6 Epiphany, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
6 Epiphany, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 St. Andrew’s on-the-Hill
Matthew 5:21-37
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
One of the gifts of The Episcopal Church is that from time to time we take Communion to folks who are not able to get to church for whatever reason.
Folks may be homebound or in the hospital,
and one way that we celebrate that we are One Body in Christ
is to take the blessed Body and Blood of the Eucharist and share with them.
Home Communion is an extension of this gathered Body of Christ.
I remember one such time that I took Communion to someone’s home.
After we finished our brief service,
we sat in silence for a few minutes.
Then this person said:
“we need to pray….
we need to pray for all the people who are harmed by earthquakes
and war
and all kinds of devastation that isn’t meant to be.
I sat there in silence,
knowing the sacredness of that moment.
This man was naming his vision of the Kingdom of God.
A vision perhaps not unlike what we hear from Moses, Jesus, and Paul this morning.
A vision of a reconciled people and a flourishing creation.
Moses said, “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity,
death and adversity.
“If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today,
by loving the Lord your God,
walking in his ways,
and observing his commandments….
then you shall live.”
So, according to Moses we have a choice:
we may choose life,
or we may choose death.
The choice is up to us.
Paul speaks to the Church at Corinth,
a church known to be rife with quarreling and dissension,
saying, “as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you,
are you not of the flesh?”
He also points out that folks are claiming their identity by who they “belong” to:
Apollos, or Paul.
Last week we heard Paul ask, “Is Christ divided?”
Well, no, of course not!
We insist on division;
and, that division seems to put us on the path toward death.
Moses, Jesus, and Paul commend to us God’s invitation to reconciliation…
placing us on the path toward life.
It seems that today’s message from Moses, Jesus, and Paul
is that choosing life means living into reconciled and restored relationships,
rooted in justice,
and immersed in God’s Grace.
We do not exist as isolated individuals,
so, how we relate to each other is of paramount importance.
In today’s Gospel Jesus takes the ancient Mosaic law,
which was established to help people love God and their neighbor,
and he broadens the Law.
He expands judgment for murder
to include anger, insults, and calling someone a “fool.”
He expands adultery to looking at someone with lust.
He likewise expands the harms of divorce and swearing.
And the purpose of each is to show us the way of love:
• It is not enough just to refrain from murder.
We are to treat each other with respect,
and that means not speaking hateful words.
• It is not enough to avoid physically committing adultery.
We are not to objectify other persons
by seeing them as a means to satisfy our physical desires.
• It is not enough to follow the letter of the law regarding divorce.
We are to not treat people as disposable,
and we are to make sure that the most vulnerable are provided for, which in that culture often meant women and children, and that is often true today.
• It is not enough to keep ourselves from swearing falsely or lying to others.
We are to simply speak and act truthfully in all of our dealings
so that we don’t need to make oaths at all.
Jesus spoke in hyperbolic terms of cutting off body parts and burning in hell to magnify just how important our relationships are to God.
Respect, honor, humility, and reconciliation are at the heart of the way that Jesus sees the fulfillment of the Law of loving God and neighbor.
And, just to turn the screws a little tighter…
according to Jesus, both the offender and the offended are to seek reconciliation.
We know that if we wrong someone else,
we are the one to apologize,
ask forgiveness,
and seek reconciliation.
Yet, Jesus goes one step further
and says that we are to seek reconciliation with the person who has offended us!
Both of those things are difficult to do:
· To admit our wrongdoing toward another and to ask forgiveness and
· (perhaps even more difficult) To confront an offender who has hurt us, and seek reconciliation
In both cases we act out of a place of vulnerability and humility (and in so doing, honor truth).
Respecting and honoring one another is God’s intention for our relationships.
In Jesus’ teachings he reveals God to us:
God’s nature -
and God’s intent for humankind.
Matthew’s Gospel, addressing a primarily Jewish audience,
teaches an ethic that does not contradict but broadens Mosaic Law.
Jesus teaches to live Torah in a way that does not protect against the danger of sin by following the letter of the law but in a way that expresses the humility, Grace, and abundance of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus died on a cross to show us a different way…
Instead of the way of anger and insults and false testimony and dishonor…
Jesus showed us the way of love and forgiveness and humility and respect.
This is the path that Jesus bids us to follow…
the path that leads to abundant life.
This week I invite you to consider one relationship in your life that is broken:
perhaps it is a complete fracture,
or perhaps it is something seemingly small.
Offer that relationship to God for healing.
Hold that person in prayer every day this week.
Ask for guidance for a way to heal and reconcile that relationship.
It doesn’t matter who is to blame for the brokenness.
Then, if you are able,
take a step toward healing.
If you are not able to talk to that person,
prayer and forgiveness go a long way toward healing.
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?
“[Jesus] said to him,
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind.’
This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22:36-40) Amen.
