1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew
5:21-37
February 16, 2014
© 2014
Peter Woods is a pastoral therapist who wrote,
“If I had a dollar every time someone asked me as their minister, ‘Is it right
to … ?’ ‘Is it wrong to … ?’ I would not have to burden my congregation with my
stipend assessment! There is something about human nature that wants to be
told. ‘Do this.’ ‘Don’t do that.’ It is the path of lazy and infantilized
religion. I never grow up if I never have to figure out the rules, for my own
context, for myself.” (http://thelisteninghermit.com/)
My experience with the lightning rod issues
of our time is pastoral, and not about politics or public policy, or even about
church doctrine. When people ask me as their pastor about a tragic pregnancy,
adultery, divorce, sexuality, business ethics, responding to being abused or
cheated, they are always in pain and internal conflict. On the one hand, to say
to them, “It’s your choice,” is a cop-out, an evasion of pastoral responsibility.
On the other hand to cite a rigid rule inflicts further injury.
Last Sunday we heard Jesus tell his disciples
that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees they
would never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This week we will listen to him
describe that righteousness for relationships with people who are close to us –
next week, for those who might be our antagonists.
In Matthew 5:21-37 Jesus explains how we can
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees by centering our lives at
the center of the Kingdom of Heaven, not by tiptoeing around the boundaries,
hoping we won’t fall out.
“You have heard that it was said to
those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be
liable to judgment.’ 22But 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. 23So when you are offering
your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has
something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and
go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your
gift. 25Come 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. 26Truly
I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You
shall not commit adultery.’28But I say to you that everyone who
looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. 29If 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. 30And 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. 31“It was
also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of
divorce.’ 32But 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.
33“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.’ 34But
I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of
God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not swear by your
head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let your word
be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”
This week, and again next week, we hear Jesus
describe what he means by fulfilling and not abolishing the Law with the
formula, “You have heard that it was said” and “But I say to you.” When he
finished the Sermon on the Mount, “the crowds were astounded at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” (7:28-29)
The religious teachers of Jesus’ time never
asserted their own interpretation of a passage of Scripture but always quoted
an earlier scholar, who had also quoted someone earlier yet. For all of their
fussing over details of the Law, they came off as if they had no real
convictions.
The standard formula when a Hebrew prophet
declared an oracle was “Thus says the Lord.” In contrast, Jesus said, “But I
say to you,” which no Hebrew prophet would have dared to utter. Jesus was
speaking as the one who had given the Law in the first place and had the
rightful authority to articulate its fulfilled meaning.
With this authority Jesus defined
righteousness in terms of internal character that bears fruit in relationships.
He removed it from the realm of external conformity to behavioral rules and
invalidated every human propensity for moralism, as though we could do enough
good.
We read from 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 of Paul’s
concern for the spiritual immaturity of the people of the Corinthian church.
They were infants quarreling over whose teaching to follow. Bringing this up
against what Jesus said about righteousness, reminded me of the research on
moral development done by social psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg. He identified
three levels of moral development. Infants and young children regard as good
avoiding punishment and getting their own benefit. Adolescents adopt social
norms and eventually legal definitions as good, not only for them but for
others as well. Interestingly, Kohlberg’s research indicated only a relatively
small proportion of adults actually get to the third level of internalizing
universal ethical principles. While Kohlberg did not relate his research to the
teaching of Jesus, it seems to me that it validates Jesus’ call for a
righteousness of internal character that bears fruit in relationships. Jesus
identified three critical arenas to illustrate how to exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees by centering our lives at the center of the
Kingdom of Heaven, not by tiptoeing around the boundaries, hoping we won’t fall
out.
Jesus first identified anger as the root of
violence (vv. 21-26). The debate in our society about guns is a symptom of our
anxiety about violence. I believe Jesus would say that violence can’t be
reduced by either restricting access to guns or by promoting guns for
self-defense. I think Jesus would say that as his disciples we must get to the
source of anger within ourselves, regardless of how the society responds. Psychologists
teach that anger is a secondary emotion. It is triggered by another emotion,
usually about some way we feel our interests are threatened. James 4:1‑2
expresses this way. “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come
from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You
want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet
something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.”
If we take Jesus’ words about adultery, lust
and divorce as stipulating what specific conditions make specific behavior
permissible or not, we are tiptoeing around the boundaries and not centering
ourselves on the center of the Kingdom of Heaven. Marriage and our human
sexuality are not contractual or consensual arrangements regulated by law, but
intrinsic to the structure of creation itself, the good gift of God to
humanity; therefore, not at our personal disposal. (M.
Eugene Boring and Fred B. Craddock, The People's New Testament Commentary, 2009, Westminster John Knox
Press, p. 32)
Much like today, in Jesus’ time, people
didn’t feel obligated to be completely honest if it did not serve their
personal interests. They developed an informal hierarchy of oaths to convince
others to accept what they said even if manipulated to their advantage. Complex
contractual language and notarization, swearing into public office or in court
are symptoms of a similar distrust of people’s honesty in our time. I
understand why some Christians refuse these based on Jesus’ words, but I think
that misses Jesus’ point. He is calling us to be people of such integrity that
we are believed for whatever we may say. Letting our light shine before others
requires such integrity.
When we exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees by centering our lives at the center of the Kingdom of Heaven,
rather than tiptoeing around the boundaries, hoping we won’t fall out, we will
inevitably be out of step with the expectations of the people in the society in
which we live.
I felt ambivalent when I recently watched the
Public TV feature about the Amish. On one hand I identified with and was
challenged by the depth of their discipleship. But on the other hand, I felt
some of their lifestyle choices were like hiding their light under the bushel
basket. Through the centuries monastic movements that have sought intentional
discipleship have also been susceptible to similar isolation that truncated
their witness.
My friend Rick Morse works with hundreds of
Disciples of Christ congregations as Vice President of the Hope Partnership for
Missional Transformation. I excerpted an article he wrote in our newsletter a
couple of weeks ago. I cringed a bit when I read his question, “If your church
was to close tomorrow, what would the community miss the most?” I translated it
to be personal for me. Have any of my neighbors in Dallas missed anything of
the presence of Christ in the year and a half we are serving churches in
Midwest City, OK and here in Odessa? I’m afraid I’m more at risk of blending in
than being isolated.
So what does it look like to center our lives
at the center of the Kingdom of Heaven? One thing for sure, there will not be a
single pattern for everyone, but a rich variety will grow out of the uniqueness
of our individual relationships with Jesus. When we explain our decisions to
ourselves or others, do we make a direct connection to wanting to follow Jesus?
Or do we use a rule or law to justify a decision? Or do we say it’s our
individual choice? Is our talk about Jesus or about ourselves? Eugene Peterson,
best known for his Bible paraphrase The
Message, gets at it in how he listens to sermons.
The thing I
listen for in a sermon is a proclamation that God is doing something that’s
never been done before for me. If the pastor is mostly talking about what I’m
supposed to be doing, I quit listening. I want to enter the world of Jesus. I
want to hear what’s going on, not just to hear a verbatim description of what
went on, but what still goes on. What God is doing, not what I can’t do, or
shouldn’t do, or should do. I’m listening for the proclamation of God’s Gospel.
WorkingPreacher.org
God is at the center, not me.
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