The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A, Feburary 13, 2011

The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
Matthew 5:21-37, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 119:1-8,1 Corinthians 3:1-9
February 13, 2011
The Rev. JoAnne Miller

In my studies for these readings today I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite quotations from Annie Dillard. You can go on line and Google Annie Dillard quotes, there are some good ones. This one I have used before. “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats, to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return. "

The more I studied the readings for today I had another vision. Similar to Dillard’s quote. One of my favorite carnival rides when I was young was the Octopus. It would jerk you from one side to the other rapidly and then up and sideways to the right. It would then drop you down and to the left and just for thrills whip you backwards. They should have called it whiplash.

If we read the whole section of the Sermon on the Mount with eyes open and heart open – Whiplash. Brian McLaren in his book The Secret Message of Jesus calls this section of Matthew the Kingdom Manifesto. A manifesto is a declaration, decree. A manifesto carries with it an absolute pronouncement.

Jesus uses dangerous, provocative language. In last week’s reading of Matthew the last verse said “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Now if you were a Pharisee - sitting on a padded, comfortable pew, enjoying the well-known liturgy and readings for Sabbath worship in Synagogue -and you heard this you would have just been thrown on the hard floor. Crash helmet. The standard that Jesus just set with that line is something like the yellow line in the TV reality show “Biggest Loser.” At the end of the program each Tuesday, after you watch them sweat and work out the person whose percentage of lost body weight is less than everyone else, they drop below the yellow line and they are out. The scribes and the Pharisees are the yellow line. Jesus says not to let your righteousness fall below them.

I must remind myself that the Pharisees are seen as the guardians and paragons of personal piety, goodness, morality, uprightness, decency, justice, and fairness. When all wrapped together you have a good understanding of the meaning of righteousness. And Jesus says they represent the bottom line? Are you holding on to your pew? The disciples who were sitting at Jesus’ feet must have fallen off the rocks they were sitting on. They just heard something that moved the earth under their feet. Here, as in the previous two Sundays’ readings Jesus reveals God - God’s nature and intent for humankind. The external display of religion is not God’s intent for us but the internal transformation of our heart, mind, and soul. It is faith and not religious practice that matters.

Jesus goes on to say that he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets. He makes it clear with each example what he means to fulfill. He begins “you have heard that it was said“....But, I say…” What follows is an invitation not to stay with the minimal standards but to raise them, deepen them, and fulfill them – to take them above the level of the religious specialist. God pulls us from external conformity to internal change. “You have heard that is 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 the council, and if you say, “You fool,” you will be liable to the hell of fire. Crash helmet time. Ushers find the flares.

Jesus is telling us to stop insulting people. An insult is a form of character assassination, a socially acceptable form of violence. One that a goodly number of American’s practice because it is our first amendment right. Words, derogatory words can and do lead to physical violence and harm. Scathing words thrown at children does harm to the children. Insults cast at adults for political or religious advantage causes harm. We are called to a higher and deeper moral and ethical way of being. Jesus calls us to active reconciliation with brother, sister, neighbor. In fact, reconciliation seems to be more important than the offering we make at the altar. Before reconciliation can take place, we are called to forgive.

Next Jesus addresses divorce. In Jesus time and before, women were easily cast aside, they were considered property, once they were married and then divorced they were damaged goods. Jesus was upholding women. Even more pointedly is the statement concerning lust. No one, male or female should be regarded as a sex object. And yet, TV commercials exploit sex and lust to sell just about everything. Do you feel our American culture beginning to slip below the yellow line? However, Jesus is speaking to individuals and the individual’s walk. However, individuals are often viewed as their culture is viewed.

The final verses in this lectionary reading are concerned with the taking of oaths. The aim of this interpretation is to establish truthfulness. “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’.” It is the reckless use of oaths that is condemned. Truthfulness is living out a higher righteousness. Philo, a Jewish philosopher roundly condemned those who unashamedly invoked the name of God in pointless oaths. We Christians have not taken this command of Jesus very seriously for all the ways we misuse the name of the Holy. If Jesus was distressed by the linguistic habits of those who swore by their own head, what would he say today?

We can all fall subject to a moral lapse. Own up to it. I have to commend the GOP congressman who did and resigned from the house. He lapsed. He committed adultery in his thoughts. Lust took over and probably ego. Of course, the exposure of his failing was hard to refute. His oath was “yes, yes” and “I regret.” We have a gracious God who calls us to be reconciled, who calls us to search our heart, to confess our failures, who calls us to live in the Kingdom, to be the living light in this beautiful and strange world. God calls us to be the living salt that brings out the highest and best flavor of our humanity. And, every now and then God has to shake us up, take us by the shoulders and shake us to get us to respond. That is what Annie Dillard means when she suggests we wear crash helmets to church.


1. The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything: Brian D. McLaren
2. Interpretation on Matthew: Douglas R. A. Hare
3. Feasting on the Word: Year A, at goodreads.com