But I Say to You - Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Year A

But I Say to You

Epiphany 6A

February 12, 2023

Christ, Preston & Union Prairie, Lanesboro

Matthew 5.21-37

In 1981, I was transferred from the Chicago Minnesota Fabrics store I was managing to the Aero Drapery facility in Louisville, KY. My wife, Cindy, and I rented an apartment on the East side, one that had outside stairways and entryways, something you can get away with in the South. The stairways were not only outside but also wide open and a favorite place for Susie to play. Susie was the little girl who lived with her mother above us on the third floor. One day as we came home, Susie was playing with little figurines and was pushing them off the landing, seeing them fall below. “Susie,” her mother scolded, “I’ve told you not to throw things off the landing!” Precocious Susie, obviously a budding lawyer, replied, “I’m not throwing them off. I’m pushing them off.”

It is also obvious that Susie failed to distinguish the letter of the law from the spirit of the law, something that I’m sure she and her mother discussed later. That’s important for today’s Gospel reading, our third and final foray into the Sermon on the Mount, the first and longest of five discourses of teaching of Jesus in Matthew as he is shown to be a teacher par excellence. So far, we’ve heard in the Beatitudes how we are blessed as followers of Jesus; that we are the salt of the earth and light of the world; that Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it; and that we are to attain a righteousness  as a community greater than that of the religious leaders of the day.

All of that was preamble for today’s reading and following, as Jesus gets down to the nitty gritty of how we are to live with one another. Taken at face value, Jesus’ words are hard to hear, particularly about lust, divorce, and adultery. On the one hand, we can tell that Jesus is speaking in hyperbole: there are no one-eyed men and women here. But that doesn’t undercut what Jesus is trying to do, to say PAY ATTENTION, this is important. He wants us to understand that God takes our relationship with each other very seriously.

Jesus first and foremost wants us to acknowledge that we can and do deeply hurt one another. And very often that hurt comes from being so focused on the letter of the law in lieu of its spirit. Debie Thomas, one of my favorite writers says it this way: “There is a place called hell and it’s a place we create for each other every time we choose an easy and austere legalism over an arduous and radical love.” We don’t need God to create a hell for us because we do it on our own.

In the mid-1990s, I was preparing for graduation from seminary and hopefully, call and ordination. The process involved writing essays that would be judged by a candidacy committee. One of the questions asked what my response would be to a gay man who contracted AIDS. Remember, this was a time when the issue of both homosexuality, homosexual behavior, and AIDS were volatile issues. Both the church and society were coming to grips with them. As I struggled with how to faithfully answer the question, theologically, pastorally, and personally, it occurred to me  - no doubt through the Holy Spirit - that the question of how a gay man contracted AIDS and the social issues involved weren’t relevant. The issue was how as a pastor and faith community we could compassionately care for this person. The other questions would be addressed at another time. I must have answered it well enough because here I am today.

Jesus is clear that what we do matters. But he is also clear that what we do is to be done with compassion and love. We do well to remember that Jesus’ words are addressed to the group of disciples as a whole, to the  “y'all" in which he is calling forth a new faith community. He is telling us we don’t have to settle for what is by giving us a vision of what can be. The issue isn’t as much about how divorce happens and shaming people because of it. The issue is how we as a faith community can minister to families in the midst of that reality, not adding to their pain. My siblings in Christ, you have heard what the world says, but Jesus says to you there’s a better way. The way of compassion and love is hard, but it is where true life is to be found. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.