Changing the Narrative

Indiana Has 6th Highest Divorce Rate

Joe Tamborello, “Indy Star” Oct 23, 2017 (https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2017/10/23/indiana-among-states-highest-divorce-rates-report-finds/790924001/)

Indiana has the sixth highest divorce rate among the 50 states, according to a new report by financial website 24/7 Wall Street.

Low incomes may lead to the demise of many marriages in the Hoosier state.

"The median household income of $52,314 a year is more than $5,000 less than the nationwide median income of $57,617," the report states.

Financial hardship is one of the most common reasons for a marriage ending, according to the report. Arguments about children also tend to have an effect on marriages.

“When couples argue about finances or children, what they are really expressing is a fundamental shift in ideology by one or both spouses that strays from the common vision they once held together,” social worker and matrimonial attorney Debra Lynn Mechanick wrote in the report.

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Mark 10:1–2 ESV

1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

Characteristically in Mark, when crowds gather, Jesus teaches (2:13; 4:1–2; 6:34; 11:17; 12:35). The Pharisees represent those who do not come to Jesus with a desire to be taught, but with the desire to test him (cf. 7:1–23). The issue at hand is not the legal right to divorce, which, on the basis of , is assumed. Since in Jewish Palestine women could not sue for divorce, many scholars think this pericope reflects the controversy between church and synagogue as it was played out in the early Gentile church. The preacher should note that divorce was very common in the Roman world and that, within Judaism itself, there were two schools of thought on the matter. The followers of Shammai held the strict view that divorce should be sought only for infidelity. The followers of Hillel held a more lenient interpretation and allowed divorce for a variety of reasons.

A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ἔξεστιν

to be within the range of possibility, it is possible

Bonnie Bowman Thurston, Preaching Mark (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002), 110.

Strictly speaking, the Pharisees were asking, “Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife.” The text uses the word, “ἔξεστιν” rather than “ἔννομος,” which is derived from the word that gets translated as “Law” in passages that address the things that God commands His people to do.

In summary, Jesus is engaged in His regular work of teaching those who desire to follow Him, when enemies of the Gospel question Him in hopes of tripping Him up in front of the crowd. Perhaps, since this takes place in Herod’s territory, there is an additional hope that Jesus might share John’s fate when Herod hears Jesus potentially echo John’s criticism of his marriage to Herodias, the wife of Phillip. Jesus is spreading the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom, and later, in , Jesus passes that same responsibility to us:

Bonnie Bowman Thurston, Preaching Mark (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2002), 110.

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our primary task as children of God is sharing with others, God’s exceeding great and precious promises of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. The eternal destiny of our neighbor is tied to them hearing the pure Gospel, and they can only hear it when we tell it. We are called to be “salt” and “light,” not hiding the light that we have received, but instead presenting it in ways that will have the most impact.

Mark 10:5–9 ESV

5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

The primary mission of the Enemy is to keep that from happening, by getting you to become unfruitful through sin, anxiousness, and doubt. If he can’t get you to fall away, he will try to get you to be silent regarding the message of the Gospel. Talk about morality, talk about the evils of society, talk about politics, anything - as long as it isn’t about Jesus Christ. Do good works, expose official and societal ills, - just don’t share the Gospel with your neighbor.

The primary mission of the Enemy is to keep that from happening, by getting you to become unfruitful through sin, anxiousness, and doubt.

Jesus is perfect; He does everything well. He doesn’t need the grace that we can’t live without. Praise God that His mercies are new every morning.

Mark 10:10–12 ESV

10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And 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.”

Our prayers for greater effectiveness as His witnesses, for more opportunities to make Christ known, are prayers that God is pleased to support. Our desire to know His will more fully, for more wisdom, is met with His gracious supply of His Word, that the Holy Spirit takes and blesses us with faith, not only to hear, but also to do, for to His good pleasure.

Our prayers for greater effectiveness as His witnesses, for more opportunities to make Christ known, are prayers that God is pleased to support. Our desire to know His will more fully, for more wisdom, is met with His gracious supply of His Word, that the Holy Spirit takes and blesses us with faith, not only to hear, but also to do, for to His good pleasure.

Mark 10:13–16 ESV

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

It’s interesting that Mark shares this situation regarding children right after the interruption about marriage. Although we seem to have forgotten it in our sex-saturated culture, marriage and children, marriage and family, are so closely interconnected in the Kingdom of God. We are simultaneously described as “God’s children” and as the “bride of Christ.” We are told that we must become like little children if we wish to enter into Christ’s Kingdom, and that we should take care not to despise the little ones. The nurture and training in the Lord of little children is so pleasing to the Lord, and yet, we often relegate them to those whom we esteem lightly, or we put it to the side, not worthy of our best efforts. We might not say it, but we don’t put ourselves very often into position to share Christ with the children. We’re too busy, or we lack the patience, whatever helps.

y it, but we don’t put ourselves very often into position to share Christ with the children. We’re too busy, or we lack the patience, whatever helps.

Congregations can either grow, by the grace and help of God, or they can whither and die. A church without youth is like a fig tree without figs. It looks good from a distance, but there is nothing that is transformative taking place.

And yet, I know that you can’t reach those whom you don’t know. It isn’t easy cultivating relationship with young people. They seem to think so differently, sometimes it seems as if they even speak a different language. God will supply all that we need according to His riches by Christ Jesus, and He will supply what we need to serve our neighbor, sometimes in ways that are not immediately clear.

If we want to grow, as children of God and as a church, God will supply all our need according to His riches by Christ Jesus.

Do you want to grow as a child of God?

Do you want to grow as a family of God?

Do you believe that God wants that even more than you do?

It doesn’t take much for God to do great things. Just a few people decided that St. John’s had gone long enough without a pastor, and God sent a pastor. Just a few people decided that St. John’s and Good Shepherd should be in closer fellowship, and God broke down the walls that kept us isolated from one another.

We can either keep watching God move for us until He has to move us, or we can move with God and experience the peace of God that passes all understanding. We don’t need to be anxious about our future as individuals or as a congregation or a Lutheran community, because Jesus Christ has united us to Himself in Holy Baptism. He has promised that, as we have been united in His death, we will also walk in newness of life by the power of His Spirit as we continually seek His Word to be nourished and strengthened by it, and share it with those around us.

So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord.