Some scriptures are just difficult to read. We cringe when we hear words like those spoken by Jesus in today’s passage: “I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the grounds of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matt. 5:32)
The reality is that there are lots of divorced and re-married people in this congregation, and reading this scripture out loud in worship (two weeks in a row) is actually quite embarrassing. Neither I, not anyone else here, wants to wag a finger at anyone else in this congregation and say, “Naughty, naughty.” We are here to love and support one another. We all understand that there are very profound & usually painful reasons for divorce, as well as much delight & joy that can come in marrying again & having someone with whom to share life’s journey.
So do we just ignore or skip over such scriptures in the name of lovingkindness? Do we say, “Jesus didn’t really know what he was talking about?” Yet, we have committed this year to taking the Bible seriously; not literally, but seriously. So we’re going to dive into the deep end, and consider what Jesus says about anger, adultery, retaliation and enemies and yes, even divorce. Seriously!!
Consider that the first people, who listened to Jesus, would have felt just as uncomfortable with what Jesus was saying as we do.