October 3, 2021 – 19th Sunday after Pentecost

Christian discipleship involves more than obeying the Law – it requires practicing the ethic of the love of God’s Kingdom – especially in the midst of this pandemic.

Let us pray.  Gracious and loving God, we give you thanks for your presence in this time and place and within each one of us gathered here and around this province. Help us now to open our minds, our hearts, and our whole lives, to receive the gift of your living Word for us this day; and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.

The Gospel Reading that has just been read is part of a section of Mark’s Gospel dealing with the ethics of discipleship – dealing with the ethics of discipleship.  I think it is unfortunate that we often treated texts like the one we’ve just heard – especially the first part of it on divorce – like a code of Christian law – that this is the Christian law on divorce.  When we do that we miss the subtleties of the context.  Notice how Mark introduces the subject.  He says, “Some Pharisees (those who were experts on Mosaic Law) came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’”  They’re not genuinely interested in Jesus’ answer! They are forcing him to either uphold the Law or risk being exposed as teaching something contrary to the religious Law.  Wisely, Jesus throws it back to them with a question, and he says to them, “What did Moses command you?”  And they reply with their interpretation of the Law.  “They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’”  But Jesus then goes back much further than Moses in Israel’s relationship with God, and he appeals to the authority of God’s original design and purpose.  And so he says to them, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”  In other words, this is God’s loving intention.  The provision in the Law of Moses is necessary because of our imperfection.  The Law provides a boundary – a kind of backstop – to try and minimize the damage and violence that can occur in relationships.

And Jesus moves the discussion away from Law and into ethics – the application of selfless love.  The Law, and particularly in that patriarchal society, only addressed the option of a husband divorcing his wife.  But Jesus places the husband and wife on an equal plane – each capable, in these imperfect situations, of divorcing the other. 

So Jesus successfully avoids the Pharisees ‘test’, or trap, by re-framing the issue – taking it from being a legal question and making it a question of ethics, according to God’s Kingdom of love.  And, he also re-introduces the non-hierarchical sense of living as a disciple of Jesus Christ according to the way of God’s Kingdom.  Two weeks ago, in the Gospel Reading from the previous chapter of the Gospel of Mark, after Jesus catches his disciples arguing about their hierarchical ‘pecking order’ (“Who is the greatest …”), Jesus teaches them about being great in God’s Kingdom with these words, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all, and servant of all.”

Then, Jesus reaches for an example of one with the least amount of power in that society and culture – a child – and says, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”, which, of course, is God!  This is to be the disciples’ ethics in living into the Kingdom of God.  And then he repeats it again in today’s Gospel.  “People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.” 

It is not that Jesus dismisses or disregards the Law, or the cultural practices of his day; but rather that one has to do more than the Law – to “shoot higher”, so to speak – for the ethical love of God’s Kingdom.  As Jesus warned his disciples, and it’s recorded in several places in the Gospels, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of God.” 

So what about us in our day?  Are we called to obey the laws of the land?  Yes, of course we are!  But we are called to do more.  Our attitude in life is to be a servant – serving God’s creation and all those whom God has made.  Laws, or at least just laws, are good.  They protect us from being harmed, or harming others.  When I was driving here today on Academy Road, there’s a 50 kmh speed limit sign.  That’s a law, and it’s there because otherwise I might unconsciously drive a little bit faster and not care about the safety of pedestrians and people around me.  So the Law is good.  It sets a boundary and it helps reduce harm.  But we are called to go beyond law to living the ethical love of God’s Kingdom.

But often that is not easy, and the path forward not at all clear.  I believe we’re in one of those times right now with the Covid-19 pandemic - and particularly here in Manitoba, and the increasing divide between those who are vaccinated and those who are not.  (and let me reassure you – I am fully vaccinated!)  As we’re becoming increasingly aware in Manitoba, in an effort to avoid a complete collapse of our healthcare system, restrictions are being enforced which drive a great wedge between these two groups.  The rationale is clear enough.  To minimize the restrictions on life for the vaccinated, because there is much less risk to the healthcare system from those people, and to minimize the potential for widespread Covid transmission, heavy restrictions are placed on the unvaccinated, with the additional hope that it might provide a little more incentive to get vaccinated.

This strategy, though, definitely falls into the category of ‘law’.  It provides a ‘backstop’ – a method to minimize the damage in our society – for everyone.  But I don’t think we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, can stop at that.  The ethical love of God’s Kingdom calls us to something more!  Do I know what that is right now?  No – I’m no further ahead on this than anybody else.  But I do know that we are called to be servants – to serve even the least in our midst because we are serving Christ in them.  Do I get annoyed when I sense my life is being restricted because someone else feels they don’t need to consider their lack-of-action and the impact it has on others?  Of course I do!  Does it seem fair?  No it doesn’t! 

Do I have an clear answer to the dilemma?  No, I don’t.  But together, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have to go beyond the Law and invest our lives in the Kingdom ethic of love.  Together, we have to discern what that looks like, and then, together, to live out that servanthood in our daily actions and attitudes.

As we’ll pray in a few moments at the Offertory, “God of truth, receive all we offer you this day.

Make us worthy servants, strong to follow in the pattern of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Amen.