Mark 10:2-16 New Revised Standard
Version (NRSV)
2 Some
Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce
his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said,
“Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5
But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this
commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male
and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife,[a] 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no
longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one
separate.”
10 Then in
the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them,
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12
and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Jesus
Blesses Little Children
13 People
were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the
disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 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. 15 Truly I tell you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter
it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed
them.
Cardboard box blessings
If I gave you some card board boxes and a little bit of time,
what do you think you could make? I have in fact brought with me today some
cardboard boxes for you to do exactly that – make something! When we are young – we believe that we can make anything out
of simple things: Card board boxes and blankets are the tools that unlimited
dreams are made of!
Jesus loves the fact that children have amazing imaginations
and open hearts. In fact, Jesus blesses the littlest children and encourages
their open hearts and imagination. May I give you a blessing today? (Anoint the children with oil) ”Remember that you always are a child
of God.”
Heavenly Father: bless each little one here today. Give
them big dreams and inspire their hearts and minds to use their gifts and
imaginations to serve you and the people around them. AMEN
Trading boxes...
I’m not exactly sure when it happens, but there comes a point
in childhood when we switch playing with boxes and blanket forts for other
games like tag and “King of the hill”. Thankfully, my grandson Owen is happily blissful with boxes
for the time being. We currently have a large cardboard box tucked into the
corner of the kitchen that daily comes out to become whatever his imagination
can muster. It is true that little children love to play with boxes, but as
kids become older the emphasis on imagination can begin to fade in exchange for
the enchanting glow of “winning the game”.
Over the past several weeks we’ve witnessed this challenging
in our bible readings as we heard about the disciples arguing about “who was
the greatest” and “who would have the honor of sitting to the right side (seat
of honor) of Jesus in heaven”. While the disciples are walking with Jesus, they
stop living in the present and shift their attention on who will be the “best”
at the end of the game.
Perhaps the reason little children are good at creating
anything from humble resources is only part their imagination, but mostly their
ability to live in the present.
Jesus has the amazing ability to always “be” in the present.
When Jesus is walking with the disciples – he is really there. When Jesus is
responding to the Pharisees questions about the law and divorce, Jesus is so
attentive to his questioners that he can see where their question stems from…
hardness of heart. Jesus teaches his present-ness to his disciples even when
they try to turn little children away; and takes them into his hands and
blesses them. In each and every moment of ministry, Jesus is present. Jesus is
attentive. Jesus is the one who calls us his own.
Earlier this week, I spoke with a friend from the west coast
who is struggling with her belief in God. She desires to have a burning bush experience
with God. She wants all of her questions answered. She desires all things about
Jesus to be neatly explained. For all the years we’ve been friends, I tell her,
Jesus isn’t easily explained –Jesus is mysterious - but Jesus is always
reaching out to you. Jesus really does love you. Earlier this week, she had an
experience with hearing this message in a new way from a total stranger.
As she was washing clothes at a laundromat, a woman she did
not know came up to her and said, “I just feel like I need to tell you that
God loves you and that you are not alone.” With delivering the message, the woman left and my friend
sent me a message…“God came to me and told me I’m loved! God sent a woman who
did not even know me – or that I’d been asking God to help me – but GOD really
did want me to know that I’m loved!”
As I listened to her story, I was reminded that Jesus is
always with us in the present. While our moments with Jesus may not be as
dramatic as laundromat messages from strangers, it does not nullify the still and not so still ways that God
speaks hope, comfort, love and faith into our lives. With God’s help, we stop
struggling to be at the top of the hill or to be first in line. Jesus comes to
us and blesses us – even in the most difficult of times. Jesus is the one who
sanctifies each of us – and like Hebrews 1 states…”those who are sanctified all have
one Father. For the reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and
sisters.”
Jesus is the one who went to the hill of Calvary and became
the king who would die for the sake of humanity – for all the little children,
no matter our age. God knows the challenge it is for us to be in the present –
to be open to blanket forts and empty boxes being something other than blankets
and boxes. God knows that the weight of life and its challenges pull us away
from the present and lead us to past regret and future worry, and comes to meet
us in all of it.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God send’s us Jesus. To
meet us in our joy – in our sorrow – and even in the laundromat – to extend
eminent grace and remind us that we are loved, to remind us that we are blessed
and to remind us that we are his beloved little children.
Eminent Grace,
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