Most of the news I watch is the early morning news, usually
the Today show. Karla and I try to remember to set the cable box to Local 2 the
night before so in the morning we can reverse the DVR back an hour or so to
skip through the commercials. Whatever morning news you watch – unless you are
at work by 6 in the morning, and I have learned recently that there are many of
you out there – you will find that the amount of commercials aired on these
programs is by minimum standards, plenteous; annoyingly plenteous.
Last week on the Today show, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of
Facebook, was being interviewed by Savannah Guthrie as the tenth anniversary of
the social networking site dawns this year. When asked about Facebook’s
success, he replied that he has helped millions of people connect to others.
Zuckerberg said, “To be able to come into
work every day and build things that help a billion people stay connected with
the people they care about every month, that’s just unbelievable, I mean, you
get to build things here that touch a billion people.”
I found the language that Zuckerberg used particularly
interesting. He used words like “help people” and “touch people”. These words
evoke some emotion. Although there was language in this interview that
described Facebook as a corporate, for-profit entity, he also used language
that pointed to something greater than that. That greater something is a
component of our humanity that we all share: the desire to be in relationship.
The gospel lesson for Sunday, February 16 is yet another
challenging lesson for us by Jesus. He brings up the law again. There seems to
be a message of “do this and get that” in Jesus’ words. But Jesus, I think, has
no interest in our punishment for breaking laws; rather, Jesus is interested in
our knowledge of God’s love for us and our lives being filled with the grace of
God. There is a deeper meaning behind Mark Zuckerberg’s words about the
public’s use of Facebook. Likewise, there is a deeper meaning behind Jesus’
words about the law. (No, I am not comparing Mark Zuckerberg to Jesus! But they
do both beckon us into relationship; the motives differing.)
Christians, especially in modern times, have not done a very
good job at conveying Jesus’ message about right living very well. What if I
told you that there is more that Jesus cares about than whether or not we break
a law? What does the average non-churchgoer think of when they are asked what
God is or who Jesus is? Many out there, and perhaps many church-going
Christians for that matter, may imagine God to be the old man with a white
beard, sitting on a throne, watching us, judging us, and keeping score on all
the good and bad we do; perhaps a little like the old Christmas jingle about
Santa Claus making his list and checking it twice. If we imagine God as merely
a dictating authority figure in our lives and the lives of others, we run the
great risk of missing out on the grace that God promises and indeed pours upon
us continually.
As one reads through Matthew’s gospel, you begin to identify
a recurring theme where it becomes apparent that Matthew is very interested in
right behavior. Today’s lesson is certainly within this theme. Today, we are
called to righteousness…again. And not only righteousness, but Jesus is even
challenging us to be perfect. If you remember last week’s gospel lesson,
Matthew does just this. Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven.”
How, we might ask, is this possible? And furthermore, how on
earth would this expectation even begin to attract someone to be a follower of
Jesus? How can anyone’s righteousness exceed the righteousness of those who
have studied the law and have interpreted it for the people? This statement is
like telling congregations that their righteousness must exceed that of their
Bishops; or for Episcopalians, their founding members—or founding rector! It’s
hard to imagine that those who heard Jesus’ words, among whom were ordinary
fishermen and women would have taken any comfort in such high standards.
But let’s be careful not to soften Jesus’ words. I think
Jesus does hold us to a higher standard. I think Jesus does want us to be
exceptionally righteous, that is, virtuous. But perhaps there is more to what
Jesus is saying. Perhaps Jesus is illustrating to us what the kingdom of God
Jesus presents six antitheses (or contrasts)
that further illustrate that obedience
must become internal if it is to bring genuine life. He refers to
traditional teachings that are understood to be true and then goes on to deepen
and extend their meanings. He says, “You have heard that it was said ... but
I say to you.” Jesus has already proclaimed that he came to fulfill the law
and the prophets. Thus no commandment of the law is abolished by these
teachings, as Jesus instructs his disciples to not only observe the law, but
also realize and adhere to its spirit and intention. In each case, he probes
beyond the act that was prohibited to identify its root cause.
Jesus’ strong language today reminds us of what is really
important to God: our relationships. Not only our relationship with God, but
with each other. David Lose calls God a “relational God”. How else do we
proclaim and live out our faith than to treat others as we would like to be
treated? We can see evidence of God’s desire for us to live in peaceful
relationships as we ourselves come to gather together. Social media even
provides some evidence, as millions upon millions seek to be connected with
others. Not that social media is in and of itself godly, but it does point to
something about us and our human desire, that is, to be connected and to be in
relationship.
Mark Zuckerberg wants us to continue to be in relationship
and stay connected because it affects his bottom line. So he uses words like
“help”, “serve”, “care”, and “touch”. These words may evoke a warm feeling in
us. Businesses realize what humans care about and they use words and phrases to
attract us to win our loyalty. But we must be careful of who wins our loyalty.
It is no wonder then, that Jesus calls us to a higher
standard. No, there was no Facebook or Twitter, or any social media in Jesus’
day – heck, there wasn’t social media ten years ago (well, remember chat
rooms)! But there have always been distractions that seek to win our loyalty
and turn us away from where our loyalties should be. Jesus gives us a gift in
his words to us and to those fishermen and women disciples of his. And his gift
is for us today as well. The gift of God’s kingdom, of God’s community, and as
our Presiding Bishop would say, of God’s “dream” for us.
Hence, as David Lose illustrates in his writing on this gospel, “to confess
that our relationships matter to God is to reinterpret the law in a way that is
more faithful to this passage and the larger biblical witness about the nature
and purpose of God’s commands. As to this passage: notice that each of these
different injunctions concerns how we treat each other. Jesus doesn’t just
heighten the force of the law, he broadens it:
- It’s not enough just to refrain from murder. We should also treat
each other with respect and that means not speaking hateful words.
- It is not enough to avoid physically committing adultery. We
should also not objectify other persons by seeing them as a means to
satisfy our physical desires by lusting after them.
- It is not enough to follow the letter of the law regarding
divorce. We should not treat people as disposable and should make sure
that the most vulnerable -- in this culture that often meant women and
children -- are provided for.
- It is not enough to keep ourselves from swearing falsely or lying
to others. We should speak and act truthfully in all of our dealings so
that we don’t need to make oaths at all.”
“All the hyperbole”,
he adds, “of cutting off body parts and burning in hell serve to magnify just how
important our relationships are to God.”
Now, I want you to do something. I
give you another interactive sermon today. I want you to call to mind one of
the relationships in your life that is most important to you; one that is
healthy and whole and good and sustains you (Jeopardy music?). Now, think about what
makes that a good relationship, about why it’s so important to you. Now, I want
you to give God thanks for that person and the relationship you share with them.
Now I want you to call to mind
another relationship that is important, but has suffered some damage. This may be a little more challenging. You don’t
need to figure out who was to blame for the hurt, but just hold that person and
relationship in prayer. Offer that broken relationship to God as an
offering and as an invitation of God’s healing.
Let us pray.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred,
let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is
darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be
loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that
we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen (Prayer of St. Francis, BCP
833).
I love what Karla Works writes on this topic from
workingpreacher.org: “Jesus wants his disciples to be people of integrity,
people who are faithful to their promises, people who have no need to swear
that they are telling the truth because they are truth-tellers. They should be
people who honor their commitments in marriage and who respect the commitments
of others. The women in their midst are not people to be used and abandoned at
will, but fellow disciples. They are among the ones who are now blessed by
God’s reign. For the church to claim Jesus’ message of God’s kingdom come, it
must strive to be the kind of place that reflects God’s reign.”
I think I’ll leave it there. Amen.
