Sixth Sunday After Epiphany, 02/16/2020

Sermon on Matthew 5:21-37, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser

hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” [English Standard Version]

“…Are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?...So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God gives the growth…For we are God’s fellow workers…” 1 Corinthians 3.3,7,9]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

Today’s Gospel from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is one of those bewildering passages that confront the Lord’s people. It’s bewildering because of its familiarity and yet there are difficulties in catching its full impact. The passage deals four realities – anger. Lust, divorce and promises – but their background is dominated by scribal and Pharisaical attitudes. But the passage also takes our breath away and replenishes because it takes us to the actual center of the new Life given us by the Lord God – the forgiveness of our sins!

As we look out from our parish communities to the world in which we live, we see a lot of messiness and shakiness – the “wet markets” of China spawning another virus, the denominational structures of the Lord’s Church reflecting the world’s way of doing ministry, the hatred and violence exhibited in humanity tearing people apart.

Those who are baptized, however, understand that there are reasons for such shakiness and messiness. We recognize that the realities surrounding us emerge from the thousands of gods that everyone loves to create and maintain. This understanding does not mean these gods are totally useless (they do help people get things done in the world), but their accomplishments are not always durable and solid. The major flaw with the gods to whom we are committed is that they all stream out from our selves.

In the middle of this messiness and shakiness, it is a relief to come into the Lord’s presence this morning, letting his Life once again arch over and permeate our lives, drenching us with his Forgiveness!

As we turn into this passage of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, however, we wonder if Jesus is relieving us or if he is intensifying the unnerving and rattling circumstances that swirl around us! He puts anger on the same level as killing! Think about it, isn’t it more preferable to be angry with someone rather than killing them? He says that thinking about an illicit sexual relationship is on the same level as taking part in one! Think about it, isn’t it more preferable to think about this rather than do it because thinking is less harmful? Jesus says that multiple reasons for divorce rule out any re-marriage and that those reasons need to be restricted to just one! Think about it, isn’t it more preferable to recognize that there are times when a divorce is called for and that good marriages can follow bad ones? He says that words attached to our promises should be just Yes or No, any more words are products of the evil one.

What is our Lord trying to do to us in this extended Epiphany season – relieve us of the shakiness and messiness surrounding our lives or increasing their intensity?

Because of the passage’s scribal and Pharisaical background it is helpful to remind ourselves of last Sunday’s Gospel where Jesus pointed out that he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them! He noted that whoever relaxes the least of the commandments and teaches others to do the same will be the least in his kingdom. On the other hand, those who do and teach them will be great in his kingdom. He points out that, unless our efforts surpass those of the scribes and Pharisees (highly intelligent and motivated people), we’ll never enter his kingdom!

Honestly, our Lord is unnerving and rattling us this morning or is he pressing us to recognize that the messiness and shakiness surfacing in the world’s life is being generated by the thousands of gods to whom we are committed? The scribes and Pharisees believed they could pierce such realities through their own efforts but our Lord makes it clear they could not and neither can we!

This comes out clearly from the four examples he runs into our lives today. In ways that are both obvious yet hidden, all of us are guilty of not hitting the realities that Jesus is sketching out. Does this mean, then, that we are out as far as the Lord’s kingdom is concerned? From the world’s perspective the answer would be Yes, but from the Lord’s perspective the answer is No!

What Jesus is trying to do this morning is not to intensify the unnerving and rattling in our lives, but to relieve us of the pressures being dumped on us by the world’s gods. Throughout this Epiphany season the Lord’s people have been seeing how the impact of his Incarnation has been weakened and distorted by the world’s ways creeping into the Church’s life and work. Such weakening and distortion has made it possible for the world’s life to regain dominance it cannot create and cannot handle.

Through these four examples our Lord is trying to save us from being smart-alecky Christians! During his ministry the smart-alecky Jews were the scribes and Pharisees, these leaders were considered to be the most learned and committed of the Lord’s people. Recall that in their zeal to be at that level, they had increased the ten commands to six hundred thirteen and they committed themselves to hit those impressive marks! The temple in Jerusalem and the synagogues throughout the country could not function without their involvement. However, their high levels of learning and commitment had clouded and disrupted the intentions and ways of the Lord God.

These four examples given us by Jesus this morning reveal such clouding and disruption. He views these realities from his eternal perspective; we counter that perspective with our own. The Lord had instructed his people to respond to their promises with only a Yes or a No. However, the scribes and Pharisees had warped those responses to include the things of this world and the realities of pagan religions, pushing the Lord’s Life into the background and obscurity. The Lord had gifted humanity with marriage so it could reflect the oneness that exists in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However, the scribes and Pharisees had warped that gift so multiple reasons for divorce could loom larger in everyone’s attitude.

The Lord had intended his gift of sexuality for a man and a woman who are fully committed to each other for life. However, the scribes and Pharisees had distorted that gift so it would serve their desires and interests. The Lord had molded individuals to not be killing one another. However, the scribes and Pharisees had broken the mold that decreased the killing yet increased the anger residing within themselves and spewing out on others. In all four of these areas, the intentions and ways of the Lord God had been clouded and disrupted by what people thought was right and correct.

It is to free us from such clouds and disruptions that Jesus wades into his listeners’ lives then and his listeners’ lives today. Jesus’ four sketches are shocking, but if we have been tending to be smart-alecky Christians, then these sketches bring us back to true reality in a hurry. Otherwise, if we persist in our smart-alecky ways, then the Lord’s intentions and ways for his people will remain clouded and disruptive. Recognizing such cloudiness and disruption calms us down somewhat because it shows that we cannot get into the Lord’s kingdom by imitating the scribes and Pharisees.

Such recognition reminds us of how we entered that kingdom. Did we make the entry

because we were doing what we thought was right and correct? Or did we make the

entry because of the Lord’s Forgiveness? Our entry into the kingdom is made only through latter!

These words of Jesus do bewilder us, but he is not putting us in unforgivable situations.

Instead, we’re talking about smart-alecky Christians being brought back to where their lives really are, not in themselves, but in the Lord God who rescued those lives at Baptism. That’s why in the middle of such messiness and shakiness in the world and in the Church, it is a huge relief to come into the Lord’s presence on this Sunday so his Life can arch over and undergird our lives!

What the world and the Church needs is to have people whose lives have known destruction and emptiness, whose lives are embittered and hollow, but now are impacted with the Lord’s Forgiveness, freeing them from being caught up within themselves! This rescuing reality comes to us from eternity, it draws us into the Lord’s kingdom and it permeates all that we are and do!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our

hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, USA
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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