Sunday, February 23, 2014

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 5:38-48
MARK TWAIN SAID THAT HIS PROBLEM WITH THE BIBLE WAS NOT THAT IT CONTAINED THINGS THAT HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND, BUT THAT IT CONTAINED THINGS HE UNDERSTOOD TOO WELL. TODAY'S GOSPEL READING WOULD PROBABLY QUALIFY. IF YOU WERE LISTENING SERIOUSLY YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKING YOURSELF, WHY DID JESUS ASK THE IMPOSSIBLE? DID HE WANT US TO BE DOORMATS, TO JUST TAKE WHATEVER A BULLY DISHED OUT? AND WHO REALLY BELIEVES THAT HE COULD BE PERFECT AS GOD HIMSELF IS PERFECT? DOESN'T THAT SEEM A BIT PRESUMPTUOUS, ESPECIALLY WHEN SO MANY OF OUR PRAYERS IMPLY THAT WE ARE ALWAYS IN NEED OF FORGIVENESS, WHICH WOULDN'T BE THE CASE IF WE WERE PERFECT, AS JESUS TOLD US TO BE.
IT'S INTERESTING TO READ COMMENTARIES ON THIS PASSAGE. ONE AUTHOR SAYS THAT JESUS MADE THIS PREPOSTEROUS STATEMENT BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT ANYONE WHO TRIED TO TAKE HIM LITERALLY WOULD FAIL, AND THEN THEY WOULD REALIZE HOW DEPENDENT THEY WERE ON JESUS, HOW MUCH THEY NEEDED UNDESERVED GRACE.
ANOTHER WRITER IS THAT JESUS WANTS HIS FOLLOWERS TO SPEND THEIR LIVES TRYING TO IMPROVE. HE KNOWS THAT WE WON'T EVER ACHIEVE THE GOALS HE SETS OUT FOR US, BUT BY KNOWING WHAT THESE GOALS ARE – TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK, WALKING AN EXTRA MILE, BEING PERFECT – WE WILL BE SPURRED ON AND WE'LL NEVER REST ON OUR LAURELS.
STILL ANOTHER IDEA IS THIS: SCRIPTURE CALLS ABRAHAM AND NOAH PERFECT, BUT ANYONE WHO READS ABOUT THEM MIGHT SEE THAT BOTH HAD FLAWS. NOAH, AFTER ALL, INVENTED BEING DRUNK, AND ABRAHAM, DESPITE HIS CLOSENESS TO GOD, HAD A SON BY A SLAVE GIRL. THAT'S NOT ONLY ADULTERY BUT ITS ALSO RAPE, SINCE THE SLAVE GIRL WAS HIS PROPERTY AND ABRAHAM KNEW SHE COULDN'T RESIST. SO WHERE DID THEIR PERFECTION COME FROM? THEY WERE PERFECT IN OBEDIENCE, NEVER BALKING WHEN GOD TOLD THEM TO DO SOMETHING.
BUT WE KNOW JESUS ALWAYS MEANS WHAT HE SAYS. IF HE WANTS US TO FIGURE SOMETHING OUT FOR OURSELVES, HE'D TELL US A PARABLE, RIGHT?
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT SEPARATES HUMAN BEINGS FROM ANIMALS IS THE FACT THAT WE HAVE FREE WILL, WE ARE FREE TO MAKE CHOICES. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT OUR FREE WILL IS OFTEN LIMITED. EXTERNALLY, IT IS LIMITED BY WHETHER WE HAVE ENOUGH MONEY OR TIME. IT'S LIMITED BY OUR BODIES. PHYSICAL STRENGTH IS NEVER INFINITE, WE CAN'T BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE, SOME THINGS WE MIGHT CHOOSE CAN LEAD TO OUR BEING CRIPPLED OR EVEN DYING. OUR FREEDOM IS LIMITED BY OUR INTELLECTS. EVEN PEOPLE WITH VERY HIGH IQ'S CAN HAVE A DISTORTED PICTURE OF REALITY, AND WE NEVER HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO BE REALLY CERTAIN OF ANYTHING. SO WE HAVE FREE WILL, WE HAVE FREEDOM, BUT IT SEEMS NOT VERY MUCH.
