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

 "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

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  On Saturday, we read that 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?  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?'"  What Jesus says here notably follows the admonition that one cannot serve God and mammon (in yesterday's reading, above).  He begins to speak about the material aspects of life, a focus on anxiety that is more than simply thoughtful planning.  Life is more than food and body more than clothing.   My study bible says that our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing.  Moreover, excessive anxiety over these things demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care.  It's important to put this into the perspective of His preaching about what we worship, what we put first.  He is speaking of a kind of worry in which these are the things which concern and consume us most, more than the greater blessing of having God as our Father.

"For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."  My study bible explains that because the Gentiles served pagan idols, they remained consumed by dependence on earthly things.  Those who follow God can be freed from this total dependence, as we can trust that our heavenly Father knows that we need all these things.  Jesus is not negating the need; He is rather asking us to keep in mind the love of God for us, and God's awareness of all our needs.  It is this mindfulness on our part that creates a holistic balance in our lives.

"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."  My study bible points out that the kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus' teaching, and that God's righteousness is the true focus of the Sermon on the Mount.  His primary admonition is that we seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, and that all the things we need will be added to this.  Therefore, this is our primary focus as His followers.  My study bible says that, 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.   That sufficient for the day is its own trouble is one of the wisest sayings that experience will teach us.  We do not need to drum up more troubles by needless anxiety!  Tomorrow will bring its own set of worries; there is no need to think up more.  Today -- and the things which present themselves immediately before us -- is enough for today.

In the central photo at the top of my blog, one will find one of the most beautiful (to my mind) flowering plants that grow quite commonly in the region where I live.  These are crocosmia lilies.  They grow so easily and abundantly that some consider them an invasive species.  Their beauty and color remind me of Christ's "glory" of the lilies of the field, as indeed these display in their ruddy gold brilliance.  Somehow by accident, my camera at the time of the photo captured the white of the sun's rays shining down on them and nurturing their beauty, highly appropriate for our passage today.  These rays are likened to God's mercy -- the energies of God that truly sustain life for us all, including the great beauty of the flowers that remind us of resurrection, especially the bulbs that rest in the ground to re-bloom each year.  The beauty of their colors, nurtured in the sunlight, give us delight through their glory.  And so it is that we are free to enjoy the beauty of the God-given world, as that very beauty also nourishes us and provides us with something we need.  When we observe the beauties of the created world, we may pause to consider how deep our need for beauty is, for beauty -- something hard to define as a material necessity for bodily survival -- is indeed something that nurtures the soul.  It is a reminder of God's love for us and God's care, for we may ask why it is that so much of created nature bursts with such beauty as if to give us an uplifting gift, a break from toil, a time of enjoyment or delight.  Jesus calls lilies such as these the "grass of the field," reminding us also of their simplicity == and yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed such as these. Indeed it remains difficult to replicate through man-made objects the brilliance and dimensional richness of these colors in the sunlight.  In the most ancient burial sites discovered by archaeologists, we find evidence of such types of flowers buried with the ancient dead -- truly a teaching of our need for beauty and the reflective promise of resurrection of life our earliest ancestors intuitively grasped for.  Our own need for beauty teaches us about our dependence upon God for the finer things in life, the things that nourish the soul, give us the most heart, and the true faith in life's very goodness that sustains us and makes life more than toil.  Worry and anxiety, Jesus seems to teach us, take us away from that truth of life, and even from who we truly are as the children of a loving Father in heaven.  Excessive worry keeps us stuck in the "what ifs" == all those things that too often distract us from what is right in front of us and what is important, taking away our spirit for the real work we need, even the work of faith, of prayer, and of trust.   We need to remind ourselves that our health does depend on taking the time to appreciate the beauty we're given, telling ourselves that our focus is on what's needful, and not the fears that take us away from good health in every sense.  It's a common theme that so often we feel we can solve problems simply by worrying about them, when so often it is patience that is necessary to await a solution -- and time to contemplate the better and beautiful things that gives us a refreshed mind more able to cope with whatever the troubles of today really are.  Let us remember our need for beauty, and our Father in heaven who knows what all our needs are, and take heart in what is good, without giving in today to what rightfully belongs only to tomorrow.

You cannot serve God and mammon

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Christ Blessing, "The Savior of the World" c. 1600, National Galleries of Scotland

 "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 currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 -7).  Yesterday we read that 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."   What are treasures in heaven?  This statement comes immediately after Jesus' teaching on forgiveness, something that was emphasized twice in yesterday's reading, in which Jesus used the language of debt.  The implication seems to link our capacity for forgiveness with the treasures in heaven gained through faithful living.  My study bible says that through attachment to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  This becomes a slavish pursuit, as opposed to the freedom that we have in Christ (such as that freedom which forgiveness brings).  It adds that the heart of discipleship lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things (among which we could name the pursuit of retribution or revenge, for example), and 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!"   My study bible notes that the mind (nous in the Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person and governs one's will.  To keep our mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.  To keep one's eye "good" here, therefore, means that one's whole focus is on the good, the things of God.  This is again a subject that also links us back to mercenary, covetous, or envious thinking.  How do we see?  How do we look at others and at the world?

"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."  Here is another emphasis on the personal freedom that comes from pursuing spiritual truth as one's highest goal.  My study bible says that as slaves serving two masters, people try to maintain an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things.  But this isn't possible, because both demand full allegiance.  We will find this choice appearing again and again in our lives.  My study bible adds that Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control that it has over people.

