Relationships
Hymn: StF 342 “All hail the power of Jesus name”
1 All hail the power of Jesu’s name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
2 You seed of Israel’s chosen race,
you ransomed of the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
3 Hail him, the heir of David’s line
whom David Lord did call,
the God incarnate, Man divine,
and crown him Lord of all.
4 Let every kindred, every tribe
on this terrestrial ball,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
5 O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall,
join in the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all!
Edward Perronet (1726–1792)
adapted by John Rippon (1751–1836)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 342.
Prayer of Confession & Collect Prayer
Let us pray.
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your Holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
When the church prefers to worship success, rather than see God’s greatness in the small:
Then will Jesus say: Let the children come.
When the church wants to be important, too busy for laughter:
Then will Jesus say: Let the children come.
When the church seeks to silence the voices of its children,
finding the enthusiasm of young people a nuisance:
Then will Jesus say: Let the children come.
When the church is afraid of people who are sad,
because it cannot provide all the answers:
Then will Jesus say: Let the children come.
When the church cannot bear to be adventurous,
choosing to play safe rather than risking mistakes:
Then will Jesus say: Let the children come.
When the church is eager to speak, so it forgets the call to listen:
Then will Jesus say: Let the children come.
Silence
God of hope, you promise that the gate of mercy will stand open:
Welcome us into your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer from Roots 2015
Collect
Blessèd are you, O Lord, and blessèd are those who observe and keep your law. Help us to seek you with our whole heart, to delight in your commandments and to walk in the glorious liberty given us by your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we make our prayer. Amen.
Hymn: StF 242 “A new commandment I give unto you”
A new commandment I give unto you: that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
By this the world shall know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
Anonymous
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 242
Words and Music: © Paul Leddington Wright
Gospel Reading Mark Chapter 10 verses 2 to 16
(2) Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” (3) He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” (4) They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” (5) But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. (6) But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ (7) ‘For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, (8) and the two shall become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two, but one flesh. (9) Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (10) Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. (11) 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.” (13) People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. (14) But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. (15) Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” (16) And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Reflection
No human being must separate what God has joined.
Even today when there are so many divorces, people can and do make marriages work. God creates, redeems, restores, and renews through love. Love is God’s superglue that holds people together.
Marriage at its best can be an ideal expression of God’s love. For this reason, amongst many others, I give thanks to God that marriage is now possible for same sex couples within the Methodist Church.
Sometimes when you meet an elderly couple who have been together literally for years and years and years you can see a graciousness and love that is truly amazing and speaks powerfully of those words of Jesus “what God has put together”
Yet we are also forced to look at the other reality of human life and that is that people inside or outside of marriages do not always allow love to rule their lives.
As a child I remember sitting with my brother for hours at night listening to my mother and father arguing and fighting. The anger and the bitterness flowed up the stairs and into us. We felt numb, afraid, and powerless. My brother was 7 years old, and I was 10. If the bitter words hurt that was nothing compared to the angry silences that went on for days, weeks sometimes months on end. The emotional scars of those years have never really left either of us. I must be honest and say when my mother and father divorced what I felt most of all at that time was sheer relief. Would Jesus have wanted my brother and I to suffer the way we did?
So how can we make sense of Jesus teaching? I don’t think that we should see Jesus words as some legalistic condemnation of people whose marriages breakdown. Well, I think understanding the context helps. Marriage and divorce both meant very different things to what they do today in 1st century Palestine.
Today we express sadness that marriages break down after 20-30-40 years. We need to remember that in the first century most people had generally shorter life spans than we do so marriages were shorter too. You would be lucky to get past your late forties and early fifties. You are not going to get divorced if you are dead. So, it was more likely marriages would last.
Secondly marriage was an even more fundamental and important social construct than it is today. We base our idea of marriage today at least in part on love. Two people love each other and get married. However, most marriages in Israel during Jesus ministry were likely to be ones that were arranged by your family. Love in a romantic sense was much less important. The family unit you created, your wife, your husband, and your children would be essential to your survival when times became hard. There were no social services, no pensions, no health service…. When you were sick, when you were old, you had your family and that was it.
