St. Peter's News

Source – “Five Ways Into Sunday’s Scripture from Faith Formation and Education”, Trinity Church NY

This week’s Gospel reading is Matthew’s account of the luminous transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of his close disciples, Peter, James, and John, on Mount Tabor. No one can see God and remain unchanged.

As on the Baptism of Jesus, here, at the last Sunday of Epiphany, God reveals who Jesus really is: the Divine Son, the Beloved, truly God. Bright light is a symbol of divine presence and the presence of the great figures of Moses and Elijah also attest to Jesus’ divine nature.  Thus they are changed. He opened their eyes so that instead of being blind they could see.

The disciples’ glimpse of this reality may have helped them (at least in retrospect — and with the eyes of their hearts) to deal with the abrupt and dramatic changes that would soon follow: Jesus’ turn to Jerusalem, his passion, death, and resurrection.

For us,  as we face into the Lenten season, we hold an image of this mountaintop experience, knowing full well that we, like they, must come down from the mountain and move out into the world proclaiming Good News to the poor, learning how to welcome God’s Beloved amid change, challenge, disappointment, and sacrifice

I.Theme –   The joy and blessings of obedience. Also, is the idea of building a new community through new behaviors  (culminating in Matt 5: 37).

 

“Hands across the Divide” – Maurice Harron. A metal sculpture in Londonderry, Northern Ireland  

Since the 17th century, Londonderry has had two cultural traditions: Catholic and Protestant, Irish and Ulster Scots. During the Troubles, this became a big problem. The city became best known for tragedies like Bloody Sunday, and so most tourists stayed away. Yet since the start of the peace process, Londonderry has been transformed. It’s rediscovered its rightful role as a cultural destination, and its dual heritage has become an asset, rather than a source of strife. The image is included in relationship to the Corinthians reading.

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

1A. Old Testament 1 Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20

1B. Old Testament 2 Deuteronomy 30:15-20

2.  Psalm– Psalm 119:1-8 Page 763, BCP

3.  Epistle – 1 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

4.  Gospel – Matthew 5:21-37 

The Old Testament and Gospel readings are linked around the older community in Deuteronomy (The setting is the plains of Moab, as the Israelites prepare to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land) and the new community in Matthew (Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount).  How do we get along in community ? The focus is the calling and teaching of disciples of Jesus. (Paul in Corinthians is centered on a related idea – being or becoming healthy as the body of Christ.)

Deuteronomy

In the four verses immediately preceding 30:15–20, Moses assures the people that the commandments of the LORD are neither too hard nor too remote. 
 
Just prior to our text, Moses announces wonderful blessings for an obedient Israel and blood-curdling curses for an apostate Israel (chapter 28). These benedictions and maledictions are followed by a prediction of eventual exile (29:18–29) and return (30:1–10) . 

Having assured the people that what God commands they can do, Moses launches into his final call for a decision.

The choice is stark. “If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today…then you shall live and become numerous
But if your heart turns away and you do not hear… I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.”  Moses use of the word “today” is the hope for a new beginning.    

Like Matthew there is the emphasis on the creation of a new community. There is the need for a break with the past. However,  in the following chapter, it becomes very clear that both Moses and God know that the people will fail miserably. 

Psalm

The first section of the ‘long Psalm’ is an acrostic based on alpeh, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Like the other 21 sections of the Psalm, it consists of eight double lines. The longest acrostic Psalm, it is therefore constructed with great skill, which no translation can really convey. The choice of vocabulary is also rich, expressing different terms for what we very flatly call ‘law’. Although the Jewish celebration of ‘rejoicing in the law (simchat torah) was a later development in Judaism, the psalm expresses similar sentiments. As a Psalm extolling the torah, it has similarities to Psalms 1 and 19:7-11. These eight verses are a suitable general introduction to the rest of the Psalm.

