Jesus is not saying that you must endure being with your current partner, no matter how hard or painful it is. He is saying that you should not neglect or abandon the partner God has given you. And if you treat your partner this way and remarry another, he says, that means you have committed adultery. That makes sense, doesn’t it?
One more thing. God said. I will create him a helper to be his partner.” The helper God said is not an animal or a robot. It is one who can understand and empathize with human emotions, one who can rejoice when you rejoice and weep when you weep. I don’t think this refers only to marriage partners or blood relatives. None of us can live alone. We cannot even die alone. God wants us to live supporting one another.
By connecting with Jesus, we can become a true family that transcends blood relations. That is the church. The community gathered here today, the English congregation of Nara Christ Church, is also a family. No one is alone. No single person, no person whose partner has already gone to heaven, no divorced person is alone. Each of us has been given someone who is ready to help us, and we are those who help others. And we are told, “What God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Finally, the episode of Jesus inviting children is added. He says, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.
The little children depicted here are portrayed as the opposite of those who are hard-hearted and unable to share God’s love with their God-given partners. The little children represent those who can do nothing but asking for God’s grace. And only those who are modest enough to receive God’s grace can truly share the love of God with others. And therein lies the Kingdom of God. And in the Kingdom of God, no one needs rules about whether or not to divorce or remarry. The only thing that matters is whether or not you are meek enough to receive God’s love and share it with someone He has allowed you to meet.
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
