Pastor Tim Patoka 20th Sunday after Pentecost He Has Done All Things Well: Upholding God’s Plan for Families October 10, 2021 Joined for Life and Receiving God’s Kingdom Mark 10:2-16 1) God Intends Husbands and Wives to be Joined Together for Life 2) Our Primary Concern for Children is Their Receiving of God’s Kingdom It can often happen that you need to go back to the blueprints when something comes up to change or challenge what was originally planned. My wife and I do this often enough when we’re putting something together around the house whether it be an instruction manual, pictures, or a how-to video on YouTube. When natural disasters strike or buildings spring leaks, you often look at the architect’s drawings to determine how best to go forward. You also can look at a set of blueprints to see what was originally planned when a question comes up that strikes to its very core. And that’s what we see Jesus doing in our verses this morning from Mark chapter 10. In response to a question that some Pharisees asked him about divorce, Jesus has us look back to the blueprints to see what God had originally planned for families. When it comes to husbands and wives, God intended them to be joined together for life until God separates them by death. When it comes to children, God is primarily concerned about their receiving God’s kingdom through faith and how parents fit into the equation. As we consider these verses, we would do well to carefully listen so that we too can continue to uphold God’s plan for families in our day and age as husbands and wives joined for life and children receiving the kingdom of God. 1) God Intends Husbands and Wives to be Joined Together for Life The Pharisees seem to oppose Jesus at almost every opportunity and this morning is no exception. Some Pharisees asked Jesus, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (Mark 10:2 EHV) They already knew the answer. In fact, they knew the exact wording in Deuteronomy chapter 24(:1,3) that outlines the legal process of securing a divorce in their society! Rather, they asked this question to test Jesus in 2 different ways – 1) to see if he knew the Old Testament as well as they did and 2) to create division among Jesus’ followers on this misunderstood topic. But Jesus didn’t fall for their trap. Seeing through it and recognizing an opportunity to teach them about God’s plan for families, he instead redirected the conversation from “how can divorce happen?” to “how should divorce be viewed?” And to give us that answer, Jesus quotes from Genesis chapter 2 where God describes how families are supposed to get their start – 1 man and 1 woman joined together to become 1 flesh until God parts them through death. Jesus then caps it off by stating the timeless truth, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Mark 10:9 EHV) 1
Pastor Tim Patoka 20th Sunday after Pentecost He Has Done All Things Well: Upholding God’s Plan for Families October 10, 2021 When it comes to divorce, Jesus teaches us what it is – a concession that God gave through his prophet Moses because of how sinfully stubborn our hearts can be. And if a person divorces their spouse and remarries another without reconciling things first, they commit adultery with their new spouse regardless if they followed all the legal steps. There’s a lot more that could be said on this topic! If you have questions, I encourage you to reach out to me or your other pastors. But to summarize how divorce fits into God’s plan for husbands and wives, it was never intended to be there. Yet because of the sinful reality in which we live, sometimes it is the least of all evils depending on the situation. It’s how a person views divorce that we’re going to focus in on this morning. Because how they viewed divorce in 1st century Israel is a lot like how our society does today – a much bigger emphasis on how to do it than how to approach it. Instead of viewing divorce as the premature separation of 1 flesh that God never wanted, divorce often becomes a ready option when problems come up that won’t easily go away. Its commonality can have us think that it’s normal, even accepted, for a couple to get divorced if they aren’t picture perfect. Who here hasn’t had divorce in their extended families, immediate family, or their own life even though we’re Christians? With such a casual attitude towards divorce, perhaps we even add to the problem with our silence to correct, rebuke, or give advice that no one else will. While God never intended for divorce to be part of his plan for husbands and wives, let’s get one thing straight. Divorce is seldom the sin that broke the marriage. It was usually broken long before the papers were signed and rarely is there an innocent party throughout the whole process. And the sins that led to and have since came from the divorce are no small matter either. For those of you who have had divorce touch your personal lives, you know how messy it is and how much it hurts. You know how much this public and permanent separation of the 1 flesh affects a child’s life that they had no part in. Yet God forgives all sins, even the sins that wreck his plan for husbands and wives, even if we ourselves are the ones committing them. For where there is repentance, there is forgiveness. For those of us who have not contributed to divorce but silently supported it with casual attitudes and silent words, there is also forgiveness. Because where there is repentance, there is forgiveness. Even in the no-win situations that divorce often creates, there is hope and healing because our Savior Jesus Christ remains upholding his plan for husbands and wives, permitting divorce when it’s the best of sinful options, and forgiving repentant sinners throughout it all. 2) Our Primary Concern for Children is Their Receiving of God’s Kingdom However, God’s plan for families doesn’t just outline the intended lifelong union of husbands and wives. It also includes our primary concern for the children who are typically in 2
