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.
No comments:
Post a Comment