A sermon preached at
Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 12
February 2017, the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, by Dr. Hope S. Antone. The scripture
readings that day were Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Matthew 5:21-37
These past weeks, our scripture
readings and sermons have focused mostly on the Sermon on the Mount, which
covers chapters 5-7 in the Gospel according to Matthew. The Sermon on the Mount
is not one sermon but a collection of Jesus’s sayings or teachings. In the
Gospel according to Luke, it is the Sermon on the Plain, covering only a
portion of Luke chapter 6 (vss. 20-49). Some scholars have suggested that
situating the sermon on “the Mount” was significant for the community addressed
by the gospel according to Matthew. As a community with Jewish background, they
were familiar with Moses who received and gave the 10 Commandments from Mount
Sinai. Thus, they could readily see the shift from Moses of old, to Jesus of
the new.
The Sermon on the Mount is like a
summary of teachings on what it means to live in God’s reign, to be citizens of
God’s kingdom, or to be members of the household of God. One Sunday, we heard
the descriptions of what it means to be blessed in the context of God’s reign –
where blessedness is the opposite to the usual values of the world. Last
Sunday, we heard the reminder for Christ’s disciples to be the salt of the
earth and the light of the world. Today, we are invited to reflect on what this
means in our daily living.
In Matthew 5:21-37, Jesus teaches the
disciples to look beyond or behind outer deeds (external behavior), and into
their inner thoughts (internal attitude). For Jesus, being part of God’s
community does not consist of simply following the commandments. Said in the
negative, the commandments “Do not to murder”, “Do not commit adultery”, “Do
not swear falsely” seemed quite easy to follow – that is, just by NOT doing
anything. So today, let us follow Jesus in trying to see what’s really behind
his teachings.
First, we see Jesus teaching that there is something
stronger than the act of murder; that it is anger that makes one liable to
judgment in the hell of fire. It is like saying that behind the act of murder,
harboring anger against someone, or calling someone names (like “You
fool/idiot/stupid”, or in today’s language, “Son of a bitch,”) constitutes
“murder” in one’s heart.
We all get angry, right? [Is there
anyone here who has never been angry?] People get angry for many different
reasons. Children having tantrum, terrorists, suicide bombers, perpetrators
and/or victims of violence have different reasons for their rage. Even the
60-year old man who threw a Molotov cocktail at the MTR last Friday night had,
according to a news article, “personal reasons” for his action.
Psychology tells us that anger is
natural and the most automatic response to pain. Usually resulting from
rejection, loss, or threat, it occurs when the feeling of pain is combined with
anger-triggering thoughts, such as revenge (hurting someone who hurt me first).
A cardiologist, Cynthia Thaik, wrote that anger and hatred are the most toxic
emotions one can have. The toxin is
not only directed at the person one is angry with; it can also affect oneself.
Medical practitioners have said that when anger and hatred build up in one’s
mind, they affect the body’s organs and natural processes. So when one is angry
with someone, one also hurts oneself. When one harbors hatred or bitterness in one’s
heart, one is poisoning oneself.
A story
is told about the Buddha:
One day, as the Buddha was walking through the
village, an angry young man came up to him and said: “You have no right to be
teaching others. You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a
fake.”
Not upset by the insults, the Buddha asked the young
man: “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person refuses to accept
it, to whom does the gift belong?”
“Of course, it would belong to me because I bought
the gift,” the man replied.
“It is exactly the same with your anger,” the Buddha
smiled. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, the anger falls
back on you.”
Jesus reminds us, it is not enough to
deal with acts of murder. We must deal with the anger that leads to broken
relationships. And to do this, much more is expected from those who belong to
God’s community, who have already been embraced by God’s grace: “when you are
offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister
has something against you, leave your gift before the altar and go; first be
reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift”
(5:23-24). This means that the kind of worship and praise that God prefers is
the healing or restoration of our relationships, not simply our offering of
gifts at the altar. And who is our brother or sister? It is everyone in God’s
community, all in the household of God!
Second, we see Jesus teaching that more than committing
adultery, looking at someone lustfully also constitutes “adultery” in one’s
heart. Jesus gives a very strong warning that if one’s eye caused one to commit
adultery, it is better for it to be cut off and thrown away. Although this
teaching about adultery is made in reference to marriage and divorce and is
addressed only to men, it could actually apply to everyone and all human
relationships.
