Our cycle of readings continues working
through the Sermon on the Mount. So before I get involved with
today's gospel, who can tell me what last week's sermon was about?
And saying, “The gospel” is not a valid answer.
Last week I discussed Jesus'
statements, “You are the salt of the earth,” and, “You are the
light of the world.” These were both statements about the
corporate body of believers and were an indication of function, not
status. You are the habeneros of the world, and by your actions you
will add flavor to God's banquet. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. You are the light of the world, providing shelter and safety
to those walking in darkness, broken down, and stumbling through
their own life storms.
Our function is to be spicy and shiny.
Today we get a glimpse of what that
function looks like.
Today we hear from the next section of
the sermon on the mount – a section that has been called “the six
opposites,” or “the six antitheses.” They are called this
because they are presented in a, “You have heard it said . . . but
I say to you” format. Of those six we are given four of them. And
of those four, I want to look at three of them: you shall not murder;
you shall not commit adultery; you shall not swear falsely.
It would be easy to look at any of
these and see them pointing to individual moral imperatives. Don't
murder, don't commit adultery, don't utter false oaths. Those are
all good things; and things that, if we refrain from doing, will
allow us to live moral and upright lives. As good as that is, it may
not be what Jesus was getting at. I'm not so sure that what Jesus
was addressing wasn't so much personal morality as he was addressing
corporate behavior. Again, function not status.
Just like last week when Jesus
discussed the corporate You of salt and light, it seems he's doing
the same thing here.
Don't murder because that's bad. But
neither are you to be angry with, or insult, or denigrate your
brother or sister. By doing these things you harm the community of
believers and, in our case, the body of Christ.
Anger is a sort of given. We will all
be angry with someone at one point or another. But Jesus is asking
us to recognize that relationships can't be fueled by anger, that
anger is more apt to tear apart, and that we should work toward
reconciliation. Likewise insulting and denigrating others have no
place within the corporate body because they act like a cancer that,
if left unchecked, will grow to the point of causing a fatal system
failure.
Don't commit adultery. We can all
agree that that is a bad thing. But neither are we to entertain
those thoughts, because by doing so we devalue the people around us
to simple objects. We also elevate our own desires to a position of
primacy that cares not for how others are affected.
Part of living within a community such
as ours is being able to hold others accountable and expect a level
of trust within the group. If we can't trust each other, if we
elevate our desires over and above all else, if we devalue the
personhood of others, then how exactly are we to be the light that
shines in the darkness? How can this place be a place of safety for
others when we ourselves are not safe?
You shall not make false oaths. But
neither shall you make any oath at all. Why? We are all familiar
with how people used to be sworn in at trials – “Do you swear to
tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help
you God?” Or people who say, “I swear on my mother's grave.”
Or people who say, “As God as my witness . . .” One reason
people do this is to add depth or seriousness to whatever it is they
are talking about. But there are at least two problems with this.
First, it can be seen as a form of
deflection. If a person invokes a higher authority in their oath, it
can create the illusion that they are beyond reproach. How dare
anyone question the sincerity of said oath when I back it up with the
power of God. There are plenty of examples of people trying to get
out of some pickle who do this, only to be found guilty later on.
Second, and more importantly, it
reverses the relationship between us and God. Properly speaking, we
are here to serve God and work for the spread of the kingdom of
heaven. Our baptismal covenant lays this out for us. Do you turn to
Jesus? Do you put your whole trust in him? Do you promise to follow
and obey him as your Lord? When we make an oath invoking the name of
God, we reverse that role. We put God in a subservient position, and
we assume that we have power over God, calling him into service and
making him our beast of burden.
What Jesus is asking us to do is to
remember the proper relationship we have with God. What Jesus is
asking us to do is to remember that we should act honorably,
truthfully, and with dignity at all times so that our Yes or No will
be sufficient answers.
I'm reminded of Inigo Montoya who, in
his lifelong pursuit of the six-fingered man, didn't swear upon his
father's grave, or by God, but only upon his own personal abilities.
As we move through the Sermon on the
Mount we get a glimpse of what Jesus is calling us to be as a
community. He is not giving us a moral code to live by. He is not
laying down a code of personal morality and behaviors that we are
expected to live up to or else be tossed into the outer darkness.
What he's doing is showing us how to
live in community, together, as believers. Avoid anger and insults.
Don't view people as possessions or things to be conquered. Keep
your answers truthful and straightforward.
It will be in doing these things that
this community of believers, this part of the body of Christ, will be
well on the way to shining its light onto the world. And it just
might be that this corporate way of living will find its way into our
everyday personal lives.
Amen.
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