I am willing; be cleansed

 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

* * * *

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

- Matthew 7:28-8:4

We have just finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5--7 of Matthew's Gospel. In yesterday's reading, Jesus concluded:  "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."


And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  In the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes clear allusions to the authority which He carries in Himself, proclaiming Himself Judge and speaking of Judgment, what is to come of those who hear His words and do what He teaches, and of those who will not.  Here is another affirmation of the authority that is present, the way that Jesus speaks, to the astonishment of those who are listening.  It is a revelation of His divine identity.

 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, you can make me clean."  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  In this act, Jesus further displays His divine authority and identity.  My study bible notes here:  "The biblical law concerning leprosy is found in Lev. 13; 14.  Dt. 24:8 describes the purification of lepers and leprous houses, which was a duty entrusted to the priests.  Leprosy was considered a direct punishment for sins, and as lepers were unclean, they were not permitted to live in the community or to worship in synagogues or the temple.  Touching the unclean was forbidden (Lv. 7:21), yet Jesus touched the leper, showing His compassion, and showing that He is not subject to the Law but over it.  To the clean, nothing is unclean."

Although Jesus has now openly and directly asserted His authority through His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, He does not shrink from offering what is owed, in some sense, to the community.  He respects the Law of Moses regarding the necessary offering to the priest and the priest's role in the community regarding leprosy.  He does not antagonize needlessly, while at the same time asserts the truth of His identity and authority.  But above all, Jesus' hallmark is His compassion.  We understand Him in terms of the character that produces authority, power, even authority over the Law while still obeying its precepts in response to the obligations of the community.  What is most important is that we understand also His fearlessness; He does what He has to do, He asserts the truth He is here to reveal, while at the same time He respects the community and its customs, save where it is necessary for Him to assert something new in His mission into the world.  Mostly, we understand His dedication to the Father and His expression of the Father's will that comes through His acts of compassion and love, even to doing something shocking in His society:  touching a leper.  Jesus tells us something that will be a component, the hallmark, of the earliest decisions of the Church:  what God has cleansed is cleansed.  As my study bible puts it, "To the clean, nothing is unclean."  This is an expression of the greatest compassion of all:  there is no one exempt from the power of this cleansing.  Each, created in the image of God, has the capacity to be revealed as a child of God.  It is the greatest freedom we possess, the ultimate truth which sets us free in the love of God, the compassion of Christ.  Even when all the rest of the world is against us, even when we judge ourselves, it is to Him we turn in the freedom to be His and only His, above all.

Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!"

"Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."

- Matthew 7:22-27

In recent readings, we have been going through the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chs. 5 -- 7.  In our previous reading, Jesus taught:  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"  Here's a warning that we are not going to be judged by good works, or even by phenomenal capacities for working wonders!  There is much more to God's judgment than being impressed by outer wonders that may impress other people, and there must be more to us than that.

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell.  And great was its fall."  It seems to me this is as stark a warning as possible regarding God's judgment of who we are.  My study bible tells us:  "Hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ." 

In today's lectionary reading, the Epistle is from Ephesians 2.  St. Paul writes, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (4-10, NKJV).  I think it's important to remember the humility that is displayed here:  we were created for good works.  We are not saved by them.  Put together with today's Gospel reading, that means that our faith, appropriately manifested, is to create us as persons in God's image that is a pure gift to us -- persons who are capable of the good works that God has in mind for each of us.  Thereby, in the Judgment, there is none that "should boast."  It is a question of our faith creating in us the capacity to be the persons that God calls us to be.  To my way of thinking, those "good works" prepared beforehand in the eternal reality of God, of heaven and the Kingdom, may be each and every one unique to each creation of God, each of us as individuals -- and St. Paul will go on to teach how we are all different yet serving the same Body and Head, as Christ also indicated in His last appearance to Peter and John in the Book of John.  When Peter asks Jesus, "What about this man?" Jesus more or less tells Peter to stick to what he is supposed to do, and that it doesn't matter to Peter what Jesus tells others they are to do.  To my way of thinking, this is a clear affirmation of St Paul's words and the correct understanding of today's part of the Sermon on the Mount.  We are to do what He teaches, and that teaching assumes the most intimate dimensions for each one of us:  "good works" are those things that manifest not by the impression they make, or even what is praised as a miraculous gift -- rather, they are the things prepared for us beforehand, the "good works" we grow into via faith in Christ and His word, even as it may manifest to each of us to do the particular works God has in mind, just as we each are unique in creation, with particular talents or capabilities.  Even the capacity for silence is also a great gift in the manifestation of the image of Christ meant for one capable of silent prayer which may save many others, and bless a world.  Let us remember how much love is behind and contained in all of these teachings, that are meant for each one of us, even as unique creations of God.  Let us pursue with faith the person God creates us to be, not the image the world may tell us we are supposed to be.   When Jesus says, "I never knew you,"  He is talking about a personal experience, true encounter.  It's in that relationship that we find the works that may be "prepared beforehand" - in the eternity of Christ - for us to do.  It is His words that we must truly follow.

