Texts in Context | Imagining the Texts -- First Lesson;  Epistle;  Gospel | Prayer&Litanies |  Hymns & Songs | Children's Sermons | Sermons

• Things God Unites, Mark 10:2-16          (see below)
  Rev. Randy Quinn
   

• Click here for the World Communion Sunday Worship Service
  with devotion prayers, and video presentation
   

• The Best Gift for Children  Mark 10:2-16, Randy L Quinn
   

• God’s Will for Our Relationships Mark 10:2-16, by Rev. Rick Thompson
   

• Little Ones to Him Belong,  Mark 10:13-16, by Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• No Matter What May Come My Way, Job 1:1, 2:1-10, Psalm 26, Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12, by F. Schaefer

______________________________________________________________

Things God Unites
a sermon based on Mark 10:2-16
Rev. Randy Quinn

In the summer of 1985, I was a newly ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church, living in a part of the world I’d never seen before; doing things I’d never done before.  That summer, for instance, I found myself consecrating the elements for my “first communion.”  That summer I also conducted my first funeral.  And then on August 31, I “did” my first wedding.

Larry and Mary were married in a small building that couldn’t possibly hold more than 50 people – well, maybe 100 if you opened the doors to the fellowship hall and put out enough chairs, but there weren’t that many chairs in the building!

Every person who attended the wedding was a family member – except the pianist, who was a High School student from one of the other churches I was serving at the time.  Some were family of the bride, some were family of the groom, including children and grandchildren from previous marriages.

It was my first wedding; it was his fifth and her fourth.  They had seven previous marriages between them that all ended in divorce.

They knew more about weddings than I did, and I found myself learning from them.  But while I hadn’t even met Ronda yet, I was convinced I knew more about marriage than they did, and I like to think they learned from me.

After that first experience, I started telling couples “I don’t do weddings.  I help start marriages.”  And with only one exception, I’ve been able to focus on the marriage while preparing for the wedding.  (The one exception was when the pastor, who was also the uncle of the bride, got gravely ill the day before.  They asked me to fill in an hour before the wedding.)

I learned a lot about preparing for marriage and weddings in that first year of being a pastor; I learned even more about marriage after I met and married Ronda.  And I’m still learning.  Some of what I’ve learned comes from my own experience.  Some comes from books I’ve read.  Some comes from the stories of couples who have shared their stories with me.

One of the things I’ve learned about marriage that surprised me is that divorce never ends a marriage.  It only ends the legal status of the marriage.  The emotional ties and the memories of the marriage continue to live on and affect both parties, even if they re-marry.

In that sense, Jesus is right.  When someone who is divorced re-marries, it is a form of adultery (Mk. 10:11-12).  I learned that first hand when I married Ronda.  Like many others before me and since then, I naively thought her former marriage was over.

But the memories and the shared responsibilities of parenting prevented that from being true.

Early in our marriage, I thought the relationship with her former husband would be over after their children were grown, only to learn that his life was connected to ours through them – and now through our grandchildren.  I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it will always be a part of her life – and mine.

Divorce is not only a part of my life it’s a part of most families.  In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve officiated at weddings where neither the bride nor the groom had been married before and both sets of parents were still married to each other.  That’s less than 5% of the marriages I’ve helped start!

So when I read this text I find myself asking the question so many couples find themselves asking, “Whose fault is it?  Who sinned?”  Except when I ask the question, I don’t limit the sin to one of the parties in the marriage.  I also include the pastor who met with them and the congregation who witnessed the wedding.  (After all, the marriage ceremony in our church asks those gathered, “Will all of you who are gathered here, by God’s grace do everything in your power to uphold and care for these two persons in their marriage?”)

Who sinned?  The answer, of course, is we all have.   [continue]