“Choosing Life” A Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett Preached at Pleasantville UCC, February 12, 2017 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 & Matthew 5:21-37 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity…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…”
Our Old Testament lectionary text for this 6th Sunday after Epiphany is one of the concluding speeches of the prophet Moses to the people of Israel. Standing on the far side of the Jordan River, God’s people are poised to enter the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. In this passage, Moses is speaking to the second generation of exodus people. These are the children of those Israelite slaves who were liberated from Egypt. Their parents died wandering in the wilderness because they were unwilling to place their full trust in the Lord. In this speech, Moses means to summarize the most important lessons of the journey and challenge this new generation not to repeat the mistakes of their parents. Let us listen to this portion of the book of Deuteronomy, as it is written in the book that we love: (Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20) We turn now to our gospel reading for this morning which is a continuation of Matthew’s gospel and we rejoin the crowds who came to listen to Jesus as he preached what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. We’ve been studying this same unit of teaching for the past two week, and we will be studying for two weeks more. Each of the gospel writers has a different angle on Jesus; a different perspective on Jesus’ ministry; a different sense of what was essential – most important – about it. For Matthew, Jesus is “the teacher of all righteousness.”1 And Jesus’ first public act in Matthew’s gospel is to sit down with his disciples and preach them a sermon. So if teaching is important in Matthew’s gospel, and if Jesus is most importantly the teacher of righteousness, then for Matthew what is
1 Karoline Lewis, Commentary on Matthew 5:1-12,
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3155 -1Barrett
most important about being a disciple is that we be consummate students; learners of righteousness.2 Two weeks ago, Pastor Amelie studied with you the Beatitudes – Jesus’ surprising blessings that turn conventional wisdom on its head. With them, Jesus poses “a new set of Christian ideals that focus on a spirit of love and humility.”3 Last week, we learned about the responsibilities of discipleship by studying the passage wherein Jesus calls his disciples the very salt of the earth; the very light of the world. In that portion of his sermon, Jesus challenges his disciples to be who they are: salt and light in a world that needs the distinctive flavor and life-giving illumination of the Christian faith. This week, Jesus’ teachings take us the next step in the practice of discipleship. And this is a hard piece of road here. Because when you take seriously that you are the salt of the earth; when you take seriously that you are the light of the world, then your responsibilities to the community around you deepen, and – frankly – they become more demanding. Let us listen to this portion of Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, as it is written in the book that we love: (Read Matthew 5:21-37) It’s important to remember that we are hearing these texts in the season of Epiphany. The word Epiphany means “to reveal” or “to manifest” and the season of Epiphany in the Church’s life is devoted to the revealing or manifestation of Christ’s glory; his true identity as Son of God and Savior of the world. This Christ who is “God with us” (Matthew 1:23); this infant king who is born king of the Jews (Matthew 2:2); this child who is the son of David (Matthew 1:1-17); this holy babe of Bethlehem who is already a threat to Herod’s throne (Matthew 2:1-20) – this same Jesus has now announced the dawning of another kingdom: the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 4:17). And in his Sermon on the Mount, we “get a glimpse of what this kingdom looks like.”4 We are blessed. We are salt. We are light. We are the Epiphany of Christ – we are the manifestation of His glory in the world. All of these things speak about our identity; about who we are.
2 Karoline Lewis, Commentary on Matthew 5:1-12,
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3155 3 Amelie Sell, The Beatitudes, January 29, 2017, https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.nmstorage.com/pleasantvilleucc/downloads/sermon_january_29_2017_the_beatitudes_1.pdf 4 Carla Works, Commentary on Matthew 5:21-37, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2033 -2Barrett
In this next section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus “begins to turn the perspective of the disciples outside of themselves.”5 We are disciples not for our own sakes, but for the sake of those around us as well. And these next set of teachings make absolutely clear that there is a level of accountability and responsibility that goes along with being a disciple. Being a Christian disciple is not a ‘you-got-to-think-of-yourself-first’ way of life. In the Kingdom of God – as Jesus reveals it to us in these hard teachings – we are disciples for the sake of the good of the community.6 Concerning anger. Concerning adultery. Concerning Divorce. Concerning Oaths. These are the subjects of our Lord’s teaching in this portion of his sermon. Over and over again we hear the formula: “You have heard that it was said… But I say to you …” This is not “a new list of rules”. Jesus is not teaching his followers things they have never heard before. These teachings are based upon the 10 Commandments. But here, Jesus is teaching his disciples “the intentions of the law.”7 Remember: Jesus comes not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). What does God’s kingdom look like? This is what God’s kingdom looks like: In the kingdom of God, it’s not enough to follow the commandments; we need to get to the heart of their meaning and purpose. “Thou shalt not kill” – sounds easy enough for most of us. But if I am harboring resentment in my heart; if I am holding a grudge and nurturing the memory of some real or imagined offense committed against me; if I am making insulting remarks about someone who has gotten on my last nerve – then that will become a kind of hell for me. And in the kingdom of God, it’s not enough to follow the commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” If I am coveting my neighbor’s spouse; if I am using my imagination to fuel those fantasies; if I am redirecting energy away from my marriage to a place it should not be; if I am depriving my beloved of the care and attention they deserve – then that will become a kind of hell for me. In the kingdom of God, disciples honor their promises. In the kingdom of God, we treat one another with compassion. In the kingdom of God, we are people of integrity. In the
5 Karoline Lewis, Commentary on Matthew 5:21-37,
https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3157 6 Karoline Lewis, Commentary on Matthew 5:21-37, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3157 7 Carla Works, Commentary on Matthew 5:21-37, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2033 -3Barrett
kingdom of God we know that God’s people – wherever they are and whoever they are – are not to be used and cast aside like so much refuse, but are fellow disciples, worthy of honor and care. This is what the kingdom looks like – and it is radical stuff. Human relationships are a mess. Not all relationships, and not all the time, but they are enough of a mess that we are sometimes startled when things go well: when people work together effectively, when a marriage survives, when siblings get along, when wars cease. Human relationships are a mess, and Jesus was no stranger to the mess. He did not travel around the Holy Land condemning people for how they may have failed in their relationships with one another. He tried to heal those relationships; to establish something better; to mend the brokenhearted, and to encourage people in new and renewed ways of covenantal living. As brothers and sister in Christ we daily confess the failures we experience trying to get it right. We daily confess the things we try to hide so carefully. We daily confess the resentments we carry. We daily confess the jealousies we harbor. We daily confess the insecurities that dog us. We daily confess the longings – and even the lustings – that make us question our choices. As brothers and sister in Christ, we bring every bit of the messiness of our lives into relationship with God. That’s what we’re supposed to do. That’s what disciples do. We do this because we fully expect Jesus will meet us there. Jesus will meet us in in our deepest need; at our lowest point; when we can no longer fake it ‘til we make it. He will meet us when we fail to be the people he called us to be, and he will meet us when we promise to begin again, and he will meet us the road of our new beginnings, and he will meet us when we stumble and fall. He will do all these things because we belong to him. We are his own. He redeems our brokenness and sets us free to follow Him and to live for him every day. In a world full of arrogance; in a world full of aggression; in a world full of entitlement, we are called to be the manifestation of Christ’s glory in the world. We do it imperfectly. But we do it. It’s the saltiest, most light-filled thing we can do. Some years ago I found these words, attributable to Mother Theresa. I offer them to you again. They seem like good words for imperfect people trying to do ‘kingdom living.’ Which is is of course to say, they seem like good words for all of us:
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People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Love them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway. Amen.
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