The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee



The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A, February 13, 2011, Christ Church Alto & Church of the Holy Comforter Monteagle

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times… But I say to you…” (Matt 5: 21-22).

Our Gospel today is part of the Sermon on the Mount, the bit that follows the Beatitudes with its comforting, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”. Now you might say, that’s Gospel, Good News, while this bit of the Sermon seems like Law: do this, don’t do that, and so forth. If it seems this way to you, you are on solid ground, because here Jesus is teaching about the Commandments. “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times…”: that is, it was said to Israel on Mount Sinai, after the Exodus from Egypt, assembled as a People under the leadership of Moses. God gave a Law, constituted a People, created a Nation that could serve him in the Land that he had promised.

“But I say to you…”: Jesus is now giving them a new Law, expounding on three of the Commandments in particular, the sixth, the seventh, and the ninth. In doing so, Jesus is becoming a new Lawgiver like Moses, constituting a new People who will serve God. This is the reason the Sermon is given on the Mount, because the Law was given by Moses on Mount Sinai. The Gospel writer doesn’t want us to miss what’s going on here. Just as God gave the Commandments through Moses, now Jesus teaches the People following the very form of the Law.

Notice that in each case, in teaching about murder, adultery, and bearing false witness, Jesus is going beyond the outer aspect and moving the Commandments to the heart of the matter, to the will itself. It’s not enough to avoid murdering another: we need to go to the angry human heart to find the root of the sin of Cain. It’s not enough to avoid adultery: again, we need to dig down to the lustful human heart to find the antidote for what ails us. It’s not enough to avoid false witness: we must not swear at all, because the will to do something ought to be followed simply by the doing of it.

It’s the human heart that’s in trouble, and the good and evil that God sets before us in our first reading from Deuteronomy is a matter that we find within each one of us. The dividing line between death and life runs right through the middle of the human person, fracturing us and bringing us into judgment. We are like the man in the Gospel today who needs to come to terms quickly with his accuser before he comes to court, or like the person who ought to cast out his eye or cut off his hand lest he get into worse trouble. We are in need of the mercy of God because our situation is serious. We are in need of grace, God’s power and presence in our lives, because without it we will not be able to mend the divided human will and be able to let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no”.

Jesus is giving a new teaching, a new ethic for the Church, the People of God who are called to serve him. It’s a an ethic that puts aside anger and lust and requires forgiveness and faithfulness. It requires truth-telling and the courage to follow through. You know, I preach these sermons and sometimes it’s clear to me that I’m preaching to myself! But perhaps you too can connect with this and identify with what I’m saying.

Above all, this new ethic requires a community in which these virtues can be practiced. God gave Israel the Commandments, and Jesus gives to us a teaching that will enable us to be his Holy People. When we re-affirm our faith today, and renew our own baptismal promises, we are reminding ourselves of the nature of Christian community, and how much we need each other in order to practice the Christian life. We’re so grateful to our confirmand today for giving us all the opportunity to join in this profession. And when we come to the altar today, we will receiving the grace we need to follow through. God makes available to the Church the forgiveness we need so that our fractured wills and broken hearts can be mended and we can be the People God has called us to be.

- The Rt Rev’d John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee

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