What is it to be a slave?  One's will, one's choice is abrogated, taken on by others to whom one serves.  In the language of Jesus, in today's reading, slavery becomes something that steals one's soul away from oneself, taking away the freedom to choose.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke about forgiveness using the language of money, of accounting.  To forgive a debt is to wipe it off the books, so that it doesn't need fulfillment, one doesn't need to demand payment.  In today's reading, Jesus continues speaking about monetary matters, and forms of materialism.  He speaks of treasures on earth, and treasures in heaven.  How are we to understand these things?  If we look at life with a purely materialistic point of view, everything becomes a question of gain or debt.  This doesn't leave us free to consider what it is to forgive, or to forego material gain for the sake of spiritual gain.  It doesn't leave us with a free hand to consider what might be better for us in the long run, and those transcendent values that spiritual life gives us.  Perhaps there is no greater question to answer with regard to how we look at life  than the question of whether our higher allegiance is to God or to mammon.  (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.)  This basic question which Christ poses to us in today's reading is really about priorities and variables open to us in our choices.  If my life is simply dependent upon whether or not I gain materially, then this tends to overlay all of my thinking about everything.  How many squabbles over inheritance take place not because there is an actual question of fairness, but because the priority of material value overshadows all other issues surrounding the death of a loved one?  Once we make mammon our top concern, then everything is subordinate to that priority, including relationships with family members -- and even the dying loved one.  Jesus links forgiveness (in language involving debt) to these words on a materialistic outlook vs. our allegiance to God because it still pertains to our capacities for real freedom of choice.  Can we forgive any debt, or are we obliged to "get our own back" no matter what?  Are we free enough to choose a better pursuit, something that will enrich us personally far more -- even in ways which are immaterial and intangible -- than simply pursuing what we think is owed to us because of unfair dealing?  What are we free for?  Everything here is finally about true freedom that trust in God can give us, and the slavery that a purely material mindset entails.  Can I choose to give to charity as much as I want to, even if it doesn't seem to make financial sense?  Can I give to someone in need because theirs is greater than mine, even if that doesn't make purely material sense in terms of my own assets?  Am I free to pursue the life God would ask of me, even if I will not immediately see a financial reward?  These questions aren't about money per se.  They are rather about our freedom to set our priorities, freedom of the slavery to mammon.  That slavery, as Christ says, is a darkness indeed, that covers our entire outlook.  In my own personal experience, I have found no question more incisive than the one Christ poses to us regarding allegiance to God or mammon, and none more absolute in terms of a difference in outlook regarding how we conduct our lives.  Let us remember that Jesus asks us not to forego wealth altogether, but rather to choose our master.  It is a question of what we seek first.  In John's Gospel, Jesus tells us that if we abide in His word, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).   Let us ask ourselves whether or not an allegiance to material considerations alone opens up our possibilities for choice, or limits us to something with far less potential, and less desirable, than where God may lead us.     What is it we have to lose?

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors

Christ Pantocrator, 6th century, St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

 "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

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:   "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."

"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."  Vain repetitions are repetitions which do not express a true desire for communion with God, and thereby cannot establish a state of true prayer.  God does not need our "babble," my study bible says, but our sincerity.  Christ does not condemn the use of many words per se -- it is, instead, the sincere desire the words convey that matters.   In today's reading, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat (the Lord's Prayer, which follows).  It's important to distinguish between repetition and vain repetition, which Jesus emphasizes.  There are many psalms, prayers, and hymns in the Church repeated for countless generations in worshiping God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).   What counts in prayer is sincerity, which goes along with Christ's emphasis on secrecy and personal communion in yesterday's reading.

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."  My study bible says that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity also reveals our own potential relationship with God  Christ, who is the Son of God, also gives us the privilege of calling God Our Father by grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" (and therefore "heir" regardless of gender), every follower of Christ is called to love, trust, and serve God the same way that Christ does the Father.  My study bible also points out that God is not our Father simply by virtue of the fact that God is our Creator.  God is Father to those with whom God is in a saving and personal relationship, which is a communion by grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).

"Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  As children of God, we seek to participate in God's kingdom, or rule, even as we live our lives on earth.  Sonship by adoption implies a way of life, or perhaps more precisely, a way of living in communion with God and God's kingdom.  As did Christ, our desire of for God's kingdom to be manifest in this world, and to follow God's will.

"Give us this day our daily bread."  The word for daily is somewhat misleadingly translated.  The Greek word is epiousios, which literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  It denotes a kind of superstructure added atop the normal substance of bread.   This makes a strong allusion to the Eucharist, and implies a "supersubstance" which we -- as those who seek to live in loving communion with God -- need for our daily lives which we seek to live as members of God's kingdom.   Daily bread, my study bible says, indicates not simply bread for today and for earthly nourishment.  This request is regarding the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  The living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  My study bible sums up this request as not asking merely for material bread for physical health, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."   This request to be forgiven is in the plural, making it a type of communal request.  My study bible says that it therefore directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  Debts refers to spiritual debts (see 18:21-35).  See also the final verses of today's reading.

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  James 1:13 teaches us that God tempts no one to sin.  Looking at the temptations of Christ (see this reading), we understand that temptation comes from the evil one, the devil.  My study bible adds that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).   It says that no one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations -- that is, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.