Enter by the narrow gate

 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

- Matthew 7:13-21

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, given in Matthew chs. 5-7.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught:   "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.  Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."  My study bible notes here:  "The description of the two ways was widespread in Judaism (Deut. 30:15-20, Psalm 1 . . .) and in early Christian writings (Didache, Barnabas).  Luke's version (Luke 13:24-30) is more eschatological, referring to the end of the age.  Because we wrestle against sins and human weaknesses as well as spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 6:12), entering the Kingdom is the more difficult way."

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."  My study bible tells us:  "Because they can easily deceive others, those who put on a show of virtue or religion are more dangerous than those who are evil outright.  Thus, we must be all the more cautious among those who are outwardly virtuous."

"You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them."  The statement, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," was also made by John the Baptist.  See Matthew 3:10.

Once again in today's reading, as in yesterday's, Jesus is calling us to discernment.  What is this narrow way?  How do we make good choices, and avoid the wide and broad way that leads to destruction, into which so many apparently go?  Jesus warns us, gives us a preview, that this way He is teaching is not only through a narrow gate but it is difficult - and there are few who find it.   So He is giving us warning, telling us to pay attention:  His way is one that requires our attention, our active discernment, our constant effort.  This is not to say we are on our own, but that our true job is our faith and engagement with God (seeking, asking and knocking was the way He characterized it in yesterday's reading).  Above all things, there is our effort to engage with God, to desire that intimate relationship.  This is how we find the way.  This mystical reality requires active engagement on our part, a way of being awake via constantly seeking.  And then, there comes this warning:  to beware of false prophets.  Let us not look in the wrong direction!  Let us remember our own asking, seeking, and knocking and the power that has to find the way, to engage in the reality of God, to seek first this Kingdom -- and the way will be made known to us.  How do we avoid false prophets?  We will know them by their fruits.  Once again, Jesus is calling us not to be sleepwalking through life, but just the opposite:  we are not like the blind leading the blind -- we are called to wisdom, to understanding, and especially to alertness while we seek His way and engage in all the practices included in the metaphor of asking, seeking, and knocking -- of seeking first the Kingdom.  We would do well to remember that, as He sends out His apostles on their first mission, He says they must be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves."   This is the discernment, awareness, and active intelligence, alertness, that He asks of His servants and followers.  And finally, there is this warning:  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  It's a reminder, begun in yesterday's reading at the beginning of chapter 7, that there is one Judge, and He is in our presence.  He's not just teaching, but He is also the place of real Judgment, a place we can't know of ourselves, someone we can't fool, who knows everything about us.  It's a reinforcement of discernment and alertness, reminding us to "keep it real" all the time, not to fool ourselves or be fooled by others -- to seek Him and His Kingdom first. 

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. 

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 7:1-12

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, which is chapters 5-7 in Matthew's Gospel.  Yesterday, we read, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

  "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  Here, my study bible tells us, "We will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the very things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin.  To pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  The second part of this verse is found in Mark 4:24 and in Luke 6:38, each in a different context, as Jesus no doubt repeated this particular message many times."

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."  There are other places where Jesus will teach a system of mutual correction in the Church.  However, what it is important to note here is that Jesus calls us to self-awareness first, to self-knowledge,  and to the practice of "plucking out" an eye that offends, of cutting off a hand that offends.  If our eye is full of light, then that light will also illumine what is in our own inner darkness for us to consider and to repent of, to change.  Only with that experience are we really capable of helping others.  Our own knowledge of ourselves and our practice of what Jesus teaches about repentance, or "changing our minds" (as the word for repentance literally reads in the Greek), is essential to our real capability for helping others.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  My study bible says that "dogs and swine refer to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15), but would also include Jews who do not practice virtue.  According to the Church Fathers, dogs are those so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, while swine are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  The pearls are the inner mysteries of the Christian faith, including Christ's teachings (13:46) and the great sacraments.  These holy things are restricted from the immoral and unrepentant, not to protect the holy things for themselves, for Christ needs no protection.  Rather, we protect the faithless people from the condemnation that would result from holding God's mysteries in contempt."

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"   A note in my study bible tells us:  "The verbs ask, seek, and knock are present progressives:  'be asking,' 'be seeking,' 'be knocking.'  Note the synergy:  our effort is commanded, but never apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer; seek by learning God's truth; and knock by doing God's will."  Asking, seeking, and knocking are also ways of seeking discernment -- the illumination of God's way for us.  Of the last verse here, it says that "man is called evil not to condemn the whole race, but to contrast the imperfect goodness that is in people (that is, our goodness is mingled with sin) with the perfect goodness of God (see 19:16-17).  If imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, all the more will God work perfect good."

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  My study bible notes, "The 'Golden Rule' fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets and is a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (22:39-40).  It is a first step in spiritual growth.  The negative form of the Golden Rule ('Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you') was well known in Judaism.  Jesus' form is positive:  this is the action that begins to draw us toward God."