1 Corinthians 3: 1-9 

Following on from the situation reported to him by ‘Chloe’s people’ (1:11), after an excursus dealing with ‘the message of the cross (1:18-2:16), Paul returns to the theme of factions in the church at Corinth. However, the intervening section emphasizes the cross as God’s wisdom. This stands in sharp contrast to the rivalry exhibited by the groups in the church. The metaphor of ‘growth’ is developed both in the imagery of the ‘child’, and also of the ‘field’. Paul’s favorite dichotomy of flesh and spirit is also to the fore. Nevertheless, the Corinthian believers are still Paul’s ‘brothers and sisters’, and fellow workers. Despite their shortcomings, although he does reprimand them he does not disown them. The fact that only Paul and Apollos are mentioned here (and not Cephas nor Christ, as in 1:12) probably reflects the history of the congregation’s founding and leadership by these two apostles. Paul might have taken some of the glory for this, but he refuses to do so. 

Matthew 5: 21-37 

The first four of the six ‘antitheses’ of the Sermon on the Mount are included in this reading (the final two are in next week’s reading). The quotations from ‘those of ancient times’ include aspects of both torah and tradition (halakah). The time-honoured description of this section as ‘antitheses’ may be misleading, for although in part Jesus cuts across the interpretation of the law, he does not contradict or discard torah itself. Jesus’ own interpretation intensifies and internalises the force of the commands. 

Jesus also broadens the impact of torah/halakah, ie murder becomes an issue of anger and unforgiveness; adultery is broadened to include lust and stumbling-blocks in general; divorce and adultery are linked; and the making of vows is illustrated by specific examples and by the simplicity of Jesus’ teaching. 

The explanatory expansion of these commands by Jesus may also be understood as the root cause of the specific sin, eg anger or unforgiveness in the heart can lead to physical murder. 

II. Summary 

Old Testament – Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20 

Two verses in the Old Testament seem to imply that God causes a person to sin at times:

God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” in Exodus 11:10 and

in 2 Samuel 24:1 God “incited David” to count how many subjects he has – out of pride.

But Sirach disagrees: in no way can God be held responsible for human sinfulness (vv. 11-12). God not only hates sin but he even preserves the godly person from committing it (v. 13).

In v. 14, he says that God “left them in the power of their own free choice”. (A scholar says that inclination is a better translation.) One can incline:

towards godliness (“life”, v. 17) by obeying the Law (v. 15) or

towards ungodliness (“death”, v. 17) by refusing to obey.

God does allow us to go our own way, but he is always there to help us follow his ways. Only with his love can we attain eternal life. “Fire and water” (v. 16) are opposite extremes, and don’t mix. There are two choices; they are mutually exclusive. Then vv. 18-20: even though God is omniscient (he knows all that we think and do), he does not cause people to sin.

Old Testament – Deuteronomy 30:15-20 

The setting is the plains of Moab, as the Israelites prepare to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. The book states that Moses is the speaker, but the laws given in Chapters 12-28 are updated versions of those in earlier books.

Times have changed since Sinai: the people were semi-nomads then; now they are farmers and shepherds. It is a time of religious revival, of new commitment to God. V. 6 puts the Law in a new light: God will “circumcise your heart” – he will work changes within the people so love becomes the driving force. Note also v. 20: “loving the Lord your God …”. They will keep the Law because they love God.

Our reading summarizes Chapters 27-28, which tell of:

-the ways in which the Israelites will be blessed if they keep this expanded and updated covenant; and

-the consequences of failing to keep many of the laws, i.e. being excluded from the community.

Then it offers a choice: keep the laws in love and obedience, or suffer the consequences of following other paths. Keeping the Law because you love God will have many benefits, including long life (“length of days”, v. 20).

Psalm -Psalm 119:1-8 Page 763, BCP

This is the first stanza (of 22, one for each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet) of the longest psalm. Each of the verses of this stanza begins with aleph, the first letter. The whole psalm is in praise of the Law (the expression of God’s covenant with humankind in the Old Testament) and of keeping it. The emphasis is on the love and desire for the word of God in Israel’s law, rather than being burdened with it. The psalm begins with a prayer for help in observing the Law. To be “happy” (vv. 1-2) is to be blessed by God. As in other stanzas, various words are used for “law”; here they are “precepts”, “statutes” “commandments”, and “ordinances”. The psalmist seeks to avoid sin, and to live in God’s ways.

