October 31, 2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1.27)

“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 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 5.31,32)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I have to be faithful to the challenge of this series of reflections on “The Sermon on the Mount[ainside].” The challenge is presented in the words of James, the author of The Book of James, who is said to be the same person as the brother of Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. This is the same James, who along with his brothers and sisters and his mother, went to find Jesus and warn Him of the imminent danger He faced. That danger was being sought out by the ruling authorities, both Jewish and Roman, to be tried for crimes against both entities with the sentence of capital punishment. They probably even considered asking Jesus to plead insanity or anything else in order to preserve His life. Strange, however, that the picture presented of them was one of doubt (except for Mary.) The rest of the family may have been more the support system for their troubled mother than for Jesus Himself.

Remember how this started? The day had finally come when God had heard the pleas of His people who suffered under the yoke of indifference at the hands of the Roman Empire. So strong was their will that even the Chief High Priest Caiaphas was not an ascended priest but one appointed by the Roman Empire much as were the procurators and rulers of the land governed by Caesar himself. The system had become, as is the theme of these reflections, a polluted religion. The influence of Rome and its promise of “peace,” Pax Romana, was as convincing to them as was the way in which the Serpent presented the “apple of God’s eye” to Adam and Eve. They were willing to give to God a certificate of divorce and marry up with Rome except they weren’t so bold as that. Instead, they settled for having an affair, an adulteration, and thus bring shame on both and all parties.

But, in the beginning, on that day, the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary and then to Joseph and made the grand announcement. It was life changing. It was world shaping. It was earth shattering. You are going to be parents of the King of kings, Lord of lords, the Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Everlasting Father upon whose shoulders shall rest the weight of ultimate, global and universal governance. For Mary it was a blessing of righteousness nearly beyond belief. Only because of her great faith in God did she not fall apart in fear, doubt and worry. For Joseph it was an “OMG” moment. His first thought was “Let me give her a certificate of divorce and quietly get her out of town and away from me.” Mary was with child and they were not married yet, well not the marriage of consummation. They were betrothed which more resembled a “marriage without the benefits.” But, the angel of the Lord sat Joseph down and they had a long talk. Joseph’s feeling of unworthiness and the consumption by fear not of awe and wonder was assuaged. It was his faithfulness to God, to the Law and the Prophets, which set him apart. He was deemed as worthy of the task to care and nurture both Mary and Jesus. He also was given the task as the head of household to “train Jesus up in the way He should go so that He would never wander far from it.” I think Joseph did a pretty good job. By the time Jesus was twelve and ready for His Bar-mitzvah, He was a capable teacher of the Law and Prophets capable of amazing even the teachers of such found at the Temple in Jerusalem. And they said, “What good can come from Nazareth!” But, it started with the struggle concerning divorce, infidelity and adulteration. It is a question more than one of two marriages are confronted with today. And, as we know from yesterday’s reflection and application, it is one that is not simply about the marriage between two people, but of governments and nations, local churches and denominations, tribes and philosophies. Jesus draws this challenging and hard line of seeking to manifest righteouness clearly in the dust of the earth from which we all are made.

The Apostle Paul says, “The Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword.” (Hebrews 4.12) We know that Jesus as the Christ is the Word of God (John 1.1) and thus be true association is like a sword sharper than any this world has ever seen. It means that divine, authentic justice cuts both ways and no one is exempt from it. God sees all things and therefore so does Jesus the Christ. This leads us to consider that His spoken words as instruction and as discernment cuts both ways as well. Therefore, the image must be clear to us concerning the application of His word, “Thus I say to you…,” is over all relationships and all parties involved in those relationships. So, when the declaration of divorce is based upon “the committing of adultery,” it may well not be applied singularly to the wife. The conviction of “tolerance” may allow the indiscretion of the husband to be just cause as well. We can gather this from David’s affair and indiscretion from which the resulting marriage bears fruit in Solomon whom God blessed with great wisdom (although he gave many occasions to demonstrate a lack of it.) But, in that we may also consider applying the principle to other relationships. Hearing that, I would remind you of Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, who had to consider then not filing for divorce and thus bring shame upon Mary and doubt concerning Jesus. Is it not also then the truth that Jesus was well within His “legal” write to give Israel, old or new, a writ of divorce because of its “indiscretion and adultery.” Yet, like Father like Son, this is not the case. Rather, as we read in Amos’s call to reclaim His bride Gomer from her own indiscretions as a sign of God’s faithfulness, mercy and grace, so Jesus lays down His own life for the one He loves. Not only that, but He lays down His life for the One He loves, God His Heavenly Father, and as His reward of faithfulness becoming sin for us that we might become His righteousness, the Bride is restored and the covenant of holy matrimony is validated and blessed with eternal abundance and life.

Mighty ones of God, we have to hear that Jesus’ teaching is not about indulgence, tolerance and inclusivity as the world defines it. It is the expanse of judgment (discernment of the heart) and justice (final accountability). If we cannot hear Jesus speaking to every level of relationships in the course of humanity and to every person with their part in it, then our ability to listen has been polluted and our religion evil and impure. Let’s be immersed in the word of God, the Christ of faith, hope and love and confess our sins to profess our belief that He is the Lord of love.

PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.