Women were particularly vulnerable – they would have nothing of their own. Everything they had would be dependent on their husband or their father. In this situation divorce wasn’t just an emotional trauma as it is today. It was a real threat to your very existence. If your husband divorced you, you and your children could be left with literally nothing.
In Jewish law divorce was something that only men could initiate. It was something that a man could do to his wife, but a wife could not choose to divorce her husband. The divorce law was completely one-sided making women and their children completely at the mercy of the man. If the woman stood up to the man, then the man could divorce her. If the man simply decided, he fancied someone else he could divorce his wife and leave her with nothing.
Jesus rejects this law and with it the idea that women were at men’s disposal – God made both men and women and when the marry they become one flesh in other words they are equal in God’s sight. Therefore, Jesus chooses to treat people equally.
What matters to Jesus is that marriage and indeed all our relationships should express the ideal of God’s love. Of course, they don’t always do that, do they? We let our emotions; our selfishness get in the way of love. Too often we fail to really listen to each other and accept each other.
For our failure to measure up to the perfection of God’s love all we can do is ask for forgiveness and know that we are loved and accepted by God despite our failures to love and our brokenness.
Questions to reflect on
Think about your important relationships with others.
What makes you feel glad about them?
What is difficult/ painful about them?
Offer to God your relationships and all the gladness and/or pain that goes with them
A song to reflect on
All Sons & Daughters – All the Poor and Powerless
All the poor and powerless
And all the lost and lonely
All the thieves will come confess
And know that You are holy
And know that You are holy
And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
And all the hearts that are content
And all who feel unworthy
And all who hurt with nothing left
Will know that You are holy
And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah – Shout it
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God – Shout it
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God – Shout it
Go on and scream it from the mountains (cry out)
Go on and tell it to the masses (sign to you)
He is God – Shout it
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
We will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
We will sing out
Hallelujah
Shout it (Shout it)
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God – Shout it
Go on and scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
Songwriters: David Leonard, Leslie Jordan
Hymn: StF513 “Take this moment time and space”
1 Take this moment, sign, and space;
take my friends around;
here among us make the place
where your love is found.
2 Take the time to call my name,
take the time to mend
who I am and what I’ve been,
all I’ve failed to tend.
3 Take the tiredness of my days,
take my past regret,
letting your forgiveness touch
all I can’t forget.
4 Take the little child in me,
scared of growing old;
help me here to find my worth
made in Christ’s own mould.
5 Take my talents, take my skills,
take what’s yet to be;
let my life be yours, and yet,
let it still be me.
John L. Bell (b. 1949) and Graham Maule (b. 1958)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 513
Words and Music: From Love From Below © 1989, WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow G2 3DH Scotland. <www.wgrg.co.uk>
Intercession & The Lord’s Prayer
Loving God, you have made us for one another.
You sent us your Son, that we might know we are your children.
You sent us your Spirit, to bind us together in love.
God, Three in One and One in Three,
we pray for help with our relationships.
We pray for those whose relationships are going wrong:
for marriages in trouble;
for friendships in danger of breaking down;
for families lacking in love;
for neighbours in dispute with one another;
for church members who have fallen out;
for communities divided by hatred and distrust.
Silence
Creator God: teach us how to love.
We pray for the victims of broken relationships:
for families torn apart;
for those eaten up by bitterness;
for children neglected and abused;
for the lonely and isolated;
for churches wounded by division;
for men, women and children injured in civil wars.
Silence
Creator God: teach us how to love.
We pray for those making new relationships:
for the couple falling in love;
for the strangers becoming friends;
for those embarking on parenthood;
for those moving house;
for those giving their lives to Christ;
for those building bridges between communities.
Silence
Creator God: teach us how to love.
In the name of Jesus our Brother. Amen.
Hymn: StF 564 “O thou who camest from above”
1 O thou who camest from above
the pure celestial fire to impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart!
2 There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return,
in humble prayer and fervent praise.
3 Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire
to work, and speak, and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up thy gift in me —
4 Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make the sacrifice complete.
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
Reproduced from Singing the Faith Electronic Words Edition, number 564.
Blessing & Dismissal
And now, go into God’s world in peace, be of good courage, hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; support the weak, help the afflicted, honour everybody, love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in his presence and may the blessing of God, Creator, Redeemer, and Holy Spirit remain with you always. Amen.