"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  This is a solemn affirmation not only of the prayer itself (Amen), but also of our recognition of the rule, authority, and majesty of God.

"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."  Here Christ instructs us regarding mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  My study bible says that those who do not forgive are not forgiven -- period.  This is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35), cited in commentary above, which concludes with the same teaching.  My study bible adds that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.

Forgiveness can be a difficult road to go down.  Offenses that have caused great harm seem impossible to even begin to address in the spirit of forgiveness.  But if we think about the language that Jesus has used here -- which is the language of debt, of financial transaction -- then we may be able to make a start at understanding what is asked of us.  A debt is "forgiven" when it is wiped off the books.  That is, we no longer expect payment.  Therefore, in the context of debt in this sense, we have to ask what "payment" we may be expecting from an offender when we withhold forgiveness.  Someone who has caused us harm or hurt may not, in any sense, be able to render payment equal to the offense.  Even if we could think up what payment would satisfy us, it is rare indeed that it could restore what we feel has been taken away.  For example, slander may cause a great deal of lasting harm that no "correction" can make disappear in the minds of those who've believed a false tale.  Moreover, to forgive in this sense of the prayer is mentioned in the context of our relationship with God.  That is, the idea of forgiveness, as directed by Christ, expands relationship from simply one-to-one (offender and the one offended) to a three-way relationship which is, additionally, described within the context of the community of believers ("forgive us our debts").  So Christ's prayer has the effect of widely expanding the pool of interaction within which forgiveness is asked.  If I am harmed by something a person has done, it is no longer simply myself involved in the hurt.  This is rather expanded to an entire community which is, moreover, in relationship to God the Father.  When I choose to "forgive" or rather "give up" or "let go" that debt (as the Greek word more literally means), then I release it to God and to community.  I am, therefore, through the act of forgiving, relying upon God and community not only to direct my response, but also to be the Source from which my healing or restoration will come.  In other words, to release the debt to God becomes a way of expanding one's own sources of healing and restoration, recompense and guidance for how to properly and best conduct oneself in response to any form of harm.  If this seems too much to take in, consider how an offender may "pay us back" for hurts as some form of debt they owe.  It makes us consider what retribution we might demand or extract in relationship to what God and community can do for us.  If I suffer abuse, am I helped by holding onto that debt myself?  If I release that debt to God in prayer and do so within a community of believers, are my chances of finding a better way forward for my life increased?  Are not God's help and guidance more likely to lead us somewhere good than our own immediate response?  Let us consider how we may find ways to transcend suffering within this framework of "giving up" something, a debt or trespass.  Perhaps our prayer and forgiveness will lead us to a just settlement, even within a legal framework.  Perhaps those things which will need a deeper source of forgiveness and reconciliation will only give us real help through faith and our relationship to God.  Perhaps we will find a pathway whereby our experience is put to better use than staying stuck in a pattern from the past.  All of this, put into the context of God and community, may be used for a much greater healing, for insight and meaning, and for the depth of character that is better able to help others and to move forward in life with positive plans.  We free up our own energies for healing when we start to bring in those things that are greater than ourselves, help and assistance with more wisdom and insight, and the One who loves and knows us better than we know ourselves.  What is most important to understand about forgiveness is that when we turn to God, there is nothing left out.  It is not a sweeping under the rug of past hurts.  It is, rather, a way to ask for the fullness of healing, a restoration of our energies, repair of the soul, so that we may be free to find greater fulfillment in our own potentials for a better and more creative life than staying stuck only in an identity of hurt.  God never forgets the truth of who we are, even when we do -- and neither are our needs ignored, even when we might prefer to do so ourselves.  Christ offers us a way to find ourselves in right-relatedness, to remind ourselves Whose children we really are, and to find identity in the one place where we are truly known.  Let us begin and end with His prayer!  The icon above was one of the few to survive the Iconoclast movement.  It is Christ Pantocrator, meaning "Almighty."   It shows us Christ's identity which is both human and divine, but perhaps even more importantly implies those human experiences and suffering which were glorified in His Ascension into heaven.  We see this in the trace of a tear, the gray hairs, and the facial wrinkles on the right side of the icon.  We see His hand raised in blessing, and holding His Gospel for us.  If Christ's suffering may become glorified, designated for the very purpose of salvation for the whole of creation, imagine the implication for those "debts" which we, in turn, give up to the kingdom, to God our Father?  In God's redemption, then, we trust -- and this is truly the salvation of Christ at work in us.

Your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly

Personal prayer at Golgotha Altar, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

 "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 currently in the midst of reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 -7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said:  "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 hate you, and pray for 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 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.  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."  In this next, middle section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents the three basic aspects of spiritual life:  charitable giving, prayer, and fasting.  My study bible calls these three disciplines those related directly to God's righteousness.  Here, Jesus introduces the topic of charitable deeds and our conduct in doing them.  The word "hypocrite" originally meant "actor" (in the Greek, the word literally means "below the mask" -- as in the ancient plays, actors wore masks delineating their character).   The word as Jesus uses it here indicates those who practice piety for show, who desire to please other people rather than God, thus receiving glory from men.  In the words of my study bible, they wear masks of compassion, but are inwardly heartless.  Therefore, their reward is the applause of people, and 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 says that God is not impressed with what others think about us, nor by what we think about ourselves.  It notes that good deeds are rewarded which are based on pure motives of the heart.

