Sermon: Marriage and Divorce by Pastor Eddie Chun (October 21, 2018)

Mark 10:1-12

Why are the Pharisees asking Jesus about divorce? They're trying to test Jesus but why would they bring up the topic of divorce? It was a very controversial topic at that time, yet everyone agreed that divorce was LAWFUL. They always went back to this verse in the Bible: Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

Most Jews said it was okay and it was very common. However the reasons to divorce your wife were based on two main views: 1. If your wife cheats on you, you can divorce her (the minority view) and 2. Anything you don't like about your wife, you can divorce her (the majority view). If she can't cook well, she loses attraction, doesn't make you happy, or anything as trivial as that, then it was totally okay.

It sounds a lot like today. The Pharisees are not asking because they want the truth. They're testing him because they expected him to have a radical view. More importantly, they thought his view would upset Herod Antipus, who beheaded John the Baptist. Jesus is under his jurisdiction.

Jesus goes to the Bible to answer their question: "What did Moses command you? They responded "Moses allowed us." The Pharisees were wrong in that response alone. Jesus said it was their sin that caused this law to come into existence and Jesus said they were asking the wrong question. They should have been asking "What's God's design and purpose for marriage?"

Jesus tells us three basic things: 1. Marriage is between one man and one woman (vs. 6). 2. Hold fast (glue yourself) to your wife. In marriage 1 +1 = 1. It's no longer about ME. It's "WE". 3. Marriage is inseparable. Marriage is meant for life and divorce happens because of sin. It was never intended that way. See verse 11: Divorce equals committing adultery. These words sting. However, this is not a passage about God not loving you. God loves you and will forgive you or he has already forgiven you if you have repented of it.

In this passage, Jesus is talking to men who aren't really interested in saving their marriages. The Pharisees are seeking legal ground to divorce their wives. If you got divorced for this reason, then Jesus is definitely speaking to you.

There are only two possible permissible reasons for divorce: 1. Sexual immorality (Matthew 19) and 2. Marriage do a non-believer and that non-believing spouse wants to leave the marriage (1 Corinthians 7).

Unless you're in one of those two categories, then it's strictly forbidden. However, that's not really the point. Divorce wasn't God's design in the first place. Ephesians 5:31-32 tells us that God created marriage between Christ and the Church. If that's what marriage is all about then we can understand Malachi 2 where it shows God hating divorce since God hates sin. What does that say about God's love if the covenant is broken? It tells us that God's love isn't unconditional and it's breakable. It's a total distortion of the Gospel. It also destroys families and relationships.

Singles: Make sure your view of marriage is God's. Make it stick in your head that you will never divorce your spouse because God won't divorce me.

Single men: Love your wife like Christ loves the church. It's a huge responsibility since Christ died for the church. You die to yourself so that your spouse can live.

Single women: Submit to your husband like you submit to the Lord.

Married couples: God understands your situation. He knows how to live with difficult people, who spit on him, rebuked him, and even killed him. He died to save those people. Do everything you can to save your marriage if you're having a really difficult time. Pray, fast, and get your brothers and sisters involved. God never intended for divorce and you have to remember that.

Divorced/Remarried people: God loves you. Nothing can change that. There's no sin that isn't covered by the cross. God will forgive you and there's a day coming when everyone will be married to the perfect husband: When Jesus unites with us forever. You will be spotless and blameless and will love Jesus perfectly.

Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: l.a.seoulguy

Experiencing the Power and Care-Free Nature of "Ajummas" in South Korea

I have to admit something to you Korean readers. I have a love-hate relationship (mostly strongly dislike) with middle-aged Korean women, also known as "ajummas" or "아줌마" in Korean. Sometimes they can be very nice and accommodating, but I've had mostly negative experiences with them (sometimes the servers are rude and many times ajummas can be selfish on the subway) in my 15 years of living in South Korea. Today was no exception.

Today I went to Haneul Park, which is near World Cup Stadium in Seoul. I climbed the stairs up to the park with many people in line as they made their way up the small mountain that overlooks the Han River. The right side of the stairs was for people going up to the park and the left side was for people going down.

Everyone was following each other in an orderly manner except for one middle-aged woman (an ajumma) that wanted to walk up the left side to get past all of the people. When she saw people coming down, she would quickly go back to the right side and then go back to the left side when the people on the left side passed her going down. She repeated that process at least four times. Then I thought to myself, "Well there are other middle-aged ajummas that are actually going up the stairs the right way. There's always one rude one in every bunch no matter where you go, so I let it go and dismissed it.

Then I got to the top, made my rounds around the park, took a lot of pictures, enjoyed the scenery, and then sat down on a bench to finish watching Game 6 of the Major League Baseball National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and Brewers on my phone. After the game was over, I walked around the park a little more and then realized that I had to use the restroom.

When I got to the public restrooms at the park, there was an extremely long line for the women's restroom, so I checked to see if the line was long for the men's one. As I walk over to the men's restroom, I notice three ajummas standing in line. Yes, they were in line for the MEN's restroom at 2:30pm on a Saturday. In front of them was a father with his daughter. I couldn't believe it. Surprisingly, no one really said anything until one Korean guy said "This is the men's restroom" and I repeated in Korean "right" and that it was the men's restroom. Their response was a weak "yes" (네) in Korean, but in this situation it really meant "Yeah we know but we don't really care."

The kicker was when the cleaning lady walked into the men's restroom with her mop. As she walked in the look on her face showed that she wondered why there were ajummas in line but didn't know what to say. Because of that she just started to clean and just accepted the situation as it was. After she started cleaning, she noticed three vacant urinals and says to me that I could use one of them. I said in Korean "There are women here!" and gave her a look as if to say "Isn't it obvious that I need my privacy?" Then she tells the women that it is indeed the men's restroom, but they ignored her. She gave up telling them and continued to clean. Finally, a couple of older men came in, seemed surprised by the ajummas in line, but eventually didn't care and just did their thing at the urinals. It was my turn and I used the stall. After I got out, an ajumma was right there waiting for me to use my stall....in the men's restroom.

So why do ajummas have such a strong-willed and nonchalant character? I might just have to talk about that in my next blog post. Until next time....


Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)

Instagram: laseoulguy