Jesus begins here with the words, "Judge not, that you be not judged."  But in reality, the entirety of today's passage is all about a kind of judgment -- albeit one that we usually call "discernment."  True judgment -- that is, of an entire person or soul -- is up to God.  We cannot take God's place, or do what is God's work.  But Jesus does call us to practice "good judgment" in the sense that we are to be discerning in our choices, in what we do, in how we practice our faith correctly -- and that would include the discernment not to practice improper judgment.  We can't really tell others where they need to correct themselves so long as we haven't been actively doing the same on ourselves, and have experience doing so!  We must not be hypocrites.  A hypocrite is a good indication of one who practices judgment improperly, who practices bad judgment.  We are to be discerning in how we offer others the pearls of our faith, of Christ's teaching.  The same applies to the apostles when they are sent out on their first missions.  In this we must be discerning, guard our mouths, consider all the consequences -- especially, as my study bible pointed out, for those others we may be addressing.  (And let us note that those consequences are the consequences of God's judgment.)  We must be discerning in praying for the things we want, especially when it comes to spiritual understanding, to the things only God can give us, to the awareness of God's mysteries and holy faith.  In this we also practice a kind of discernment in asking and seeking and knocking.  Here we are encouraged to do so, to come forward in prayer and reliance on God.  That is a positive sense of discernment, something we are encouraged by Jesus  to actively engage in.  And we are given a promise here by Christ:  our Father in heaven wants us to seek Him, to seek Him out for personal relationship in prayer, and we will be rewarded for such behavior -- especially when it comes to deepening our faith.  Finally, Jesus sums up the essence of discernment:  "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."  Here is the "Golden Rule" we follow for our own behavior, our conduct as one of Christ's children, the summing up of the whole of the Law and the Prophets.  He calls us to discerning and sober behavior, but there is much more here:  He calls us to awareness of every kind -- both of self-knowledge and self-awareness, and also the illumination that comes as a result of asking, seeking and knocking in prayer and the practice of following as best we can that which God calls us to.  This is an always active practice, as the tense implies:  be asking, be seeking, be knocking.  Ultimately it is our awareness and understanding we are called to, the light that banishes ignorance and darkness, our effort that seeks God's help and God's love and all the abundance and understanding that conveys.  Can we practice as He preaches?

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

- Matthew 6:25-34

Currently, we are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5-7 in Matthew's Gospel.  In the previous reading, Jesus taught:  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?"  My study bible tells us:  "Jesus is warning against anxiety, not against thoughtful planning.  Our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink and clothing.  Anxiety over earthly things demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care."

"So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek."  My study bible notes here:  "Because the Gentiles served pagan idols, they remained consumed by dependence on earthly things.  Those who follow God can be freed from this dependence."

"For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  A note on verse 33 (the first verse here) says:  "The kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus' teaching, and His righteousness is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount.  Calling us to be free from anxiety about earthly things, Jesus directs us to look to heaven, secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings."

Clearly, Jesus asks us to put all things in the hands of God.  Not only are we to trust all our worries and anxieties (What shall we eat?  What shall we drink?  What shall we wear?) to God, we are to be actively engaged in seeking His kingdom first, and His righteousness, and it is God who will add these things to us.  We are not to worry about tomorrow in the sense that the ordinary anxieties that each day brings are simply sufficient trouble!  We are not called toward anxieties!  I think maybe this is a much more crucial and central teaching than we expect.  Those worries and anxieties, it seems to me, also attend to our spiritual stature.  Are we to spend all our time worrying and anxious that God doesn't love us?  That we haven't done enough?  Can we trust to God's mercy and love?  Can we really trust the relationship that we have to God, to Christ?  I think that these things are crucial in exploring the attitude that God wants us to have in all ways, and they convey just exactly what sort of orientation we are to have in our lives when we feel that we truly are in a relationship -- an intimate relationship -- to God.  It is, after all, this God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.  Jesus' incarnation invites us into relationship and love, steadfast mercy, as the prophets of old might have said.  Jesus lived and lives eternally in the fullness of His glory and presence as one of us.  He knows what we go through.  He understands a world filled not just with troubles, with imperfections, with afflictions, but also one in which we dwell as those who are in some sense set apart by our love and trust in God, in Christ, so that we are to have a completely different understanding of anxieties than those who do not have this confidence.  Today, let us think about what He teaches.  Paradoxically, Jesus tells us about our own powerlessness and weakness (Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?), but at the same time, He gives us the confidence of our faith, reminding us as He will later teach in Matthew's Gospel:  "With God, all things are possible" (19:26).  Let us try to remember that sufficient for the day is its own trouble!

You cannot serve God and mammon

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

- Matthew 6:19-24

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs. 5-7).  In the previous reading, Jesus taught, "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."   My study bible notes here:  "By attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  They become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  The heart of discipleship lies in (1) disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and (2) attaching ourselves to God, the true treasure."

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.   But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  A note reads:  "The mind (Gr. nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul; it illuminates the inner man and governs the will.  Keeping the mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life."

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  My study bible says, "As slaves serving two masters, people attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  But this is impossible, since both demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ('riches') a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people."

