Epiphany 6A 2020
Deuteronomy 30:15-20; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37; Psalm 119:1-8
When my husband, Marcel, and I traveled to the Holy Land this last October with our St. Michael’s pilgrims, we had decided we would purchase a Mezuzah for the entryway of our new home that was being built. A Mezuzah is a small decorative box or case that holds a scroll of scripture written in Hebrew that contains passages from Deuteronomy 6 and Deuteronomy 11.
In part it reads, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.
Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home
and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,
and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
So, faithful Jews, and Christians who like the idea, attach the Mezuzah to the outside of their doorposts to offer a visual reminder that keeping God’s commandments and law close at hand, literally, affixed to the doorframe, brings blessings.
Marcel and I were successful. We found a lovely, metal mezuzah in an antique shop in the Jewish section of Jerusalem for our front door, and a simple etched wooden one for the entryway in from the garage.
That was how we celebrated Valentine’s day on Friday. After a nice homecooked steak dinner, we attached our Mezezahs to the front and the backdoor frames, saying the Hebrew Prayer that my friend, Rabbi Ahuva shared with me.
If you are coming to our house blessing this afternoon, you’ll get to see them.
The passage from Deuteronomy we read this morning carries some of the same idea as the Mezuzah. God’s Law brings life and blessings.
“Moses said, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess…. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him;”
Commandments, decrees and ordinances. I don’t know about you, but those can sound a little oppressive. And not only do we have all the law of the Old Testament to keep, Jesus ups the ante quite a bit.
Jesus, as he stands on the Hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, begins to launch into the meat of his Sermon on the Mount with the words we heard today.
The beatitudes of “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit… .Blessed are the Peacemakers” introduced the sermon, showing us that God’s expectations of us are often the opposite of the world’s.
The sermon continued, as we heard last week, with the call to be salt and light, and the assertion that Jesus is fulfilling the law, not abolishing it, and that means much more than simply trying to stick to the letter of the law, it means truly living into the spirit behind that law.
Today, we get to the nitty-gritty of what living into the Spirit of God’s law really means.
It’s not good enough to just refrain from murdering anyone, you’re not allowed to be angry with them either. You’re not supposed to even call them a fool.
It’s not good enough to merely to refrain from cheating on your wife or husband in an affair, you’re not even supposed to let your imagination wander when you see a particularly pretty woman or ruggedly handsome man.
Phrases like “I swear on a stack of bibles,” or “I promise on my mother’s grave,” or “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” are all way over the top. You and I are to called as Christians to have such good characters, to be people of such strong integrity, that when we say a simple Yes or No we follow through simply because we have given our word, and others will know us well enough to trust it.
We are supposed to give up anything that stands in the way of following God’s path – even, Jesus says, as he exaggerates to make the point – if that means poking out your own eye or lopping off your own hand.
For ourselves, we need to be ruthless in weeding out areas of our life that cause us to sin. At the same time, we need to be open and forgiving of others, reconciling to our brothers and sisters, and mending the fences in our marriages, so that we don’t cut ourselves off from each other.
There’s a story of an old Cherokee Indian who was speaking to his grandson:
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, greed.
The other wolf is good — he is joy, peace, hope, love.”
The grandson thought about it for a long time, and then asked his grandfather, “Which one will win?”
The old man said, “The one I feed.”
The question is not, will we have those feelings of anger or lust or greed. – Jesus assumed we would have them – the question is, what do we do with them?
Many of you read the Forward Day by Day, an Episcopal devotional with a short meditation on each day’s readings.
Usually on the inside cover, is A Morning Resolve, which in many ways, sums up the spirit behind Jesus’ teaching.
“I will try this day to live a simple, sincere and serene life, repelling promptly every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity, and self-seeking; cultivating cheerfulness, magnanimity, charity, and the habit of holy silence; exercising economy in expenditure, generosity in giving, carefulness in conversation, diligence in appointed service, fidelity to every trust, and a childlike faith in God.
In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating, and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right.”
…And right here in the prayer, when I’m feeling both inspired for the possibilities of a new day.., and depressed because – even though it’s still early morning, I’ve already screwed up several areas – we get to this part of the prayer:
“And as I cannot in my own strength do this, nor even with a hope of success attempt it, I look to thee, O Lord God my Father, in Jesus my Savior, and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
I think I’ve shared with you before one of my favorite prayers,
“Dear God ... I thank you that so far today I've done all right. I haven't gossiped and I haven't lost my temper. I haven't been grumpy, nasty or selfish, haven't had a sinful thought, and I'm really glad of that. But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to be getting out of bed and from then on, I'm probably going to need a lot of help. Amen.”
And we do need help.
If you are like me, I hear Jesus’ words and I realize there is no way I can keep these on my own.
Our Collect for today, the prayer I said at the beginning of our worship which sums up today’s lessons said this…“Because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed.”
We cannot “do good” in order to win Merit badges from God, to earn a place in heaven, or to earn favor with God. We could not and cannot, under our own power, earn anything from God by our own goodness. Jesus already did that work for us long ago on a cross.
My friend and colleague, John Ohmer said once, “I think that if we read these words and think, ‘I’ve got to try harder,’ we’ve missed the point…I think that when we hear these words, where we’re supposed to end up is, “I don’t have a leg to stand on…I don’t have a chance…I can’t do this on my own…I need help…
…which is just another way of saying ‘I’m a sinner in need of a savior…’
and if that’s where you are, then ‘welcome to the club,’ or rather ‘welcome to the community.’
You’re at the doorway of grace: God doing for you what you cannot do for yourself.”
When we give ourselves to God and allow God’s grace and spirit and forgiveness to move in our lives, we are transformed. Then the action of keeping God’s law is not a means to get to God, rather, it is a natural result of being with God. We become people conformed to Jesus’ way of love, compassion, and reconciliation.
So, while Marcel and I made it part of our Valentine’s celebration to put up the Mezuzahs on our doorways, God is really the one giving us all a valentine. God’s law, when embraced with God’s grace, is the doorway to life and God’s immeasurable love. Amen.
The Collect
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The First Reading
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Moses said, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Psalm 119:1-8
Beati immaculati
1 Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!
3 Who never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his ways.
4 You laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep them.
5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your statutes!
6 Then I should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your commandments.
7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake me.
The Epistle
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The Gospel
Matthew 5:21-37
Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell 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 lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to 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 anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear 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 swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”