Sirach 15: 15-20 Psalm 119: 1-8
1 Cor. 3: 1-9 Matthew 5: 21-37
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
I’ve always enjoyed church camp…having attended Camp Sumatanga and Camp McDowell in Alabama and Camp Mowana and Camp Luther in Ohio. So I am especially glad to have Nicole here this morning, bringing a little bit of Camp Lutherwood to us.
A song that I first learned at camp, way back when I was a teenager, had a refrain that said “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”[1] Written in 1968 it is still sung in churches and in church camps. It’s a reminder to us that people don’t know we are Christians because of what we say nearly as much as they see how the love of Christ is lived out in our lives.
Today’s Gospel reading finds us, again, as we have been for the past several weeks, in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This portion of the sermon is chock full of material. Jesus is on a roll. But none of what Jesus has to say is particularly easy for us to hear. Scholars refer to this section of the Sermon and a portion of next week’s Gospel reading as the Six Antitheses. Sounds riveting, huh? Each of these antitheses has a pattern, though: “You have heard it said…but I say” says Jesus. And he jumps into difficult topics…anger, adultery, divorce, and oaths. And each of us squirm in our seats just a bit, as I would imagine the disciples did. Because what we are used to receiving in our lives, from parents and others, are reprimands for our behavior, a stern word, and an admonition to do better. If we aren’t careful, this can be exactly how we hear Jesus’ words this morning. But Jesus’ antithesis are designed to offer a greater freedom to live in community and to respect the dignity of each person…of all people.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love…
Let’s consider then, the ways that Jesus is calling us to live out our love, and to live into our identity as followers of Christ.
The first topic Jesus chooses to address is anger. I do want to offer an interesting bit of translation information. When the text reads “you will be liable to the hell of fire” the original language is actually translated “Gehenna of fire” which was the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where the garbage was burned. This language is not language of eternal damnation, but it is Jesus’ way of saying that when we are angry a lot of garbage can come from our mouths. And isn’t this the truth? Anger provokes so many words that are probably much worse than the example Jesus offers of “you fool”. But his point is the same. We are to pay attention to our relationships with one another. Jesus says that this is just as important as our worship. If we have hurt one another or our words have wounded one another, we are to make that right first, before we seek to make ourselves right with God. Relationships matter.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love…
Jesus moves from anger to adultery. Actually, what Jesus is most concerned with in this passage is what’s in a person’s heart and our understanding of how critically important that is. He speaks with all sorts of hyperbole in these verses, with his over the top suggestions of tearing out eyes and cutting off hands. But his point is that what is in our hearts is critical. If we think of one another in anger, that anger is there even if we don’t speak it. If we think of one another with envy, the envy is there even if we don’t take what the other has. If we look at one another in a lustful way, that lust, that unfaithfulness is there, even if we don’t act on it. I can never hear these verses that I am not reminded of Jimmy Carter’s brutally honest confession of the lust that resided in his heart. Bishop Michael Rinehart writes that lust is deeply connected to covetousness. That lust is about wanting something that is not yours, just as it means to covet something that belongs to someone else. In the Old Testament covetousness is commandment worthy. Ultimately, then, this is a sin of self-centeredness. Putting one’s own needs first, all the time, before the needs of others. Before the needs of creation. Before the needs of the community. But when we live as good stewards of those things: when we care for the earth, when we care for one another, when we are mindful of how our actions affect the entire community, then we are living on Jesus’ side of the antithesis equation.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love…
Jesus moves on to divorce. This is an interesting passage for any divorced person and it deserves to be closely examined. In Jesus’ day a woman had no identity and no worth save her connectedness to a man. At first she would be connected to her father or to her brother, if her father was dead. Then, to her husband. If he died, she would be passed along to another brother, most often. She was nothing more than chattel. And it was possible for her husband to divorce her by simply writing on a piece of paper “I Divorce Her.” Then she was nothing. She could not return to her father’s house nor would she go to a brother. This would be a very bleak situation indeed. And so Jesus is leveling the playing field here. Jesus is once again affirming his preference for the one with the least power. Even the term “unchastely” is not a good translation. The original meaning meant something that was not intended in healthy relationship. It could mean abuse or addiction or neglect or cruelty or unfaithfulness. Jesus says these are reasons to sever relationship. Jesus is inviting us into healthy, mutually respectful relationships. Jesus is calling for us to regard all people equally. And Jesus is reminding us not to leave the vulnerable among us to fend for themselves. Caring for the weak and helpless among us is Jesus’ call to us.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love…
Finally, for today’s reading, Jesus returns to the topic of words. This time, though, he’s talking about words we use to indicate that we mean what we say. Children might say “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye”. Taller children might say “I swear to God”. Scarlett O’Hara might say “As God is my witness”. But Jesus is reminding us that we are to let our yes be our yes and our no be our no. We are to mean what we say. It seems simple enough, but I wonder if we looked closely at what we say each day, how many of our words would be truly sincere? When someone asks us how we are, how do we most often answer? Fine. I’m fine. Thanks. You? Our world could be falling apart, and we most often just answer “fine.” What about the words we say in worship? I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. What about the words we sing in worship: This is the feast of victory for our God! Alleluia! Do we mean those words? Too often our words lack conviction or meaning because we say them without thinking about them. Our words matter. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son our Lord. Our Father in heaven. Thanks be to God. Hear our prayer. God bless you. Thank you. I love you.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love…
The prophet Sirach, whose words we read in our first reading notes that we have a choice. We can choose to keep God’s word and to act faithfully. We can choose to be angry with one another and to carry that anger around with us, like a brick around our necks, like an angry poison, infecting all that we do. We can choose whether we put our own needs first or whether we live and serve others in Jesus’ name. We can choose whether we regard the outcast and the powerless with as much love as we regard ourselves. We can choose whether we mean what we say each day. We can choose. Not because it affects our salvation, but because it’s how we live out our baptismal call as God’s beloved children and followers of Jesus Christ.
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
Amen.
[1] “They’ll Know We are Christians By our Love” Peter Scholtes, 1968
0 Comments