The Anglican Church has always paid the most careful attention to the Bible. Jesus Christ is our foundation and the Bible is the written witness to Christ. For 1,600 years there have been Lectionaries which set out the passages of scripture to be read Sunday by Sunday throughout the year. We use a lectionary to make sure that as much as possible of the Bible is read. It is a discipline which means that a preacher cannot pick and choose their favourite passages. It means that we cannot avoid the difficult parts of the Bible.

The readings for today are Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4 and 2:5-12; and Mark 10:2-16.

Today we are asked to focus on marriage and divorce. This is a difficult topic, but next Saturday we intend to celebrate the marriage of Gillian Cross and Robert Lamb, so now is a good time for us to look at Christ's teaching on marriage.

We begin with the words, "Some Pharisees came and to test Jesus they asked…" This warns us that Jesus is about to make an important statement. He will avoid the trap set for him and teach us something new. When the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus using the woman caught in adultery as bait, Jesus caught them in their own trap by saying, "Whoever is without sin among you, cast the first stone."

Today they asked Jesus, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" This was a trick question because they already knew the answer. The book of Deuteronomy says, "Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, and she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man's wife." This is what Jesus and the Pharisees mean by divorce. According to the Law of Moses, a man could treat a woman like a possession, something to be disposed of when he finds "something objectionable about her."

Now it's Jesus' turn. Verse 5 begins, 'But Jesus said to them.' That little word, 'but', means that Jesus disagrees with Pharisees and is going to teach them something new. The Pharisees say that, but Jesus says this.

First point. Moses wrote the Law because the people were hardhearted. Moses is actually giving the woman some protection. The man could have sent his wife away for no reason at all. Moses says, there must be a reason for divorce, and it must be done properly, with a certificate, so that the woman is free to marry someone else.

Jesus' second point is that marriage is not a matter of Law and a man's control over his wife. Jesus quotes from the book of Genesis, and refers to the Creation, when God made human beings in God's own image. "God made them male and female."

His argument is this. "Moses said that a man had the upper hand in the marriage relationship, but I say that God made men and women to be equal. God made them male and female."

Verse 7 and 8. "For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh."

Jesus is teaching us that marriage is a partnership between equals. He is also saying that marriage is more than a business partnership or a marriage of convenience. Marriage is an intimate relationship, where the two become one in heart, mind and body. This is the ideal of marriage, this is what those who are married can aim for, this is the marriage where God brings the two together and no one should try to separate them.

Now this is my comment. Jesus has shown us what marriage can be, an intimate communion of a man and a woman held together by the power that shapes the universe and keeps all things in existence. Unhappily, most of us fall short of that ideal. Human marriage can break down under the stress of living, so that even God cannot bring man and woman together again. I believe that when a marriage breaks down completely, where man and woman are no longer one flesh, then we should recognise the fact. If a marriage has become like a chain which shackles people together, then they should be released, set free to begin again. It would be much better of course, if we could help married couples to live up to the ideal. This is why we have wedding ceremonies and why they are community events.

Weddings are not only for the bride and groom, they celebrate the building of community. At Gillian and Robert's wedding there will be a symbolic lighting of candles to celebrate the coming together of the two families. The community will be there to offer prayers, support and encouragement so that Gillian and Robert can grow together in love and unity. Their relationship is not perfect, but by God's grace and with the help of a lot of friends, it will develop, blossom and mature.

So, if there is any good in a relationship, if there is any hope, if there is any love, then God is still working there and it would be a mistake to interfere. What God is joining together, let no one separate.

The next section of the gospel is a private conversation between Jesus and his disciples, in the house. Remember that Moses says a man can divorce his wife. Here Jesus tells his disciples that men and women are equal in this matter. Jesus says, "If a man divorces his wife or if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, then they are committing adultery." That is, if a man writes a certificate of dismissal and sends his wife away, or if a woman writes a certificate of dismissal and sends her husband away and then marries again, they are committing adultery.

Jesus is talking about the hardheartedness of human beings. If a man or a woman behaves in a hardhearted way towards a woman or a man, then they have no right to profit by their hardheartedness. Jesus is not talking about the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage; he is talking about people behaving badly towards each other. Godly marriage is built on love and justice, mercy and peace, mutual respect and reconciliation. And this applies to all the varieties of human relationship, whether people are friends or lovers, whether they have a certificate of marriage or of civil union or if their relationship has never been registered. The true basis for marriage or any other relationship is love and justice, mercy and peace, mutual respect and reconciliation.

No human being can reach these goals without God's help, and sometimes even with God's help we fail. God is merciful and forgiving and allows us to start again. In the same way we can be merciful and forgive ourselves and each other.

However, Jesus condemns those who treat marriage lightly. If anyone, male or female, treats marriage like a game, and goes from one partner to another without making any serious commitment, then, says Jesus, they are adulterers.

Our gospel finishes with an account of Jesus welcoming the children when the disciples wanted to turn them away. Jesus takes this opportunity to tell his disciples something important. When Jesus uses the phrase "Truly I tell you" we know that he is about to show us a profound truth, what our evangelical brothers and sisters would call a biblical principle. "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God is so simple and easy to understand that even a child can join in.

This is a warning for the disciples and anyone who tries to turn faith in God into a set of rules. Jesus might well have said to his disciples and to the Pharisees, "Keep it simple!"

The simple truth is that the kingdom of God is built on love and justice, mercy and peace, mutual respect and reconciliation. With building blocks like these we can build each other up. This is the way to build marriages, friendships and community. This is the way to build the church so that even the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.