This is the image through which this past Sunday's sermon, on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 and Matthew 5:21-37 explores God and Jesus giving laws for our lives, laws that sometimes seem harsh.
Click below to continue and read the sermon
Vicar Brett Wilson – Epiphany 6A – 1 Cor 3:1-9 – 2/13/11 – CELC Lancaster
Driving down a beautiful road on a early summer day. Beautiful sights out the car windows, and a warm breeze and calm in the air. . . being completely ruined by the arguing siblings in the backseat. The parents look at each other . . . If only they would enjoy the surroundings – we brought them on this vacation to enjoy the sights, to have a rich experience, to live fully. But there they go, arguing . . .
The parents turn and tell their children in the backseat – look at all that's around you! We love you so much. Just enjoy it, and don't kill each other, ok? The parents continue the drive, stopping at attractions, offering the kids activities, souvenirs, even meeting new people. But the kids seem eager to retreat to the backseat, to their toys, to their fighting. The parents sigh, contemplate turning up the radio, but in patience that comes from somewhere they calmly say to the children, “look, we want you to have a great vacation and experience this day fully – but you're just not getting along, so leave each other alone. No touching each other, stop fighting. Look at how good you've got it! Enjoy!”
Can you guess what happened next? Before long, the battle lines have been drawn, and the seam in the middle of the backseat has become the boundary. As if they were the ones making the car payment, each kid has staked a claim, this is my side – no – that book is on my side! The parents are able to ignore it until the inevitable happens. As if the earlier instructions about leaving each other alone and not touching each other were just too irresistable to try to get around, one kid leans over, close to the middle, and moves a finger teasingly in the other's face. The cry goes up - “Moooom!” and the instigator immediately taunts “what?! I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you. . .”
The parents just want the best for the children, to get to this destination beyond their wildest dreams, like Disneyland, or Legoland, or wherever. The parents want the children to experience life fully, not be stuck on taking sides in the backseat or caught up in the game of “I'm not touching you.”
But of course, these are only silly behaviors of kids, right? As reasonable adults, as good Christians, we never let ourselves get caught up in such behaviors, right?
A lot of times in church we pray for and consider the social, the broader view – the big categories of the “rich,” the “poor,” believers, Gentiles, Jews, and so on. And these are important in reading the bible. But our readings today aren't about some big group. They aren't about someone else or even just someone back in history. They're about you. They're about me. About our individual behaviors, in this backseat, in this life that we're given.
Reasonable adults, did you catch what Paul called us? “Infants in Christ.” He writes to the Corinthian church, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.” No one likes to be called a baby. We know and hear all the time that we are “children of God,” but how does it feel to be called an “infant?” It rings a little differently, doesn't it. It makes me realize that to be a child of God doesn't just mean that God is my parent – it means that God is much wiser, and in comparison, my behaviors are like the kid's in the backseat.
Jesus talks about behaviors that are not foreign to us – in the backseat, in the workplace, in our homes. Anger. Who hasn't been there? And Jesus isn't just talking about level 10 rage, but “if you are at all angry with a brother or sister”. . . Holding a grudge. Calling someone “you fool!” - the tameness of this almost seems silly to us, doesn't it. Jesus is expanding, explaining the broad scope of the ten commandments here – not just do not take the Lord's name in vain, but do not swear at all, do not make any vows at all, by heaven or even yourself – for you are not your own. Today's readings are personal – I know I have done all of these things, maybe even this morning, as I got angry at the copier, or another driver on the way over here, or myself.
We are children of God, and though this example about siblings in the backseat seems tame, it reflects something about our sin that we can all relate to. We may no longer fight about whose inches of the seat cushion are whose, but we fight about land, about property, about what we think we deserve. Just like the Corinthians who claim a stake for Apollos' side, or Paul's Christians, God calls out to us – don't you get it – you're all in the same car, and there's a better life for you – I want you to enjoy the journey.
For some people, when this section of Jesus' sermon on the mount is read, the part about divorce really sticks in our ear. Because who doesn't know someone who has been divorced? Some of you have been there, and some of you know others who are going through a divorce which though painful, is the best thing that could now happen. Today's sermon is not about divorce, but about something wider, Jesus' teaching about behavior – mine and yours.
Jesus gives rules here. He means them. Means them like the parents from the front seat mean the rules created for the children on the road trip. So that the children might have the best day possible, and enjoy the blessings around them. It is in the same way God and Jesus give us rules for our behavior. So that we might live life most fully. In scripture, God gives us rules, law to shape how we live. God does want you to live this way, because God wants the best for you. The rules that Jesus gives, this law, is created out of love, a parental love.
The parental love of God will never leave you. Your behavior will never deter you from where God claimed you in baptism and promised eternal love, and eternal life. No matter how good you are, rules will never save you. God's love is parental, not in how parent's rules are so often heard – if you do this, then you'll get. . . but God's love and God's laws are not if then, but because-therefore. Because God loves you so much, God gives laws to shape your life, to lift you from the backseat arguments, and raise your head to the blessings around you, to sit up and reflect the posture of grace which has been given to you.
Jesus' sermon on the mount opens up the commandments to be much more inclusive – not just do not kill, but don't hold anger. This seems impossible and like something like we can write off because the law doesn't save us, and thank God for grace! But there's something gracious about the inclusiveness of Jesus' law – there's no part of your life, no moment, no minor incident, which God doesn't care about. God loves you that much. God loves you so much to give you signposts, laws to a better life. The parent eventually outlaws the “I'm not touching you” game, knowing it is the tip of the iceberg, and leads to other things. In the same way Jesus warns us against even the slightest anger, out of love, knowing it leads only to hurt. God loves us enough to not ignore our sin but tell us the truth, and shape us to a loving, healthy, safer life.
You are God's child. God loves you so much to teach you a better way to live, a way to enjoy the ride, see the blessings around you, and reflect the love that you are rooted in.
As Paul writes, “For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.” God teaches, God gives the growth. But as God has taught and shaped you, so can you water and plant, teach and shape others. You are God's child, you are God's field. Just like a gardener lovingly gives boundaries and structures for a plant's growth, our God is a loving parent. God gives laws out of love and care for your life. So head up. Enjoy the ride. Amen.
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