Deuteronomy 30:15–20; Psalm
119:1–8; I
Corinthians 3:1–9; Matthew
5:21–37
A
homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given
at St. Thomas Church, Salem,
Illinois, on Saturday, February 15, 2014, and at St. John’s Church, Centralia, Illinois, on Sunday,
February 16, 2014.
“BUT
YOUR STANDARDS ARE TOO HIGH!”
(Homily text:
Matthew 5:21–37)
We begin with an old musical joke:
How many sopranos does it take to
change a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but when she sees how tall the
ladder is, she exclaims (in a high-pitched voice), “But it’s too high!”
Maybe that’s the way we might feel
as we read Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount which is before us
today….We might be tempted to say, “But your standards are too high!”
After all, Jesus has just said (in
verse 20 of chapter five, which we read last week), “Unless your righteousness
exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom
of Heaven,” now He proceeds to explain
in the text before us today just how our righteousness is to exceed that of
these ancient religious experts.
The way we are to exceed their
righteousness is seen in Jesus’ three comments, all of which begin with, “You
have heard it said,” which is followed by the comment, “But I say to you…”
As we look at the three
pronouncements that follow this pattern, “You have heard it said…but I say to
you,” we see that Jesus takes two of the prohibitions that are found in the Ten
Commandments (“Thou shalt not kill”, and “Thou shalt not commit adultery”), and
one having to do with oaths, to outline the perfect path of righteousness.
As we look at each one, we can see
that the Lord cites outward and visible actions, but then He ties those
outward and visible actions to the inner
and invisible attitudes of the heart.
So, for example, Jesus begins with
the prohibition against murder, but then says that if we harbor anger in our
hearts toward someone, we are just as guilty of sin as if we had actually
murdered someone.
“Lord, your standard is too high!”
we exclaim.
Who can possibly follow that path of
righteousness perfectly, we ask.
Jesus also takes another of the Ten
Commandments and says, “You have heard that is was said, ‘You shall not commit
adultery.’ But I say to you that
everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her
in his heart.”
Again, we may be tempted to cry out
in response, “But Lord, your standards are too high!”
Here again, Jesus ties together
outward actions with inner dispositions of the heart.
Why does the Lord do this?
I think a good answer lies in the
account of the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as we read of
the actions of the serpent in tempting them to eat of the tree which was
forbidden to them. We read the account
in Genesis 3: 1 – 6. There, the serpent
makes the suggestion to Eve that she should sample the fruit of the tree. Having listened to the serpent, she then
notices that the “tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the
eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise….”
Notice the progression from the
point of suggestion by the serpent to her thoughts as she looked at the tree,
and noticed its desirable qualities….Eve conceived of eating of the tree
because, in part, it appealed to her
basic needs in some way or another. Her
thoughts preceded her actions, and formed the path which she would follow to
transgress God’s commands.
Essentially, Jesus is outlining the
dangers that Adam and Eve faced, dangers that overcame them. Jesus wants us to see the dangers for
ourselves, so that we might conquer the dangers and not become victims of them.
So, for example, we return to the
matter of adultery….Here, Jesus cites the same issue that Eve faced, for Jesus
says that if a man looks at a woman
with lustful intent, he is just as guilty as if he had actually committed the
act of adultery. Eve saw that the fruit was good. She saw that it was a delight to the eyes. Jesus warns us of the dangers of the power of
sight and things that might appeal to our sense of delight in the area of our
relating to one another where sexual attraction is concerned.
We would be remiss if we didn’t
return to the matter of the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, for
their righteousness was based on what actual things a person did, and not on
the intent of the heart.
Their approach seems to be very
legalistic, for it concentrated on the physical behaviors of people. We can see this clearly in Jesus’ arrest and
trial, for these scribes and Pharisees, along with the Chief Priests of the
ruling council wanted to kill Jesus, and yet they were very concerned to keep
their purity according to the Law of Moses intact, because the feast of
Passover that was approaching.
As we look at the behavior of these
rulers of the Jewish people 2,000 years ago, we can see that a great emphasis
was placed on the actions they took, but, by contrast, their thoughts and
intentions were manifestly evil.
So Jesus outlines the path of
righteousness, a standard that is, indeed, very high.
What one of us can meet that
standard, or keep it?
The answer is, “No one can.”
But the standard remains, for it
sets the height of righteousness that God has established. Without that standard, we would have no set
goal to aim for as we walk the path of righteousness with God.
Will we fall short of that standard
now and again? Absolutely, we will fall
short, sometimes tremendously so.
But God will forgive our
shortcomings if we will acknowledge them to the Lord, and by the power of the
Holy Spirit, we can be guided, enlightened and strengthened to strive to meet
the standard God has set for us.
Only by His power can we ascend the
heights that lie before us.
Come, Holy Spirit, come, and empower
us to keep God’s standard of righteousness.
AMEN.