Epistle -1 Corinthians 3:1-9

In Chapter 1, Paul says that he has learnt that there are divisions in the church at Corinth, that some adhere to particular leaders of the community rather than to Christ. The faith only makes sense to those who understand it spiritually, so he addresses them not as “spiritual people” (v. 1) but as neophytes (“infants”). He has been criticized for oversimplifying the good news, but their “jealousy and quarrelling” (v. 3) demonstrate that they are still only earthly minded, are still behaving according to human standards (“inclinations”).

It is natural to be attached to the person who welcomed you into the church, but you need to recognize that they are all “servants” (v. 5) of Christ. Each has a distinct function in bringing you to faith. Paul founded the church at Corinth (“planted”, v. 6); Apollos nurtured faith (“watered”) in the community; but it is God who causes spirituality and faith to grow. He and Apollos have the same objective (v. 8). Perhaps the rewards (“wages”) are in seeing the church grow; perhaps they are in heaven. Paul and Apollos are co-workers. In the following verses, Paul expands on the church as “God’s building” (v. 9).

Gospel – Matthew 5:21-37

Epiphany is the inbreaking presence in Jesus Christ in the world. We see this in this week’s Matthew’s Gospel

The section is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount. Having announced the good news and the kingdom of heaven having broken in (4:23-24), Jesus proclaims the guiding precepts of that kingdom in the Beatitudes (5:1-12), and announces that his followers are to be “salt” and “light” in the world and proclaimed the fulfillment of prophesy and the law. The law remains in full force “until all has come to be,” a reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus which brings the New Creation.

Matthew builds his Gospel around five main discourses. He probably did this with the five books of the Torah (or the Law) in mind. His intention was almost certainly to portray Jesus as the new Moses, giving a new Law for the New Covenant. Which, of course, makes it very tempting to believe that we have an excuse for doing away with the law altogether. But, this is not what Matthew – or Jesus for that matter – was doing. Rather, in the Sermon on the Mount, to which we continue to listen this week, Jesus makes it clear that he has come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it – literally to perfect or complete it (Matthew 5:17-19).

And in the section which is set for Epiphany 6 (Matthew 5:21-37), this fulfillment is demonstrated in remarkable ways. Jesus, it seems, knew that the law could be cold-hearted. He knew that it could be used to demean and oppress. He knew that a law that was left in the realm of letters and court rooms could often accomplish the exact opposite of what it was originally intended for.

The law must become part of our hearts. Jesus in these teachings is standing on the foundation of prior teachings from Hebrew Scriptures about the heart as the inner source of outer actions, subject to the good or evil influence of imagination. He’s asking, “What is in your heart?

Jesus gives the disciples a new way of life, not rejecting the tradition, but building upon it, explaining what they really meant . It is a way of life that demands more and promises more. He identifies the divine ideal behind the law. God requires righteousness (right living) and it has to be better than what he alleges many Jewish leaders of his time achieved (5:20). It is a necessary surpassing righteousness required of a person to enter the kingdom of heaven. . People can hear the commandments and not understand what they are really about

In that it is all about relationships. And so Jesus speaks the radical message of the complete law, calling us not just to ensure that we uphold the letter of the legal code, but that we uphold the dignity and humanity of our companions in this world. The New Community is not a “new and improved” old community. Rather, it is a reconciled and beloved community in which all people are treated with dignity, not with contempt , and with affirmation, not deprecation .

Jesus shifts our attention from particular behaviors we must avoid to particular interior orientations we must cultivate. Kingdom righteousness saturates our whole lives, and promises much more, too. It is the way of blessedness.

No longer do the teachings on murder and adultery apply strictly to acts of murder and adultery. Instead, they become doorways into the examination of many internal dynamics as well as external behaviors of one’s life: anger, derision, slander, false generosity, litigiousness, arrogance, lust, temptation, alienation, divorce, and religious speech. Jesus advises that one discard, promptly and decisively, anything in one’s life that tempts one to turn away from God.

Then follow six instances in which Jesus announces new interpretations of the law–indeed, some would say, changes the law. He will teach in regard to anger, sexuality, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and hatred of enemies.

