Matthew 5:21-37

Why not take Jesus at his word? Take your offering home this week, and carry it to remind you to take safe, practical steps toward reconciliation and peace wherever there is brokenness in your life.

Reconciliation, by Josefina de Vasconcellos, in St. Michael's Cathedral, Coventry.

Year A
Epiphany 6

Sunday Between February 11 and February 17 Inclusive
Not used if assigned date follows Ash Wednesday.
May be replaced by Transfiguration Sunday if the assigned date is the last Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

Click here for the complete Holy Textures background commentary on Matthew 5:21-37.

 

It is not enough for us to hear these words of Jesus; to study them; to be inspired by them; to have hopes / aspirations / dreams based on them. We must ACT on them; practice them; live them in our everyday lives.

So whatever passage we read from the Sermon on the Mount, we must hear it with one question in mind:

What must I DO to make this the bedrock of how I live?

Well this passage, Matthew 5:21-37, provides at least 3 two-hour sermons worth of answers to that question!

In this text Jesus provides his teaching on three of the Ten Commandments:
      You shall not commit murder.
      You shall not commit adultery.
      You shall not bear false witness.

Each of these is introduced with the indirect, "You have heard that it was said." Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh (See footnote below.) say this way of indirectly referring to the Ten Commandments was a customary way of showing respect for the power and honour of these 10 Words directly from God. They were never spoken of directly.

Again, Malina and Rohrbaugh comment (Pages 44-45):

The purpose of the Ten Commandments, historically, was to prevent feuding and thereby halt internally generated group annihilation. Honor-shame societies are (conflict) societies; hence challenges (to one's honor) within a group can escalate and actually lead to such annihilation. ...

What the scenes described in these (passages) offer is a way out of the honor-shame impasse that (otherwise) requires taking satisfaction (which may escalate to group self-annihilation). If repentance, reconciliation, generosity, or the intervention of third parties exist, feuding rooting in honor need not mar the social landscape of (the followers of Jesus).

I have added the non-italicized (comments in brackets).

Matthew 5:21-26: You shall not commit murder.

Verse 22, "with a brother or sister." These teachings of Jesus are addressed specifically to his followers who are to treat one another as they would their blood relatives. In fact, Jesus lays down higher standards. But the key to remember is that at the time of Jesus one's family was everything, and the provision of this alternate family - the community of followers of Jesus - was a radical disruption of a paramount social foundation.

Verses 23 and 24. Your congregation's treasurer might have a conniption, but whenever I preach on this text, I ask those present to take out their offering (or some other money if they make their offering some other way or some other day) and practice this teaching. That is, hold onto their offering, and instead think about people they are not at peace with. Think about practical steps they could take to seek reconciliation. (And be cautious here, in some situations the only safe, practical step may be to PRAY for reconciliation, forgiveness and peace.) I then tell them to take their offering home with them, and carry it in their purse or pocket through the week as they seek reconciliation and peace for a week. Next week, invite testimony of what has happened. Might be the best sermon you'll ever preach. It certainly is in my top ten.

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Click here for the complete Holy Textures background commentary on Matthew 5:21-37.