A Question of Integrity
A Question of Integrity
Text: Matthew 5:21-37
There is a section in the gospel of Matthew that seems to be a collection of some of the hardest things that Jesus ever said. It’s as if Matthew wasn’t quite sure where to put them, and seemed to shove them all in one place. Mark and Luke do report Jesus saying something similar, but they’re more scattered here and there. With Matthew, it’s as if we’re getting them all out of the way at once. Unfortunately it also means that we will tend to focus on one particular saying to the expense of the others. Most of the time, it’s that whole “if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out…” bit. A rather uncomfortable image to be sure… and perhaps one to distract us more than it should.
Matthew had a good reason to put all these together, and it was more than just convenience. He uses these sayings to teach a particularly pointed lesson to the early church. As much as we refer to the letters of Paul as lessons to the early church, the gospels played just as strong a role. If there was a moment to teach the early church while telling the story of Jesus, so much the better! Matthew was reminding the early church of what it was to be a faith community. Matthew was reminding them that the relationships that we have with one another directly reflect the relationship we have with God. If we are at odds with one another, then how can we possibly be right in our relationship with God? This is what Matthew is getting into… and if it makes us uncomfortable… well… welcome to the Gospel of Matthew. Yet if this challenges us to change who we are, and to be more in tune with living our lives in Christ, then it is doing what it is supposed to do.
So let’s take a closer look…
As I said, we tend to focus more on the rather graphic stuff as the only thing that is important, and yet it’s there to drive home a point that Matthew starts with. Matthew writes the words of Jesus, “As you know, our ancestors were told, ‘You must not kill’ and ‘whoever kills we be subject to judgement.’ But I tell you those who are angry with a companion will be brought before a tribunal. And those who say to a companion, ‘You moron,’ will be subject to the sentence of the court. And whoever says ‘you idiot,’ deserves the fires of Gehenna.”
Wow. This isn’t just a throwaway line. This is the point that Jesus is driving at. Usually when putting this kind of argument forward, one slowly escalates their point. I honestly think Jesus is doing the same… but he starts with murder, moves up to anger, and finishes with name calling! Calling someone a moron or an idiot is deserving of greater punishment than murder!? Where’s the logic in that?
But Jesus is making an extraordinarily important point. The most brutal and inhumane acts that human beings inflict on one another don’t start in a vacuum. It starts with anger or resentment, festers and burns up into hatred, hatred leads us to de-humanize by placing labels and names… and then when we have done that, we are truly capable of truly awful acts… which could well include murder!
How many of us have done that… or felt that? Calling someone else a name… dismissing somebody else because they irritate or frustrate us? I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, because we are all guilty of that at some point in our lives.
Essentially, Jesus is saying that the important thing is not just to avoid murder, but not to hate. Hate leads to violence. It is no more a condemnation of the feeling of anger, which often comes with hurt and pain, than the next contrast is condemning sexual feelings. Gospel writers had no hesitation in speaking of Jesus becoming angry. It is what you do with your anger that counts. Anger turned to hate abuses people, often starting with words of abuse. Jesus goes on to list some of them from his time. 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.
But the point is not to feel guilty here… because Jesus reminds us that there is a better way. “So, even if you happen to be offering your gift at the altar and recall that your brother or sister has some claim against you, leave your gift there at the altar. First, go and be reconciled with them, and only then return and offer your gift. You should come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are both on the way to court…”
At the heart of each of these commandments is the importance of personal relationships. Divorce is understandable, at times even necessary, for some people inevitable, but what might happen if spouses extended mercy to each other? Avoiding murder is not much to brag about, but moving from anger to reconciliation sure is. Retaliation is tempting, and retribution is part of our legal system, but love forgives.
If you have something against someone, work it out. Go, be reconciled, work it out… before it is too late. It’s rooted in Love... and not the kind of commercialized feelings of sentimentality that the corporate world foists on us on days like tomorrow. Love is so much deeper than that. If we are to maintain some integrity as Christians, we need to mirror the kind of radical love that Jesus preached.
For me, love is about far more than simply how we feel on a given day, or the stuff we buy as gifts. I once heard it said that “justice is what love looks like in public. If that is true, then how we treat each other both in private and in public says a lot more about love than a box of Godiva Chocolates. How we treat the widow, the orphan, [the outcast, the sinner, the meek and the lowly, our partner and our children], are reflections of how we actively show our love for God. Whether we keep the commandments and serve one another in the name of Christ speak more eloquently about love than any fancy greeting card does.” At the heart of the matter, love is very much a choice - a choice to be in relationship, a choice to live love.
If there’s anything to be taken from this, it is more important to be in right relationship with one another than to be right! It’s a question of integrity... are we willing to be in right relationship with each other? By that very extension, are we willing to be in right relationship with God? It’s not any easy question, but for Jesus, for Matthew, if we are going to make a difference in this world, this is where we need to start.
