SHOW ME THAT YOU ARE REDEEMED

Sermon preached by Fr Tony Noble on Sunday February 13th, 2011

Matthew 5:20 “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharacies, you will never enter the gates of heaven.”

This text is the verse immediately before today's gospel reading from Matthew 5. It is very important in the context of the gospel - because it gives the whole point to what our Lord is saying in Matthew 5:21-24 in today’s gospel.

In these verses Jesus telling his disciples that the 10 commandments are not enough. That we have to go further if we are to be his disciples. It is not enough just not to kill. You aren’t allowed to be angry - or even ridicule your brother. This is in keeping with many other difficult things our Lord said, like, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”.

I don’t know about you, but I find perfection somewhat elusive. I have high standards, of course. And when it comes to the priestly ministry, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. But to be a really good Christian is something I can only aim for - in the hope that something of it will catch.

Jesus is holding out an impossible standard of perfection to us. Who amongst us hasn’t been angry when we are pushed or criticized? Who amongst us hasn’t insulted someone Christ would define as our brother or our sister?

But the really impossible thing in today’s Gospel is verse 24: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled with your brother."

Most of us assume that if we have a disagreement with someone and we are wrong, we should do something about it. And certainly in the context of what Jesus says, before we come to church.

But that that’s not exactly what Jesus is saying. He is telling us that if it’s the fault of the other person, we are the ones that have to make the move - not sit back and wait for them to apologize! And most of us, if we’re honest, do that. If the other person is the offender, we expect them to make the move.

In my life as a priest, I’ve met parishioners who have had a disagreement that was never repaired because no one would make the first move. This is hard! Most of us would admit that we should apologize if it’s our fault, but not if it’s the other person's. When we are wronged by someone else, we are hurt, and we expect them to acknowledge that.

Jesus holds out to us the way of perfect love. So even if the other person is at fault, and we are the innocent party - we must take the initiative. To humble ourselves, in fact. To apologize when we have done nothing wrong.

This is almost impossible, for it can result in ridicule, misunderstanding and even contempt. And, of course, we risk getting hurt. Who amongst us wants to risk that?

But this is what Jesus meant when he said that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharacies. We are held to a higher standard.

Those poor scribes and pharacies! They come in for a bit of criticism from Jesus - particularly in St. Matthew’s gospel. ‘’Hypocrites’’, he called them on occasion. But why?

The scribes were the legal eagles. They had developed the law and knew it backwards. There concern was that the law must be kept properly and to the nth degree. The pharisees, on the other hand, made the laws demands less demanding, and the laws permissions more permissive. And so they narrowed down the law of Moses to just 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions. They kept most of them - and they expected others to do the same!

In a 21^st century setting, we would say that the scribes and pharisees are those who always have the right opinions, who seem to be exact about the right thing - but sometimes follow the rules as it suits them.

The real problem was, of course, they lacked what was at the heart of it all: love of God and love of neighbor.

They had reduced those two foundations of love of God and of neighbor to keeping rules - and reprimanding those who didn’t.

When Jesus told his disciples that their righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharisees, he didn’t mean add a few extra rules or prohibitions - like “Thou shalt not miss Mass on Superbowl Sunday”! Rather, what Jesus meant was that our hearts are what we should be concerned about.

Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not kill’.’’ Actually ‘murder’ is the proper translation. And, all of us can agree on that - we’re all on the same page here.

But Jesus says: Do not be angry. This isn’t just about getting angry, for there is a righteous anger. We see that when Jesus cleanses the temple in Holy Week. He was angry, and rightly so.

No, Jesus is talking about the anger that steams from pride, malice, spite, jealousy, and just plain selfishness. "All those things from within", said Jesus, "make a man unclean".

What about insults - which includes sarcasm? Sometimes we can laugh at witty sarcasm, but usually it’s at the expense of someone else. What about name-calling? Can’t we call each other names anymore? Family arguments and lovers tiffs would loose a lot of their color if that were the case!

Again, Jesus is going deeper. It’s not about banter, it’s about arrogance and sneering. Verbal abuse is hurtful, but it not only hurts us - it wounds the soul of both the hearer, and the speaker.

Can any of us hold to be perfect like this? But in the striving to be perfect, we will become more loving. And we may also attain to something that is much better than perfection - holiness.

In our trying to follow the demands of Christ, in our loving as disciples of Christ, we will enter more deeply into the loving heart of God. And we will become holy.

This challenge to be Christ-like is not easy as we all know, but it does bear fruit as we strive. It is captured well by the words of the philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche: “Show me that you are redeemed, and then I will believe in your Redeemer’’.