Jesus is teaching us something here about making our eye single, in the sense that we cover ourselves with the fullness of the light that we seek, and we are as single-minded about it as we can be.  (See 5:29.)   Jesus is also speaking here about faith, what it is exactly that illumines who we are, gives us good sight, true light by which to see and to dispel every darkness.  And He gives us also a meaning to the lack of faith.  We are worshiping something else.  There is not merely, in Christ's vision here, faith in God, or a lack of it.  No, we know that elsewhere a man who is loved by Jesus and set for us as an example, will say, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"  It's not "unbelief" that is the real thief here altogether; our faith doesn't mean we don't have doubts.  What Jesus presents here is the lack of ability to make our eye single, that is, full of the light of faith, because we are torn between worshiping two things which are incompatible.  You cannot serve God and mammon, or riches, pretty much serves it up to us and puts it the way we have to look at it.  When we put our faith in the material, in the pursuit of wealth first, then we are acting in a way entirely contradictory to faith in God.  I believe that we are creatures built for worship.  If we don't worship God we're going to put our faith in something else, something else is going to come first.  We may not even be aware of what idol we're worshiping!  We may never have the self-knowledge to understand where precisely all our efforts are going, what we truly hold dear.  Self-knowledge like this is yet another product of our faith in Christ.  His faith is that which gives us self-understanding, enlightens for us all things, illumines the dark corners we'd never dream of looking at on our own.  His faith is that which moves mountains and makes possible all things (even the conversion of a rich man who is over-attached to wealth - see 19:23-30).   Let us note that in the next reading, Jesus will teach us about our faith, and give us a promise about what we are to seek first, and what will be added unto us.  He's not scathingly tossing out all things that give us comfort or beauty or happiness, far to the contrary.  But He does teach us about where we set our heart, what must fully illumine our own sight -- and He is unflinching and uncompromising when He teaches us how can we get in our own way.

Our Father in heaven

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

- Matthew 6:7-15

Yesterday, we read that Jesus preached:  "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." . . . [skipping over verses 7 to 15:  the verses which form today's reading] . . . "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  We are currently in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs. 5 - 7).

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  My study bible notes that mere vain repetitions do not establish the type of relationship to God that Jesus is preaching about here.  It says, "God does not need our 'babble.'  To be made intimate with Him, be humbled, and be reminded of our sins, both silence and words are necessary.  Therefore, we pray always (Luke 18:1), 'without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17), and we do use many words -- but words repetitiously (vv. 8-13 [known as the Lord's Prayer]).  When we pray, we do not lecture God or make demands, but we are (1) humble (go into your room, verse 6 [yesterday's reading], (2) personal and intimate with Him (pray to your Father), and (3) sincere (do not use vain repetitions).  It is not repetition per se, but vain repetition which Jesus condemns.  Christian worship, with familiar psalms, hymns, prayers and readings from the Scriptures, brings God the praise 'in spirit and truth' which He seeks (John 4:23).  In no way do these liturgical acts violate Jesus' command against vain words and repetition."

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'"  My study bible has several notes on the Lord's Prayer or Our Father, given here by Jesus.  We read here:  "The Father-Son relationship between God the Father and God the Son reveals the nature of our relationship with God.  For Christ Himself, the Son of the Father by nature, grants us the privilege of calling the Creator our Father by the grace of adoption.  As a 'son' of God in Christ, the Christian is called to love, trust and serve God, as a son would his father.  The emphasis in Scripture is not on a universal Fatherhood of God through creation, but on a saving and personal relationship with Him who is our Father by adoption through the Spirit (see Rom. 8:14-16)."

"Give us this day our daily bread."  A note says, "Daily is a misleading translation of the Greek epiousios, which is literally 'above the essence' or 'supersubstantial.'  The expression daily bread indicates not merely bread for this day, taken for sustenance of life; it is bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for sustenance of our immortal life.  It is living, 'superessential' bread.  This bread, prepared by God in the beginning for the immortality of our nature, is the Bread of Life which will triumph over the death brought about by sin.  Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God.  Here He tells us to ask not merely for material bread which keeps us in good physical health, but for the spiritual bread which gives us life -- the Living Bread, Christ Himself, given in the Holy Eucharist to those who receive Him."

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  A note says, "We request God to forgive us . . . as we are to forgive others.  By using the plural, Jesus directs each of us to pray for the Father's forgiveness of all, and for all of us to forgive one another.  Although God's forgiveness is primary, Jesus clearly teaches that there is a reciprocal relationship between divine and human forgiveness.  We request God to be to us as we are to our neighbors.  Debts refers to spiritual debts:  when we sin, we 'owe' restitution to our offended neighbor and to God."  To be forgiven and to forgive here is a kind of "letting go" of those debts (this is what the word translated as forgive literally means in Greek), like wiping a debt someone owes off the books.

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."   My study bible notes that "we pray not only that our sins be forgiven, but that we not yield to temptation.  God tempts no one (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  They are aimed at the soul's willful yielding to the sinful passions of the flesh (Rom. 7:5).  No one can live without at some time encountering temptation.  But to yield to temptation and commit sin is blameworthy.  Thus we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), should not come our way."

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  My study bible says, "Once again Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This teaching is repeated by Jesus in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:23-35), which concludes with virtually the same words.  The opinion that even unforgiving Christians are forgiven by God is contradicted by Christ Himself.  The moral action of the faithful, when they forgive others their trespasses, is bound with the love of God:  not to forgive others is willfully to alienate ourselves from the forgiveness of God."

