Loving God, it is so easy for us to slip into the role of judge, even though that role is reserved for Jesus, the same one who loves us.  Grant us the vision to see that all of us are equal at the foot of the cross, as well as the love and compassion that comes from the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    There are people today - and probably were in Jesus’ time, too - people who love to have moral and legal checklists that they can compare themselves to.  Let’s see - I haven’t murdered anybody - check.  I’m not divorced - check.  I haven’t committed adultery - check.  I’ve kept the vows that I’ve made - check.  I haven’t been in prison - check.  Thank God I’m not like those other people!

    However, as soon as we get into today’s gospel, such a checklist becomes a problem.  Let’s see - I’ve never been angry with a brother or sister in Christ? - well, maybe once or twice.  I’ve never come to the altar when somebody else was mad at me? - well, I might have.  I’ve never looked at a woman or a man with lust that I’m not married to? - well, maybe I have.  I’ve never told a lie? – well, only when I had to.  And so, pretty soon we’re not able to check quite so many things off on our list.

    So what exactly is Jesus teaching in today’s gospel?  Is he making the law impossibly hard to follow?  Is he telling us that in order to follow him, we need a far higher standard of behaviour?  Or, is he telling us that discipleship is all about the orientation of our hearts and all about relationships rather than following a list of rules?  Let’s attempt to dig a little deeper into the gospel and see what we find.

    It begins with the fifth commandment: You shall not murder - You shall not kill.  Most of us manage to follow this one.  However, Jesus backs things up to where murder comes from: anger in the heart and the readiness to insult a brother or sister.  In fact, we even call it stabbing somebody in the back when we turn on somebody or say nasty things about them.  These things are just as sinful because they ruin our relationships and hurt both ourselves and others.  And so, those who engage in any of these things will be liable to judgment or even to the hell of fire.

    But wait just a minute!  We can’t pass over this “hell of fire” without at least a little bit of an explanation.  It shows up several times in today’s gospel, and the Greek word is Gehenna.  For those who really like languages, the Hebrew is ge Hinnom, or the valley of Hinnom.  I mention this because this was an actual valley near Jerusalem in which various things were burned.  Garbage was burned there, and at one time human sacrifices were burned there - specifically, people offering their children to the god Molech.  By the first century, Jewish people thought of Gehenna as a place of torment for sinners.  While some believed that this would be after the final judgment, others believed that it would be kind of like purification by fire before the final judgment.

    Ideas about things like these often changed over time, and Gehenna was not necessarily understood as a place of eternal punishment.  Nevertheless, it is not a place to which anybody in their right mind really wanted to go.  It also underscores the seriousness of simply saying “You fool” to another human being.

    Our gospel then goes on to talk about bringing our gift to the altar and making sure that we have been reconciled with our brothers & sisters in the faith first.  Could it be that in order to be in a right relationship with God we also need to be in right relationships with one another?  Could it be that these relationships are connected and that we cannot be on good terms with God while being at odds with everybody else?  Incidentally, the fact that we have the sharing of the peace in our service right before the offering is based on this passage.  However, this is still a difficult one for many of us to think about.

    There are, after all, situations where it is very difficult for us to be reconciled with another person.  However, take note of the focus in this passage.  The focus is not on when somebody else has done something to hurt us.  The focus is on when you or I have done something that was hurtful to somebody else.  And so, when we are at fault, it is incumbent upon us to apologize and to ask forgiveness and to make things right as much as we are able.  In this way we are also able to be in a right relationship with God.

    Well, then we get into adultery – the sixth commandment – you shall not commit adultery.  I can almost hear the echoes of “I did not have sex with that woman!” - as if that makes it okay.  Rather than entertaining such narrow definitions, Jesus focuses once again on the heart.  If we are looking lustfully at somebody else’s husband, or somebody else’s wife – if we are married and are looking at anybody else – we are hurting our relationship with our spouse and even somebody else’s relationship with their spouse.  In the commandments it is called “coveting,” and it ruins our relationships.

    Which brings us to divorce – and it does help to know what the divorce laws were at the time.  A Jewish man in Jesus’ time could divorce his wife for any reason.  He could simply write out a certificate saying, “We are divorced’ and give it to his wife, and that was that.  The wife would be left with no means to support herself.  A Jewish woman, on the other hand, could go to a judge only under certain circumstances in order to compel her husband to divorce her.  Notice, however, that Jesus is speaking to the men.

    He is saying, “You can’t just pick anything and make it grounds for divorce.  There are very few good reasons for divorce, and unchastity (or porneia) would be the main one.  If your wife has committed adultery, either before or after you were married, then you might be able to consider divorce.”  Once again, it is about relationships rather than following the letter of the law.

    Then finally, we come to vows and oaths and swearing - kind of like swearing on the Bible to tell the truth.  While there was plenty in the Old Testament law about making oaths and which ones were binding and all that, Jesus basically says, “You shouldn’t need oaths at all.”  If you have to swear to tell the truth, the assumption is that you’re going to lie unless you’re forced to tell the truth.  This does not reflect a right relationship with God or with other people, and followers of Jesus shouldn’t be afraid of the truth.

    All in all, this does sound like pretty high standards, right?  Following Jesus requires a change of heart and mind – not simply following a list of do’s & don’t’s in order to look good, but growth in love for God and for one another.  However, what about people who are divorced, or who have committed adultery, or who have come to the altar when they have wronged somebody, or who have insulted others?  Are all of them condemned?

    If they are, then all of us are condemned, too, for there is not one person here today who has never sinned.  The church is not for perfect people (sorry to break it to you).  It is for sinners – for those who know that they need God and who know that they are forgiven through Jesus Christ.  Those who are self-righteous need not apply.

    Yes - there is a high standard of behaviour for those who follow Jesus - behaviour that comes from a changed heart and a changed mind.  Yet, we do not do it on our own, and neither are we able to do it on our own.  It is the Holy Spirit who changes hearts and minds and who lets us know when we are off track and who empowers us in order to live a new life.  We do not live as perfect people, but we do live as forgiven people.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Epiphany 6(A)                                Matthew 5:21-37
February 13, 2011
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2011 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved