Epiphany 8A - No one is beyond redemption

“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

These are kind words from our Lord in the midst of his difficult Sermon on the Mount. Over the past few Sundays we have been challenged by Jesus to live Godly lives in ways that are radically different from what society tells us to do.

These challenging words have been transitioning us from the joy of the Epiphany to the somberness of Lent.

Some of you may remember that in the old prayer book we officially marked this transition. We went from The Sundays after the Epiphany to the Sundays before Lent, and the Prayer book called this the “Pre-Lenten” Season. According to the old calendar, last Sunday was the transition day, and that hard Gospel sure let you know it! The new Prayer Book no longer calls this season “Pre-Lent,” but the collect, the opening prayer, and the reading reflect this change in dynamic.

These readings from the past few Sunday’s have surely prepared us for a season of asking God for mercy and assistance. Yet into the midst of these preparatory lessons comes these wonderful words from Isaiah: “Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.”

These words come from the Prophet Isaiah in the midst of destruction of ruin. Isaiah is speaking to the Children of Israel as their kingdom and way of life is falling apart. After the success of the reigns of David and Solomon things go downhill pretty fast for them. The kingdom divides into two and the rulers of both halves are lousy to say the least. They begin to look to the rules and morals of the peoples around them. They find it more convenient to adopt the religious practices of their neighbors and pretty soon find themselves worshiping the false gods that surround them while trying to worship the Lord of Hosts at the same time. God is not amused by this and sends them messenger after messenger to say “Stop it!” The Children of Israel choose to kill these prophets rather than listen to them and everything begins to unravel. Their neighbors take up arms and fight them. First conquering one Kingdom then the other, until all of Israel is fallen, the Temple desecrated.

When the Children of Israel find themselves in captivity the enormity of their sin hits them. They stopped listening to God and the ground fell from beneath them. Some understand that if they repent deliverance will come. Some think it is all too late. They look back at all they have done and say “We are beyond redemption. Surely God will never look with favor on us again.” This is what God responds to in this section of Isaiah. He hears his children say “The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me." These are the words of a people who have given up hope. To this, God responds “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?” For many people, the ultimate example of love is that of a mother to her children. The average mother, no matter what her child does, will always love her child. However, there are the few mothers who do reject their children for some reason or another. That is why God adds “Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” God says “I am more loving than any human image of love you can conjure up. My love is eternal!”

This is one of the most central aspects of Christianity. There is no one God forgets. There is no person beyond redemption. The world may write someone off, but God will not. This is not to say that God does not exact judgment, for He does and He will. Yet God is always there waiting to take someone’s hand when they turn to Him, whether is it the first act of their life or the last.

My teacher and mentor, Fr. Ron Conner, shared a story once about all this. A story about a priest who found himself in an uncomfortable situation. There was a young man who was hospitalized in the late stages of a terminal illness. He asked a friend if he knew a priest who might come to see him. A couple days later this priest arrived. Once there, and after brief introductions, this young man said to the priest, “I know my time on this earth is nearly over. I’m not even sure why I have asked for you to visit me.....But this I do know...I’m afraid to die.....I’m way too young.....I’ve lived a fast and sometimes hard life.....I’ve hurt some people along the way —too many.....and even some in my family....I feel terrible and sorry about all of that....I’m feeling afraid, ashamed, and alone......I was never part of the church...I really don’t even know who God is.....can you please tell me what your Christian faith is all about?” The priest stood before this young man in silence, stunned, trying to figure out what to say.

He said to himself: “What do I say?...dear God....what am I to say?” And then, he began with these words from the Bible: “There was a man who had two sons......” and continued to tell the Parable of the Lost Son and the Waiting Father…the Prodigal Son. In that familiar story we hear of a son who is given everything by a rich and generous father. His father teaches him how to live a good life but the son will have none of it. The son demands his inheritance money and proceeds to go off and live a life of Sex, Drugs and Rock n’ Roll. Of course the son’s life falls apart, how could it not with this lifestyle? Finally, poor and with nothing to his name but the rags on his back, he decided to go back to his father and beg to be hired as field worker, not as a son. When he gets to his father, the son doesn’t even finish his statement before he is embraced in love.

This is the story of mankind and God. We, His children, have been given everything by God the Father yet we walk off into the sunset to squander those gifts so often. Even though he told us not to do this, even though He offered help along the way that was ignored, when we hit rock bottom, He is ready to embrace us in love when we turn back to him.

Only when we have this truth about God’s love for us can we begin to understand what Jesus is getting at with His injunctions not to worry. When we understand just how deeply God loves us, it easier for us to understand the notion of providence. We know that Jesus had already conquered death and evil, and all that is remaining is the final reckoning. When Jesus rose victorious over death on the third day, the battle was over, and He won. We simply live in the in-between time, the time between the victory that won the war and the one last battle where it is made clear.