In this text Jesus provides his teaching on three of the Ten Commandments (plus divorce):

  1. You shall not commit murder. 

  2. You shall not commit adultery and divorce 

  3. You shall not bear false witness. 

The way Jesus refers to them indirectly was a way to direct importance to them

1. Murder

Jesus extends this law to include propensities to kill: nursing anger, calling someone good for nothing (as the Greek says) or a “fool” (v. 22)

Jesus is saying: if you take the command, “Do not kill”, seriously, then you will not embrace hate and let you anger turn to abuse of others. You will write no one off. The fifth contrast will speak of retaliation – also a form of hate. The sixth contrast matches the first because it has the same theme: love your enemies. In Jesus’ teaching the foundation is God’s love and openness to all.

There is a certain attraction in being able to divide people into those we love and those we hate – and those we don’t know so don’t care about anyway. It seeds racism. It rescues us from complexity and the messiness of needing to think, and to engage the unfamiliar and less amenable to us and our ways. The religious form of this is to deem some people as never having been chosen, never having been of worth, not counting. Religions use it to rationalise rejection. It is, alas, alive and well. It is easier to eliminate people in this way than to take up the challenge of respecting them, engaging them, seeking a right relationship with them – God’s way according to the gospel, though “God” is often made to model, motivate and rationalize our fondness for hate.

There are two more teachings about anger; the first having almost a touch of humor to it: Someone has something against you? Then go back home (to Galilee?!) and sort it out – even if it means a few days’ journey (5:23-24)! Similarly, Matthew has what sounds like advice at conflicts which might end up in court and land you in jail (5:25-26). It is really a powerful way of urging people to deal with conflict directly and immediately. Later Matthew’s Jesus instructs people to put effort into sorting out problems of wrongdoing in the community (18:15-18) and approaching them with compassion and prayer (18:12-14, 19-20, 21-35).

We still need that wisdom: don’t go gossiping! Don’t just sit on it (it might explode destructively one day or you might implode with stress). Deal with it. When Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (5:9), it is clear from Matthew’s gospel, that he did not mean, blessed are those who sweep things under the carpet, or those who lie to themselves and others about pain. If it hurts, say so. Deal with it!

Verse 22, “with a brother or sister.” These teachings of Jesus are addressed specifically to his followers who are to treat one another as they would their blood relatives. In fact, Jesus lays down higher standards. But the key to remember is that at the time of Jesus ones family was everything, and the provision of this alternate family – the community of followers of Jesus – was a radical disruption of a paramount social foundation.

2. Adultery

God expects purity of thought and desire as well as of action.

The punishment for adultery was for both the adulterer and the wife to be put to death, “so you shall purge the evil from Israel.”

But Jesus proposes another way to purge the evil of adultery – tearing out the eye that looks with lust on another man’s wife! The added nuance is the “right” eye. “To pluck out the right eye” means to suffer dishonor. Thus the followers of Jesus are urged to practice self-discipline, both in not committing the kind of seeing that leads to dishonoring of others, and in voluntarily dishonoring oneself in the service of restoring the peace of the community.

The issue is not having sexual feelings, but what one does with them. As with anger, if you have them and harbor them towards a married woman, then you are in effect an adulterer in your mind. Get your mind sorted out. Seeing” for the purpose of “desire” is not seeing a woman as a person but as an object. Again, the kingdom of heaven is about the dignity and affirmation of others, not using them for one’s own purposes.

3. Divorce

With regard to the third contrast, there was no command about divorce, but it is implied in the instructions of Deut 24:1-4, which prohibited remarrying someone you had divorced. Divorce became a problem especially when Judaism began to move away from polygamy.

Divorcing a wife was easy for a man in Palestine: in some circles, he could simply write her a “certificate of divorce” (v. 31) without cause. Jesus’ point here is that marriage is indissoluble, lifelong. Sexual intercourse made people permanently one. He probably thinks of Genesis 2:24: in marriage, God makes man and wife “one flesh”. He makes one exception: “on the ground of unchastity” (v. 32). The Greek word means unlawful sexual behaviour, including adultery. He forbids remarriage because the first marriage still exists. The view that adultery was intolerable was widely held across Greek, Roman, and Jewish culture, requiring the death of both people at some points in history or, if not, certainly divorce.

