Concrete Foundations

 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 
            “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

               Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 

    The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” 

          Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” (Matthew 19:4-12) 

          Do you know how to make bread? I’ve made quite a few loaves. There are some essentials. You have to have some sort of flour, and flour specifically made for making bread is best. If you want to make wheat or rye, you only add about a third to half a cup of wheat or rye flour. You also add liquid, usually water or milk. If you were to replace the flour with ground beef or mashed banana, or the water or milk with gasoline or vinegar, you might get something edible. You might not. You might get something with an interesting flavor. You might not. What you would not get is bread.
          It turns out that concrete is similar. “Concrete is formed when Portland cement creates a paste with water that binds with sand and rock to harden. Cement is manufactured through a closely controlled chemical combination of calcium, silicon, aluminum, iron, and other ingredients.”[1] If you use too much cement, or too little sand, or leave out one of the ingredients, you don’t have concrete. It would not be wise to use whatever you end up with as the foundation of a building because chances are good that it would not support the weight of the structure put on top of it.

          If you listen to the news, participate in social media or otherwise live life in America, you’ve probably encountered complaints about how our social structures are failing. We have problems with drugs, with guns, with violence, with crime… and demands are made that someone do something to fix it. Social scaffolding, in the form of various governmental programs are raised, and workers try to patch the cracks in the walls, but whenever someone comments on the crumbling foundation, they’re told to back off. We must be inclusive. 

          Yesterday, I wrote about Scriptural and Worldly ways of doing things. Today’s passage from the first book of the New Testament includes a quote from the first book of the Old. It is part of what is known as the Adamic Covenant, which applies to all people, while the Mosaic Covenant applies only to the Jews.[2]

          When challenged with God’s perspective of marriage, people seem to like to point out Mosaic Covenant laws that Christians don’t tend to follow regarding clothing and food because there are marriage laws and laws about sexual relations in the Mosaic Covenant that they assume are the foundation for Christian objections. 

         Today’s passage shows that this is not the case. Jesus cites the Adamic Covenant. After Adam and Eve were created as individuals, they were brought together in a recipe for formed a new functional unit. The two became one. They were told together to multiply, thus establishing the recipe for another new functional unit: the family. This was the foundation on which society was to be built. 

            If you don’t have cement, doubling the sand, rocks or water won’t help. It won’t do to just leave the cement out, or to replace it with saw dust. Doing any of those things might make something useful, but it won’t make concrete. It will not produce a structurally sound foundation on which to build a society. 

          Immediately after affirming the Adamic Covenant, Jesus addresses the issue of eunuchs. These were people who, by God’s choice, man’s choice or their own choice, did not fit into this foundation. The cause didn’t matter. What mattered is that Jesus recognized that they didn’t fit in. He says that to those to whom this condition is given – they should accept it. He did not tell them that they should make alternate arrangements and demand to be used as part of the foundation.

          Some people will complain that it’s not fair (healthy, possible) to go through life without sexual activity. Some people will complain that I don’t have a clue what it’s like. Some people will insist that I be more inclusive. I’m fifty-five. I have never been married, never had children, never really dated. I’m a eunuch by circumstance and choice. Sometimes it doesn’t feel fair that I’m not part of the foundation. I agree that we don’t love our eunuchs as well as we should – but the research is showing that the Adamic Covenant is real. Marriage and the nuclear family is the foundation and as it crumbles, the structure topples down around it. No amount of scaffolding or patching of the structure is going to save the building. 

          Fortunately, one doesn’t have to tear down the whole structure to rebuild the foundation, but we must turn our attention to the foundation and be sure to accept no substitutes in the mixing of the concrete.

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1.     [1] cement.org/cement-concrete-basics/how-cement-is-made

 

[2]All Biblical covenants are made with the same God, so it is not surprising that all of them include some of the same concepts and laws. They are all good, but they are not all meant to include everyone.