Isaiah 58: 1–12 / Psalm 112: 1–9 / I Corinthians 2: 1–16 / Matthew 5: 13–20
This is the homily written for Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania for Sunday, February 8, 2026, by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor. (This sermon was not delivered as sermons usually are, however, as it was a “Stump the Pastor” Sunday, when congregation members ask questions, to which the Pastor responds.)
“A HIGH BAR, BUT ALSO, A LOW ONE”
(Homily text: Matthew 5: 13–20)
In last week’s sermon, we said that the
Lord’s teaching, known as the Beatitudes, are – in essence – an outline of the
values by which God’s kingdom will be known. We also said that, when a person
is baptized, they are enlisting in the Lord’s service, and are expected to
adopt the values of God’s kingdom.
So then, the Lord’s teaching, known as
the Sermon on the Mount, forms a complete outline of the values by which this
new kingdom, this new covenant, will operate.
This morning’s Gospel reading continues
our journey through the Sermon on the Mount.
And, we hear the Lord say this morning,
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the
Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)
At first glance, the Lord seems to be
setting a very high bar for all of His followers to reach. Surely, such a
rigorous standard means that a very difficult path lies in front of all who
claim the name of Christ.
But, if we think about it for a moment,
we also realize that it is – at the same time – a low (and easily attainable)
bar, one that we can master with the Lord’s help, without a lot of difficulty.
Hold onto that thought for a moment, as
we turn our attention to a review of what we know about the scribes and the
Pharisees.
We will begin with the scribes, who
were the experts of the day in the Law of Moses (Torah). They were, then, the
lawyers of the day, concerned with the texts of the Torah, and with the
application of those texts to everyday situations. They were lay persons.
Likewise, the Pharisees were a lay
group (not priests), who were dedicated to the rigorous adherence to the Torah.
Their goals were to adopt the rigorous and legalistic observance of the Law in
everyday life. It is the Pharisees who grumble about the company that Jesus
keeps, as He hangs around with the tax collectors and those other notorious
sinners. They are the ones who complain about Jesus’ healing activities on the
Sabbath day. These are but two examples.
As an aside, but to note an important
facet of Matthew’s concern and focus, it’s worth noting that he seems to be
deeply concerned with the behaviors of the scribes and the Pharisees. Indeed,
Matthew seems to be locked in debate with the Judaism of that time, 2,000 years
ago. Matthew’s account is peppered with references to the scribes and the
Pharisees.
Now then, what about the height of the
bar that Jesus is setting before His followers?
Indeed, it seems to be a very bar, for
He says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For until heaven and earth
pass away, not an iota, not a dot,[1] will
pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of
the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven”. (Matthew 5: 17–19)
Perhaps these references were aimed at
the values and the behaviors of the scribes and the Pharisees, for those were
the values we observe were among their best attributes. So, perhaps, we might
say that the Lord is setting a high bar, one that the scribes and the Pharisees
themselves held in high esteem.
But, there’s another side to what we
know about the scribes and the Pharisees, and it is one that tells us that we
should be able to avoid the temptation to behave as they did, those many years
ago. For us, then, their behaviors and attitudes set a low bar for us, setting
before us a valuable lesson.
The problem with the scribes and the
Pharisees is that they were concerned with outward appearances. But they
neglected the inner transformation that the requirements of the Mosaic Law were
designed to bring about.
Consider, for example, Jesus’ condemnation of their behavior. He said, “They (the scribes and the Pharisees) do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries[2] broad and their fringes[3] long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ‘rabbi’ by others. (Matthew 23: 5–7)[4]
Unless we miss the Lord’s condemnation
of the ways of the scribes and the Pharisees, He says this, “The scribes and
the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell
you – but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice”. (Matthew 23:
2–3)
“They preach, but do not practice”.
Shouldn’t this make a relatively low
bar for us to vault over, in succeeding to do what God would have us do?
Well, maybe “yes” in some sense, but
also “no” in another.
It might be easy for us to say that we
don’t defraud others, or steal from them, or fail to meet their physical needs.
But it is quite another matter for us
to do all those things because our innermost beings have been transformed. This
outer-to-inner connection goes to the heart of Jesus’ condemnation of the ways
of these “blind guides”, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Outward observance, vs. inner
transformation, lies at the heart of the great Reformer, Martin Luther’s
struggle to come to grips with his own sense of sinfulness. In the time in
which he lived, he had scrupulously done all the “stuff” the Church told him
was necessary to find favor with God. And yet, he sensed that those outward
actions didn’t amount to full acceptance and forgiveness.
In time, and – in particular – his
reading of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans led him to understand that for an
inner transformation to take place, God’s grace would have to come into the
picture first.[5] Then, through that grace, and through the workings of the Holy Spirit, Luther
would find true acceptance and amendment of life.
The lesson for us, it seems, is that
God’s intent in providing us with the history of His dealings with humankind is
to instruct us in His ways and in His will. We can read and mark those things,
taking note of the ways in which those who interacted with God in times past
got the ways of God “right”, and the ways they didn’t.
But to allow those lessons and those
examples to be grafted into our hearts and minds, well, that high bar makes in
necessary for the Holy Spirit to come before us, to soften the soil of our
hearts and minds, in order that the seeds of God’s wisdom might grow within.
AMEN.
[1] These are references to the small strokes in Hebrew script. Iota is also
a Greek letter.
[2] In Exodus 13:9, God’s people are instructed to keep the Passover, so
that its observance might be a “memorial between their eyes”. See also
Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18, which contain similar instructions. The phylacteries
were square boxes that were worn on the forehead and also on the arm.
[3] Fringes refer to the fringes on prayer shawls.
[4] We will read and consider the Lord’s teachings in chapter 23 of
Matthew’s account in late October.
[5] Theologians assign a title to this sort of grace: Prevenient Grace, meaning that it comes beforehand (the original meaning of the word “prevent” meant to “come before”).
