Epiphany 6 (A) Choosing Life for Others
Epiphany 6 (A) Choosing Life for Others
Today is a day of hearts. On Valentine’s Day we present our loved ones with hearts; paper hearts, candy hearts, flowers and hearts, balloons and hearts, store bought hearts and home-made heart, big hearts, and little hearts – all are intended to serve as an outward and visible sign of our love and affection toward one another. But, for all the hearts given and received on February 14th, only two persons will really know the true sentiment woven into the gift. The one giving the gift, and God (from whom no secrets are hid).
Once back in the Diocese of Chicago, I made an appointment to see the bishop. Upon entering his office, he greeted me with these words, “What’s on your heart today?” His question, which I’m sure he used often, was an invitation for me to get right to the heart of whatever was on my mind. It’s a question that I have discovered for myself that allows one to skip all the irrelevant stuff and get to the significant point.
Just so you won’t be left hanging on why I was in the bishop’s office, this is what I said was on my heart. “Sir, I have come to ask your permission to accept a call as chaplain of Breck School in the Diocese of Minnesota.” He gave me a hug and said, “I hope someday you’ll be back.”
In today’s Gospel, I believe that Jesus is asking his audience to take another look at the heart of the law, or if you will, the spirit of the law; to see the law from the perspective of the whole community rather than from the point of view of one individual.
When Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, He knew that in relationship with the law, He was talking to good people. He also knew that when you think you’re “good” you can be closed to a new idea. Self-satisfaction can make you blind to the true heart of the law. It is true, the Pharisees knew the law, all 613 precepts, and they proudly accepted the challenge to keep those 613 precepts…. to the letter. So, when Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter God’s kingdom” their jaws must have dropped.
I know that as I stand here addressing this congregation that, in relationship with the law, I am talking with good people. When I was a choir boy, I used to think when the minister preached about sin, that he was talking about ‘really bad’ people. The kind of people that end up in jail. Since I had never been arrested, I concluded (with a bit of prideful satisfaction), that the preacher wasn’t talking about me.
Maybe you’re wondering why Jesus wasn’t absolutely delighted with the Pharisees in their effort to keep the law. And why wouldn’t He be delighted with all of us good people gathered here to praise His name.
To understand the answer to that question, we will first have to understand what Jesus meant when he said, “I have not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it.” If we can be made to see how Jesus fulfilled the law, we will see what ‘having a heart’ for others really means. We will understand what it means to live and love for the sake of others.
For example, when the Pharisees faithfully kept the law, “Thou shall do no murder,” they were in effect choosing life for themselves! They knew, because the law was very specific, that if they committed murder, they would have to face judgment for the crime. No one in his or her right mind would want to be stoned to death. Why? Because that would be a waste of life – their one life. So, fundamentally we don’t commit murder because we choose life for ourselves.
Jesus is called “a man for others.” He died so others…. you and I…. might have life. So, when Jesus calls us to join Him in the fulfilling of the law, He is calling us to choose life – not only for ourselves – but to choose life for others.
The intent of Jesus’ teaching was to move us beyond the prohibitions of the law, and towards the possibilities of love. It is love that fulfills the law, and it is love that offers life to others.
In today’s Gospel our Lord uses the laws prohibiting murder and adultery to illustrate how love has a way of choosing life for others. Have you ever heard or thought these words? “I’m so mad at so-in-so, I could just kill him!” Then, for our own sake, we restrain ourselves thinking; he or she isn’t worth it! Meaning, the murder would cost us our own life. And even if the crime was never discovered, we would still have to live with the mark of Cain on our souls… forever.
So, instead of doing the deed, we determine to ‘dispatch’ them with innuendos, roomers, insults and put-downs. And, not just by what we say, but with how we say it. In truth, we ‘murder’ them with words. By using this method, we can pilfer their integrity, shrink their effectiveness, and steal their life without having to “pull the trigger.” Then, in our worship, when we hear the commandment, “Thou shall do no murder,” we can rest assured that we have never broken that law.
Our Lord lived with the people. He could see and hear how they treated one another. He heard the cuts, the insults and inuendoes spoken in the market place. He could see those words destructive, murderous effect.
Do you hear what Our Lord is saying? If doing no murder is good, being reconciled to your enemy is better!
American Poet Edwin Markham wrote in his short four-line poem “Outwitted”:
He drew a circle that shut me out --
Heretic, rebel, a thing of flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!
In today’s Gospel Jesus wants us to fix broken relationships before they get worse. He says, “If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, drop whatever you are doing and first be reconciled to your brother or sister.” Make reconciliation your highest priority. In so doing, our circle of love will be fulfilling the law. And, we will have chosen life, not only for ourselves, bur for others as well.
“I have come,” says Jesus, “That you may have life in abundance.” That you may have life in abundance.
The challenge of Christian discipleship is keeping the law with all our heart; to keep the law not only for our own sake, but for the sake of others.
The law read, “You shall not commit adultery.” I think you will agree with me that the reason most of us would not allow themselves to get into adulterous situations is because they could not stand the trauma of being discovered. We keep the law for our own peace of mind.
But we all know (and a few will admit that they know) how it is possible to frolic with a lustful imagination. Our lustful eye will not see the wonder and beauty of the whole person. Lust is only focused on pleasuring itself. It programs the conscience not to notice the “little things.” Little things like the hopes, dreams, expectations, feelings, and self-worth of another person. for Lust to work, the other’s soul must remain uninvited. Lust is another brick in the foundation of a careless society. Directly or indirectly, we are all it’s victims.
The truth is that if we were judged on “thoughts” alone, we would all be behind bars. That is not good news. What is the good news is that, in Christ, we have the power to allow thoughts to be just thoughts, and not become destructive obsessions. In Christ, and through the love of the community gathered in Christ’s name, we have the divine power that allows us to feel the full range of human emotions, to acknowledge them, to affirm them, and to learn from them – but not let them rule our lives. Our lives are best spent promoting life for others.
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