What I think is important to remember about forgiveness is the aspect of its word here in Greek:  letting go, as in letting go a debt owed.  If we really think of it that way, then we can see that there is first of all an emphasis here on a lack of retribution, or collecting such a debt by deliberately hurting another back or sinning against another in some way.  Also, forgiveness, it seems to me, does not mean that we don't recognize the injustice or the hurt done to us.  We don't fail to recognize how we might suffer from what has been done.  Perhaps these things, this looking at the full truth of something that has happened, is not only necessary for real forgiveness but also for our healing from these problems in God's hands.  And that's the next thing we have to observe about forgiveness.  Just who do we give these things up to?  Clearly God is the moderator of all things because only God is the true Judge and presides at the ultimate Judgment.  Therefore, forgiveness is letting go to God, giving our affairs over to God, and that would also indicate our turning to Our Father in prayer for guidance out of or through any and all situations, including those in which we've been hurt.  Forgiveness therefore emphasizes the nature of our intimate relationship to God and of our prayer to God.  We place not only our debtors and their debts in God's hands, we also place the whole situation and all negative effects on us and our lives (and the lives of all others affected) into God's hands.  This happens clearly through prayer.  Let us note, also, that it is not incumbent upon us to fix the whole situation.  That is also something we place in God's hands, in the hands of the Judge, because it's not up to us to judge.  It is up to us to follow these teachings as best we can.  We needn't become best friends with someone who is likely to harm us again.  But we can forgive them in the senses in which we're asked to do so.  This is another way to live in peace, with God's peace, as a peacemaker.

Do not be like the hypocrites

 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

"Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

* * * *

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."

- Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs. 5 - 7).  Last week, we read through chapter 5.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus preached:  "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.   You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

  "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven."  My study bible tells us:  "In this chapter, Jesus calls us to practice three basic aspects of spiritual discipline, or righteousness:  (1) charitable giving (vv. 1-4), (2) prayer (vv. 5-15), and (3) fasting (vv. 16-18).  These three disciplines relate directly to uprightness in the sight of God."  The emphasis here is on our relationship to God, rather than how we impress other people.

"Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."  A note explains that "the original meaning of the word 'hypocrite' was 'actor.'  Hypocrites are play-actors, practicing theatrical piety.  They put on their show in synagogues and in the streets to please men, not God.  Wearing masks of compassion, inwardly they are heartless.  Their reward is the applause of men -- nothing more."

"But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."  My study bible notes:  "God is not impressed with what other people think of us, or even with our own opinion of ourselves.  He sees who we really are, and He knows our motives as well as our deeds.  Everything will be judged, and our good deeds will be rewarded openly."

"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  My study bible teaches us here that "hypocrites miss the spirit of prayer, which involves an intimate, personal relationship with God and leads to the vision of His glory (1 Cor. 2:9).  Hypocrisy blocks out both the relationship and the vision."

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  My study bible offers this commentary here:  "Keeping a sad countenance while fasting, so that everyone can see how one is suffering, is mere external display.  Jesus rejects such hypocrisy.  For the one who fasts, the compassion of God outshines physical discomfort:  joy overshadows sorrow.  Thus, during seasons of fasting, the hymns of the Orthodox Church call the faithful to wash and anoint their faces.  . . .   And fasting is not merely abstaining from eating.  Physical fasting works together with spiritual fasting, or self-denial:  it is a liberation of the spirit from its voluntary enslavement to sinful passions.  Fasting is for the glory of God, not to impress people around us."  During traditional seasons of fasting, the idea was to fast from sin, such as Jesus has taught earlier in the Sermon on the Mount:  such as swearing, loose words said in anger such as insults, needless injury to others, a impulsive divorce for childish or selfish reasons, and all other forms of a kind of rash selfishness (like the cultivation of deliberate lust as a regular habit).   This is what "liberation of the spirit from its voluntary enslavement to sinful passions" means.  Self-mastery, even self-denial, in this context, means that we're not just slaves to our rash impulses that lead us in the wrong direction.

Hypocrites are the kind of people who wear masks, who are inwardly one thing and outwardly another.  (This is like the actors in the ancient theater, who wore masks to convey the character they were playing.)   If we think about it, anonymous good works assures us of the notion that our real relationship with how we interact with others in the world is moderated by our relationship to God.  It sets our minds in a place where we understand that our real relationship is to God, it gives us a kind of discipline that sets us in the right place.  Therefore the teaching against hypocrisy, against work merely for a kind of worldly glory from the "praise of men," becomes a part of this collection of teachings about self-discipline or self-mastery, overcoming our more selfish or self-centered impulses, giving us practices that are designed to free us from selfishness and liberate us into God-likeness -- making choices for a higher good, higher understanding, wisdom and judgment or discernment that is God's gift to us, in that relationship that is above all things.  This is what we need to think about when we read these passages and we consider what it is that "self-denial" really means.  This is the discipline of a loving parent who won't ignore a child who eats a pile of candy and goes to bed without brushing their teeth:  it's a discipline that leads to what is best for us, helps us to be a greater person with better virtues that lead to a better life and way of living.  Earlier, in chapter 5, this is the sort of discipline Christ is alluding to when He speaks of plucking out an eye that offends you,  the discipline to stop identifying with a truly bad habit that isn't really good for us (such as habitual abusive anger, for instance, or viewing others as mere objects for our use), and attempt to discard it so it doesn't lead us to a place that is much more deeply hard to get out of, an entire life built around such habitual ways of living.  Ultimately, everything is about this relationship with God and its primacy in our lives, the number one place where all our lives come from, the thing that determines truly the quality of who we are and the lives we lead.  Can we learn such discipline?  Can we practice these habits?  A gift given in secret, if we think about it, becomes a way to fill ourselves with love, and taste that good life.  It's very important to note here that Jesus is particularly addressing religious hypocrisy in each of today's teachings!  Let us think about who truly fills us with good things.  Fooling others is a good way to fool yourself.

