Sermon_10_7

"Marriage, Love and the Sadducees"

A Sermon by the Rev. Charles Caskey
Interim Rector
St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Battle Creek, Michigan

Date: November 11, 2007

The Sadducees were the priestly party of the upper class among the Jews of time of Jesus. They were more conservative than the Pharisees, who were the priestly party of the middle class. It was because of their conservatism that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. The accepted only the first five books of the Bible. One cannot find the idea of resurrection in the Torah. The Sadducees worked with the Romans to maintain at least some of their power and strongly opposed any messianic movement of the people that would endanger their privileges.

The Pharisees believed that God continued to speak to and through God's people in their changing circumstances. Their theological innovations included adding new books, like Isaiah and Daniel, to the list of what was considered authoritative. They also came up with new teachings. They looked at what was happening around them in the culture – the righteous suffered, and the wicked seemed to prosper – and they knew that a just God wouldn't let this be the final word. They concluded that God would raise the dead. Perhaps we can see some comparison today regarding the different views in the Church regarding homosexuality, stem cell research and other issues.

Those theological innovators, those Pharisees! They think they're being prophetic as they rewrite the canon of scripture. That's the root cause, but look at the results – look at what this does to marriage – if they're right, one woman is going to be living with seven husbands! They may have been successful in taking over our assembly, but the marriage question will show the people just where their agenda leads. That's gonna be the one to trip them up. The Sadducees were horrified, and were probably even more horrified as the Pharisees became more popular with the people. So when they saw that Jesus of Nazareth, this charismatic rabbi who was attracting so much attention from Galilee to Jerusalem, was teaching as the Pharisees did about scripture (Jesus seemed to count the book of Isaiah as having canonical authority) and even about the resurrection, they decided they had to confront him. They went for the political jugular – they went for family values. It's a natural choice, because everybody knows that family – marriage and parenthood – is the bedrock of society, the human institution with the clearest eternal importance. The Pharisees knew that – even they couldn't deny that one of God's first commandments to humanity was to "be fruitful and multiply." Heck, even the Romans knew it – central to the emperor Augustus' domestic policy was that marriage and childbearing should be encouraged to repopulate an empire decimated by war. The Sadducees had Jesus right where they wanted him. Or so they thought. Jesus offers an interpretation of a passage from the Pentateuch (an innovative interpretation, to be sure) to back up his view that God will indeed raise the righteous at the end of the age. That's not all, though. Far from trying to downplay the radical edge of his theology, Jesus comes right out with its most radical edge: Marriage is not of eternal importance. It does not define who you are in God's eyes. It's still radical to say. When women get married, most still change their names. Couples planning their wedding speak of the day as "the most important day in our lives." Anthropologists have a label – "redemptive media" – for the things one must do in a given culture to be considered a good and successful in a culture, and marriage (alongside things like getting a college degree, having children, and owning a home) is a powerful redemptive medium in our culture. Think about it – what chance would a potential candidate for president have if he (or worse yet, she!) had never been married? In our culture, marriage plays a huge role in defining who's trustworthy, who's successful, who's blessed.

When we remember the dead or those who are separated by distance overseas, then they are present. Something similar happens with the resurrected. But its not because people remember them. They are living in God's thought! They are present in the consciousness of the universe. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were given a promise. They represent all humanity that has died waiting for the promised liberation. Jesus quotes from a book the Sadducees accepted. Jesus clutches one word–that God didn't say, "I was" but said, "I AM the God of Abraham."

Jesus says that since the Hebrew ancestors were friends of God, they continue that friendship beyond death–they live! Moses is told to tell people that YHWH was the God of their ancestors, their past, their history! Jesus says also that the people of the past continue to live because the God of history is also the God of the future! To be alive for God, is to be alive for the future. We are saved in a unity that is the marriage of humanity with God! We shall be a single body that gets betrothed! We shall be a single organism in which there will be longer be a widow-woman who has lost seven husbands, or widower-husbands who have lost their wives, or single men, or single women!

Where's the Good News in this? For those who are single, start with this. Whether you're single by choice or not, whether you think you have a vocation to singleness or you're hoping to marry, your life – your real life, your full life, your living into your vocation and experiencing God's abundant blessings – is not on hold. It's not contingent on finding someone to marry. Your life in Christ is your real life. Life in Christ is not without loneliness, whether you're single or married. But it's a full life. You were created for love, and love is here. You are not waiting to start a family; you have been set in a community of brothers and sisters in Christ, children of one God.

Those of us who grew up in dysfunctional families can find it hard to hear this as good news, but it is. This one's different; it's the place we discover who we really are in Christ, and we learn through mistakes and being forgiven and forgiving others to be who we really are, whom God calls us to be. For those who are married or live with a partner It pretty much all applies. And then consider that you have the opportunity to see the family you live with as intentional Christian community, given for the same purposes that all communities are given. It's a place where our faults and our gifts provide opportunities for us to learn to forgive and to receive forgiveness with one another, a place where we can learn to pray and question together. As in any place where two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, it's a place where Jesus is present to help us help one another become mature, who we are in Christ. That's what's of eternal importance. It's the life of the resurrection, and it's available to all. Thanks be to God!