"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."   The hypocrites neglect the true spirit of prayer, or perhaps fail to understand it altogether.  Prayer, according my study bible, is an intimate, personal communion with God, which leads to the vision of God's glory (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Hypocrisy stymies this communion and vision.    Jesus gives us specific words to repeat (verses 9-13, called the Lord's Prayer, which will be found in tomorrow's lectionary reading).  My study bible adds that true prayer does not consist of telling God what God already knows, and then demanding a particular response from God.  Neither is it a matter of appearing to be pious before other people.  Jesus teaches here that true prayer is humble (go into your room), that it is personal (pray to your Father), and that it is sincere.

"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."  To keep a sad countenance in order to show off that one is fasting is just one more external display, which Jesus rejects as hypocrisy.  To fast is to learn discipline, and to keep God in one's heart and mind through such discipline.  It is therefore the compassion and love of God on which is the focus.  Fasting is for spiritual growth and for the glory of God; therefore to "show off" a fast is counter to its purpose for us.

Jesus repeatedly assures us in today's reading that our Father, who is in the secret place and who sees in secret, will reward us for those acts of faith which are done in secret.  This is an interesting kind of reciprocity.  We will find various other types of reciprocal promises made by Christ.  For example, we are each to carry our own cross, in imitation of Him, and in so doing we are given in exchange a "life in abundance" (John 10:10).    In Mark 8:34-35, Jesus teaches, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it."  This is quite a promise, indeed.   Elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us that it is better to lose an eye or a hand, so that in exchange we will save the whole of who we are.  Of course, He is speaking metaphorically about discarding those characteristics which form a part of ourselves, and which may seem as precious as a right hand or eye, but which we're better off without (see this reading).  Of course, the whole of the Beatitudes is a statement of exchange -- types of worldly loss (such as mourning) in exchange for the blessings of the Kingdom.  He also makes promises of exchange based on positive behavior, as when He teaches, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."  Here in today's reading, we're given positive examples of how we should conduct ourselves in practices of the exercise of our faith:  almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.  Each of these practices is designed to shore up faith.  They are expressions of faith, but also activities which are forms of active worship.  To give is to live the Kingdom and the promises of God.  It is an active form of loving God and loving neighbor, putting the love God teaches us to work in the world.  But Jesus gets specific about how exactly we go about doing this.  Going more deeply into what righteousness is, as He has done all along in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us a depth of psychology at work in our spiritual lives.  Are we giving for show, for the approval and good opinion of others, or do we give in secret so as to insure the sincerity of the gift?  None of us are strangers to the "trumpets" and fanfare that accompanies grand acts of charitable giving.  But Christ wants our hearts -- and so important is this cement of our faith in its sincerity that He repeatedly emphasizes it.  We are to give in secret, so much so that we're told, "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."  Prayer is another secret activity.  Whatever we do in acts of public worship, we are told also to go into our room and shut the door, and "pray to your Father who is in the secret place."   The word for "room" in Greek is meant to be an inner room, used as storage chamber, and linked to a "treasury."  In fact, this same word in modern Greek now is used for "cash register."  So the double secrecy here is emphasized (praying in secret to your Father who sees in secret), and it is this secrecy -- this hiddenness -- that serves to shore up the sincerity of the prayer and God's response to it.  In the Greek of the text, the word "openly" (as in the Father's reward) does not specifically appear.   Perhaps it is considered to be implied, but nevertheless there are responses to prayer which only we may know and feel and experience, rewards which give us things we need, and cherish, and treasure.  The emphasis here is on the hiddenness both of God and our practices of relationship to God -- and prayer in particular, for that is the root of this personal relationship.  As God is in a hidden place, let us remember that we, too, go to that place for true communion, the depth of relatedness, in order to participate in God's kingdom.  It is there where our need for answers takes us, our search for reconciliation, the real response to prayer and the desire in the depths of the soul.  It is there we meet God, in the various ways we may practice and grow spiritual understanding, and it is there that God seeks us.

Love your enemies

Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 6th century

 "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 hate you, and pray for 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 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

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  "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 that Christ's preaching here contrasts with certain sayings in the Old Testament; namely Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21).   These statements in the Old Testament prescribed an equal response to violence; but Jesus warns not to resist violence with more violence.  It's important to remember that these statements in the Old Testament were actually seeking to limit levels of reciprocal violence (see Genesis 4:23-24).  An ancient anonymous patristic comment on this passage cites that the fear of losing an eye or limb was meant to deter such violence altogether.  So Christ's earlier statements about righteousness and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets are effectively continuing through this teaching.  Christ teaches, in the words of my study bible, that evil can only be overcome by good.  This keeps us free from compromise with the devil, and it also can bring our enemy under the yoke of God's love.  It cites a story of the desert monks, in which a monk found his hut being looted of its few possessions.  He knelt in a corner praying for the bandits.  When they left, he saw they had not taken his walking stick.  He pursued them for many days until he could give them his walking stick also.  Viewing his humility, they returned everything to him and were converted to Christ.   While we may not all be in a position to emulate the monk, to immediately turn to God in inward prayer when we are confronted with any form of violence or harm to ourselves or others is something we can always choose to do -- and to seek first God's wisdom, guidance, and protection for our conduct in response and continually afterward.  Let us note that this teaching is not simply about violence but also about other forms of trespass or unjust demands.  All are met within the same framework.