Love your enemies

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.  

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."

- Matthew 5:38-48

On Monday, we began reading the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs. 5-7).  Yesterday, we read that Jesus preached, "You have heard that it was said, to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  Furthermore it has been said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.  Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'  But I tell you not to resist an evil person, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away."  My study bible says here:  "Jesus warned His disciples not to resist violence with more violence (contrary to Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20, Deut. 19:21).  Evil, and the evil person, can be overcome only by good.  This keeps us free from anger -- from being poisoned by the evil directed against us and its destructive forces -- and instructs others through Christian forbearance.  It brings both us and our enemy under the yoke of God's love.  This teaching does not, however, contradict a state's right to protect its citizens and to punish criminals."

 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?  Do not even the tax collectors do so?"  My study bible says, "Here is another radical command of Jesus:  to love our enemies as a true expression of the life of the Kingdom.  Having freed us from hate, sadness, and anger, He offers the greatest possession of all -- perfect love.  That is a gift which can only be possessed by the one who, by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit, manifests God's love for all.  Such love calls us to bless, do good, and pray -- even for enemies.  Love of neighbor is the sign of having become a true child of God.  Love is not merely an emotion.  It is a divine grace -- an uncreated divine energy -- which inflames the soul and unites it to God and to other people (see 1 John 4:7-21)."

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."  A comment reads:  "This verse summarizes Jesus' teaching on God's standards.  The Christian should grow into the perfection of the Father (Eph. 4:3). . . Christ is our guide, and He is able to bring us to participate in the very life of God, which is love."

When we begin to understand that Jesus wants us to always participate in God's love, we start getting a sense of peace that's much fuller than simply a kind of a calm, an absence of violence.  It is a living reality, the Kingdom at work and living within us and among us.  We participate in an energy much greater than we are, whose work we can't fully know.  And this love encompasses many things that help us to become what we can in its grace, its embrace.  If we think of God's love as a kind of fire of energy that burns invisibly all the time, in us, among us, around us, we begin to get an idea of what this means and of how it works, even to add things to us -- like self-control and behaviors of a type we couldn't really master on our own.  To do good and to love your enemies, it seems to me, doesn't necessarily mean what we think it means on more worldly terms.  God's love may change us, give us struggles and problems to wrestle with -- call on us to cast things away from us ("If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out."  See yesterday's reading.)   Those whom God truly loves are faced with challenges for growth, becoming much more than the persons they may have begun as, or the persons the world would make them.  We look at the Beatitudes and see Jesus' blessings are spiritual ones.  Love is what a loving parent does when they are willing to meet the challenge of disciplining properly (like, for example, encouraging regular completion of homework from school, brushing teeth, or eating healthy foods), not simply indulging a child's whims.  Love wants what is truly best for us.   Therefore when we pray for our enemies, what we're praying for is what is best for them in God's sight, we're praying for redemption and salvation, not simply indulging or overlooking bad behavior.  God's love also takes us above and beyond the immediate strife-driven situation, setting us in a place where it's not just a struggle between ourselves and a perceived enemy.  It's no longer an automatic eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  Praying sets God in the middle, at the top of a triangle,  brings in a third party, so that we can have a view from that angle and not simply feel stuck with our situation.  We are also asking for guidance for that situation for ourselves, asking how best to proceed, for strength in bearing whatever it is we bear, and for the grace to do so in the best way, protecting what we love and what is most important.  This is what praying for our enemies can actually do for us.  Let us think about God's love as a corrective and redemptive sort of energy -- symbolized as fire (as in the fiery tongues at Pentecost) that burns away what we don't want, with the power to change and input what it calls for in all situations, and the power to work in us to guide us through them so that, even through difficulties, we may grow as God's children and receive what we couldn't receive otherwise.  Let us remember that God's love adds substance, something that God wants to give us -- and that would include growth and wisdom even for our enemies if they are willing to accept it.  What "God's image" looks like in others isn't up to us; when we pray for others we place them in the hands of God.  Let us remember, also, that there are commentators who see in this Sermon a teaching about the politics of the time, as the Jews were under Roman rule.  Compelling someone to walk a mile in that context is about what happens under military occupation.  Jesus doesn't call His followers to be doormats, but instead to be prudent and wise, and to put themselves firmly in God's care in all ways.  Love is not about self-harm, or a lack of personal dignity, an acceptance of abuse.  It is quite the opposite.  This is what we call upon when we call for God's love, and we pray for the way of God's peace.

You have heard that it was said, to those of old, "You shall not commit adultery."

"You have heard that it was said, to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

"Furthermore it has been said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

- Matthew 5:27-37

This week, we are reading through the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 - 7 of Matthew's Gospel).  Jesus tells us, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

 "You have heard that it was said, to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."  My study bible tells us that "God sees the hidden desires which motivate our actions.  The issue here is lust, not simply the God-given mutual attraction of men and women.  Sin does no come out of nature, but out of internal self-indulgence.  He who feasts on lust within himself brings sin into his heart through his thoughts.  (Thoughts which enter the mind involuntarily are temptations, not sins.  They become sins only when they are held onto and entertained.)"