Because Jesus consistently shifted the focus from just act to attitude of mind we are able to embrace what also the wisdom about human relations has taught us, namely that usually adultery is usually a symptom of something else as well, so that things may have gone badly wrong, even irretrievably so, long before an act of adultery has taken place, indeed even when it has not taken place. Reconciliation and healing mean dealing with these complexities of the mind and attitude towards which the gospel also points us. Our gospel commitment to marriage and relationship remains, but works itself out in ways that may sometimes see (agreed) divorce as the most creative way forward and may also have us recognizing that marriages where adultery has taken place can be retrieved, revived, even to become stronger and more fruitful for having worked through the underlying issues.

4. Oaths

Matthew 5:33-37: You shall not bear false witness.

This extension of the Law was not onerous for first-century Christians, for they expected the world to end soon, and they could live separately from their spouses. Then vv. 33-37: one swore an oath to guarantee that what one said on a particular occasion was the truth.

The Torah allowed for oaths, even prescribed them in some cases, but Jesus said not to swear “at all.” Sometimes today we may need references, witnesses, guarantors, as an aid to those who might otherwise be unsure or where some communally agreed norms are at stake, such as oaths of office or in court,

Jesus says one should always tell only the truth. When one does, there is no need for swearing[-in]. A truthful person is consistent in what he says. Inconsistency is a sign that one has turned against God (v. 37).

People can get quite inventive with oaths, which is why Jesus goes on at some length condemning them/ The problem with oaths is that they can be an effort to cover false promises or to further one’s own ends by invoking God’s name, God’s honor.

Oath-swearing is for people who don’t trust each other, as if underlining our cheap words with a patina of piety might make them more believable. Oaths actually serve to underline doubt, not certainty. In the New Community, there is no need for such oaths because reconciled people speak the truth to each other and live in trust with each other.
 

III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher: 

Old Testament – Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Psalm – Psalm 119:1-8 Page 763, BCP

Epistle – 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 

Matthew –  Matthew 5:21-37

 Lectionary, Epiphany 5

I.Theme –   How should we act in relationship to others? Actions speak louder than words

 

The Sermon of the Mount Part 2 – “Salt and Light”.  Stained glass is entitled “Light for Others” and from St. Mary’s church, Melton Mowbray, England

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

1. Old Testament- Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12)

2.  Psalm- Psalm 112:1-9, (10) Page 755, BCP

3.  Epistle – 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)

4.  Gospel – Matthew 5:13-20 

Isaiah -In today’s verses, God redefines the role of fasting and looks at our role with other. An expression of humility, fasting offers the people an opportunity to do for others what God has already done for them. We need to make a difference for those who live with oppression or poverty or bereavement. The way to serve God is not in pious proclamation but in subversive affirmation. 

The attitude of the heart and use of the tongue must also reflect charity. The people must give more than food, clothing, or shelter: they must give themselves. Instead of seeking their own pleasure, they must first satisfy the desires of the needy, finding their own desires satisfied by God (58:11). 

The Psalmist also affirms that the blessed are those whose everyday actions in sharing their riches proclaims their faith and honours the God whom they serve. 1

Paul in Corinthians asks his listeners to consider his actions, actions rooted in the ancient wisdom of God, a wisdom that he demonstrated before naming. It was important that the folk to whom Paul ministered saw the power of God’s Spirit in Paul’s life before he proclaimed that Spirit.

Jesus after his initial preaching on the Sermon on the Mount exhorts his followers to consider the impact of their everyday living as people of faith on the communities they inhabit and in which they are called to serve and witness.

Following on from the Beatitudes, this further teaching of Jesus seems to root his teaching in a context with which the religious authorities of the day would more easily identify and which it would not be as easy for them to distance themselves.

Here we see Jesus, not abolishing the ancient laws that had become a burden for many people but giving them a makeover so that ordinary people could grasp the essence of love that underpins all of God’s law and teaching.
 

II. Summary 

Old Testament – Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12) 

Written after the Exile into Babylon (6th century BC), this passage speaks of fasting, but its implications are wider: it encompasses the whole of the people’s attitude towards God. Through the prophet, God issues a legal summons to “my people” for “their rebellion”, for “their sins”.