Amen
Text: Matthew 5:21-37
There is a section in the gospel of Matthew that seems to be a collection of some of the hardest things that Jesus ever said. It’s as if Matthew wasn’t quite sure where to put them, and seemed to shove them all in one place. Mark and Luke do report Jesus saying something similar, but they’re more scattered here and there. With Matthew, it’s as if we’re getting them all out of the way at once. Unfortunately it also means that we will tend to focus on one particular saying to the expense of the others. Most of the time, it’s that whole “if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out…” bit. A rather uncomfortable image to be sure… and perhaps one to distract us more than it should.
Matthew had a good reason to put all these together, and it was more than just convenience. He uses these sayings to teach a particularly pointed lesson to the early church. As much as we refer to the letters of Paul as lessons to the early church, the gospels played just as strong a role. If there was a moment to teach the early church while telling the story of Jesus, so much the better! Matthew was reminding the early church of what it was to be a faith community. Matthew was reminding them that the relationships that we have with one another directly reflect the relationship we have with God. If we are at odds with one another, then how can we possibly be right in our relationship with God? This is what Matthew is getting into… and if it makes us uncomfortable… well… welcome to the Gospel of Matthew. Yet if this challenges us to change who we are, and to be more in tune with living our lives in Christ, then it is doing what it is supposed to do.
So let’s take a closer look…
As I said, we tend to focus more on the rather graphic stuff as the only thing that is important, and yet it’s there to drive home a point that Matthew starts with. Matthew writes the words of Jesus, “As you know, our ancestors were told, ‘You must not kill’ and ‘whoever kills we be subject to judgement.’ But I tell you those who are angry with a companion will be brought before a tribunal. And those who say to a companion, ‘You moron,’ will be subject to the sentence of the court. And whoever says ‘you idiot,’ deserves the fires of Gehenna.”
Wow. This isn’t just a throwaway line. This is the point that Jesus is driving at. Usually when putting this kind of argument forward, one slowly escalates their point. I honestly think Jesus is doing the same… but he starts with murder, moves up to anger, and finishes with name calling! Calling someone a moron or an idiot is deserving of greater punishment than murder!? Where’s the logic in that?
But Jesus is making an extraordinarily important point. The most brutal and inhumane acts that human beings inflict on one another don’t start in a vacuum. It starts with anger or resentment, festers and burns up into hatred, hatred leads us to de-humanize by placing labels and names… and then when we have done that, we are truly capable of truly awful acts… which could well include murder!
How many of us have done that… or felt that? Calling someone else a name… dismissing somebody else because they irritate or frustrate us? I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, because we are all guilty of that at some point in our lives.
Essentially, Jesus is saying that the important thing is not just to avoid murder, but not to hate. Hate leads to violence. It is no more a condemnation of the feeling of anger, which often comes with hurt and pain, than the next contrast is condemning sexual feelings. Gospel writers had no hesitation in speaking of Jesus becoming angry. It is what you do with your anger that counts. Anger turned to hate abuses people, often starting with words of abuse. Jesus goes on to list some of them from his time. 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.
But the point is not to feel guilty here… because Jesus reminds us that there is a better way. “So, even if you happen to be offering your gift at the altar and recall that your brother or sister has some claim against you, leave your gift there at the altar. First, go and be reconciled with them, and only then return and offer your gift. You should come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are both on the way to court…”
At the heart of each of these commandments is the importance of personal relationships. Divorce is understandable, at times even necessary, for some people inevitable, but what might happen if spouses extended mercy to each other? Avoiding murder is not much to brag about, but moving from anger to reconciliation sure is. Retaliation is tempting, and retribution is part of our legal system, but love forgives.
If you have something against someone, work it out. Go, be reconciled, work it out… before it is too late. It’s rooted in Love... and not the kind of commercialized feelings of sentimentality that the corporate world foists on us on days like tomorrow. Love is so much deeper than that. If we are to maintain some integrity as Christians, we need to mirror the kind of radical love that Jesus preached.
For me, love is about far more than simply how we feel on a given day, or the stuff we buy as gifts. I once heard it said that “justice is what love looks like in public. If that is true, then how we treat each other both in private and in public says a lot more about love than a box of Godiva Chocolates. How we treat the widow, the orphan, [the outcast, the sinner, the meek and the lowly, our partner and our children], are reflections of how we actively show our love for God. Whether we keep the commandments and serve one another in the name of Christ speak more eloquently about love than any fancy greeting card does.” At the heart of the matter, love is very much a choice - a choice to be in relationship, a choice to live love.
If there’s anything to be taken from this, it is more important to be in right relationship with one another than to be right! It’s a question of integrity... are we willing to be in right relationship with each other? By that very extension, are we willing to be in right relationship with God? It’s not any easy question, but for Jesus, for Matthew, if we are going to make a difference in this world, this is where we need to start.
Amen
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