This is freeing knowledge. It is not up to us. Sure, we can put the weight of the world on our shoulders, but it won’t do us any good. Jesus gives us examples of food for the birds and clothing for the grass of the field. Now it is easy to read these examples and to take them too far. If before going to bed tonight you burn all of your food and clothes and wake up the next morning naked and hungry and say God will provide, you have taken the message too far. What Jesus is telling us is that God’s care and love for us and all of his creation is evident all around us. We humans like to think we can understand and master anything and everything, yet when you look at how well the natural world around us works it clear how little we know. This is why Jesus tells us “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.” Jesus is telling us to trust that God does love us no matter what, that he will always be there for us. We humans have been given the gift of intelligence that allows us to plan ahead and make grand plans. Yet in this intelligence we sometimes forget that God is ultimately in charge.

God has given us more gifts than we can imagine. He has taught us and given us help along the way. Yet just like the prodigal son we often take these gifts for granted and think we deserve them and can do with them as we please. We begin to imagine we are in charge. When we strike out into the world with this attitude things eventually then begin to fall apart. When we finally realize the folly in that way of life, we can turn back to God knowing that he is waiting to embrace us in love. And while we are in that loving embrace and begin to pick up the pieces to move on, we can relax knowing that God is the ultimate ruler of all, not us.

When Lent dawns on us in a few weeks, remembering God’s ultimate power over all that is and His never failing (and always offered) love for us, shown clearly in today’s readings, will carry us through those 40 days in the desert just as it carried Jesus.

Epiphany 6 A - Murder, lust, adultery, divorce!

Murder, lust, adultery, divorce! When these are the topics of the Gospel right before Valentine’s Day, you know that the creators of our Lectionary have a sense of humor. Jesus through Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition continually challenges us, but this passage it particularly difficult. It easy to understand why the disciples responded to one of Jesus’ teachings saying “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" (John 6:60b).

As a preacher it is easy to look at this passage and say, this is the Sunday that I preach on the psalm! I have no desire to get up in the pulpit and make people squirm in their seats, but my job as a Christian is to preach the Gospel, whether it is comfortable to hear or not.

As many of you know, last weekend I traveled back to Washington D.C. to assist at the funeral of my friend, teacher and mentor, Fr. Ron Conner. Fr. Conner was a brilliant man with two Doctorates who knew everything about scripture off the top of his head. When Fr. Conner preached he always took scripture head on, never dancing around an issue. Yet even when he had a “hard text” he managed to be both pastoral and honest about it. He enabled his congregation to hear the words that the disciples did not want to hear. This is what pray I will do this morning.

With that in mind, I want to look at this section of St. Matthew’s Gospel section by section, but before I do that, I want to look back at last week’s Gospel. We heard Jesus tell us “"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) In the part we heard, we did not get to hear examples of Jesus fulfilling the law, only the statement that he did. When I preached on this last week in Washington D.C., I spoke about how Christ was the fulfillment of the Law, not the end of it, because he magnified the moral aspects of the Law. There is a perception for many of us that Law was a bunch of rules, asking for 2 pigeons on this day, 5 lambs for this offense, and ash and sackcloth for this month of the year. Yes, the Law did have sacrificial demands and had many demands that required an external, physical act. Yet those physical demands were never the sole purpose of the Law. This was Jesus’ battle with the Pharisees and the Scribes. It was not that they were doing any of the rituals wrong, or doing them at the wrong time. The Pharisees and Scribes were dead on accurate in their following of the external ritual demands of the Law, but it was only the letter of the Law they understood, not the spirit of the Law. What Jesus’ argument with them was is that they never focused on the internal demands of the Law. Yes, the Law may say to give God 2 pigeons on a certain day, but God doesn’t need the birds….he made those birds after all! We, the children of God need to give of our possessions, parts our livelihood, we need to sacrifice to the Lord in order to convert our selves, to form our hearts in the mold of God.

Jesus fulfills the law because true life in Christ is a life converted both in our hearts and in our actions. Today’s Gospel passage is Jesus’ example of the amplification of these moral demands and inward conversion. He explains what the spirit of the Law is and commands that spirit so that we will be inwardly converted.

