Mark 10:2-16

Brian McLaren states, “In the early church, one of the most powerful images used for the Trinity was the image of a dance of mutual indwelling. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in an eternal, joyful, vibrant dance of love and honor, rhythm and harmony, grace and beauty, giving and receiving.” He continues by contending, “The universe was created to be an expression and extension of the dance of God — so all creatures share in the dynamic joy of movement, love vitality, harmony and celebration.”

What an incredible relationship that God has offered to humans. God invites us to the dance of the celebration of life! But something drastically happened. According to McLaren we broke with the dance. He writes, “We stamped on the toes of other dancers, ignored the rhythm, rejected the grace, and generally made a mess of things.” So what are we humans left to do? How would we recover the rhythm of God?

Fortunately for us, God had a plan to bring us back into the tempo of relationship. He gave us a partner to take the lead. It was his one and only Son — Jesus Christ. McLaren pens, “But God sent Jesus into the world to model for us a way of living in the rhythm of God’s music of love, and ever since, people have been attracted to the beauty of his steps and began rejoining the dance.”6

Jesus chooses the concept of divorce to demonstrate to the Pharisees how out of rhythm people had become in life.

The tempo of commitment is the responsibility of a husband and a wife in the good times of life. (vv. 2-9)

Do you remember your honeymoon? The idea of a honeymoon is to get to know the individual better. There is a lot of laughing, physical contact, a desire to please the other, and be on one’s best behavior. For some couples the honeymoon lasts a few days while others longer. It is the best of the good times of life.

It’s that way in all sorts of relationships . . . career, friendships, church life, partnerships, and more. Life is exciting and thrilling during the good times.

What are some ways to face the future with the good times of life?

* Vision together by mapping the future.

* Enthusiasm for what lies ahead. Victor Hugo said, “Enthusiasm is the fever of reason.” Life has so much to offer and enthusiasm heats it up!

* Cooperation and understanding. They are the give and take in commitment and create “the good times” of life. Paul said that the Christians were fellow laborers with God. How much more are we in need of being fellow laborers together with each other.

* Courage is a matter of the heart which belongs to the other person.

The tempo of commitment is the responsibility of a husband and a wife in the bad times of life. (vv. 10-12)

At some point in our relationships we hit a snag and the good times become “the bad times” of life. It is in the bad times that life takes a detour and people are ready to divorce the other partner in the relationship. Jesus says not to allow the bad times to destroy the rhythm of the dance in life. It is precisely at this point that steps need to be taken to change the dance step. We need to quit stepping on the other person’s toes. So how is that accomplished?