What is the difference between lust and
love? A website described lust as generally a deep physical attraction for another
person, while love includes an emotional engagement with the person. Lust comes
on strong and quickly; whereas, love is nurtured, built on trust, loyalty and
emotional/mental attachment. Lust is a romantic infatuation, while love keeps
people together long after the infatuation has faded. Other people say that
there is a thin line between the two; or that lust can grow into love. But I
think the root of Jesus’ teaching is fidelity in relationships. Without
fidelity, lust and anger can easily seep in.
A
story is told about a Hindu sage who taught his disciples the
difference between people who are angry and people in love. He said:
When two people are angry at each other, their hearts
are far apart. To cover that distance they must shout to hear each other. The
angrier they are, the louder they will have to shout to cover that great
distance.
When two people are in love, they talk softly because
their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or
very small. When they love each other even more, they do not speak but only
whisper. Finally they even need not whisper; they only look at each other. That
is how close two people are when they love each other.
The teaching on divorce comes closely
with the teaching on adultery. This was at a time when men generally treated
their wives as property that they could get rid of easily. Jesus’ teaching is
therefore counter-cultural, a reminder to bring in fidelity and commitment in
the relationship.
Third, we see Jesus teaching something beyond the act of
making vows and oaths. In those days, the Jews swore by different kinds of things (gold,
earth, beard, the head, the temple, God, heaven). When they really meant
something, they would use strong language, involving God. The act of saying a vow or an oath aloud gave it a
binding force (Numbers 30:3) in traditional Jewish law. If they didn’t intend to keep
the vow, they would swear by lesser things (beard, hair, the earth). It seems
that Jesus finds the act of swearing an indication of people’s tendency to lie
or break promises. For Jesus, making an
oath with no intention of doing or fulfilling it is a big NO, NO. He says, “Do
not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God’s throne, or by the earth,
for it is God’s footstool…
Now what is behind this teaching? What
is the inner intention or inward attitude that Jesus was trying to drive at?
There is more to making the vows or oaths. What is at stake is the integrity
and honesty of those making them. The citizens in God’s kingdom/God’s community
should have honesty and integrity to say what they mean, mean what they say,
and do what they say and mean. If one is honest and has integrity, one’s word can be
trusted without having to make a vow or an oath.
We still
do have swearing and oath taking to this day. We make an oath or swear to God who serves as witness that we are
speaking the truth (an assertory oath) or intending to fulfill a vow (a
promissory oath). Depending on the predominant religion of the country, new
leaders make their oath on a cross, the Bible, the Quran, or what have you.
Different careers have their own oathtaking (e.g. Hippocratic Oath for doctors;
Nightingale Pledge for nurses; Promise of Obedience for pastors/priests;
Teachers’ Pledge for educators, etc.). Since marriage is a civil contract, the
making of the vows is also part of any wedding.
Last week, Beng Seng and I attended the
wedding of my nephew in the Philippines. I watched him grow from a baby until
he left home to study medicine and now he is a medical doctor. It was
interesting that aside from the set vows of the church which he and his bride
said by repeating after the pastor, they also had their own personal vows which
they read to each other at the wedding service. I was struck by my nephew’s
down-to-earth promise, which somehow went like this (though not in these exact
words):
“I promise to disappoint you, Fiona, when I will
leave a shirt on the floor, delay cleaning the toilet, or miss an important
occasion; but I promise to pick myself up after every failure and strive again
to be a better husband…”
“Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No,
No’.” Read in our context today – given the many demands for our time and
commitment from work, family, civic engagement, or hobbies – this statement is
a word of caution. We need to learn to prioritize, observe time management, and
have the ability to say YES or NO, appropriately.
Our Lord, Christ Jesus, said in Matthew
5:17, “Do not think that I have come to
abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” We
saw this by looking at his teachings in Matthew 5:21-37. Christ Jesus taught
that behind the act of murder is internal anger or hatred; behind the act of
adultery is lust; behind the act of swearing is the tendency or propensity to
lie. May we strive to check and transform these inner thoughts and internal
attitudes, so that, together with our outer deeds and external behavior, our
lives may truly glorify God forever. May it be so.
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, February 12, 2017
