Follow Jesus’ Family Planning!

20th Sunday after Pentecost, 10/14/12
Mark 10:2-16

Follow Jesus’ Family Planning!
I. For his blessings on your marriage
II. For his blessings on your children

The term “family planning” is one that most of you have heard before. There are some minor variations between individuals as to what that term means, but I’m sure we’d all agree that it usually means determining the number of children that will be brought into a family unit, whatever that unit is. It would have been a real blessing if I had been able to say that it means a married couple determining how many children it will have, but that’s no longer the case. And I won’t discuss now what all of the other options are.

For our purposes this morning, let’s keep this discussion where our God wants family planning to take place. In fact, let’s keep it in the ideal place, humanly speaking—between a Christian husband and a Christian wife. He wants a Christian husband and wife to realize that his word calls children a blessing from him. He wants a Christian husband and wife to trust his promises to care for the needs of every member of their family, no matter how large. But he also wants a Christian couple to use their sanctified human reason to determine what is best for them.

Before we go any further, I want you to know that there are God-pleasing reasons for a Christian couple to decide not to have children. It’s also true that God upholds the single life as God-pleasing just as he does the married life.

Having said that, good Christian family planning actually begins long before a child is born to that family. It takes place as the single Christian takes to heart what God says about marriage and determines to follow it. In the broadest sense, that’s family planning. He also reminds married people what he says about their marriage.

Jesus speaks about that to us this morning. He lays before us his plans to bless us with a spouse and with children. It’s the height of wisdom to take those plans to heart, to follow them. So let’s do just that. Follow Jesus’ family planning. Let’s see what those plans are as we listen to his word.

Part I.

I’m sure I’m not telling you anything knew when I say that marriage as God instituted it is under attack. It’s a political issue debated by our presidential candidates. While the divorce rate may have flattened some, the number of couples deciding that they have no need for marriage continues to rise. Even what defines a couple is being coming under heavy debate. All of these are attacks on marriage as defined by God.

The Jews of Jesus’ day didn’t have those same kinds of debates, but they did debate among themselves what constituted lawful reasons for divorce. Basically their opinions fell into one of two groups. One Jewish group had a more strict interpretation of the valid reasons for divorce. The other had a very liberal view. In either case, they both cited the instruction from Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy that a man could divorce his wife by writing her a certificate stating the divorce and handing it to her.

Jesus’ enemies decided to use that situation to try to trap Jesus. They wanted Jesus to place himself into one of the two camps and then they would attack him with the other.

Jesus knew what they intended to do. So he turned the tables on them and used this situation to point out their problem and God’s solution. He stated, “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law.” In giving this law through Moses, God was not making divorce a God-pleasing option. Jesus reminded the Pharisees that God did this because even his people refused to listen to and obey what God stated about marriage. They refused to love, honor and cherish one another until death parted them. They wanted to do whatever their sinful nature wanted regarding marriage in spite of God’s clear directives.

So Jesus used this situation to remind them of what pleases God in marriage. First he states, “At the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’” Don’t miss his opening three words—“at the beginning.” In a perfect world, prior to the fall into sin, God’s perfect design was for one man and one woman to leave their parental home and begin their own home as husband and wife in every God-pleasing way. In this way God would bless them with happiness.

And as far as ending that relationship, Jesus instructed, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” God intended marriage to be a lifelong relationship as husband and wife are committed to each other and forsake all others. God separates the two only by death.

But in a sinful world it’s inevitable that divorce will occur. Jesus discussed with his disciples about which divorced people were free to remarry and which were not. He did so in order to uphold the truth that God intends marriage to be lifelong. And when a couple enters marriage with that same mindset and holds to it, then God blesses their marriage.

That’s family planning. Follow Jesus’ family planning for his blessings on your marriage.

What is marriage? Its very essence is a commitment, a commitment between a man and a woman to live together as husband and wife until death separates them. Our world doesn’t understand anything about such a commitment. In fact, it would offer the logical advice that, when the going gets too tough in a marriage, get out of it. And when that’s our mindset, even in the slightest, we miss out on Jesus’ blessings. You see, a Christian couple is blessed when it searches God’s word for guidance in what it should feel and think and say and do. As a Christian couple looks to Jesus for forgiveness for their sins, they experience the forgiving love of Jesus and the power to extend that forgiving love to one another. As they view the sacrificial love that Jesus had for them, they have the power and the pattern to show that same love to one another. Love for Jesus fills them with love for one another and their marriage bond grows stronger. That’s Jesus’ family planning. Follow it every day of your life!

Part II.

We admire people who are zealous about what’s important to them in their lives, unless that zeal is misguided. Then harm results. Even tragedy. We see it daily in the zeal that some have regarding their religious beliefs. Some have turned that zeal into a weapon to bring harm and even death to others. In another example of zeal, we enjoy it when the athletes on our favorite team are pumped up to perform at the highest physical level, until that zeal leads them to break the rules and bring harm to their team.

The disciples of Jesus were zealous about the work that Jesus was doing as the world’s Savior from sin. They were committed to following him and helping him each day of that work. They knew how important it was for him to reach as many people as possible with the news that he is the world’s Savior from sin. We appreciate that.

But it was misguided at times. One of those times is described here by Mark. He writes, “People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.” It’s likely that the disciples were misguided in two respects. First, that Jesus didn’t have the time to spend with little children. They felt that he needed to use his time preaching and teaching important people, such as adults. Second, that children don’t need a Savior, at least not as much as adults do.

As soon as it came to his attention, Jesus addressed their misguided zeal. In fact, Mark says he was indignant. His own saving zeal rose within him. He instructed his disciples, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Not only does Jesus deeply desire to bring children into his kingdom, but a childlike faith—one that takes Jesus at his word without question—is required for entrance into his kingdom.

But don’t miss the family planning aspect of this event. How admirable that “People were bringing little children to Jesus!” Likely these were their parents. Their children were precious to them, precious gifts from God to them. And they considered it a top priority to bring these gifts from God back to Jesus so that they could spend time with Jesus, listening to Jesus speak to them and tell and show them how much he loved them just as he loved their parents.

Mark concludes this account with these tender words, “And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.” These parents made sure that their children received what was so important to them—spiritual blessings from none other than Jesus himself. These parents may have had all sorts of things screaming for their time that day—things as important as securing enough food or water for their families. But they knew that making sure their children received the blessing of Jesus was the most important need their children had. These parents made plans for their children to spend time with Jesus. That’s God-pleasing family planning!

There is no such thing as the perfect parent. Try as they might, parents make mistakes. They fail in their important duties as parents. Christian parents are no different. We get our priorities out of proper order. We let our children determine what is better for them to be doing at a particular time, when we know they should be doing something else. We let the pressures of living in this world crowd out of our schedules our responsibility to make sure our children listen to Jesus and receive his blessings. Jesus knows that. It’s one of the reasons that he came to this earth. Only he is perfect in every way. Only he can supply what our children really need—his forgiving love, a love he showed to every sinner on Calvary’s cross. Make plans for your children to receive Jesus in abundance. Follow Jesus’ family planning for blessings on your children. Amen.