Ordinary 27B - 2018

A Modern Perspective on Jesus and the Children
If it seems strange to you that people might usher the children away from Jesus, think about the last time you flew on an airplane. When the family with four small children came walking up the aisle, did you think, maybe not so secretly, "Please don't sit next to me, please don't sit next to me?"  Now imagine Jesus sitting a few rows up, waving down the flight attendant and volunteering to have all the children present sit around him for the duration of the flight..."Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  (from www.Sermons.com)

Teaching Takes Time
One of the biggest problems in a culture like ours is proper time management.  This is not because we have any less time than others; it's because the alternatives are so many.  

Because we have money; because we have ease of transportation; because the urban centers we live in have much to offer us in ways to make use of our time - any of us can find ourselves in a situation where we can't possibly do everything that might be done. The opportunities become a blur; we find ourselves in a maze. Sorting out the minutes and hours becomes an awesome task.  

And in the process, people - those people around us who are dearest - escape our notice.  Their needs go unmet, unserved. Many times those people are the little people - our children.  Some argue that our children do not need the quantity of our time if the time we give them is filled with quality.  It's true. There's no need to give our children even fifteen minutes of our time, if all they experience through us is negativism or unrest or a spirit of impatience. But most good teaching takes sheer time.  

Our loving and caring spirit, our understanding and calmness, and our devotion to Jesus Christ in word and action, need to seep in to a child's mind and soul. Such sharing rarely comes through a quick torrent of kisses or a fleeting, kindly word. It takes time and patience. Indeed the very spending of time with our children is part of our communicating to them that they are valued and loved.  (by Richard W. Patt from Partners in the Impossible, CSS Publishing Co., Inc.)

Two Schools of Thought on Divorce
  There were two schools of thought in Jesus' day concerning divorce, one liberal and one conservative.  

Rabbi Shammai taught that divorce was only permissible on the grounds of some sexual impropriety.  His was the stricter view. 

Rabbi Hillel, on the other hand, had a more liberal view and taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason. If she burned his breakfast, put too much salt on his food, showed disrespect to him, spoke disrespectfully of her husband's parents in his presence, spoke to a man on the street, or even let her hair down in public, he could divorce her. The view of Rabbi Hillel was the view that was popular in Jesus' day. So divorce was common in Palestine, and in this respect the setting was not unlike our own. Perhaps the most significant difference between their customs and ours lay in the status of the different genders.  A man could divorce a woman on a whim, but a woman could not divorce a man for any cause.  

The Old Testament contains a highly patriarchal position that viewed a woman's sexual immorality more as property damage against her husband (or her father) rather than as a moral issue. 

A double standard shines throughout the Old Testament, where it was not uncommon for the male rulers to have many wives and hundreds of concubines. If you look carefully at the question of the Pharisees, you will find no concern whatsoever about a woman's rights in marriage or divorce. "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"   (by Mickey Anders from Making Marriage Work) 

Don't Hope...Decide
Michael Hargrove tells about a scene at an airport that literally changed his life. He was picking up a friend.  He noticed a man coming toward him carrying two light bags. The man stopped right next to Hargrove to greet his family. The man motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags.  They hugged and Hargrove heard the father say, "It's so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!"  "Me, too, Dad!" said the son. The oldest son (maybe nine or ten) was next. "You're already quite the young man.  I love you very much, Zach!" Then he turned to their little girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half).  He kissed her and held her close. He handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared,  "I've saved the best for last!" and proceeded to give his wife a long, passionate kiss. "I love you so much!"  He said to his wife softly.  Hargrove interrupted this idyllic scene to ask, "Wow! How long have you two been married?"  "Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those," the man replied, as he gazed into his wife's face.  "Well then, how long have you been away?"  The man turned around and said, "Two whole days!" Hargrove was stunned. "I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!"  

The man stopped smiling and said, "Don't hope, friend . . . decide!"  And that's it, isn't it? For most of us it comes down to a decision. "Till death us do part."  It doesn't happen in every relationship, but that is still the ideal that Jesus gives us.   (by Michael Hargrove, quoted by King Duncan from Collected Sermons at www.Sermons.com)