Wow! That’s quite a gospel reading isn’t it? It’s not one we get around to very often because we’re usually starting Lent by now. But this year Easter is really, really late--not until the 24th of April--so we have a few extra weeks of the Epiphany season and some texts we haven’t read in awhile.
The psalm doesn’t really prepare us for what’s to come in the gospel. It sounds really nice. Happy are those who walk in the law of God and keep God’s decrees and seek God with their whole heart and who do no wrong.
Oops! There’s one problem right there… NO one does no wrong (except Jesus)! We’re all imperfect so we all mess up at least once in awhile. But we try our best to praise God with an upright heart and follow God’s commandments and ordinances.
And THEN we come to the gospel reading……
Before we even start on that, we need to remember what Jesus said in last week’s reading. That was verse 20, immediately preceding the start of today’s reading. He said: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”[1]
The Pharisees, at least, were the most righteous (or maybe self-righteous) people there were and they devoted themselves to following the law to the letter. They had no room for exceptions, and of course that was one of the problems Jesus had with them. It would seem that if anyone was getting into heaven for following all the rules it would be the Pharisees! So, you weren’t getting there unless you did even better--or were more conscientious--than the Pharisees. And THAT was almost impossible! Basically Jesus was saying that following the rules the Pharisees sought to enforce was futile.
So… now, are we ready? Probably not, but let’s move on anyway.
Today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel is a rule-maker’s dream: You’ve got murder, hate, adultery, lust, divorce and oaths. Anyone quoting from a verse here or a verse there can find ample justification for shunning, judging, chastising and rejecting the ones who can’t live up to the rules.
Those of us who are old enough may remember all the flap over an interview Jimmy Carter did in Playboy back in the ‘70s where he talked about having lusted in his heart. Anyone who has ever looked at another person and appreciated their physical attributes is in trouble, according to a literal reading of this passage.
And divorce… that paragraph will make lots of people uncomfortable or it might even make them give up on the church altogether. The Old Testament said a man could give his wife a written divorce decree. But that meant she was out in the cold with no property and no one to take care of her. So what Jesus is saying is technically better for women because in those days women needed to be provided for by some male person, be it husband, father, brother, uncle or son.
And don’t swear at all. Well, sure, don’t swear false witness is a really good idea, but perhaps it’s even better not to swear on anything, good or bad.
But you know what? I think what Jesus was trying to get across to his listeners was pretty much the opposite of what he was saying. Sure, what he said was good advice to live by, but the thing is no one could do it--not 100%. Perhaps Jesus was saying, “You think you’re following the rules because you know the loopholes. But I’m telling you that it’s about more than just doing the minimum. And you’ve got to see that no one is going to be able to live up to these rules! No one! So stop beating yourself up when you fail. Stop beating up other people when they fail. Everyone fails at this!” [2]
We need a new heart that realizes we can try our best to live up to all the good things we should do and be, but sometimes we are going to fail and God’s grace will be there for us. God’s love will be there for us. And that’s the wonderful thing about God’s love and God’s grace….. God is always willing to give us another chance! With God, failing doesn’t mean “GAME OVER.”
That reminds me of a new game that’s all the rage right now. I wouldn’t call it a video game, but you can play it on smart phones, iPads and computers. It’s called “Angry Birds.” Apparently the birds are angry because the green pigs have stolen their eggs. So the birds fling themselves out of a giant slingshot (that’s where we come in, we have to pull them back in the slingshot and aim them toward the target) and try to crash through the barriers the pigs have set up to protect themselves. You progress through various levels and you have to figure out how to aim the birds so they can hit the most pigs.
Don’t ask my why it’s so addicting, but it is. There is some strategy to it and some skill in figuring out how to get through the different levels. But the most important thing about the game, I think--at least for our purposes today--is that if you fail, you just tap the retry button and go again. You can keep trying and trying until you finally succeed at that level and then you move on to the next. No total failure and no Game Over because you didn’t succeed at a certain number of levels.
That also reminds me of a movie many of you have probably seen, Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. It has become a classic in a pretty short time and I know quite a few people who make a ritual of watching it on or near February 2nd every year. It’s kind of the same thing as Angry Birds. Bill Murray plays the part of a very stuck on himself news reporter who gets stuck on Groundhog Day (Feb. 2nd) and has to live the same day over and over and over again. He finally begins to learn things from reliving the same day and he becomes a different and kinder person by the end. No failure there either, just keep trying until you get it.
Those are contemporary examples of grace. Grace is something that really ticks people off if they are the type who like to enforce the rules on others. But for those who know that everyone fails at one time or another, then grace is a breath of fresh air--and a break--from the hot air of the enforcers. [3]
So, I think this gospel passage is much less frightening or frustrating than it might appear at first reading. God gives us a new heart, but we often forget to use it to be compassionate toward others. So Jesus reminds us that the standards are set so high it’s impossible to attain them all the time. But God’s grace and God’s love are sufficient to get us through and give us another chance. AMEN.
Notes
1. Matthew t5:20, NRSV.
2. Rev. Kirk Moore,
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/5L9vpi/revkirk.blogspot.com/2011/02/further-reminders.html