The structure of the passage concerns the sin and attitudes of the people (vv. 1-2). The people respond to God with a complaint (v. 3a). God then addresses the people directly, first by challenging their actions (vv. 3b-4), then by pointing to what they should be doing (vv. 5-10), and finally concluding with a future promise as the result of their faithfulness (vv. 11-12).  

They go to the Temple daily (“seek me”, v. 2) and “delight” (in a sense) to know God’s ways – but their “righteousness” (keeping the Law and seeking godly judgements) are purely ritual, external. Why, they ask, are you ignoring us, God? (v. 3a). The people had called a fast, and wondered why it seemed to have no effect on God. 

The implication is clearly that they were not fasting as part of devotion to God, but for their own interests. They don’t understand what is means to be God’s people in the world .

He begins to explain in v. 3b: “you serve your own interest” (delight yourselves, not me) and (as slave masters did in Egypt) “oppress all your workers”:there is a gulf between the rich and the poor. Because your lives outside the Temple are inconsistent with your worship (v. 4a), God will not hear your pleas.  The very fact that they seem so blissfully unaware of God’s displeasure with their delight in God reveals that their humility is false.  

Here, being God’s people is clearly defined both in terms of specific acts of grace toward the needs of others (food, clothing, shelter), as well as in terms of the larger issues of oppression and injustice that God’s people were actively to oppose (loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free).

To those two aspects the prophet also added the obligations of relationship within families (v. 7d), as if to suggest that being God’s people was not just something “out there” for the needy stranger or member of the community. It also applied in the closest of relationships with family and kin (cf. 9:20-21). There was no aspect of life that fell outside of what God would “choose” to be an “acceptable” response to his grace and faithfulness to him. 

There is the failure to “keep justice.”  “Justice” today tends to be a legal term, but  much of the Old Testament justice involved the basic needs, requirements, or even rights of people living together in community. To “keep justice” implies a diligence in seeing that those in positions of power as well as the people themselves did not deprive some members of the community of the basic needs, requirements, and rights that would allow them to function as part of the community. That seems to be at risk here. 

You kid yourselves if you think an insincere show of fasting is “acceptable” (v. 5). (“Sackcloth” was worn by mourners and the penitent.) God demands a proper relationship with others, one free from “injustice” (v. 6) and servitude (“yoke”), one in which the rich “share” (v. 7) with the “hungry”, forming one community, giving to the less fortunate. When you do this. God will hear you (“light”, v. 8) “healing” you (restoring you to well-being), and protect you (both before and behind). He will be present with you.

Vv. 9-12 continue this theme, adding that contempt (“pointing” “the finger”) and slander (“speaking of evil”) are unacceptable.

There is the problem of God not acting and the people are discouraged.

The Israelites had been allowed to return home after 70 or so years of exile in Babylon (538 BC). They had expected God to come and establish his dominion over all the earth. But times were hard and the future was anything but certain. It had been nearly 100 years now, and there was no new kingdom and no golden age These people had never seen God’s work in history and had begun to wonder whether it was worth serving God. Apathy and discouragement had dimmed their vision of the future.

And yet Isaiah could envision a new act of God in history, a new act of deliverance and restoration consistent with the God of the exodus, in which he would deliver his people and open up new possibilities for them. So Isaiah spoke of a new light dawning, a new day coming in which God would be revealed to the world and Israel would be vindicated as his people.  They can only be the light to the nations, can only fulfill their mission as the people of God, as they live out God’s grace in the world.

In Isaiah and elsewhere, both darkness and blindness are frequently metaphors for lack of understanding (for example, 29:9-10, 42:16; cf. Jer 5:21) , so there are also overtones of Israel’s own darkness in not knowing who they are as God’s people (cf. 42:18-20).

God will be present with his people, guiding them, strengthening them when they find their trust in him waning, and making them a source of good/godliness for others (“a spring of water”, v. 11). From v. 12, we learn that Jerusalem is still not yet fully rebuilt: God will help them mend the “breach” in the walls, and restore their heritage.
 

