We cannot seek to know and understand God apart from our activity and our actions in human community. David Stiendl-Rast, ethics professor and spiritual guide, has commented that ethics is how we behave when we decide we belong together. The ethic put forth in today's reading is an ethic based primarily on love and reconciliation in human community. Reconciliation, the healing of what is broken, is far more important to Jesus than any offering or sacrifice. In the same way, Jesus' teachings concerning adultery and divorce elevate the importance of human relationship over lawful considerations and social convention.
Divorce is a very painful event in a person's life.
Jesus is not trying to enhance the pain of divorce, but rather, he is upholding God's intentions for the marriage or partnership covenant, a covenant of love which reflects the covenant between God and God's own people. Our new life in Christ creates the norm for seeking right relations with each other. Christ's love and ministry of reconciliation create the model for our social and intimate relationships, rather than embracing established social structures, purity regulations, or ethnic or religious boundaries. Part of the process of a church community ought to be the empowering and development of people of faith who can live their lives and make responsible choices based on a demanding, complex Christian ethic. Last night at news time, we turned the channel to CNN to watch the evening news.