February 13, 2011
Sirach 15: 15-20 + Psalm 119 + 1 Corinthians 2: 6-10 + Matthew 5: 17-37
For some this might well be the most difficult passage in all of Matthew’s Gospel.
The difficulty probably lies in the fact that this is about choices more than the subject matter. Choices for people of wisdom, integrity, and maturity are simply not easy. The basis of our alienation from God is quite simply poor choices. We call that alienation and those poor choices: “Sin.” The alienation deepens with every abuse of freedom and every bad choice. I don’t know which was worse, Eve’s choice or Adam’s choice; but either way, their story is the story of wrong choices.
Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, a wise man whose writings we heard today spoke of the importance of right choices and of using one’s free will for good rather than evil. Every free choice brings with it a pair of consequences: fire or water, death or life, evil or good. In the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel six choices are raised by Jesus. We treat four of them this week, and two next week. Jesus uses these examples or these issues to propose to us that greatness, holiness, and worthiness for the kingdom comes from making choices, not from playing it safe. You see, the Scribes and Pharisees were always just playing it safe, hiding behind the law, doing just the minimum, avoiding choices by often chosing to do nothing.
Jesus never played it safe, and neither can his disciples. What he teaches us by word and example is that the law is the starting point, not the end. Nothing happens, nothing is accomplished by keeping the law. There is no greatness in just keeping the rules. Greatness begins by going further and doing more. The presumption in this part of Matthew’s Sermon is that everyone listening is already keeping the law which was the bare minimum of what it meant to holy, righteous, and just. For those of us who are here, there is more to do. Just attending Mass every Sunday is just the beginning, not a great accomplishment. No pattying yourself on the back and thinking, “I made it.” No you didn’t, you just started by getting here.
So in today’s Gospel there are three areas of choice.First there is the choice to be a person of peace or a person of violence.Violence begins with an angry heart, a heart that is loaded with hurt.Violence begins deep within us, and the evidence of this is everywhere in this angry world. It is a sin rooted deeply within us that sours life and if left to itself brings great darkness. There is no end to revenge. It begins a cycle of hatred and anger that breeds more violence.
To be person of peace means being a person of forgiveness. It is the one dependable antidote to anger and violence. Without forgoveness, anger builds and festers like a sore that eventually bursts and nine times out of ten, someone innocent suffers and pays the price. So, we have the choice to make peace or not, and the proposal is presented in typical scriptural exaggeration: leave everything and make peace before you bring your gift to the altar. The choice we are offered is to be part of a community of peace.
Then there is the choice to live in a right and respectful relationship with others that is pure. It’s about lust, says Jesus. It means choosing to respsect and honor every other person with a purity of intention that never turns them into an object to be used for pleasure or sought after for any reason other than their own good. This is a choice, and when the choice is made, poronography is out of business. It is a matter of choosing to honor one’s self and respect an other, never to use another for any gain or pleasure.
There is also the choice for fidelity, of honoring one’s commitments. At the time Jesus spoke of this matter, adultry was something only a man could commit against another man. It was a matter of violating the property rights of another man: the woman was the property. What Jesus is doing here is defending the woman and establishing the fact that she has rights and is not just a piece of property. Something bigger is going on here than defending property rights. Something new is being proposed suggesting that marriage was a part of God’s plan as a sign of God’s fidelity to the chosen people. The marriage relationship was to be a place of safety and honor, not danger and dishonesty. What Jesus insists upon here is a reconciled relationship whenever that is possible so that marriages blessed and strengthened by mutual forgiveness become the story of our relationship with God blessed and strengthened by forgiveness.
Finally there is the matter of oaths. If fidelity is a mark of those living in the Kingdom of God, then so is honesty. They go together. It is truthfulness that strengthens fidelity and commitment. When truthfulness and fidelity are present, there is no need of an oath. An oath would add nothing. Who would require an oath from someone who is faithful and honest? It makes no sense and adds nothing. In fact, the requiring of an oath raises some suspicion that there is a history of infidelity and lies.
What we have here is simply the root values that guide a life in Jesus Christ. To be a person who is forgiving, respectful, faithful, and truthful is to be well on the way to greatness, but we must choose to be forgiving, respectful, faithful and truthful. Those of us who choose to respond to the challenge of Jesus will not be leaning on the law or claiming that we’ve kept the rules. We will rather begin to frame our lives with new questions. Rather than asking: “What do we have to do?” or “What is the rule?” We will ask: “What more can I do?” and “What more can I become.” “How far will love lead us.”