6 Epiphany/Year A
Feb 16, 2020
Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
Some weeks, it takes quite a bit of time and prayer and wondering, to discern what Good news is being proclaimed in the gospel for the day. This week is one of those weeks. I mean, what is all this talk about murder, and anger, and divorce and adultery, and not swearing falsely.
If anyone is listening to this part of the scripture today as a stand-alone set of teachings…not knowing that today’s reading is part of a very long sermon that Jesus is giving on the mountain….not knowing that there are another 16 topics still yet to be addressed in this long sermon of Jesus….some of you might be wiggling around a bit in the pews, tilting your head a bit, puzzled as to what you are hearing…Or just, honestly wondering – What are you talking about Jesus? I thought you were supposed to be all about teaching us to love God, and our neighbor?
So, let me offer a bit of background info that connects us to today’s gospel lesson…
Today’s reading is a continuance of Jesus’ sermon on the mountain that began in the book of Matthew, at the beginning of chapter five with a teaching on the beatitudes… “the blessed are” statements…blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted…blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy… these are just a few of them included in the beginning of this chapter…
Then, last week’s gospel reading, picked up where Jesus ended his teaching on the beatitudes…telling his listeners that they were the salt of the earth and the light of the world…that they were here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth…And that they were here to be Light, bringing out the God-colors of the world…
Last week’s reading ended with a teaching on the law and the prophets, with Jesus saying: Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
This brings us to today’s gospel reading: Today’s reading is the beginning of a very long teaching expanding on how Jesus has not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them…to help his listeners, his followers…consider the laws and commandments of God , looking again at what it means to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength…. in a new way, through “Gospel eyes”. (a phrase that deacon Kathryn mentioned this week, she heard in a sermon given by a former bishop of Alaska, Mark McDonald)
Gospel eyes…through Jesus’ love…through the lens of the Good News of God’s love for his people, as proclaimed to us, and fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
This is the way Jesus invites his listeners to re-visit, re-envision, re-imagine the laws and commandments concerning anger, adultery, divorce, and oaths…through gospel eyes…through Jesus’ eyes – through the lens of unfiltered love..
Jesus had a particular pattern of words he used in presenting these teachings to his listeners in today’s verses: He states the issue, the law or commandment as they know it, or think they understand it, beginning with: (you have heard that it was said..)
…and then He invites them to consider it again, when he says: (but I say to you this..) and he asks them to look and listen again this time, with gospel eyes…look and listen again through a lens of unfiltered love that seeks to find a way to love one another, to honor and respect the dignity of every human being, to forgive one another, to practice compassion and be merciful to one another, to be reconciled to one another…and to work together for the well-being of all God’s beloved children…
Jesus’ style of teaching here could be a helpful practice for us to use to address other tough and challenging questions and issues in our society… today….
You have heard that is was said: It can be so easy to get caught up in all the details and struggles of life, looking at all the problems through the mind and eyes of the world…it can be so easy to get sucked in by the negativity and anger and finger pointing…get caught up in the rule-keeping, the need to be right, the desire to want more, to be more…get trapped in a kind of thinking and problem solving practice that covers our eyes and our ears, and makes us unable to see, or hear anything new…and when we close our eyes or cover our ears to the voice of God, being proclaimed in the words and actions of Jesus, through the people in our lives today…Our own lives, and the lives of the people around us…suffer needlessly, and seemingly without ending…the vicious cycle of hatred and violence in all forms just goes around and around and around….
But, I say to you this: When we can take the time to step off the hamster wheel, that vicious cycle of despair and hopelessness, and sit for a time, to listen to the teachings of Jesus, through “gospel eyes”, we can dare to dream, and be persistent in hope, for a world and its people to be transformed by God’s love and for a world and its people to be transformed by a deeper understanding of what it means to Love God and one another…
When we take the time to sit at Jesus’ feet to listen through “gospel eyes”, we can dare to dream, and be persistent in hope, that indeed there is more to this life than we think we already know….there is more to this life…than meets the eye…and is found on the page, in the letter of the law…
Much deeper, dwelling in our hearts…There is love. God’s love. And it is here for the choosing, right now.
Choose love: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.
We all know this is our hearts, already…
What the world needs now…more than ever…is love, sweet love…no, not for just some...but for everyone…
Choose love. Choose Life…so that you and others may truly live…
Song: What the world needs now…is love, sweet love..
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska