June 11-16, 2020
Amazing gospels from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount         (Matthew 5)
Anger, murder, and mayhem
Cain killed Abel, then all hell broke loose.
Do you know when the first autopsy was performed? None of the Jeopardy contestants knew, but Margaret did. She was so proud! I had no idea … hint: it was just a day or two after the Ides of March … got it now?
So, Caesar’s autopsy was performed in order to determine his “killer.” Which dagger actually did the deed? The group of senators who participated all claimed the honor, I guess. Like the folks in Agatha Christie’s book about the murder on the Orient Express.
In Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman wrote about murderers (and all of us):
No one can acquire for another, not one
No one can grow for another, not one
The song is to the singer, and comes back most to him
The teaching is to the teacher, and comes back most to him
The murder is to the murderer, and comes back most to him …
The earth remains jagged and broken only to him or her who remains jagged and broken. (from Book XVI, “A Song of the Rolling Earth.”
Lately the slippery slogan, “Silence is violence” shows up everywhere. Speak now or hold your peace. But the slogan’s intention is for you to hold that peace a bit uncomfortably. When I am silent, what is going on inside my mind? Do I participate in violence, even murder?
Jesus covered a lot of ground:
Everyone who is angry, whoever insults his brother, or calls him a fool, all are liable to the hell of fire.
Not just the murderers among us. We must all acknowledge our guilt.
Go and RECONCILE with your human foe before coming before God. John Chisholm, a favorite preacher from years ago, said, “You have only one Enemy, and it is NOT your brother!”
And most interesting of all, Jesus spoke of the cascading effect of indifference and inaction, and getting caught thereby in the system: Make peace with your accuser, lest he hand you to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and the guard take you to prison, where you will stay “until you have paid the last penny.”
Lust, adultery and appropriate gratification
After ruining my day with these thoughts about murder, violence and indifference, Jesus turns to adultery. For Pete’s sake! At least here is a sin I have not committed, right?
But it’s not the doing, it’s the thinking … lack of faithfulness extended in my mind to a woman, to a man, to God.
Sex? God. Sex? God. Both-And?
It’s better to lose “one of your members” than to lose it all. Tear out your right eye. Tear out your left. Tear them both out! Your whole body is at risk in this sex thing.
Vows, goals, hubris and humility
Vows? God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Don’t say what you don’t mean. Don’t manipulate words to get your own way. Say what you need to and then get out of God’s way.
Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
Vows can take the place of prayers, and then you’re in trouble. You can’t hold court with yourself like that. Vows echo far too long, and those who make them swell with hubris.
I WILL DO THIS!
What? Who am I to talk like that?
Don’t swear at all, not by heaven nor by earth nor by Jerusalem nor by the hairs on your head. Not by the hairs on your chinny chin chin.
Just say it: Yes. Or No. And let that be enough.
What about goals, God? Can I have a goal now and then? Not for anybody else, just for me …
Good point, David. Sure you can. What goal do you have in mind?
Well, to start with, to make a preliminary goal of asking you for your input about whatever I want to do. Seems like an obvious first step, but I’ve not been good at that. Not at all, really. I just push right on ahead.
Well, let’s get started.
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Law, order, justice, mercy, sacrifice
Self-righteousness seeps into everything. Let God’s righteousness be enough for you. Don’t pretend to understand God’s justice OR mercy on your own. “Eye for an eye? Tooth for a tooth?” That is revenge, not justice.
God doesn’t think like you, and YOU shouldn’t think like you, either. Give it up, this idea of being RIGHT.
Offer no resistance to one who is evil.
Turn your other cheek.
Give away your cloak AND your tunic.
Walk two miles when asked to walk only one.
Don’t worry about what will happen to civilization if we all do this all the time. You won’t. Civilization will be fine, or as fine as it can be until it becomes the City of God. Throw a starfish in the sea.
Discover the joy of personal sacrifice. Offer dignity and compassion to everyone, especially to those who have been undignified by circumstance. Don’t turn your back on a borrower. Give to him from what you have.
 Love like God loves
Wait. My enemy is never my brother. Didn’t I just say that? I have only one Enemy, right? And that’s Satan.
So whatever I might think at the time, I had better just keep my mouth shut and resist escalation. Just because you yell at me doesn’t mean I can yell at you. That kind of anger is NEVER righteous.
Jesus says that this is how God does it:
He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good.
He sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
So get over it.
Love your “enemies” and pray for them. Get into the business of becoming perfect with this, like God is.
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If I can only stand the listening, Jesus is quite happy to rock my world. If I can only follow him, life will never be the same. To the extent I follow him, my life is already Triple-Gift surrounded with joy and peace. Thank thank thank you you you, Lord Lord Lord, and a Triple Amen with one heavenly sweet scarlet cherry right on top.
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