MARK 10:2-16
AMONG OUR FIFTEEN GRANDCHILDREN, JOAN AND I HAVE A PAIR OF THREE YEAR OLDS, MARK AND REBECA, WHO ARE COUSINS. LAST MONDAY WE TOOK THEM DOWN TO MYSTIC. I THINK JESUS HAD THREE YEAR OLDS IN MIND WHEN HE REFERS TO LITTLE CHILDREN. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IS HOW COMPLETELY THEY TRUST. THEY ARE BUNDLED INTO THEIR GRANDPARENT'S CAR, AND WHISKED AWAY. THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE GOING, AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN. BUT THEY TRUST THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT. AFTER ALL, THAT'S THE WAY ITS BEEN SO FAR, HASN'T IT? WHEN WE GOT TO MYSTIC, WHILE JOAN WAS NEGOTIATING OUR TICKETS WITH A PARTICULARLY SLOW EMPLOYEE AT THE AQUARIUM, AND I WAS TWITCHING IMPATIENTLY, LOOKING AT MY WATCH, THINKING OF ALL THE THINGS I COULD BE DOING THAT WOULD BE MORE PRODUCTIVE, REBECA AND MARK WERE OFF LOOKING AT THE FLOWERS. THEN MARK FOUND A POSTER SHOWING A WHALE, TO WHICH HE CALLED REBECA'S ATTENTION. THEN SHE POINTED OUT ANOTHER POSTER WITH JELLYFISH, AND SO IT WENT; THEY WERE NOT BORED, THEY WERE LIVING IN THE MOMENT, ENJOYING THE SPECTACLE THAT WAS NOW. WHEN WE GOT INTO THE AQUARIUM, THERE IS AN EXHIBIT WHERE YOU PUT ON 3-D GLASSES AND SIT IN A MOTORIZED CHAIR WATCHING A MOVIE OF A DESCENT INTO THE SEA. YOU MEET A GIANT SQUID, WHO SWALLOWS THE NEXT BOAT OVER AND THEN GOES AFTER YOURS, BUT YOU ARE SAVED AT THE LAST MINUTE BY A WHALE WHO CATCHES THE SQUID IN HIS MOUTH AND SWIMS AWAY. THE CHAIR SHOOK AND REBECA CLUNG TO THE EDGES WITH A LOOK OF TERROR ON HER FACE. AND THEN WE WENT TO WHERE YOU COULD PET SMALL STING RAYS SWIMMING AROUND IN A TANK. REBECA STUCK HER ARM IN THE WATER, BUT IT WAS MARK'S TURN TO BE TERRIFIED, AND IT WAS ALL HE COULD DO TO KEEP FROM CRYING. BUT SOON WE WERE OUTDOORS LOOKING AT THE BELUGA WHALES AND THE SEA LIONS, AND WE HAD BEEN FORGIVEN; THEY TOOK OUR HANDS AND WENT ON LIKE NOTHING BAD HAD HAPPENED.
THREE YEAR OLDS. THEY TRUST, THEY LIVE IN THE MOMENT, AND THEY FORGIVE. I THINK THAT'S WHAT JESUS MEANS BY BECOMING LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN.
WE COULD LOOK AT THE FIRST READING AND THE GOSPEL AND CONCLUDE THAT IT IS ABOUT THE PERMANENCE OF MARRIAGE. BUT I THINK THERE MAY BE SOMETHING DEEPER HERE. THE PHARISEES DURING JESUS' TIME WERE NOT A UNITED GROUP. THEY HAD DIFFERENT SCHOOLS, AND THEY WERE ALWAYS DISAGREEING WITH EACH OTHER. MOSES HAD NOT BEEN SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT GROUNDS WERE NECESSARY FOR A MAN TO DIVORCE HIS WIFE, AND SOME SAID THAT ANY REASON WOULD DO, EVEN IF ALL SHE DID WAS BURN THE TOAST. OTHERS SAID IT HAD TO BE SOMETHING REALLY BAD, LIKE ADULTERY. AND THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHERE JESUS STOOD; WHAT WERE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR A MAN TO DIVORCE HIS WIFE? IT WAS A LEGITIMATE QUESTION. BUT JESUS SAYS, “YOU ARE ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION ENTIRELY. THE REAL QUESTION SHOULD BE WHAT GOD INTENDED FROM THE BEGINNING, NOT WHAT MOSES LET YOU GET AWAY WITH. AND WHAT GOD INTENDED YOU KNOW BECAUSE IT'S RIGHT THERE IN OUR SCRIPTURES; TWO BECOME ONE FLESH, SO NOTHING CAN SEPARATE WHAT GOD HAS JOINED. THE PHARISEES SAW WOMEN AS LESSER BEINGS, AND THEY HAD LOST SIGHT OF GOD'S VISION OF MARRIAGE. RATHER, A WIFE WAS ALWAYS A POSSESSION, SOMETHING THAT COULD BE ENJOYED OR DISCARDED, WITHOUT MUCH CONSEQUENCE TO THE MAN. BUT JESUS CALLS THEIR ATTENTION TO THAT MOMENT IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, THAT TIME BEFORE ADAM AND EVE SINNED, THAT TIME WHEN THEY WERE EXACTLY WHAT GOD INTENDED THEM TO BE – AND THE WOMAN IS CREATED FROM THE RIB OF THE MAN, SHE IS EQUAL, NOT ABOVE, NOT BELOW; AND THE MAN, UPON SEEING HER, CRIES OUT WITH JOY, LIKE A THREE YEAR OLD, LIKE ANY BRIDE OR GROOM ON THE WEDDING DAY, “THIS ONE AT LAST IS BONE OF MY BONE AND FLESH OF MY FLESH.” NOTICE THAT SHE IS NOT A POSSESSION; ADAM AND EVE SHARE THE SAME FLESH. FOR ADAM TO DISCARD EVE, IT IS LIKE CUTTING HIS VERY BODY IN HALF.