"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."  My study bible explains that Jesus is speaking here in vivid imagery, but not literally, using the physical body as an illustration.  To remove an eye would be to reproach the Creator (see 18:8-9; Mark 9:43-48).    An "eye" would indicate a relationship to how we see and what we see; in this case, we're speaking of lust.  Jesus uses the image of the eye as a way to describe a character trait; no matter how much a part of us it may seem, we need to pluck it out and cast it from us.

"Furthermore it has been said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery."  My study bible notes:  "In contrast to the easy access to divorce under the Mosaic Law, and because of the misuse of divorce in that day, Christ repeatedly condemns divorce and emphasizes the eternal character of marriage (19:8-9; Mark 10:2-9; Luke 16:18).  However, the possibility of divorce on grounds of unchastity, for example, clearly shows that Christ considered that the marriage bond is not absolute:  it can be destroyed by sin.  The Orthodox Church thus allows divorce as a corrective measure of compassion when a marriage has unfortunately been broken.  Human freedom implies the possibility of sin; sin can separate husband and wife from each other, and ultimately from the body of Christ and from God Himself.  Sexual immorality is a grave sin against the divine sacrament of marriage."

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black."  A note reads, "Jesus speaks against casual use of God's name and superficial oaths.  The words of Jesus have not only a negative meaning, but a positive one also.  They not only forbid us to swear, that is, to bind ourselves with an oath; they also command us to speak the truth and to keep our promises."

"But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.'  For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."  My study bible tells us that "this is a well-known saying in the New Testament (James 5:12).  Trust is secured not by an oath which exceeds Yes and No, but by inner integrity.  Jesus teaches us to live in the simplicity of the present moment."

If we look at today's reading all together, we'll see a kind of common thread running through these verses.  In each set of thoughts here, teachings on different subjects, we see Jesus advising a kind of caution and modesty, counseling us not to go to extremes.  We can look lustfully at just about everything, but here Jesus is speaking about the way we might look at another human being.  Since He is naturally speaking to men here ("whoever looks at a woman to lust for her"), we assume that Jesus is speaking of a particular way of looking, of coveting for particular purposes, and in a way that diminishes the humanity and dignity of the person being "looked at."   An easy divorce is, similarly, a kind of extreme behavior.  Just like over-responding to anger (see yesterday's reading), a divorce for not much of any real reason is a harsh over-reaction; a way, in effect, to kill something that is sacred, or to abuse it - and to treat a person as a property, an object for certain purposes.  This teaching also only applies to men in Jewish society, and not to women who could not initiate divorce.  Not only does it abuse marriage itself, but women in Jesus' time were utterly dependent upon men and risked destitution if divorced.  Swearing falsely is another form of over-reaction, going to extremes.  We needn't swear by anything; better to have a personal integrity where your word is truly your bond, to maintain a true centeredness, a kind of grativas we take with us, in our own person, rather than swearing by anything that is outside of ourselves.  If our "yes" is "yes" and our "no" is really "no" then we needn't go outside ourselves, to extremes, to swear by anything.  We have our own dignity and integrity that is the true center of ourselves.  And the same can be said for everything else discussed in today's reading.  Ultimately, it's about carrying oneself with integrity, an inner substance that speaks more loudly than anything else for who we are, because our value is in our character.  Let us consider what it is to walk with this kind of self-respect (and respect for others, and the things that are sacred to God), this kind of substance and dignity, and to be able to give the same to others, not giving in to extremes of responses that might be used to impress, persuade, or manipulate.  In short, it seems to me that Jesus is describing what it is to carry His image inside of us and to reflect it into the world.  This is the gift of His teachings.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder"

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire.  Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."

- Matthew 5:21-26

This week, we have begun reading the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus preached:  ""Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

 "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.'  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire."  Here, my study bible tells us:  "But I say to you indicates Jesus' authority (7:28-29).  Jesus, the Son of God, acting with the Father, created human nature and gave the law of the Old Testament.  As the Old Law is fulfilled in the New Law, so human nature is healed by Christ.  Jesus forbids sinful anger (see Ps. 4:4 and Eph. 4:26 for anger, or righteous indignation, that is not sinful), identifying such anger with murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews.  Hell (Gr. Gehenna) is the final condition of sinners who resist God's grace."  Raca is an Aramaic word meaning "empty head."  The word for you fool in the Greek is our root for moron.

"Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift."   My study bible tells us:  "Peace with other believers takes primacy over duties of worship (Mark 11:25).  In early Christian worship the liturgical 'kiss of peace' at the beginning of the Communion prayers - not after - was a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness, preparing the Church to offer and receive the Eucharist (1 Cor. 16:20; 1 Pet. 5:14)."

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.  Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny."  A note reads:  "Luke 12:57-59 places this teaching in a context dealing with the end of the age; here it is in the context of reconciliation.  In both cases it is clear that quarrels must be settled quickly, not allowed to continue.  Delaying reconciliation and good works gives room for the working of more evil (Eph. 4:26-27)."

