Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

MATTHEW 5:17-37
ALL THROUGH THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, THERE ARE THE LAWS GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL BY MOSES. THESE AREN'T JUST THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY ARE INSTEAD, LAWS HAVING TO DO WITH OFFERING SACRIFICE, WITH ADMINISTERING JUSTICE, WHICH DIET, WITH HOW TO PURIFY YOURSELF, WITH THINGS LIKE ALLOWING A NEWLY MARRIED MAN TO STAY HOME WITH HIS WIFE FOR A YEAR BEFORE CONSCRIPTING HIM TO GO OFF TO WAR...THERE ARE LAWS DEALING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T JEWS BUT LIVED AMONG THE JEWS – MOSTLY NATIVE PEOPLES WHO HAD BEEN THERE BEFORE THE JEWS ENTERED THE PROMISED LAND.
IT'S INTERESTING THAT SOME OF THESE LAWS WERE QUICKLY IGNORED; THERE IS A LAW THAT TELLS YOU WHEN YOU CAN PUT TO DEATH A DISOBEDIENT SON, FOR EXAMPLE. THERE IS THE LEVIRITE LAW, WHICH SAYS THAT IF YOUR BROTHER DIES, YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIS WIDOW PREGNANT, SO THAT SOMEONE WILL BE AROUND TO BE HIS DESCENDANT. AND THERE IS THE LAW OF JUBILEES, WHICH SAYS THAT EVERY FIFTY YEARS ALL THE LAND THAT HAS BEEN SOLD IS GIVEN BACK TO THOSE WHO HAD IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUT SOME JEWS, THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES ESPECIALLY, EVENTUALLY DECIDED THAT GOD WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO OBEY ALL THE LAWS UNLESS OF COURSE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. BUT SOME OF THESE LAWS ARE A LITTLE VAGUE. ONE SAYS THAT YOU SHALL NOT WORK ON THE SABBATH DAY. SO WHAT IS WORK? SOME RABBIS TAUGHT THAT YOU COULD WALK 100 STEPS FROM YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT BREAKING THE LAW. SOME TAUGHT THAT YOU COULDN'T PREPARE FOOD ON THE SABBATH. EVENTUALLY THE COMMANDMENT WAS BROKEN DOWN INTO ALL KINDS OF SPECIFIC RULES WHICH, IF YOU FOLLOWED THEM, YOU COULD BE SURE YOU WERE NOT BREAKING THE COMMANDMENT. ANOTHER RULE WAS THAT YOU COULDN'T BOIL A KID IN IT'S MOTHER'S MILK. MODERN SCHOLARS THINK THIS WAS BECAUSE THAT WAS A PAGAN PRACTICE; BUT THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES DEVELOPED THAT RULE INTO THE DIETARY LAWS THAT ORTHODOX JEWS STILL FOLLOW; YOU EVEN HAVE TO HAVE TWO SETS OF DISHES SO THAT YOU WILL USE ONE FOR DAIRY AND ONE FOR NON-DAIRY. TO US THIS APPROACH TO LAW IS HARD TO UNDERSTAND, BUT REMEMBER, TO JEWS OBEYING GOD'S LAW WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THEY COULD DO, SO IT HELPED TO HAVE DETAILED RULES. THIS WAS CALLED “PUTTING A FENCE AROUND THE LAW”.
TODAY WE HEAR JESUS COMING UP WITH A RADICALLY DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION. FIRST, HE SAYS THAT HE DID NOT COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW. HE CAME TO FULFILL IT, DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL. AND THEN INSTEAD OF LISTING WAYS TO AVOID BREAKING A PARTICULAR COMMANDMENT, HE DRILLS DOWN. YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID “YOU SHALL NOT KILL; AND WHOEVER KILLS WILL BE LIABLE TO JUDGMENT.” BUT JESUS RECOGNIZES THAT KILLING STEMS FROM ANGER – NOT THAT MOMENTARY FLASH OF ANGER YOU GET WHEN SOMEONE CUTS YOU OFF IN TRAFFIC – OTHERWISE, I'D BE IN REAL TROUBLE. RATHER, THAT DEEP SEATED ANGER, THAT SIMMERING ANGER THAT COLORS YOUR WHOLE LIFE. IN THE MOVIE “FOR ROSANNA” THERE IS A SCENE IN WHICH A MAN IS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER SERVING A 20 YEAR SENTENCE. HE BUYS A GUN AND GOES OFF TO KILL HIS WORST ENEMY. WHEN HE LEARNS THAT HIS ENEMY DIED A NATURAL DEATH, HE SHOUTS “YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME IN HELL. I'M COMING TO GET YOU!” AND THEN HE SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE HEAD. LIKEWISE JESUS TALKS ABOUT LUST. IF YOU ARE A NORMAL MALE, YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT NOTICING ATTRACTIVE WOMEN; IT'S BUILT IN TO YOUR BIOLOGY. IT MAY BE TRUE OF WOMEN AS WELL, BUT I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF. THAT IS NOT LUST. LUST IS THE MAN WHO SITS DOWN IN FRONT OF HIS COMPUTER AND DELIBERATELY GOES TO A PORNOGRAPHY SITE. AFTER A WHILE, HE'S AN ADDICT; THAT'S THE KIND OF LUST JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT.
