1 + 1 = 1

October 4, 2009

Genesis 2:18-25
18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Mark 10:2-16
2Pharisees came up and in order to test [Jesus] asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and they shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
10And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11And 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.”
13And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

The Book of Genesis tells how God created the world. Out of chaos he created a world of order and purpose. God created humans, male and female, and he told them, Gen.1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” In other words, God created the family: man, woman, and children. Genesis is the beautiful story of how God created the woman to be a perfect match for the man. Adam woke up from the deep sleep, saw Eve and said, “Wow, awesome, perfect!” And they became the model family, and we are told, Gen.2:24, “24Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” The divine mathematics of marriage says, 1 + 1 = 1. The divine mathematics of the family also says, 1 + 1 + kids + pets = 1.

Then Satan comes and tries to destroy that unity. Satan tells lies and tempts the man and woman, and all subsequent men and women. They blame each other for their sin and weakness. Cain and Able fight and Cain kills his brother, and siblings have been fighting ever since.

At the time of Moses, there was the problem of divorce. Moses did not say divorce was good, but he made provisions for peace. There are laws about divorce, but there are more laws that protect marriage and the family, especially the 4th and the 6th Commandments, “Honor your father and your mother” and “You shall not commit adultery.” As Jesus said, “Because of your hardness of heart he [Moses] wrote you this commandment [about divorce]. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and they shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Jesus wants to protect marriage and the family. He wants to protect the man and the woman and the children. The next paragraph shows that. “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

The perfect unity of the family is under constant attack. It seems that it is an attack on God’s plan of creation, it is the attack of unbelief on God himself. Satan and sin and society and selfishness try to sever the sacredness of the vows of marriage and the happiness of the family. Marriage is mocked by those who live together without being legally married. Marriage is mocked by those who want to legalize gay marriage. Marriage is mocked by those couples who are married but hate each other or abuse each other or just ignore each other. Families struggle because of finances and other hardships. And the 4th and 6th Commandments are broken all the time. Satan has brought a foretaste of hell upon the earth.

Jesus himself, however, tells us how to bring families together. He said, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. It is the perfect trust that little children have in their parents. That is how to build the family

In Baptism, we are made the children of God. We receive the family name of the Triune God. We know the love of God. We know how Jesus died to save us, his brothers and sisters. Because we know the love God, we trust God. This love of God is the foundation for our love. Because God loves us, we can begin to love our spouses and children and siblings and parents. Parents build this love when they bring their children to church for baptism and Sunday school. Parents have heard the word of Jesus, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” And we all, as children of God, know that we are welcomed in God’s family. This is the blessing for all our homes and will

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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