Anger is a difficult and complex emotion.  We can be angry about all kinds of things, both just and unjust.   But where Jesus begins is with name-calling that comes from the quick flash of anger, ad hominem attacks (calling someone a moron) that do nothing but fan the flames of disagreement and clashing.  This form of anger provokes, and is akin to murder precisely because it is a deliberate attack upon the person, and not the issue or behavior in dispute.  This is the wrong way to express any anger, justified or not.  If we've done something to cross this line, moreover, Jesus suggests that as we approach the altar, we'd best repair the damage on the way!  Whether our "cause" is justified or not, we can surely apologize for something stupid we've done in the heat of anger.  I know many people who expect that, with time, all insults will be forgotten.  But it doesn't really work that way.  Modern psychology tells us of the damage done to others from name-calling, things that truly diminish and disrespect a person, as opposed, let's say, to teaching about bad behavior.  This name-calliing (a form of abuse) creates a harmful effect to the whole person and when it becomes a habit has the effect of brutality upon someone.  An apology goes a long way to help remedy such a situation, rising above the personal, and holding the door open to an honest discussion about what the problem truly may be.  Jesus warns us here that we are responsible for what we do, and that we will pay the fullness of the price in an improper wounding of others.  In fact, this entire passage is Jesus' expression regarding the statute against murder, and what it means to say that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees (see yesterday's reading).   I believe that it is important to keep in mind that Jesus' ministry is one that takes the chief form of healing on every level.  Peace and reconciliation, or an attempt to resolve a problem in the full light of truth rather than personal attacks, become yet another act of healing.  Righteousness and truth cannot be separate from healing.  Even forgiveness, another act of healing, doesn't take place separate from truth -- even if one party refuses to acknowledge it.  Let us remember that Jesus' teachings are for our betterment, our good.  Let us become the people He calls us to be, and take His words seriously. 

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven

 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.  Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

- Matthew 5:17-20

We have begun reading the Sermon on the Mount this week.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus preached, "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  See Salt and Light.

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."  My study bible has notes for each verse of today's passage.  Here, it notes:  "Jesus fulfills the Law in His Person, words and actions by: (1) performing God's will in all its fullness (3:15); (2) transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30); (3) declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He was about to deliver to them; (4) granting righteousness -- the goals of the Law - to us (Rom 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets by carrying out fully what they had foretold about Him."

 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."  My study bible says that "assuredly is amen in Greek, meaning 'verily,' 'of a truth,' 'so be it.'  Christ uses it as a solemn affirmation, a form of oath, even using it to preface certain proclamations.  He takes an oath by Himself to underline the authority of His words.  A jot is the smallest letter in the Greek and Hebrew alphabets; a tittle is the small stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Thus, the whole of the law is the foundation of the new teaching.  It is fulfilled by Christ and will not pass away till heaven and earth pass away (Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17)."

"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."  My study bible tells us:  "Righteousness which is according to the Law is a unified whole:  the observance of the least of these secures the observance of the greatest, while the violation of the very least is equivalent to the violation of the greatest. . . .  To teach what one does not practice condemns the teacher (Rom 2:21); to do right without guiding others lessens the reward of righteousness.  Jesus Himself set the doing before the teaching.  We ought to do right and teach ourselves, before we attempt to set others right."

"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  A note says, "Righteousness is more than proper behavior, such as the scribes and Pharisees were advocating, and holy thoughts.  It centers upon our relationship with God."

What can it mean to be someone who is fully justified by faith, fulfilling both the Old and the New Testaments?  My study bible cites here Romans 1:16-17: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith.'"  (St. Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:4.)   My study bible says that "the just shall live by faith" is the most often internally quoted passage in the entire Bible.  And it is by faith that we must begin and end, and even begin again.  The righteousness of which Christ speaks here is a kind of deepened intimacy with God brought about by the Gospel, by Jesus' mission into the world.  The gift of the Holy Spirit has made possible this deepening intimacy, where we have much more than the Law to guide us and anchor us in our faith.  His mission into the world left us the great example of this God Incarnate as human being.  Mankind was brought closer, given something powerful, to make it possible to walk in faith in ways that only rare individuals could before Jesus' coming into the world.  In Matthew's previous chapter, Jesus quoted Moses to the tempter: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."  In this statement is much more than talk about bread and physical requirements of life.  I would emphasize the "every word that comes from the mouth of God"  when we think about today's reading.   The closeness of a potent and truly meaningful life in faith is precisely seeking that kind of intimacy that asks for help, and growth, and guidance, and asks of us the sort of obedience in response to "every word that comes from the mouth of God."   This is what it means to have a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. In a note on the passage in Romans, my study bible says, "Humanity has always, in the Old and the New Testament, participated in God's righteousness on the basis of faith."  In a note on Romans 3:26,  my study bible says, "God's righteousness is Christ Himself.  To have His righteousness is to have Christ living within us, to be in union with Him, a relationship that is dynamic and substantial.  It is personal: a relationship between Shepherd and sheep, Master and friend, Father and child -- not judge and defendant."  Jesus changes the deepened context of this new sort of life in faith from that of the old obedience to the Law, but calls it "exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees," and we should understand it that way.  We are called to a more dynamic obedience, something living and potent, that calls for our growth and constant effort, even as it allows for forgiveness and redemption and healing.