Psalm -Psalm 112:1-9, (10)

This psalm portrays the state of well-being of godly people, who hold God in awe (“fear”) and live per Mosaic law (“commandments”). They will be blessed with many powerful descendants (v. 2), wealth (v. 3), and godliness throughout their lives (“forever”). They will be examples to others (“a light”, v. 4). Those who are generous and fair in business and “lend” (v. 5, to the poor, interest-free) will enjoy true happiness, for nothing will cause them to stumble in their trust in God (v. 6); they will be long “remembered”. Their confidence will allow them to “triumph” (v. 8) over “their foes”. (A “horn”, v. 9, was a symbol of strength and power.) But (v. 10), the ungodly are “angry” at the sight of all God gives the faithful; they will perish; God will not hear their “desire”.

Epistle -1 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)

Paul continues his letter to the Corinthians by following the theme of competing wisdoms. He began in 1:11 confronting the madness which had crept into the Corinthians’ churches, where people were making heroes of special people like Paul. He then continued in 1:18 by challenging the assumptions which underlay such divisions: typical obsessions with power and wisdom, which he links with Jewish and Greek stereotypes.

Against all this Paul asserts a new kind of wisdom and a new kind of power: the foolishness and powerlessness of the cross. The life poured out there is not the sign of God’s absence but of God’s presence, not the sign of God’s powerlessness or foolishness but the sign of what is truly powerful and wise: the life poured out in compassion.

Paul is being deliberately subversive of their stance. We can see him almost taking delight in highlighting his frailty and unimpressiveness (2:3-4). His power was through the Spirit (2:4). But Paul’s understanding of the Spirit is different from that of the Corinthians, who see the Spirit in terms of miracle and power.

For Paul the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ and brings to life again that same Christ of the cross. Paul does not see the Spirit replacing the Christ of the cross, but rather helping bring that same presence to bear because this is the way God is. That is why when Paul seeks to live in the power of the Spirit, his life takes the shape of the cross: bearing love to others even when life turns ugly – as ugly as the cross.

Paul has decried divisions in the church at Corinth: people have attached themselves to particular leaders because of their eloquence (and other personal traits). Now he says that when he first “came to you”, he purposely avoided eloquence (“lofty words”) and gave the Spirit full reign in bringing people to Christ. To avoid a personality cult, he came neither promoting his own qualities (v. 3) nor using erudite (“plausible”, v. 4) rational arguments. What has happened at Corinth bespeaks immaturity in the faith.

While with “mature” (v. 6) Christians, he does speak “wisdom” ( a total God-centered view of the cosmos – not popular wisdom, and not that of political and religious “rulers”), with the immature Christians at Corinth he speaks only basics of the good news: God’s plan of salvation, decreed by God before creation. He does so in order that they may reflect God’s power (“glory”, v. 8). (Had the “rulers” understood this plan, they would have let Jesus live.) But they are so immature (indeed “unspiritual”, v. 14) that even the basics are beyond them, (“secret and hidden”, v. 7). God has revealed to the mature “through the Spirit” (v. 10) “things” about God’s love (v. 9) that are hidden from others. Just as one person can never plumb the essence of another completely, so only the Spirit can know God comprehensively. Through the Spirit, we (the mature) understand God’s gifts to us (v. 12), which can only be described in spiritual terms. But most of you have never received such gifts, so they make no sense to you (“are foolishness”, v. 14); they are only discernable in a spiritual way. The mature do discern such gifts – and you should not doubt it (“scrutiny”, v. 15). You should refrain from instructing them – for they are one with Christ, of his “mind” (v. 16).

Gospel – Matthew 5:13-20

Since we did the Presentation in the Temple on Feb. 2 we missed the Beatitudes and the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 5. Actually there are 5 weeks of passages from the sermon prior to Lent 

Jesus provided this as an instruction manual that directly addressed the Messianic Jews of Antioch, who found themselves deeply embattled by the Pharisees and Sadducees

As Jesus begins, the audience is apparently his closest disciples (5:1); when he ends, the audience is much broader (7:28). The primary theme of the sermon is righteousness or justice (dikaiosune); the content that follows will give the specifics. Jesus’ teaching opens with the beatitudes (5:3-11).

The key meaning is this “..Joy or enduring happiness is discovered when we live outwardly focus on the needs of others”

 Marek Zabriskie, the creator of the Bible Challenge has written “The world teaches us to obtain all that we can get for ourselves, to strive to succeed and not to fail, to be strong and not weak, to be aggressive and even to use violence, if others threaten to harm us, and to avoid unjust punishment or persecution.