"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 hate you, and pray for 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 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 comments that if we are freed from hate, sadness, and anger, then we are able to receive the greatest virtue, which is perfect love.    Love of enemies is not simply an emotion.  It denotes decision and action.  Christ's words encourage us once again to a prayerful attitude to all that comes our way.  Seeking to forgive ("let go") may be understood as giving all things up to God, and seeking God's will for ourselves in and through all things.  With such an attitude, we may find a kind of peace in remembering where it is we truly stand, and placing all things under that God's umbrella --- a fitting metaphor for sun and rain.

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."  My study bible says that this is the summary statement of all that has preceded  We may grow in the perfection of the Father (Ephesians 4:13), shown by imitation of God's love and mercy.  In Luke 6:36, Jesus teaches, "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."  Whatever the true meaning of this statement, it calls us to act in accordance with God's will to the best of our capacities; we seek that will always through prayer and through the "giving up" of all circumstances to God for guidance, wisdom, reconciliation, and peace within ourselves if at all possible.   Let it be understood, as well, that this command easily denotes an ongoing process, even of change and personal transformation, and without time limit.

So how can we be perfect like God is perfect?  The early patristic writers were greatly concerned, in their comments on these passages, with how to limit evil.  That is, how do we promote the good?   For the most part, there is a great deal of commentary on saving the good.  By participating in revenge and retribution, even the good may find itself becoming a part of what is evil, perpetuating and participating the things that bring pain and destruction to community, to relationships.  An unjust suit, a slander, claiming things that belong to others for oneself, and varied forms of violence against another are all evil.  But our response has to have a higher consideration than simply retribution, which may resolve nothing, and simply make the problem grow.  To give things up to God -- that is, to put all things under the yoke of God -- is to give consideration to the understanding that we live in response first to our relationship with God, and seek to put all of our lives under that perspective.  In the next chapter of Matthew, Jesus will give us the "Our Father," known as the Lord's Prayer.  In it, He will teach us to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  This word for forgive is to let go, exactly the same language one would employ in letting go of a financial or material debt.  We are given a formula for releasing to God the injustices that evil imposes in life, and then seeking God's way for us as response.  This does not teach us that we are simply subject to any abuse, or that any and all suffering is simply acceptable.  Neither has it been understood from the early Church that any demand made upon us was acceptable.  Theodore of Heraclea comments that Christ did not command us to give to everyone who asks without exception, for that is impossible.  Neither are we told to give to those with a bad motive -- for that donation will go to evil things.  Nor are we simply to accept any burden imposed upon us.   In chapter 1 of the Didache we read, "Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give."   It indicates moreover that there is a chance that to give to some may actually harm them in the long run.  These teachings are meant, quite simply, to give us a sense of the pursuit of God's justice and not earthly justice.  That is, we respond to a higher and greater calling, one that is beyond our own capacity to fully grasp or to understand.  We are to "let go" of all things to God, and to rely on God's justice -- even if that means a justice deferred to the greater reconciliation of the fullness of time -- as we seek to participate in something for the greater good, for the ultimate good, which concerns far more than merely ourselves and our immediate circumstances.  It, in all ways, takes us away from selfishness as sole consideration for our lives. We will all have forms of injustice in our lives.  What Christ asks us for is not perfection in the sense of perfect justice, but perfection in the sense of imitation of God our Father.  Through His Passion, suffering and death, and Resurrection, Christ gives us a sense in which we, also, may participate -- through our own injustices in life -- in His life.  We do as He did, we give all the elements of our lives up to God, and seek God's will and God's justice, even when that may be hard to understand or explain.  Christ gives meaning to suffering through His life, death, and Resurrection -- and so we are to follow and do the same.  In effect, He transfigures suffering.  When we bear a cross in life, as did He, we might find life doesn't return to the same, but we look toward Resurrection nevertheless.  In the long run, what may seem like injustice is, after all, the mercy of God giving to us quite generously, a part of the treasure we may come to count as our own, more precious than gold and worldly things.  Jesus teaches us that we are not simply slaves to the world, locked in endless retribution of evil for evil.  We have a capacity for something better, with a far greater horizon.  Let us find what He offers to us, a better justice, a deeper richness and peace.   We remember that love is an action, a choice -- a way of living in imitation of God.  Love is not merely indulgence; it upholds something, it teaches something, it gives something greater than our own perspective.  Ultimately, to love our enemies is also to pray for their salvation in His light, that they may find what is best for their lives as well.

Let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No"

Marriage of Virgin Mary and St. Joseph

"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

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:   "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, an 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."   Once again, we understand that Jesus is speaking about a righteousness that surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20).  This involves a depth of the self and knowledge of the self.  What is at issue here, my study bible says, regarding the statute against adultery, is not the God-given mutual attraction of men and women, but rather the selfish promptings of lust.   Here, lust is a kind of greed, a desire for possession.  My study bible says that sin does not come out of nature, but rather out of the distortion of nature for selfish indulgence.  It adds that thoughts that enter the mind involuntarily are not sins, but rather temptations.  They become sins when they are held, entertained, made habitual through indulgence.

