Sixth Sunday After Epiphany

When Jesus Gets Uncomfortable—Psalm 119: 1-8; Matt. 5: 21-37

            For twelve, long, wonderful years I have managed to avoid these really awkward and uncomfortable passages of what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. We’ve covered the Epistle lesson instead. We’ve talked about the Old Testament as an alternative. I’ve successfully stuck to anything else besides these really, really squirm-in-the-pew worthy passages. But today, we get this scripture from the Lectionary. I call it the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, and in all frank honesty, Jesus gets all up in your business.

            So today, I get to go from theologian to reality TV as we talk about murder, anger, lust, adultery, fornication, vows, and divorce. As they say on an airplane, “Buckle up, folks, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” From the outset we know that Jesus often took existing things and changed them. He would often challenge the religious leaders on their weird and oddly specific rules like reinventing the concepts of working on the Sabbath, who their neighbor is, and how to practice forgiveness. When Jesus encountered human-made regulations in the name of religion, he challenged and changed them.

            Jesus is doing much the same in this passage. He’s taking the legalism of the religious world of his day and is turning it into something relational. The rules he cites from old are clear and simple: Thou shalt not murder; Love thy neighbor (and do no bear false witness); Do not commit adultery; Divorce is merely a man providing notice of termination on a marriage contract (because marriage was a business arrangement in those days); and Don’t break vows. These were all commonplace rules in the society in which Jesus lived.

            But Jesus took them, radicalized them, drew out the relational nature, and made something holy from these simple religious laws. Jesus reworked the prohibition on murder and expanded it. Don’t hate their very existence with your anger. Don’t curse them because you have a quarrel. In the same way don’t harbor bitterness toward another person by dragging them into court when you can settle differences in a mature way. Jesus is a big advocate of people setting aside their broken humanity to come together in a Christ-like way and live in peace together.

            Jesus worked to hold the religious leaders and sinners alike accountable. But in every encounter with Jesus, there was grace for those who were willing to be a part of it. As we often see, the Pharisees scoffed at Jesus’s expansive view of grace. For them, religion was about total submission to the rules. For Jesus, obedience was about finding grace from God and with others. Don’t hate. Don’t harbor anger. Don’t gleefully wish away the existence of someone you struggle with because that soul is still one that God loves and hopes to redeem with forgiveness and grace.

            Jesus also takes up adultery. In his day, adultery was strictly defined as a physical act. But Jesus radicalized and made something more holy out of the rule. Faithfulness is not just being physically appropriate. Faithfulness is broader and inclusive of being devoted only to your spouse because that relationship is holy just as our relationship to God is holy. Now, I don’t think Jesus literally means that if you fall a bit short on this that you should literally pluck your eye out or take your hand off. In our modern day, we’ve taken this literally, whereas Jesus was practicing a bit of sarcasm at the expense of the religious leaders.

            The lesson is that we should be faithful in our love and commitments to those whom we are closest to. The sarcasm from Jesus is making fun of the silliness of the rules of the religious leaders. Jesus is calling for love, fidelity, and honor in relationships, marriages, and our lives with other people around us. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount is a long explanation of Jesus’s guide to living in love and following him on this earth. He is exasperated that the religious leaders have turned to a system of rules and regulations (most of which are crazy) instead of having any reliance at all on God’s Spirit to lead them.

            It reminds me of a story a pastor told years ago. It’s impossible to regulate yourself into holiness. When you create all sorts of rules, regulations, and religious do’s and don’ts it’s much like an old law on the books in Tennessee. In that state, Tennessee, it is illegal to shoot a whale from a moving vehicle. Religion’s rules are much the same way: women can wear pants all week but not on Sunday; don’t dance because it’s sinful despite how much they danced in the Bible; you can buy booze all week but not from 8 AM to 12:30 PM on Sunday…afternoon is fine; a man should refrain from facial hair and trim his sideburns to a certain length. What does any of that have to do with whether you believe in Jesus and follow him or not?

            Jesus calls on us to follow him, to believe in him, and to let his Spirit of love and truth guide our lives in all of our decisions. Does anyone think that the Jesus who wandered 40 days in the desert had well-trimmed sideburns? He drives the point home most of all in the final discourse on vows. Just say yes or no instead of swearing to it, for as Christians your word should be true and honorable. Anything more or less is not of God.

            I think the Psalm gives us a very clear understanding of what Jesus is trying to say, “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey [God’s] laws and search for [God] with all their hearts.” There is joy in following God and living our lives as faithful people here on earth. There is freedom when we know that being Christ-like in all that we do is the calling God has given us.

            We are called to trust God, obey God, and every time we consider how we act and how we do, we should stop to consider this: who came up with the idea? Was it something another human decided to make into a rule? Or is it something that God has called us to do? Many folks have that decorative sign in their homes which says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It’s usually found right next to “Live, Laugh, Love” if it’s in the living room or “Eat, Pray, Love,” if it’s in the kitchen. Focus in on those words, “We will serve the Lord.”

            We’re not called to follow religious rules made by humans to manage, control, and act on behalf of the Holy Spirit. We are called to follow God, to trust God, to obey God’s calling, and to live our lives in a way that is honorable, truthful, holy, and Christ-like in this world. The final words of the Psalm ring true for us all, “I will obey your decrees. Please don’t give up on me!”

Sometimes following Jesus is not as easy as it seems. Sometimes, Jesus gives us teachings that make us uncomfortable, challenge us, and force us to reconcile what we always knew with how Jesus wants us to grow and live. And that’s okay. The measure of our success is our willingness to follow Jesus each and every day. Some days that’s easy, and some days we say like the Psalm, “I’m trying, Lord, please don’t give up on me.” Don’t let Jesus’s tough words discourage you. Instead remember that every day we wake up and say yes to God, God will be with us all the way.

Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/952330386129572