Jesus says “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, `You shall not murder'; and `whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.” (Matt 5:21-22) To understand this saying, we must first dismiss our selves of a memory of a bad translation of the Bible. The command “Thou shalt not murder” is often translated as “Thou shalt not kill.” That is a bad translation. Killing is the ending of any life, while murder is the unauthorized killing of someone. The command given to Moses is “You will not kill anyone unless God has allowed you an exception.” God then gave Moses exemptions for things like Just War and for self defense. The people of Jesus’ time where well aware of this and seemed to always be on the lookout for someone they could kill with permission. To this mindset, Jesus says “No, you missed the point!” If you go through life looking down at your rule book always double checking whether or not you have permission to punish someone in the harshest way, you will be a cruel man. That is why Jesus says “do not even be angry with your brother!” This is Jesus saving us from ourselves. Do not spend your life being angry saying “I could kill you if you would just transgress one more law!” That is only a way to lead a miserable life on a path that leads away from God. Instead, we are called to forgive those who trespass against us. We are called to work towards resolution with our brothers and sisters and to be the bigger person.

Jesus says “You have heard that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt 5:27-28) This one command sticks in the heart of many men I know. I have heard from so many “Father Matt, I try and I try not to, but when an attractive lady walks by I notice her!” I don’t believe that this is what Jesus is talking about. Part of the effect of the Fall of Adam is that it is easier for mankind to make wrong decisions than it is to make right. One result of this is that the opportunity for a bad decision presents itself frequently. When you notice the attractive person walking by, there is your opportunity for a bad decision. According to strict legal interpretation of the Law, you have committed no sin even if you plan an affair on your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse but you stop yourself at the last minute. Jesus tells us it doesn’t work this way. Jesus tells us “when you notice that attractive person, pray for strength to remain chaste and move on. However, when you see this person, and start undressing them with your eyes, then, then you have committed the sin.” If you always undress people with your eyes, eventually you are going to find yourself in a bad situation. Jesus tells us to resist giving in to thought pattern that precedes adultery. And this command applies to much more than adultery. It is the same with your neighbor’s car. When you see your neighbor’s nice shiny new car, and say “that’s nice” and move on, that’s all fine and good. When you start looking at the car, and you desire it so much you start wondering if you can work overtime to get the extra cash to buy that car, even though it means you won’t see your family, well, then you have sinned against your family. The opportunity to notice people and things that you are drawn to will always present themselves in your life. Our call is to remember our obligation to God, our family and friends, and not fantasize about shrugging off our duties to obtain things that are not ours. When you do give in to those thoughts, as I, and most likely you, have done on occasion, we are to repent and thank God for his infinite mercy.

Jesus says “It was also said, `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matt 5:31-32) There are reasons for which a person could demand a divorce, real or unreal. Mankind has gotten good at imagining reasons as to why they can get rid of their spouses to serve their own purposes. Our own beloved King Henry VIII comes to mind… If you get in a fight with your spouse, and then decide you don’t want to put the effort into resolving the fight, things are not going to end well. You grow cold in your heart and begin to search for an out. Jesus, by forbidding divorce except in the case of unchasitity, is telling us to stop looking for an out and focus instead on healing. Yes, the Episcopal Church has followed the lead of the Eastern Orthodox and permitted what was supposed to be a very rare divorce, but it was never meant to be an easy choice, a means of convenience. It was allowed for the worst case scenarios when everything, prayer, religious counseling, therapy and hard work had failed to mend the marriage. You can’t go into marriage thinking, “well, if this doesn’t work out, I can always try again with someone else.” That mindset will ensure an unhappy marriage, and that is why Jesus took divorce off the table as an option. Now, do some of us fail at this? We sure do, and as I said before, sometimes the things we unleashed on the world in the fall get the better of us and we fall short. When we do, we beg mercy from our merciful Father, pledge true amendment of life and then we are forgiven, healed and renewed.

Jesus tells us “you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, `You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all…Let your word be `Yes, Yes' or `No, No.'” (Matt 5:33-34a, 37a) Once again, we humans have found a way around simple rules. It is pretty clear that God doesn’t want us to mislead or lie, either by false words or silent implication. Yet we do it all the time and started saying to each other, “You will know I am really telling the truth when I invoke God’s name.” People lie so much they have to remind you when they are not lying. How many times have you heard someone say “I swear to God I am telling the truth!” To this mindset Jesus tells us “stop finding ways to bend the truth so much that you have to swear by God to convince someone of your truth.” Now this was not to say go around being tactless and offending everyone, but remember, that little white lie we tell someone to not hurt their feelings can easily turn in to a great big whopper of a lie that will drag us down like a stone tied around our neck.

Christianity is about hope, and we need to remember this when we hear hard sayings. God asks nothing of us that he knows we can’t do, but he does ask us to do things that are hard and uncomfortable. Today you may have heard a moral demand that is hard for you, or maybe it is something else. Know this, not one person here is perfect, least of all me, that is why God extends His grace to us over and over again. When you come upon the demand that is hardest for you, know that you are not alone. Seek the council of your priests, your spouse, your family and your community. Pray for mercy, grace and help. Seek nourishment in the Sacraments. Be honest with yourself and never give up. God will strengthen you through these means, and will always love you.