Charlie+

Material for this sermon obtained at the following web sites: SarahLaughed.net, http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/bfletch/c168.html



	"Marriage, Love and the Sadducees" A Sermon by the Rev. Charles Caskey Interim Rector St. Thomas Episcopal Church Battle Creek, Michigan Date: November 11, 2007 The Sadducees were the priestly party of the upper class among the Jews of time of Jesus. They were more conservative than the Pharisees, who were the priestly party of the middle class. It was because of their conservatism that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. The accepted only the first five books of the Bible. One cannot find the idea of resurrection in the Torah. The Sadducees worked with the Romans to maintain at least some of their power and strongly opposed any messianic movement of the people that would endanger their privileges. The Pharisees believed that God continued to speak to and through God's people in their changing circumstances. Their theological innovations included adding new books, like Isaiah and Daniel, to the list of what was considered authoritative. They also came up with new teachings. They looked at what was happening around them in the culture – the righteous suffered, and the wicked seemed to prosper – and they knew that a just God wouldn't let this be the final word. They concluded that God would raise the dead. Perhaps we can see some comparison today regarding the different views in the Church regarding homosexuality, stem cell research and other issues. Those theological innovators, those Pharisees! They think they're being prophetic as they rewrite the canon of scripture. That's the root cause, but look at the results – look at what this does to marriage – if they're right, one woman is going to be living with seven husbands! They may have been successful in taking over our assembly, but the marriage question will show the people just where their agenda leads. That's gonna be the one to trip them up. The Sadducees were horrified, and were probably even more horrified as the Pharisees became more popular with the people. So when they saw that Jesus of Nazareth, this charismatic rabbi who was attracting so much attention from Galilee to Jerusalem, was teaching as the Pharisees did about scripture (Jesus seemed to count the book of Isaiah as having canonical authority) and even about the resurrection, they decided they had to confront him. They went for the political jugular – they went for family values. It's a natural choice, because everybody knows that family – marriage and parenthood – is the bedrock of society, the human institution with the clearest eternal importance. The Pharisees knew that – even they couldn't deny that one of God's first commandments to humanity was to "be fruitful and multiply." Heck, even the Romans knew it – central to the emperor Augustus' domestic policy was that marriage and childbearing should be encouraged to repopulate an empire decimated by war. The Sadducees had Jesus right where they wanted him. Or so they thought. Jesus offers an interpretation of a passage from the Pentateuch (an innovative interpretation, to be sure) to back up his view that God will indeed raise the righteous at the end of the age. That's not all, though. Far from trying to downplay the radical edge of his theology, Jesus comes right out with its most radical edge: Marriage is not of eternal importance. It does not define who you are in God's eyes. It's still radical to say. When women get married, most still change their names. Couples planning their wedding speak of the day as "the most important day in our lives." Anthropologists have a label – "redemptive media" – for the things one must do in a given culture to be considered a good and successful in a culture, and marriage (alongside things like getting a college degree, having children, and owning a home) is a powerful redemptive medium in our culture. Think about it – what chance would a potential candidate for president have if he (or worse yet, she!) had never been married? In our culture, marriage plays a huge role in defining who's trustworthy, who's successful, who's blessed. When we remember the dead or those who are separated by distance overseas, then they are present. Something similar happens with the resurrected. But its not because people remember them. They are living in God's thought! They are present in the consciousness of the universe. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were given a promise. They represent all humanity that has died waiting for the promised liberation. Jesus quotes from a book the Sadducees accepted. Jesus clutches one word–that God didn't say, "I was" but said, "I AM the God of Abraham." Jesus says that since the Hebrew ancestors were friends of God, they continue that friendship beyond death–they live! Moses is told to tell people that YHWH was the God of their ancestors, their past, their history! Jesus says also that the people of the past continue to live because the God of history is also the God of the future! To be alive for God, is to be alive for the future. We are saved in a unity that is the marriage of humanity with God! We shall be a single body that gets betrothed! We shall be a single organism in which there will be longer be a widow-woman who has lost seven husbands, or widower-husbands who have lost their wives, or single men, or single women! Where's the Good News in this? For those who are single, start with this. Whether you're single by choice or not, whether you think you have a vocation to singleness or you're hoping to marry, your life – your real life, your full life, your living into your vocation and experiencing God's abundant blessings – is not on hold. It's not contingent on finding someone to marry. Your life in Christ is your real life. Life in Christ is not without loneliness, whether you're single or married. But it's a full life. You were created for love, and love is here. You are not waiting to start a family; you have been set in a community of brothers and sisters in Christ, children of one God. Those of us who grew up in dysfunctional families can find it hard to hear this as good news, but it is. This one's different; it's the place we discover who we really are in Christ, and we learn through mistakes and being forgiven and forgiving others to be who we really are, whom God calls us to be. For those who are married or live with a partner It pretty much all applies. And then consider that you have the opportunity to see the family you live with as intentional Christian community, given for the same purposes that all communities are given. It's a place where our faults and our gifts provide opportunities for us to learn to forgive and to receive forgiveness with one another, a place where we can learn to pray and question together. As in any place where two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, it's a place where Jesus is present to help us help one another become mature, who we are in Christ. That's what's of eternal importance. It's the life of the resurrection, and it's available to all. Thanks be to God! Charlie+ Material for this sermon obtained at the following web sites: SarahLaughed.net, http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/bfletch/c168.html
Home Page \| Worship Times \| Church Calendar \| Youth Activities \| Outreach Programs \| Liturgy Schedule \| Contacts
"Being a Light to the World" \| St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 16 E. Van Buren St., Battle Creek, MI 49017 \| Phone: (269) 965-2244