Deuteronomy 10:12-22   •  Psalm 119:1-8  •  1 Corinthians 3:1-9  •  Matthew 5:21-37

 

Ahhh  Matthew 5: 21 to 37 – The great equalizer!  I’m a big fan of this particular reading, as it makes it abundantly clear that every single one of us miss the mark.  None of us are perfectly good.  Not only that, but this reading makes it very clear that, in God’s eyes, all sin is sin and the degrees of badness only exist in our desire to justify ourselves.

 

Don’t be disheartened, I only love this passage because I understand the incredibly Good News about the Salvation of Christ, but I do believe that to fully appreciate that Good News, we first need the bad news.

 

So, let’s begin by understanding the bad news of sin.  Sin is a term used in archery, to describe missing the target.  Any thing at all that misses the target is SIN… whether you miss by an inch or a mile.  Imagine I have a paper chain and on each link is written a sin.  Some are big sins and some are small.  That chain represents the Law of God.  Now, if I were to break a single link on that chain, it wouldn’t matter if it was a small sin or big… the chain is still broken.

 

We are all God’s children.  He loves us all, but we all fall short of God’s glory.

 

In our first reading we note that God asked His people to love him with all their heart and soul, and to keep his commands.  The reason is not because God needed this, but because we need this.  In living this way, we are doing what is best for a wholesome and happy community.

 

In fact, the Law of God, can be thought of as our Christian code of conduct.  Pretty much every organisation has a code of conduct.  The code of conduct is put in place to ensure the good of all people and to create a positive work and community environment. 

Most organisations have a session of training on code of conduct every year… certainly our government education department does, and I have to tell you, the bar is set very high by that secular organisation.  On Monday night I ran a session on code of conduct with our Street Chaplains and we looked at one sentence; Street Chaplains are to act ethically and responsibly.  We teased out what it might look like to act ethically and responsibly, because each of us might have a different picture in our mind.  It is because we all see things differently that organisations know that they need to spell out what is expected in their code of conduct. 

 

Our Gospel reading is a code of conduct.  Jesus says that he knows we all understand that murder is breaking the code of conduct, but he goes on to explain, so it is also breaking the code of conduct, to be getting angry with someone.  Now, lets be realistic, we all get angry and even Jesus got angry when he cleared the temple.  To be angry isn’t sin, So, what is going on here?  The passage goes on to talk about insulting and calling someone a fool…. And these are just two examples given.

 

Why is it a sin to insult someone or call them a fool?  Surely it is true that sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.  Ahh… but they do hurt, and they cause a deeper hurt sometimes than a physical broken bone.  There’s a meme on social media that says, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend it’s whole life thinking it is stupid.  In other words, we take on the put downs of others and our lives become handicapped by our false beliefs about ourselves because of what others have told us.

 

Also, consider this; that person you have insulted or called a fool has been created by God, is a child of God, and made in the image of God.  So, who are you really insulting and calling a fool?  Maybe God himself.

 

This code of conduct goes on to talk about how we all know that adultery is a sin, but Jesus expands this to say that even looking lustfully is also a sin.  The standard for God’s code of conduct is exceptionally high.  And we all miss the mark…. And yet, through Jesus Christ we are accepted, forgiven and so very loved by God.

 

Saint Paul addresses the Corinthians by stating that they are not ready for spiritual meat and are still needing to be treated like spiritual babies because there is quarrelling among them.  He says that they are still of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations.  These were Christians who had received the message of the cross and accepted Jesus and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and yet they were stunted in their spiritual growth because they were walking in the flesh and not in the spirit.  Note that as Christians we are meant to be walking in the Spirit…. We probably need to learn what that really means so that we can actually do it.

 

These Corinthians understood something that we need to understand firstly and foremost, and that is that Jesus came and allowed himself to be crucified because in doing so, he was being emersed into the sins of the world and making atonement for that sin.  The consequence of Jesus’s death on the cross is that we need not experience any separation from God the father.  Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, experiencing the separation from God that should be ours…. But no longer is, because that debt has been satisfied.  The Corinthians knew the Good News of Jesus Christ and they were a Christian people, but they misunderstood that though they were forgiven, they still needed to grow in allowing the grace of God and his Holy Spirit to change their behaviour.

 

In my little story that I tell at Baptisms, I talk about how the Holy Spirit is that Magical God part inside of us that helps us to grow to be more like Jesus.  Just like we might physically grow to have Aunty Barbara’s curly hair and Grandpa Jim’s bad temper, due to our physical genes, we, as the children of God, should be growing in the characteristics of our heavenly father because his spirit is alive and living in us.

 

In fact, in baptism, the Bible talks about us being “clothed” in Christ.  God the father accepts us as his perfect son.  It isn’t that God is blind… he understands completely, who we are and all our weaknesses… in fact, it is because of this that God the Son came for us… because of his great love for us.  This is the Good News!

 

How does it make you feel to know that you are a child of God?  The God who created the heavens and the earth chose and purposely created you.  God chose to love us and he gave us a code to live by so that we could live in peace and harmony and become a thriving community that reflects his life and goodness.  We all have failed in some part of the call and will probably continue to fail at times, but God knows we can’t keep this code of conduct in our own strength… that is why he sent the Holy Spirit – God to be with us and in us.

 

It is only God in us and through us that can enable us to change.  The Gospel tells us that we are to be reconciled.  If we have something against another, we are to leave our gift at the altar and go and be reconciled.  This means, part of our offering to God is the willingness to be reconciled.  It is SO not as easy to do as it is to say!  And we need God’s help to do this.

 

Last week’s readings told us that the fast that is acceptable to God is to break the chains of the oppressed and untie the thong of the yoke for those who are burdened… to feed the hungry and not to turn away from your kin.  Interesting… sometimes our kin… our family can be the most difficult to deal with… there can be hurt there that runs deep. 

 

Being completely loving does not mean letting others walk all over you and being reconciled is a two way street.  Notice however, the Gospel words; “if your brother or sister holds something against you”…. In other words, you know that you have hurt them.  You might think that you meant no harm and their response is their own problem – it is not!  Jesus says to leave your gift at the altar and go be reconciled.

 

We are saved by grace.  We are given the gift of God’s love.  We who fail God’s code… who fail to keep his law…  He has forgiven us, made restitution for us, loved and accepted us.  Surely in response to such a great sacrifice, the least we can do is forgive each other and strive to live according to God’s code.  We need to continue to be patient with each other because life is messy and complicated.  In our own strength we can not keep God’s code.  We need to walk in the Spirit.

 

Looking at our society, it is clear that we need God’s code of conduct.  We learnt last week that we are the salt of the earth….  We are meant to be that good and life preserving influence in our community.  To be light and salt to the earth we need a radical change in ourselves and we need to grow in God’s spirit.

 

God never forces change on us… or anything.  He gave us free will.  When we willingly allow his Holy Spirit to work in our life, purposefully remaining connected to God so that we can do God’s will, we will grow to reflect the nature and love of God.  We will impact our society and we will grow – not just personally, but as a church.  Our first reading explains that only 70 people went down to Egypt, but then the people became as numerous as the stars in the sky. 

 

We need this growth and our church needs this growth.  Let’s willingly allow God’s Holy Spirit to flow through us and take the first step into change by praying right now….. Lord God, Here I am… willing to walk according to your Holy Spirit… teach me how to walk in the Spirit, so that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, where love and mercy reign.