To be a people of integrity

A sermon by Jamie Howison on Matthew 5:21-37

In last Sunday’s sermon I made the point that in his teaching Jesus most often engages the law—the torah—in an improvisational way. He does not simply set the ancient law aside, but rather engages it in a way not unlike a great jazz musician takes a familiar tune—a standard—and makes from it something new… all the while never losing sight of the heart of the original melody. Now here tonight, we watch as Jesus does precisely that, with a series of four different laws drawn from the torah: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, divorce is only permissible according to this particular formula, and you shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.

Here Jesus improvises not by providing any loopholes or softer readings of the ancient laws, but in fact by intensifying them. And he does it by using the strongest of language and imagery. Take for instance the law regarding murder:

You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire.

Angry? Well, people do get angry, even with a “brother or sister,” and sometimes rightly so! So what am I supposed to do? Reconcile, Jesus says.

When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

N.T. Wright points out that there is something comic about this picture, in that Jesus is teaching up in Galilee, while sacrifices can only be offered in Jerusalem; a good three days walk away. So there you are, in the temple for your yearly visit, standing there with your lamb or doves or whatever, and suddenly you remember that you’ve got some outstanding grudge with old Bill, your neighbour back home in Capernaum. So what? You are to leave that bleating lamb right there at the Jerusalem altar, trudge three days home to make peace with Bill, and trudge three days back to finish the sacrifice. It is wonderfully absurd, and at the same time a brilliantly witty way to express just how important it is to build reconciliation, friendship, and community with those with whom we might be in conflict. 

Then there’s the matter of adultery: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” First of all, I want to note that this teaching is clearly aimed at the men in the crowd, which is something that will again be an issue in the teaching that follows, but more on that when we get there. For now, let’s all do an improvisational take on this text, acknowledge that it isn’t just men who happen to find women sexually attractive who can get off track in this way, and then hear it in this way: “But I say to you that any one of you who looks at another person lustfully has already committed adultery in their heart.” Looking with desire is that bad? Just like anger, isn’t it just sometimes part of the human condition? Now what?

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away… if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

Oh, Lord in your mercy. I appreciate, though, what N.T. Wright has to say here: “Plucking out eyes and cutting off hands are deliberate exaggerations (like leaving an animal for a week at the altar while you go off to be reconciled), but they make the point very forcibly.” And that point? Here I would defer to the insight of the biblical scholar Eric Barreto, who comments, “what matters most here is not behavior but relationality. An objectifying gaze is an obstacle to authentic community precisely because such a gaze treats the other not as a child of God, a bearer of God’s image, but as a mere object.” Which is what is happening when someone stares at someone else’s body—their body, not their whole self, but just their body—with raw desire. The kind of authentic desire which is eros, that can so draw one person to another in a real, true, and intimate relationship is different—entirely different—because it doesn’t turn the beloved into an object. Jesus isn’t moralizing about sex here; he’s calling for it to be more human.

 And then Jesus turns to the matter of divorce, and once again we find that its starting point is the male perspective.

It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The torah does include the provision for divorce—and at another point Jesus says that this was allowed due to the hardness of the human heart—but it was something that only the man could initiate. Here Jesus challenges that provision, insisting that his listeners acknowledge that it isn’t so simple a thing as just breaking a contract. Divorce actually impacts people—real people. It did then, and it does now. For all that one can come through confession and forgiveness, struggle and resolution, healing and restoration, there is still a fracturing and a wounding. Healing, yes, but scar tissue remains. That is just true.

And the impact on women in the world into which Jesus spoke was even more intense. In that world, a married woman was financially dependent on her husband, and considered all but property. If her husband gave her a certificate of divorce—and in Deuteronomy it says he could do that “because he finds something objectionable about her”—he was not only taking away her financial security, but also condemning her to a place of shame and vulnerability in the community.

The biblical scholar Carla Works insists that this be recognized as a reality of that context, and then goes on to link the teachings on anger, adultery, and divorce to the teaching on oaths.

[Jesus said,] Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Jesus famously concludes this section by saying, “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

“Jesus,” comments Carla Works,

Jesus wants his disciples to be people of integrity, people who are faithful to their promises, people who have no need to swear that they are telling the truth because they are truth-tellers. They should be people who honor their commitments in marriage and who respect the commitments of others. The women in their midst are not people to be used and abandoned at will, but fellow disciples. They are among the ones who are now blessed by God’s reign.

 And we are all among the ones blessed by God’s reign. As we watch Jesus improvisationally engage the old teachings—deepen them, press them, intensify them—we must recognize that it is all for the sake of creating us as a people of integrity, and one whose professed beliefs are matched by our real, lived commitments. And when we stumble and fall—as surely we all will—we are called to get back up on our feet and hear again the call from the Sermon on the Mount. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Now wipe the dirt from your knees, and be that.