It’s time to talk about faith. As you read this, your mind might turn to thoughts about the beliefs that people hold about God. Or perhaps the word “faith” suggests to you not so much the concepts one holds about God but the trust one places in him. We will need to consider both of these dimensions of faith. But our starting point will be very different.
Our text this week for our Sermon on the Mount series is Matthew 5:31-37. Jesus teaches us about fidelity. The text begins with a teaching about divorce, and it is indeed a painful text for some to hear. That’s because some commentators have interpreted this text as if it were a new law–more demanding even than the Old Testament law–about divorce. Some have even used it as a biblical club to beat others with. As I will show in class, this is a misreading of Jesus’ teaching.
Divorce is indeed sad and the Lord intends for us the joy and comfort found in lifelong marriage. But Jesus in no way heaps condemnation upon those who have gone through divorce. On the contrary, he offers a hope for a new beginning that only he can offer.
This is because the deep meaning of this text is about fidelity: first God’s fidelity, and only then our fidelity. All faith and all marital faithfulness are responses to and a mirror of God’s unwavering faithfulness to his children.
My prayer is that each of us will walk away with a renewed sense of God’s tenacious love for us and that this awareness will enhance our ability to love one another.
