Welcome back! We are still in the Sermon on the Mount. Can you feel the days getting longer, though? I love this change in the seasons when the camellias are still blooming and you can feel everything else ready to pop out. By the way, that image above is apropos of nothing. As I write, it’s a dreary day and the flowers are making me happy!
Gospel: Matthew 5:21-37
As I mentioned above, we are are still with Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He just finished saying that He came to fulfill the Law. With this passage, He starts walking into the Law to show just how expansive it really is. Remember that some people thought the Law would no longer matter when Messiah came. We could do anything! But Jesus is saying something else entirely—that the Law is bigger than you ever realized.
And then Jesus starts going point by point to explain what He means.
You’ve heard it before—don’t murder. But I’m going further. Anger is bad. Stop being angry.
You’ve heard it before—don’t commit adultery. But I’m going further. Don’t even look! Don’t entertain lust in your heart.
You’ve heard it before—it’s proper to divorce in this certain way. But I’m going further. Divorce is WRONG!
You’ve heard it before—tell the truth when you swear to something. But I’m going further. Don’t swear at all. Your word is precious. There should be no need at all to swear.
Look at the road that leads to the end of each commandment. Doesn’t the road that leads to murder begin with anger? Jesus wants us totally off that road, not merely fenced off from the final destination.
Does this make you wonder about the road you are on? Sorry—not meaning to preach a sermon here. But in the end, as we’ll see in a second, the road we are on leads only to life or to death. Jesus wants to keep us on the right road, with Him.
Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
For this passage we go back to the Law, to correspond with Jesus’ teachings. Deuteronomy is essentially one long sermon, Moses’ retelling of the Exodus to the Hebrew people on the cusp of crossing over into then promised land. Today’s verses are the climax of Moses’ teaching.
The topic? Nothing less than life and death. Don’t let these words wash over you—they might be really familiar. Moses is talking about choices, big and little. They are all taking you in one direction—life—or another—death. Every single choice leads to one of these two. There isn’t a compromise.
Moses entreats, no, he BEGS the Hebrew people to understand this choice and to choose God, and in doing so to choose life itself.
When you have eternity, the speed at which you approach the end point doesn’t matter. You’ll get there eventually. So, in fact, direction is practically the only important thing. Moses is just saying to pick up your eyes and see where you are truly headed.
Jesus is saying something similar. The road you are on looks like anger now, but in fact, it is death. The road starts with a tiny lie. But it is really death. I think this is food for thought this week.
Just as a little trivia, this is the longest Psalm! It’s set up as an acrostic poem, with the first letter of each stanza corresponding to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The purpose of the entire Psalm is to reflect on the beauty that is God’s Law.
Just as last week’s Psalm was about righteousness, corresponding to the other readings, this one is about steadfastness and understanding the Law. These ideas correspond with Jesus’ teachings we read in Matthew and Moses’ sermon from Deuteronomy.
When you read Psalms and other poetry originally written in Hebrew, it’s good to know that one technique they used was to make the middle verse the most important one. Think of the structure of a stanza here as a mountain, building up to the central verse and idea, and then going back down the mountain. Knowing that, consider again v. 5:
Oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!
Psalm 119:5
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
With this reading we finish our time in 1 Corinthians for a while. Think about what we’ve already found learned: the immense love and affection Paul has for this congregation; the divisions because of different missionaries who have come in (and who are not in competition with each other); the problems of the world that the congregation brings with them into the life of the church.
Today, Paul gets down to business. First, he calls them babies. He says, flat out, I thought you were better than this. Surely you can eat real food now. BUT NO. I’m still having to baby you with milk. You need to grow up.
And then, he points out that anything any one person does is still from God. It’s useless trying to say Paul grew the church, or Apollos saved someone. God is the source of all of it. Personally, I love 1 Corinithians 3:6 as a verse to keep in mind when I’m working on a team: “I planted. Apollos watered. But God gives the increase.”
To tie this back to the last weeks’ readings, none of this credit-sharing makes sense in the world. Righteousness doesn’t look like good sense to the world; it looks silly. But it does make the world a better place, because it leads to life itself.
Prayer
Father, give us ears to hear Jesus’ words this week, and Moses’. You offer a choice that is truly life, fully and freely given, or truly death. There is only one way that leads to life, through Jesus Christ. Help us to see what path we are on, and where that path is leading. Is it to You, and to life? If it is, guard our steps. If it isn’t, give us courage to turn, and stamina because the way is hard. We love you, Lord. Thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
