Genesis 2:18-24 Hebrews 2:9-11 Mark 10:2-16
My grandson is engaged to be married next month. As I am the mother of the mother of the groom, I doubt that I will be asked my opinion of anything!
Things are different today than they were fifty-nine years ago when Bill and I walked down the aisle at Saint Vincent’s after exchanging our wedding vows. These young people are older than we were and established in their careers… one in cyber security and the other in biomedical research. And they are better situated financially than we were. Looking back with today's eyes, I see us as very young and inexperienced in the ways of the world.
But those fifty-nine years have taught us something… many things. And if my grandson and his fiancé were to ask for advice. I hope I would remember the wisdom given in today's scriptures.
The gospel begins with a discussion initiated by the Pharisees about the law governing marriage. It continues with the disciples also questioning Jesus about the law. But it concludes with Jesus holding up a child as an example, as if to say, Look, it's not primarily about the law. It’s about the kingdom of God.
“Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. “
And what is central to the kingdom of God is the belief that if you want to save your life you must lose it,… that, paradoxically, fuller life is the result of dying to self.
Certainly, all Christian living requires sacrifice. But I would be hard-pressed to find another example self-sacrificing love as obvious as the love required in marriage… the kind that causes "two to become one,” as in today's first reading.
Of course there are many joys in married life. And not every marriage is able to endure until death. None of us has the right to judge those who have lived with the pain of a failed marriage.
But, I understand, that in the early church a bride and groom were given a martyr’s crown… a martyr’s crown!… at their wedding to signify the challenges required by married life. That is a bit of wisdom I think I will keep to myself. The challenges of becoming one is something Brandon and Valerie will discover for themselves.
In the meantime, those of us "in the trenches,” so to speak, can give witness by our lives. It's not easy… no Christian living is.. But with God's grace, it is possible.
by: Pat Schnee
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