JESUS TALKS ABOUT DIVORCE. WE HAVE CASUAL DIVORCES IN OUR DAY – JUST OPEN UP PEOPLE MAGAZINE ANY PARTICULAR WEEK – AND THIS WAS THE KIND OF DIVORCE IN JESUS' DAY. A MAN WOULD GET TIRED OF HIS WIFE AND DECIDE HE NEEDED SOMEONE YOUNGER AND PRETTIER, AND ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS WRITE OUT A BILL OF DIVORCE, AND HIS WIFE WAS OUT ON THE STREET. OFTEN THE WOMAN ENDED UP DOING WHATEVER SHE COULD TO SURVIVE, INCLUDING PROSTITUTION. SHE MIGHT EVEN MARRY AGAIN, BUT JESUS MAKES IT CLEAR THAT NEITHER ALTERNATIVE IS ACCEPTABLE. DIVORCE ALWAYS COMES BECAUSE ONE PARTY FEELS THAT THE OTHER IS NOT MEETING HIS OR HER NEEDS, AND THAT ATTITUDE MEANS THAT THE PARTNER IS VIEWED AS AN OBJECT, A POSSESSION, INSTEAD OF AN EQUAL TO WHOM ONE IS COMMITTED.
AND FINALLY JESUS TALKS ABOUT TAKING OATHS. THIS ISN'T THE SAME THING AS PROMISING TO TELL THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. THIS STEMS FROM A SITUATION IN WHICH THERE IS GENERAL DISTRUST, SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN CASUAL SPEECH AND TELLING THE TRUTH. WHEN PEOPLE TAKE OATHS, THEY ARE SAYING THAT “YOU CAN TRUST ME NOW” BUT ALSO, THAT “YOU CAN'T TRUST ME MOST OF THE TIME.” JESUS IS SAYING THAT IT ISN'T A MATTER OF TRUE OATHS AND FALSE OATHS; IT IS A MATTER OF LIVING SO THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO TAKE OATHS. ALL YOU SAY IS TRUE.
THE PHARISEES BUILT FENCES AROUND THE LAWS OF MOSES. JESUS LOOKED AT THE LAWS AND SAW THEIR ROOTS. WHEN THE ROOTS ARE VISIBLE, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE LAW IS NOT AN EXTERNAL THING BUT HAS TO DO WITH OUR AUTHENTIC SELVES. IF WE GO AROUND CONSTANTLY HOLDING A GRUDGE, WE MIGHT MURDER, WE MIGHT HUT OUR NEIGHBOR, BUT WE WILL DEFINITELY DESTROY OURSELVES, BECAUSE SOMETHING THAT POSSESSES US TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN NO LONGER CONTROL OURSELVES ERASES WHAT IS GOD-LIKE IN US, OUR POWER TO CHOOSE. IF WE LIVE IN A STATE OF LUST, AND LUST ISN'T JUST ABOUT SEX, IT CAN BE ABOUT FOOD, ALCOHOL, POWER, RICHES … ALL OF THESE CAN CAUSE ME TO COMMIT SINFUL ACTS, BUT THEY ALWAYS DISTORT AND DIMINISH MY HUMANITY.
NOW JESUS ALSO DEMONSTRATES SOMETHING THAT EACH OF US CAN DO. IF WE EXAMINE WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZE SINFUL ACTS, WE CAN DIG DOWN TO THEIR ROOTS, AND INVARIABLY, WE WILL FIND SOMETHING THAT KEEPS US FROM BEING FULLY HUMAN – AND WE ARE HUMAN TO THE EXTENT THAT WE ARE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
BUT WE CAN'T DO THIS BY OURSELVES. FORTUNATELY, JESUS STANDS READY TO HELP US IN THE PERSON OF OUR PRIESTS, IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. WE THINK OVER OUR ACTIONS, WE LAY THEM OUT BEFORE THE PRIEST, AND HOPEFULLY, THERE WILL BE SOME DISCUSSION, LOOKING AT THE ROOTS OF OUR ACTIONS. AND THEN WE RECEIVE GOD'S SACRAMENTAL GRACE THAT CAN HELP US AT OUR ROOTS, THAT CAN LIFT THOSE BARRIERS WHICH KEEP US FROM WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.