Pastor Tim Patoka 20th Sunday after Pentecost He Has Done All Things Well: Upholding God’s Plan for Families October 10, 2021 those families. Thinking back to Mark’s verses, we see people were bringing little children to Jesus. It’s likely a number of these people were parents who were bringing their infants to Jesus. We see the children’s from the fact that they have to be brought to Jesus instead of coming on their own and from Luke’s parallel account which describes these little children as babies young enough to be nursing at their mother’s breast. And Jesus finds out what the disciples are doing with all these young parents, he is mad. Instead of letting them all come to Jesus, the disciples are rebuking the parents and hindering them! This is one of the few times we see Jesus getting mad and we can only imagine what effect it had on the disciples. But why did the disciples’ hindering the parents get Jesus so angry? Because without realizing it, the disciples were going against God’s plan for children to come to their Savior. As true God, Jesus wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. That includes little children too. And what is it about these little children that he highlights? Not their cute little toes and precious little sounds. Rather, it’s this, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15Amen I tell you: Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:14-15 EHV) It’s their trusting, saving faith that Jesus highlights which in turn has them receive God’s kingdom and have a place in it. And that’s the key thing that Jesus is primarily concerned about – that these little children, along with all people, know who their Savior is and believe in him for salvation. Because that alone secures a person’s eternal well-being. When it comes to God’s plan for families with children, he gives the father and mother this primary responsibility – to raise their children in God’s good way with the hope of hugging them for eternity in heaven above. But father and mother are not on their own. God has also blessed them with you and me, their brothers and sisters in Christ, to assist, encourage, and remind them of this primary concern for all children. Yet we sometimes find ourselves to be like those disciples who hinder these children from coming to their Savior. It’s more natural to focus on the here and now of a child’s physical well-being than on the there and yet to come of a child’s spiritual well-being, especially in a single-parent household or where only one is a Christian. We hear how frazzled parents settle for the lowest common denominator in raising their children – as long as they can fend for themselves and stay out of trouble, then you’ve done alright! And without realizing, parents have hindered their parenting because they didn’t prioritize what’s most important – receiving the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus. Or for those of us who are blessed to be godparents or sponsors, aunts, uncles, or grandparents, do we celebrate a child’s baptismal day as we do their birthday or at least mention it? Jesus is primarily concerned about these little ones’ faith because he wants them to be included in God’s kingdom. Whoever has this faith, no matter what age they are, has God’s full 3
Pastor Tim Patoka 20th Sunday after Pentecost He Has Done All Things Well: Upholding God’s Plan for Families October 10, 2021 measure of blessings, promises, and forgiveness. Their place in God’s kingdom is secured as well as their eternal well-being. And as part of God’s plan for families, so he provides little children with the fathers, mothers, and church family to bring them to their Savior so they may call Jesus theirs from little on. Conclusion You often look back to the blueprints when you something comes up that changes or challenges what was originally planned. And that’s what Jesus does as he teaches us what God’s plan is for families so that we may uphold it. When it comes to husbands and wives, it is God’s intention that they are joined together for life as 1 flesh. Yet because of our sinful, stubborn hearts, God permitted the marriage union to be broken prematurely through the public and permanent separation known as divorce. As we consider how to uphold God’s plan for husbands and wives today, not only will we likely need to remain in the increasingly minority view of marriage itself, but also adopt a different view of divorce than our society typically has – divorce is a concession to sin that God never intended and we are slow to pursue it when sin rears its ugly head in a marriage. God’s plan for families also include the children in a family. Jesus wants the little children to come to him so that they can receive the kingdom of God through faith in their Savior. As that is Jesus’ primary concern for them, so it is for us. And as we again consider how to uphold God’s plan for children today, we will perhaps need to go against the societal flow by prioritizing a child’s eternal well-being over their physical well-being. Whether we are parents or their assistants, we all strive for the same goal – to see this little child in heaven one day alongside all their brothers and sisters in faith. May the Lord help us know his plan for families and uphold it always. Amen.
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