Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

           Text: St, Mark 10:2-16, but especially these words –

 Some Pharisees came and tested (Jesus) by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” “What did Moses command you?” he replied. They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus:

           A group of young people were brought together and were asked the question – “Which two commandments out of the ten do you consider to be the least important?” Without hesitation, one of them responded – “’Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘You shall not commit adultery’ – these two commandments are the least important…because nobody keeps them anyway!”

           Asking the same question to a group of adults, it was finally concluded that the two commandments that warn against coveting would have to be seen as the least important. These adults were reminded that the New Testament tells us that covetousness is idolatry. So, if we were to eliminate these two commandments concerning coveting, then we would also have to get rid of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” which warns us against idolatry.

           With this information before the group, one of the adults responded – “It doesn’t make much difference how we look at the Ten Commandments anyway. Because Jesus told us that the moment we break one of the commandments, we have broken all of them.” In conversations with young people or with older people, when our concern centers on the commandments, it soon becomes apparent that the setting in which these words are seen is that of a courtroom. In this courtroom, we stand before the awesome authority of a Supreme Judge who is seated high above the heavens. In this courtroom, however, there is no jury made up of people like you and me who might sympathize with our human frailties. God alone will judge our case. And He has made it clear that when we break one of His commandments, we stand guilty of breaking all of them.

           When we as Christians see the Ten Commandments in this setting, then, like the Pharisees in the Holy Gospel Lesson for today, we spend our time looking for loopholes in the Law. Some of these men came to Jesus one day with the question – “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife.” Jesus responded – “What did Moses command you?” They said – “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

           Our Lord could easily have demolished their shallow, self-centered interpretation of what Moses commanded in the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses spoke out of love – but the Pharisees saw his words as a loophole in the law. Moses wrote in behalf of mercy – but the Pharisees manipulated his words to try to justify what they wanted to do without mercy. Jesus could see it wouldn’t be enough to just win the debate. More decisive action was required. The Pharisees of every age must be shown, once and for all, that there are no loopholes in God’s law. 

           Jesus took them beyond the commandments and back to creation. When two people are united in marriage, they become one. “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Even our Lord’s disciples were disturbed by these blunt words. All of us can understand their concern. Instinctively, we would like to find some loopholes through which we could crawl out of a difficult situation without feeling guilty about it. But there is no way out. Jesus told His disciples – “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

           At our Lord’s time, adultery was punishable with death by stoning. Listening to the Holy Gospel Lesson for today, if you were asked to name two commandments out of the ten that are the most important…which ones would you choose? Over the centuries, whenever the church has placed the commandments within the setting of a courtroom, then great importance has been given to these words – “You shall not steal,” “You shall not commit adultery,” and “You shall not kill.”

           People who broke these commandments were harshly treated and condemned. Idolatry, profanity, failure to keep the Sabbath, dishonoring parents, lying or coveting were more easily excused. In fact, there have been times in the early history of the Christian Church when the church itself deliberately broke the commandment, “You shall not kill” to justify itself in the fight against heresy. It is also a sad part of our history to admit that when the charge was adultery, women have been more severely condemned than men.

           Against this background, there are three important things we really ought to keep in mind. The first thing is this – on that day in our Lord’s ministry, the conversation with Him revolved around marriage, divorce and adultery. However, this conversation could have applied to any of the commandments, and the conclusion would have been exactly the same! There are no loopholes in God’s law. For it is written – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Whenever we try to justify ourselves by the law, by the law we will be condemned.

           The second thing is this – whenever we, like those Pharisees, place the Ten Commandments within the setting of a courtroom, then we have set aside the Gospel. To live by the Gospel is to see the Ten Commandments, not in terms of a courtroom, but rather in terms of a courtship. These commandments become the guidelines within which this courtship between us and our God is carried out.

           People in love do try to find loopholes in the commitments they make to each other during courtship. Imagine two people whose wedding date has been set saying to each other – “Darling, once we’re married we will spend the rest of our lives together. But between now and our wedding day, I want to be free to see whoever I want, whenever I want. Only occasionally do I want to see you between now and then. Don’t expect me to be faithful to you sexually until we’re married. I want to be free to cheat and lie and covet…whatever pleases me. However, once we’re married, then I will behave myself.” Obviously, after such a conversation, the courtship would soon come to an abrupt end. No human being in their right mind would put up with that kind of arrangement. 

           However, I said that there were three things that needed to be remembered today. What needs to be said now is so incredible, and it’s this – the fact we must face is that God has been putting up with this kind of courtship over all of the centuries of human history! We have said to Him – “Lord, I want to be with You in heaven when Christ, the Bridegroom, takes the church, His bride, to be with Him forever. But, for now, Lord, I hope you will understand if I have other gods, and profane Your name, and forget Your day, and dishonor my parents. I want to be loved even when I hurt other people physically, when I am sexually irresponsible, when I steal and lie and covet. Lord, I am just like the apostle Paul. Deep down inside, I want to do what is right, but day after day, I discover that what I actually do is what I hate.

           Under these circumstances, we would assume that the courtship would be over and God would simply forget all about us. Yet, the courtship has continued throughout the centuries. Our Lord’s love goes beyond our understanding. We violate every basic guideline for an honorable courtship. In response, God gave His Son to fulfill the law for us so that we might be forgiven and reconciled to Him once again. When Jesus had this conversation with the Pharisees, He was on His way to Jerusalem, to the cross…to suffer and die for us.

           Walking with Him on the way to that cross, we discover something more about the depths of Jesus’ love. When the Pharisees and the disciples talked to Him about marriage and divorce and adultery, He didn’t become angry. It was nothing new for Him to be confronted by people who were trying to find loopholes in the law. But when the disciples tried to prevent some people from bringing their little children to Jesus, then our Lord became indignant. He had made it absolutely clear that there are no loopholes in His love either! 

          There is no one here, no matter how young or old you are, how rich or poor, how moral or immoral, whether you are single, married, divorced, or widowed, even if you are living in open rebellion against God, you are never living beyond the boundaries of His love. If you desire to respond to His unfailing love, then stop trying to justify yourself in terms of the law. Because no one can do that. God offers His love to us as a gift of grace. To receive the gift of His love, we must become like children. We don’t pretend to deserve so great a gift. We simply open our hearts and lives to receive it freely, willingly and eagerly, with praise and thanksgiving.

         To love Him is to keep His commandments. And when you fail, confess your sins. He has already paid the price for them. Then strive again, in response to His love, to follow these words of the Savior – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” God’s message today takes us out of a courtroom and into a courtship. And it’s here that we discover that there are no loopholes in His law. But it’s also here that we discover that there are no loopholes in the love of our God. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.