"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."   Christ is advocating quick action in order to avoid sin, and to continue in purity.   These images are not meant to be taken literally, but give us an image of what it is like to try to change ourselves.  What is habitual or usual can feel like we are cutting off a needed and useful limb, even our own right eye.  The eye is an important metaphor:  how we gaze upon the world determines quite often what we will do.  Do we look with lust, envy, greed, or honor?  Is our "eye" aggressive or does it judge good judgment?  Does our right hand seek to grasp what does not belong to us?  Even to cast off the things that seem most necessary is good if there is danger of dragging the whole of who we are where we would rather not go.

"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."  Under the Mosaic Law, men had easy access to divorce.  My study bible says this led to misuse of divorce, and hence Jesus repeatedly condemns it (19:8-9).  Christ instead emphasizes marriage as a spiritual union which therefore has an eternal quality.   But Jesus leaves a possibility of divorce on ground of sexual immorality, showing that marriage, like other relationships, can be destroyed by sin, abuse.  In the Orthodox Church, divorce and second marriage are seen as concession to human weakness and corrective measure of compassion in the cases where a marriage has been broken. 

"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."   As is consistent throughout these teachings on righteousness, Jesus emphasizes a personal integrity.  My study bible says that trust cannot be secured by swearing an oath by things that are not in the possession of human beings in the first place.

Integrity seems to be the byword for Christ's teaching about a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees.   This is closely linked to purity of heart, in which one's inward state is mirrored clearly and plainly in the outer.  His prescription for faulty external behavior is to correct the inward parts, impulses and habits that lead to bad behavior, to the breaking of community in some way.  If we begin with Christ's teaching on adultery, He goes to the heart of the impulse to look outside of marriage and seek other partners.  Let us keep in mind from the language of the text that He's addressing primarily men ("whoever looks at a woman to lust for her"), and that when it comes to divorce, Jesus cites the Mosaic Law by saying "whoever divorces his wife."   But regardless of these aspects, the teaching that emphasizes integrity is for all followers of Christ.  He begins with the heart, where our focus has to be.  If lust -- or any form of selfishness, a desire to possess or take what doesn't belong to us -- begins in the heart, then there is where it must begin to be addressed, before it becomes an outward issue.  His prescription for any of our own tendencies which are undesirable for community, and lead to sin, is to directly go to the heart of the problem and "cast it off."  The metaphors to surgical removal of needed body parts teach us that He's quote aware of how difficult this can be.  Our own habits and desires seem like fully a part of us, necessary to identity and the ways in which we think of ourselves.  But what He is also telling us is that this is not so.  We do not really need that which will lead us to destructive behavior, no matter how integral to ourselves they may seem to be.  This is not an easy teaching.  But it does speak to the necessity of understanding ourselves as people with pliable, even "plastic" capacities for change.  It also speaks entirely to the concept of responsibility.  To use the metaphor of removing one's right eye or right hand is not to minimize the difficult of doing so.  And yet, His teaching is that this is the necessary thing to do, it is what is needful.  He moves from the concept of lust to divorce, and emphasizes the spiritual nature of marriage, which in its best and most perfect state is an eternal union.  In this text, Jesus recognizes the difficulties of fidelity, specifically where any kind of abuse or sinful behavior has caused destruction to the union.  But His emphasis is on rethinking the easy or facile nature of divorce.  The deeper consideration is about relationship and community, what makes for loving relation.  This is something we work at, put effort into.  It does not call us to selfishness, but to a kind of practice of consciousness of what we're supposed to be about, a shoring up of the good, and a casting away of what is harmful.  Everything in Christ's teaching is about love in action:  righteousness of this sort is what it takes to build relationships, the foundation and expression of community.  It begins with integrity, and this includes the type of integrity in which our own word might even be as powerful as His.  If our "Yes" is "Yes" and our "No" is "No," then we have achieved a level of integrity in which our very word is potent, and reflects a true personal integrity -- from the inside to the outside.  We need nothing else to swear by if our own integrity is as intact as His example.  This speaks to us clearly against hypocrisy and duplicity.  It teaches us something of an integrity that starts from the care of the heart.  Christ asks us for a careful understanding of ourselves, and a willing participation in seeking an integrity of the self that considers the heart.  He doesn't minimize the difficulties of separating ourselves from habits and proclivities that could lead us into problems, but neither does He minimize the potential for harm a careless life can bring.   Above all, He asks us for mindfulness, and awareness of what we are to be about.  Perfection seems to be contained not in having no flaws at all, but rather being aware that as human beings we're complex subjects -- there will always be a need for mindfulness, a consciousness that things to which we might normally never give a second thought (our"right eye", our "right hand") could lead where we'd be better off not going.  He asks us for a consciousness of discipleship, a commitment to integrity as model for discipline.  Let us bear in mind that as the disciples will encounter greater difficulty in their own and others' circumstances, it is God's help that we are assured is present to make all things possible, and the grace of the Helper He will provide.

But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment

Baptistery, Florence, Italy, 1240-1300

 "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, an 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

In our current readings, Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus taught, " "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 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."  Jesus begins to give examples of what He means by a righteousness that "exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees"  (see yesterday's reading, above).  He goes to the heart, the place where "bad acts" begin, even the psychological foundations of harm.  He first takes the statute in the Law against murder, which is the subject of today's passage.  He will repeatedly use the formula but I say to you as His subject of righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, His restatement of the Law.  My study bible calls "but I say to you" a statement of total, divine authority (7:29).  As both our Creator and also the Author of the Law, Christ is able to speak with this authority, my study bible says.  Raca means "empty" in Aramaic, it's an insult denoting a lack of intelligence or brain; fool is from a word in Greek that forms the basis for the English word "moron."  My study bible notes that there is anger which is not sinful (Psalm 4:5, Mark 3:5), but Jesus forbids a kind of sinful anger, which He identifies as akin to murder.  The council is the supreme legal body among the Jews.  Hell (Gehenna in Greek; see 10:28) is the final condition of those who continuously resist God's grace. 