EXTERNAL LIMITATIONS TO OUR FREEDOM OFTEN BE OVERCOME. I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FLAP MY ARMS AND FLY. I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY, BECAUSE MY BRAIN CAN'T MANAGE THAT. BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, EXTERNAL FREEDOM ISN'T WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT ANYWAY. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHETHER MY INTERIOR FREEDOM IS BEING LIMITED, BECAUSE THERE I HAVE CONTROL. THE BUDDHISTS SAY THAT TRUE HAPPINESS COMES WHEN WE ARE FINALLY ABLE TO RID OURSELVES OF DESIRE. IF I DON'T DESIRE A JUICY STEAK DINNER, I WON'T FEEL BAD IF I DON'T GET IT. IF I DON'T DESIRE TO BE A FRIEND WITH SOMEONE, I WON'T BE TROUBLED WHEN THAT PERSON DOESN'T RETURN MY FRIENDSHIP. AND IF I DON'T DESIRE LIFE ITSELF, I WON'T BE UNHAPPY IF I DIE. BUDDHISTS SPEND THEIR LIVES TRYING TO RID THEMSELVES OF DESIRE, BECAUSE THEY HAVE LEARNED THAT TRYING TO FULFILL ONE'S DESIRES ONLY LEADS TO WANT MORE, AND SINCE YOU CAN NEVER GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT, YOU JUST GET MORE AND MORE UNHAPPY.
I'M NOT SAYING JESUS WAS A BUDDHIST, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING SIMILAR GOING ON HERE. IF SOMEONE STRIKES ME, I HAVE BECOME AN OBJECT TO THAT PERSON; MY INTERIOR FREEDOM HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. IF I OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK TO BE STRUCK, I HAVE REGAINED CONTROL; I AM MAKING THE CHOICE, NOT MY ENEMY, NOT CIRCUMSTANCES. IF SOMEONE MAKES ME CARRY HIS BURDEN FOR A MILE, I REGAIN MY FREEDOM BY CHOOSING TO CARRY IT ANOTHER MILE. AND IF I RETURN HATE WITH MORE HATE, I AM LOSING MY FREEDOM. BUDDY HACKET, THE COMEDIAN, SAID THAT HE NEVER CARRIED A GRUDGE, BECAUSE EVENTUALLY HE WOULD BE CARRYING THE GRUDGE AND THE PERSON HE WAS MAD AT WOULD BE DANCING. IF I RETURN HATE WITH LOVE, I HOLD ONTO MY INTERIOR FREEDOM BECAUSE I DON'T LET HATE MOVE ME.
I THINK JESUS IS SAYING THAT WE CAN BE PERFECT IN ONE RESPECT; IF WE HAVE COMPLETE INTERIOR FREEDOM. IF OUR ONLY DESIRE IS TO DO GOD'S WILL, IF NOTHING MATTERS TO US EXCEPT LIVING THE WAY GOD WANTS US TO LIVE, THEN NOTHING CAN REALLY DISTURB OUR FREEDOM. SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT BEING A SAINT REQUIRED THAT YOU DO THE ONE THING – THAT YOU ALLOW NOTHING TO DISTRACT YOU FROM THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN THE END.
AND THAT'S HOW WE BECOME CHILDREN OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. GOD IS BY DEFINITION, UNCONSTRAINED, COMPLETELY FREE. WHILE WE LIVE ON THIS EARTH, WE CAN'T BE LIKE THAT, EXCEPT IN OUR INTERIOR LIFE. THE SAINTS, ESPECIALLY THE MARTYRS, LEARNED THAT LESSON. LISTEN TO THE LAST SERMON GIVEN BY SAINT PAUL MIKI, SPEAKING FROM THE CROSS ON WHICH HE WAS HUNG OUTSIDE THE CITY OF NAGASAKI, AWAITING THE THRUST OF A LANCE INTO HIS HEART.
HIS LAST WORDS WERE RECORDED BY A BYSTANDER. HE SAID, “HAVING ARRIVED AT THIS MOMENT OF MY EXISTENCE, I BELIEVE THAT NONE OF YOU THINKS I WANT TO HIDE THE TRUTH. THAT IS WHY I DECLARE TO YOU THAT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OF SALVATION THAN THE CHRISTIAN WAY. SINCE THIS WAY TEACHES ME TO FORGIVE MY ENEMIES AND ALL WHO HAVE OFFENDED ME, I WILLINGLY FORGIVE THE EMPEROR AND ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DESIRED MY DEATH. AND I PRAY THAT THEY WILL OBTAIN THE DESIRE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.” HE WENT ON TO SAY, “LIKE MY MASTER I SHALL DIE UPON THE CROSS. LIKE HIM, A LANCE WILL PIERCE MY HEART SO THAT MY BLOOD AND MY LOVE CAN FLOW OUT UPON THIS LAND AND SANCTIFY IT TO HIS NAME.”
BOUND TO A CROSS, UNABLE TO MOVE, ABOUT TO DIE, BUT FREE, BECAUSE HE HAS NOT SUCCUMBED TO RESENTMENT, HATE, REGRET; AND HE HAS COMPLETELY EMBRACED LOVE AND FORGIVENESS. HE TRULY LEARNED FROM JESUS, HIS MASTER. AND SO MUST WE.