Sermon: Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Matthew 5:21-37, February 12, 2023Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

Sermon: Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Matthew 5:21-37, February 12, 2023

Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

The gospel reading you just heard makes somewhat veiled references to the Ten Commandments. This beckons us to consider these commandments, which don’t often appear in my sermons, but which are or should be central to our common life. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how are you doing with the 10 Commandments? How would you rate your performance in breaking and not breaking God’s laws?

When it comes to Commandment #5, I suspect most all of us are doing pretty well with “You shall not murder.” Likewise with #7, “You shall not steal.” We’re reasonably well-behaved people around here. So, maybe you’d give yourself a fairly high rating on the 10 Commandments on a scale of 1 to 10.

That’s on the face of things and with a plain reading of the commandments. But enter Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Gospel writer Matthew shows forth as our Messiah. This is what our Lord has to say to us even today, his words recorded in Matthew echoing through the centuries to our ears: “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with another person in the community, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult another person, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Then Jesus goes on, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that all those who look at others with lust have already committed adultery with them in their heart.”

Jesus makes it clear in this teaching that he does not abolish the law. Rather he builds on it and even radicalizes it, making what God commands even more stringent and exacting on us.

And Jesus goes on with other examples concerning divorce and taking oaths, offering his own take on things, his own teaching as more authoritative than the traditions of the elders like Moses.

Given all of this, let me ask the question again, on a scale of 1 to 10, how do you think you’re doing in keeping or failing to keep the commandments as understood and articulated by Jesus? I suspect your scores would be considerably lower now in light of Jesus’ versions of the commands than if we just stuck to more straightforward understandings of the commandments.

Here's the thing: Jesus, as portrayed in Matthew’s gospel, leaves no one off the hook. In short, as Paul writes in Romans, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (cf. Romans 3:23). That’s true for us individually and it’s true for us communally. Even our venerable elder statesman, President Jimmy Carter, admitted to his problem with lust years ago – you remember that? And who among us hasn’t on occasion at least been angry at others? And in our communal discourse, insults and versions of yelling “you fool” are part of parcel of Tweets and other expressions on social media. We even saw this bad behavior on display at the State of the Union address to Congress last week. When it comes to Jesus’ version of the commandments and their stringent demands, again, none of us is off the hook. We all fall short in one way or another.

And all of this is really a matter of life and death when it’s all said and done. Moses makes this clear in the first reading for today in Deuteronomy when he addresses God’s people near the end of his life: “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today… then you shall live and become numerous… But if your hearts turn away and you do not hear but are led astray… I declare to you today that you shall certainly perish.” (cf. Deuteronomy 30:16-17) Indeed, our human failures to live up to God’s standards of conduct have done irreparable harm to people throughout the ages, sometimes literally leading to death in one way or another.

Where then does this leave us, especially when Jesus’ own version and understanding of the law is such that it’s impossible for us to be 100% compliant and obedient?

I have to confess to you that because Matthew portrays Jesus as being relentlessly demanding, Matthew’s gospel is my least favorite of the four because it wreaks havoc with my perfectionism, my desire to be above reproach. The demanding Jesus in Matthew makes it clear that I am far, far from perfect. The truth hits a little too close to home.

Maybe you have a similar reaction to having heard and felt the demands of today’s gospel reading and found yourselves judged.

Again, where does Jesus’ teaching about the law and its radicalized demands leave us? In short, and quite profoundly, the effect of this teaching is to drive us into the forgiving arms of a merciful, loving God. The exacting nature of Jesus’ teaching shakes us up and wakes us up to our need for a savior. Jesus’ demanding teaching reveals our sin and thus our need for him as the one to save us from our plight.

Moreover, Jesus’ tough love in Matthew opens up the portal for faith, for our confession that on our own we cannot meet his demands, and leads to trusting that in Christ, who is our righteousness, we have a Savior who loves us, forgives us, redeems us anyway.

Awakened to faith by hearing and apprehending the relentless demands of the divine law as articulated by Christ, we are also brought to a different horizon to hear new sets of antitheses, a new teaching that conveys to us the gospel, the good news – “You have heard it said…. But I, Jesus, say to you…”

For the one who has the authority as our Messiah to make more demanding the strictures of the divine law also has the authority to forgive us and love us even when we fall short.

So, now, listen to the gospel, the good news, apprehended from the larger vantage point of the Jesus portrayed in all of the gospels especially in light of Christ’s death and resurrection:

You’ve heard it said that anyone who is angry with another in the community and who insults others and says ‘you fool’ is liable to judgment and to the hell of fire, but Jesus also says to you from his cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

You’ve heard it said that anyone who looks at others with lust has already committed adultery with them in their heart, but Jesus also says to you, “I still love you, and through my Spirit I will teach you how to love others in ways that are not predatory and which honor the golden rule to treat others as you would want to be treated.”

Or take what we have witnessed today with the protesters at Faith-La Fe: “You’ve heard it said that God condemns gays and lesbians and trans people, but Jesus says to everyone, ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’” (Matthew 11:28-30)

You can go on with such examples of Jesus’ new antitheses in light of his gospel of the dominion of heaven coming near in him. In fact, I encourage you to do so. Jot down “You have heard it said…. But Jesus says to you….” and then fill in the blanks with specifics that relate to your own life and circumstances.

These could go something like this: “You’ve heard it said that you have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, but Jesus says to you by grace you have been saved; your salvation does not depend on your own efforts.”

Try out this exercise in your devotions this week! Be creative! And listen for the good news even amidst the demands of God’s loving law, a tough love indeed, but a love that prevails nonetheless and has the last word.

And just when we forget about Jesus’ love and mercy, and we inevitably do that, and when we wallow in our sense of shortcomings, then Christ comes to us again and again in familiar ways that we experience in our worshipful life together.

There are those occasions on Sundays when we remember and give thanks for baptism when I sprinkle water from the font on you and you feel the cold chill of that holy water, a jarring splash that gets your attention and awakens us all anew to faith and trust in the one who demands so much from us, but who loves us all the more, ever forgiving and always cleansing us no matter what.

And when we forget God’s mercy yet again, then we take a sip of tart wine, which also gets our attention so that we can better hear and take to heart the words, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This, too, awakens our faith, our trust in God’s demanding mercy.

Remember, this is all a matter of life and death. Moses said to the people of old: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.”

Well, here’s what this means for us in these latter days under the authority of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ: Christ chose both death and life. Christ chose to die on our behalf that we might live. And God raised Jesus from the dead such that life is chosen for us by grace. We need only receive this gift in gratitude.

And in this new life in Christ, we begin to have the capacity in fits and starts and by God’s mercy and grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit, another gift from on high, to live the demanding, tough love kind of life God in Christ expects of us.

For all the demands of the law are ultimately about love. Love of God. And loving neighbors even as we love ourselves. By God’s grace and in the power of the Spirit, we at Faith-La Fe have chosen life and love and inclusion.

The protesters were here this morning because of our public witness for life, not death, for love, not hatred, for radical welcome and hospitality, and not excluding people and turning them away from Christ who loves and embraces us no matter what.

Ironically and paradoxically, their protest rooted in hatred calls attention to our witness to love. So, I say, bring it on. Thanks be to God that our witness to the light, life and love of Christ prevails over darkness, death, and hatred.

And remember, when it’s all said and done, it’s not what we do, but ultimately what God does in and through us and often in spite of us. God’s work. Our hands. Or as Paul reminds his readers in the church at Corinth: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God gives the growth.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

Thanks be to God for this light, this life, this love. Amen.