Revd Denise McDougall, Sunday,
February 12th, 2017
Matthew 5:21 – 37
I don’t believe there are many Gospel messages
which challenge us more than Matthew’s hard and unsettling
words today. Where do you start? Firstly we have to consider
the text in the light of what comes before and after it. The
Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ interpretation
and extension of The Ten Commandments. Jesus is in no way
attempting to abolish Jewish Law laws; he is in fact taking
us to the heart of Jewish tradition of faithfully wrestling
with the laws and is continuing to apply them in
ever-evolving situations. Jesus saw his role as fulfilling
the Law and bringing it to perfection by broadening the
scope of the Commandments. He was forcing his
listeners and that includes us to look beyond our attitudes
and actions, and whatever we do we are called to love God
and our neighbours wholeheartedly.
The Beatitudes and the proclamation that we are the Salt of
the Earth and Light of the World on which Fred preached so
eloquently on last week come before today’s reading and
immediately after comes the command to love our enemies and
pray for those who persecute us. At the beginning of the
Sermon on the Mount we hear of many ways that we are blessed
by God and his love, and Jesus highlights the fact that if
we sincerely enjoy a loving relationship with our brothers
and sisters then we will also enjoy a loving relationship
with God.
These words from the mountain top teach us about reverence
for God, each other and ourselves. If our relationships with
each other are broken or wrong then then it is unlikely that
we will enjoy a good relationship with God. I suspect that
like some Jews we smugly think we follow the Commandments
but we need to look beyond that to our attitudes and how we
live our lives, be honest to ourselves and be honest with
God.
Jesus uses loaded words, adultery, divorce, murder and the
text today has the potential to hit us hard and cause
profound unhappiness due an extreme feeling of guilt but
equally damaging could be the dismissal that the message
applies to different people in a different age and has
nothing to do with us.
There are four themes, each with a statement from the Law, a
reinterpretation that moves us far more deeply into its
meaning and some startling and very challenging examples.
Jesus moves us from the rules of the behaviour to the root
cause of the behaviour. And there’s no place for any excuses
or denial on our part because to God, all hearts are open,
all desires known and no secrets are hidden. We may be able
to fool others from time to time but we will never fool God
or our consciences.
You shall not murder, says the Law and I would be extremely
surprised if anyone here had ever committed murder. But
Jesus tells us that it is just as serious to harbour
resentment, act in anger, be abusive, have evil thoughts
etc. and with those things in mind I would be equally
surprised if any one of us here hadn’t been guilty on more
than one occasion.
We may genuinely believe to keep the Commandments but at the
same time do we murder others with prejudice, hostility or
cutting remarks. If murder is reprehensible then so are its
sources and in this passage Jesus says that to be angry with
a fellow Christian makes us liable for judgement, no one is
beyond reproach and it is therefore crucial to mend broken
relationships. We can’t offer our gifts to God if we hold a
grudge against another and if we aren’t willing to listen to
others then it is unlikely that we will listen to God.
Reconciliation is the firm foundation for all our worship
and if a relationship needs repairing then it must be given
absolute priority.
You shall not commit adultery, again Jesus looks at where
trouble begins, he says that exploitation of women and any
behaviour that violates the sanctity of marriage is sinful.
Adultery begins with the eye and the heart. Anyone who
abuses another comes under judgement because they are
abusing one of God’s children. Sadly we all too frequently
hear of trafficking, pornography and now phone messages and
pictures known as sexting; all are acts of indecency and
each a serious form of abuse. Only this week the Archbishop
of Canterbury on behalf of the Church, apologised to
survivors for the appalling abuse to young victims at the
hands of John Smyth in the 70’s and 80’s.
There’s the issue of divorce, something so common place in
21 century but Jesus tells us that those who divorce are
violating promises made and the sanctity of marriage. My
parents were divorced and my mum lived
with the guilt that she wasn’t able keep her marriage vows
for the rest of her life. Many here will know of a family
member or close friend who has experienced the trauma of
divorce and know that the answer isn’t as simple as
diminished moral standards? It is very complex and again
Archbishop Justin has recently announced that the Church of
England’s teaching on marriage remains unchanged, that means
no same sex marriage. There is a huge depth of passion on
both sides of this debate and although some will celebrate
this outcome others will find it painful and disappointing.
Then the last few verses of the Gospel remind us of the
Commandment not to bear false witness, oaths are thought to
ensure absolute honesty and truth but Jesus tells us that
there shouldn’t even be the need for an oath because if we
are genuine people of integrity and honesty then our word
should be enough. I suspect for various reasons we have all
told falsehoods throughout our lives and possibly a serious
lie but Jesus tells us we must always tell the truth, so
developing an impeccable reputation. Donald Trump took his
oath of office with his hand on his family Bible but does
that actually prove his integrity, his respect for
diversity, inclusivity and tolerance? The words of a
person’s mouth should always match the thoughts of his or
her heart.
So we have stark examples of the Law but also examples of
situations outside the core Commandments. We, and all our
brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion have to
wrestle with these antitheses, we have to be true to
ourselves and God and be open to their deepest
meaning. Jesus’ new Law of love is a law that does not
hide behind pious words and manipulative ways. Righteousness
is an expression of being right with God.
As Christians travelling on our journey of faith, we are
challenged to take stock, to examine our lives, our thoughts
and the motivation behind them, both personally and
collectively. It’s certainly no easy task and Jesus’
commandments verge on asking the impossible but the
important thing is to never give up working towards
perfection and ensuring that our motives are always sincere.
We need through our worship, reading and prayer to let
Jesus’ words live in us and through us, disturb us and
change us.
After all his words at the end of the chapter make it very
clear, “You, therefore, must be perfect, just as your
heavenly Father is perfect.”