 In the Beatitudes, Jesus, turns the logic of the world on its head. He calls for living a counter-intuitive life with God. “

 The writer of the Hidden Gospels provides a list of them 

“Each of the nine couplets invokes supportive and constructive attitudes of heart—practical assistance for beginning and withstanding the inner challenges of a spiritual journey 

 1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 2. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

 3. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

 4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

 5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

 6. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

 7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

 8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 9. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the  prophets who were before you ” (Mt 5:1-12)

The beginning sentence of each paragraph this week just after the above gives the clue meaning of it 

1 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth;

When Jesus tells his disciples to “be salt,” he is drawing on a number of Old Testament uses for salt. It was used for seasoning, preservation, and purifying (2 Kg. 2:19-22). It was used to ratify covenants (Num 18:29; Chr. 13:5) and in liturgical functions (Ex 30:35; Lev 2:13; Ezek 43:24; Ezra 6:9). To eat salt with someone signified a bond of friendship and loyalty (Ezra 4:14; Acts 1:4). Salt scattered on a conquered city reinforced its devastation (Jg 9:45) (Reid, 35). 

In rabbinic metaphorical language, salt connoted wisdom (Hill, 115). Today, salt adds flavor to food, cures food, creates traction on icy roads, and can serve as an antiseptic in wounds.

Since salt is a very stable, non-reactive compound, the only way it can lose its flavor is by being diluted with water

There are several ways scholars have suggested the disciples can lose their flavor. It all comes down to submitting to pressure

– Bending under persecution
– Bending under the pressure of the surrounding culture

2 “You are the light of the world.

You are blessed, now go and be a blessing.

In Jesus’ usage, the light is not simply to allow others to see whatever they wish but it is for others to witness the acts of justice that Jesus’ followers perform. Beyond that, it allows the audience to recognize the cause of these actions, the God of heaven.

Scripture scholar John Meier reminds us that there are two facets of the light image: it is meant for all, and it can be smothered only by the disciples’ own failure. In a one-room, windowless house, the lamp would stand in a central place where its rays could extend as far as possible. To extinguish the flame without sparks, the homeowner would place another vessel over the lamp. That thought can prompt self-examination: how do we undercut our own mission? How do we dim our light by lack of confidence, preoccupation with lesser things or a failure to believe?

3. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill

In 5:17 the emphasis is not on abandoning or abolishing the Jewish faith, but fulfilling and upholding. 

Jesus, says Matthew, did not come to lead people away from scripture but to lead them to take it seriously.

The paraphrase might be – Don’t think that my teachings replace or reduce the law and the prophets. And don’t think you can skip the details. Details count. But something more than the details is also needed. You must align your whole self with what God desires – that is what those in Heaven are like.

But he chooses to “fulfill” the law in the sense of interpreting their meaning for contemporary practice.

.. For Matthew there is continuity here. The disciples of Jesus stand in continuity with Israel, are true Israel in what it was called to be. The city on the hill would evoke Zion and the prophecies about peoples coming to worship God and learn of his Law on Zion from all peoples of the earth (as the magi did)

So putting it together   

 The disciples are to be salt and light by living the commitments and virtues Jesus states lead to blessedness in the Beatitudes (5:1-12). Matthew, out of his Jewish background, is not afraid to speak of the rewards for faithful discipleship (5:12).  

Just as “salt” and “light” relate to the functions of Jesus’ faithful followers in the world, so Jesus’ emphasis on the law is about doing good

Salt and light are similar in that they are not useful by themselves – the value comes in application to other things. In Jesus’ usage, the light is not simply to allow others to see whatever they wish but it is for others to witness the acts of justice that Jesus’ followers perform. Beyond that, it allows the audience to recognize the cause of these actions, the God of heaven.  

You are the one to get it going, looking beyond your own circumstances and look to the whole world 

Set an example. Not to get fame and glory for yourself, but so that others will see God’s goodness. 

III. Articles for this week in WorkingPreacher: 

Old Testament – Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12) 

Psalm – Psalm 112:1-9, (10)

Epistle – 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, (13-16)

Gospel –  Matthew 5:13-20