"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, an then come and offer your gift."   Jesus speaks here about peace with other believers; my study bible calls this a requirement for worship (Mark 11:25).   The liturgical "kiss of peace" or fellowship at the beginning of eucharistic prayer is a sign of reconciliation and forgiveness, which my study bible says prepares the faithful to offer the holy gifts at the altar (1 Corinthians 16:20; 1 Peter 5:14).  The Law as given through Moses was a set of laws to establish a community among believers; Christ gives us a formula for right-relatedness and peace which is the basis for His community.

"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."  My study bible notes that Luke places this teaching in the context of the end of the age (Luke 12:57-59).  But here it is in the context of reconciliation surrounding the Liturgy.  It adds that delay in reconciliation allows for the spread of animosity and other evils (Ephesians 4:26-27). 

Jesus here addresses the subject of anger, and relates it to the statute against murder.  How is anger related to murder?  How is it akin to murder?  While there is a type of righteous anger, Jesus specifically addresses certain manifestations of anger.  The first is name-calling against a brother.  We should keep in mind that He's speaking to His disciples, who've come to Him up on the mountain to hear Him preach (see this reading).  Therefore in this context, "brother" is indicative of the relationship between those who follow Him, even those who would be called "sons of God."  If the gender-specific language is annoying, one should keep in mind the many women who are "ministers" to His ministry and are included as those who follow Him from Galilee (Luke 8:1-3, 23:49, 55).  If we look at the whole of today's passage, it is a recipe for peace, and it drives home the Beatitude Jesus preached when He taught, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9).  This peace is the substance of right-relatedness.  To diminish others through name-calling is a way to destroy peace, to damage relationships.  The examples that Jesus gives are particularly those that diminish intelligence and maturity, the capacity of a person for understanding their lives and their capacity for making choices.  It is a way to diminish the full being of a person.  Let us keep in mind that Jesus will give a formula in Matthew' Gospel for correction within the Church, so He is not saying that legitimate matters that need review for reconciliation or adjudication are to be swept under the rug (see Matthew 18:15-20).  In today's passage, He addresses an unrighteous anger and its expression, which is damaging to others and to relationships.  He speaks of hell fire, judgment, and the judge.  These are all statements that allude to a spiritual judgment, and to a sense in which it is not the punishments of the Law one need fear, but rather a higher and deeper, more absolute authority.  These are statements which place a great deal of responsibility on our own shoulders for our conduct.  They emphasis self-responsibility and self-mastery, a kind of courage and capacity for reflection and self-awareness.  This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.  It is the ability to be aware of our relationship to God at all times, and our own status as children of God, but most especially the responsibility that comes as part of such a package.  We should remember that discipleship is a journey, and in this context we are to work at this, and through experience come to know ourselves better -- in particular, those things we need to correct and jettison from our own internal cabinet of habits and tendencies.  Jesus speaks of resolving conflicts as quickly as possible, so that anger does not fester and grow into something more -- and more costly to oneself.  To air a legitimate grievance is to speak plainly, not to hold a grudge nor to inflame others.   But the basis for all of this is a spiritual basis of understanding that has as its root the two greatest commandments in the Law:  to love God with all one's heart and soul and strength, and neighbor as oneself.  It is a righteousness rooted in a peace that is a product of inner orientation, mindful of God and our relationship to God and in Christ.  Jesus reminds us that uncontrolled anger is a danger; and our desire to indulge ourselves in such passions can have disastrous consequences.  Let us remember that names can wound -- and they may diminish both others and ourselves.    In all ways, Christ seeks to make us aware of our own conduct, our unconscious behaviors that cause harm.  Where do you start with the kind of maturity He asks of us?  Where do you begin to address the ways in which you handle even a legitimate grievance?

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

Cross of Life - 5th century, Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy

 "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 Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

- Matthew 5:17-20

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:  "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."

 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."  Christ fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions, my study bible says.  This fulfillment happens through the performance of God's will in all its fullness (3:15), by transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30), by declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which Christ is about to deliver in this Sermon, and through granting righteousness, which is the goals of the Law, to all of us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets both by being and carrying out what they have foretold.

"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."  Assuredly is amen/ἀμὴν in the Greek.  My study bible gives its definition as "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."   This word is used as a solemn affirmation, a type of oath.  Jesus uses this word at the beginning of various proclamations (as opposed to the end), which is a unique and authoritative way of doing so:  He is declaring His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot is iota/ἰῶτα in the Greek, the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore, the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of the new teaching of Christ.  My study says that all is fulfilled refers to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.  Let us remember also Christ's words to John the Baptist:  "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness" (3:14-15).

"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 explains that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  To observe the least commandments is to observe the whole Law, and the violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.

"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."  The difference between the righteousness of the Pharisees and the righteousness that leads to salvation is the difference between an outward works-based righteousness and one that must exceed such an appearance-based system.  That is, the righteousness of salvation, as my study bible explains it, is a communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.  In the verses that follow, Jesus will go on to explain this depth of communion through various examples of violations of the Law, and His teachings on them.