GOD CALLS MARRIED COUPLES TO THE SAME KIND OF UNION. SURE, MOST OF US WON'T GET IT RIGHT, AND SOME OF US WILL FAIL; BUT IT IS POSSIBLE, IT IS AN IDEAL, AND IT IS A GOAL THAT IS WORTH FAR MORE THAN THE HARD WORK IT TAKES TO GET THERE. MOST OF US KNOW MARRIED COUPLES WHO SEEM TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP LIKE GOD INTENDED. FOR SOME IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THERE FROM DAY ONE; OTHERS IT SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN A LIFETIME. BUT WE KNOW FAR MORE COUPLES WHO ARE MERELY PLEASANTLY MARRIED; THEY EACH GO THEIR OWN WAY, THEY AVOID PUSHING EACH OTHER'S BUTTONS; THEY FULFILL THEIR DIFFERENT ROLES; BUT THEY DON'T SEEM TO LIVE IN THAT IDEAL MARRIAGE, THEY'VE SETTLED FOR MEDIOCRITY. AND IF WE LOOK CLOSELY, WE CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCE. THOSE LIVING IN THAT IDEAL RELATIONSHIP ARE LIVING FOR EACH OTHER; HE WOULD RATHER SEE HER HAPPY THAN HIMSELF; HE LOVES THAT SMILE SHE GIVES HIM AND GOES OUT OF HIS WAY TO BRING ON MORE SMILES. AND SHE LIKES TO SEE HIM SAVOR A MEAL SHE HAS PREPARED, AND SHE GOES OUT OF HER WAY TO BE ATTRACTIVE TO HIM, AND SHE LOVES THE TENDERNESS HE SHOWS HER. THEY GIVE THEMSELVES UP FOR EACH OTHER, THEY SPEND A LIFETIME ALLOWING GOD TO KNEAD THEM TOGETHER TO BECOME ONE FLESH, AND NEVER DO THEY ASK, WHAT IS THE MINIMUM I HAVE TO DO TO BE MARRIED. AND THEY BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN, ALWAYS TRUSTING, ALWAYS LIVING IN THE MOMENT, AND ALWAYS FORGIVING.
THREE YEAR OLDS ARE NATURALLY HAPPY, AND GOD WANTS US TO BE HAPPY IN THAT WAY. AND THAT IS WHY THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND PART OF THIS GOSPEL. THE GOSPEL IS NOT JUST ABOUT MARRIAGE. IT IS ABOUT THE DUTY OF EVERY CHRISTIAN TO LOOK AT THE CIRCUMSTANCES HE OR SHE FACES, AND ASK, WHAT IS IT THAT GOD INTENDED FROM THE BEGINNING, AND HOW CAN I MAKE THAT HAPPEN IN THIS SITUATION? DID GOD INTEND FOR ME TO BE WARM AND WELL FED, WITH THE LEISURE AND MONEY TO ENJOY MYSELF WHEN THERE ARE PEOPLE SLEEPING UNDER THE MEMORIAL BRIDGE DOWNTOWN? DID GOD INTEND THAT MY AUNT PASS DAY AFTER LONELY DAY IN A NURSING HOME, WHILE I KEEP PROMISING MYSELF THAT ONE OF THESE DAYS I'LL STOP BY FOR A VISIT? DID GOD INTEND THAT MY INVOLVEMENT IN MY CHURCH BEGINS FIVE MINUTES AFTER MASS HAS STARTED AND ENDS RIGHT AFTER COMMUNION? WHAT DID GOD INTEND FROM THE BEGINNING, AND HOW CAN I MAKE THAT HAPPEN?
TODAY IS THE FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. THERE PROBABLY WAS NEVER A MAN OR WOMAN WHO TRIED AS HARD AS HE DID TO DISCERN WHAT GOD INTENDED FROM THE BEGINNING, AND THEN THROW HIMSELF INTO IT WITH EVERYTHING HE HAD. AND ST. FRANCIS ACHIEVED WHAT JESUS CALLS US ALL TO ACHIEVE; HE BECAME AS A LITTLE CHILD; HE TRUSTED, BECAUSE WHO COULD NOT TRUST THE FATHER WHO LOVES US? HE LIVED IN THE PRESENT, WHICH IS THE ONLY PLACE YOU CAN FIND GOD; AND HE FORGAVE, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, BECAUSE WITHOUT FORGIVENESS, YOU CAN'T BE HAPPY. AND FRANCIS WAS HAPPY, FULL OF JOY, EVEN WHEN SUFFERING. AND YOU AND I CAN BE AS WELL.
I'D LIKE TO THANK MARK AND REBECA FOR HELPING THEIR GRANDFATHER WRITE THIS SERMON, AND I PRAY THAT THEY WILL ALWAYS REMAIN LITTLE CHILDREN IN THE SENSE THAT JESUS MEANT.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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