St. Paul writes, "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" (Romans 1:16-17).  My study bible explains that "the righteousness of God" is to be in a continuous state of communion with God.  This state of "being right with God" originates with God and is accepted by mankind in faith.  This expression of the fullness of the Law, and the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees, is where Christ is going in His Sermon.   In the verses that follow today's reading, Jesus will give us specific examples of violations of the Law, together with expressions of the deepening awareness of the heart and soul as to a true state of righteousness.  He will teach the fulfillment of faith and in interaction of loving creature and loving God.  In this model, it is the center of the self (or the "heart") which dwells within that active, living, ongoing communion of faith.  This is a mystical connection which works through grace within us.  In Christ's perspective, the ongoing model of faith is one in which this communion works thoroughly and holistically within a person, in which faith leads to works -- rather than being exclusively works-based.  That is, in the purity of heart He preached in the Beatitudes, we also act.  Christ offers us a depth of psychological understanding that the Law, or an exclusively works-based system, cannot.  As He says, He does not diminish or abolish the Law, but rather fulfills it.  Where a works-based understanding of life or faith may engender a great deal of hypocrisy (also in the examples He will give both in the Sermon on the Mount and throughout the Gospels), Christ preaches a fulfillment of the Law which includes every single part of who we are.    In order to achieve such righteousness, we must begin with the heart rather than leaving it out of the equation.  We go to the place where God works actively within us, and all the things we do to shore up our faith work to take us to that place of active communion.  Let us begin there, cleaning the inside of the cup, so that the outside also reflects that work!  Let us also understand that in this work we have the ongoing help and support of a loving God and communion of saints, and those both seen and unseen.  Repentance is always just a step away, and welcomed with loving acceptance.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven

Lamps at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

 "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."

- Matthew 5:11-16

Yesterday we read that Jesus, seeing the multitudes, went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.  Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

 "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."  My study bible comments that those who suffer persecution for Christ walk the same road of the prophets, saints, and martyrs.  In Greek, the word translated as be exceedingly glad literally means to "leap exceedingly with joy."  (See Acts 5:40-41.)

"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."  Jesus now gives images for the role of His disciples in society:  salt and light.  In Christ's time, salt was necessary for its preservative powers, necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor.   Because of these qualities, it had religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19, 2 Chronicles 13:5).   If one "ate salt with another" it meant to be bound together in loyalty.  My study bible says that as the salt of the earth, therefore, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  The true and uncreated Light is God.  In the Old Testament, light is symbolic of God (Isaiah 60:1-3), the divine Law (Psalm 119:105), and Israel in contrast to the other nations.  In the New Testament, the Son of God is called "light"  (John 1:4-9, 8:12; 1 John 1:5).  We need light for clear vision and also for life itself.  Just as the world is dependent upon the light of the sun, faith relies on the divine light of God, so that believers may become "sons of light" (John 12:36; 1 Thessalonians 5:5) who shine in contrast to a perverse and dark world (Philippians 2:15).   In the last statement here, Jesus teaches us that the virtues meant to "shine" in Christians have both a personal and public function.  Our virtue can bring others to glorify our Father in heaven.

Jesus uses two primary images -- elements of life in this world -- to illustrate the power of holiness.  Holiness is that attribute that is the manifestation of faith, of turning one's life over to discipleship, so that we are filled with Christ's light.  To be the salt of the earth is to manifest those things that make life good, that give it flavor, make it worthwhile.  Salt is not only a preservative (widely relied upon long before refrigeration was possible), but it is also cleansing, antibacterial.  Moreover salt has fixative properties that allow elements to bind together to make something better and useful for the world.   If we understand salt in its natural form, it is possible for the particular element that give it its flavor to be leached out through too much exposure to moisture; hence, Christ's question:  "if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?"  Light is something we all rely upon for life; without the light of the sun, the world would not survive.  Light is necessary for all of the things that grow on this earth, for plants and flowers, for human beings and animals.  The sun, our source of light, is central to our solar system, and so Christ Himself -- God as Light -- is central to our identity as beings and creatures.  That uncreated light of God, which shapes all spiritual reality and gives birth to creation, is the very basis of our being -- of all being.  Just as the sun feeds light to the world upon which life is dependent, so the light of God feeds us in our place of being.  We may "take in" the energies of that light, and become more "illumined" or "luminous" ourselves.  As Christ says, we may thus shine that same light into the world, so that others may glorify its source.  Since we also know that God is love, consider then that the virtues of light are those which manifest love in its varied energies and manifestations.  This includes the practice of mercy and peace, holding fast to the good, and seeking to live that good for ourselves and for others in right-relatedness.  To affix those virtues within ourselves regardless of what others around us do, to live through and shine that light back into the world when there is darkness that seeks to extinguish the light, is to be the disciples Christ calls us to be and to become more fully.  It is the way He teaches.  It is the fullness of true responsibility and self-realization, and the power of grace that is at work in us so that we may all become "sons of light."  Jesus ties this in with persecution for righteousness' sake.  So the light that shines in the darkness may encounter such hostility, and so we are told to be exceedingly glad.  To shine a lamp in the darkness may irritate those who have chosen that darkness, and yet the illumination stands.  This is the way of discipleship.