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In our Gospel reading we are continuing with the Sermon on the Mount - the longest single teaching by Jesus we still have. He is speaking in Galilee, the land of outcasts and where He spent most of His time.

We again miss an important part of the teaching because we are reading it in segments. So let me go back a couple verses to the end of last week’s segment. Jesus teaches: Do not think I have come to abolish the law and prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter or the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

What Jesus has done is lay out a model ... not really a test but a model or goal. The goal is to be righteous — in right relationship with God. The goal is not only to follow certain commandments but to live the way the commandments lead.

That’s important .... the goal is not simply to obey certain commandments because they are commandments but to shape our lives around the purpose or reason for those commandments.

Knowing that would not be understood, Jesus gave examples ... which is what we heard today. Before looking at that specifically let’s look back at the Deuteronomy reading. This can be debated but I believe here God is using the only illustration the people of that time are likely to resonate with .... that blessings are land and family whereas the curses are to lose land and family. I do not believe that is what God meant as the limit of or the exclusive definition of “blessings” or “curses”. I think it goes way beyond those and in today’s world we can hear it more broadly.

The reading says that if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, observing his commandments, decrees and ordinances — you shall be blessed. As I said the passage refers to land and descendants so I am paraphrasing and broadening it by saying “you shall be blessed”

At that time, the time Deuteronomy was written, we still are hearing very much the idea that the Law — the scripture is the specific rules. Now Jesus comes along and says something different. More expansive. We sometimes refer to Jesus as “the Word made flesh” ---- meaning the scripture is the Word of God ---- God’s essence is in the scripture and that essence becomes flesh in Jesus. We say He became “incarnate” meaning human.

In this Gospel passage Jesus proclaims His status subtly but very directly. He has said He has come to fulfill the Law and prophets — thereby saying He is the last step. And now He gives a series of examples by saying “you have heard it said” ... meaning in the scriptures and as taught in the temple .... “but I tell you”. ...... Wow. Think about the power of that. Although other Jewish teachers used similar language, Jesus sets Himself up above all that as the fulfillment of scripture. No wonder the temple leaders wanted to kill Him. Even though He does not change the Law, Jesus changes what the teachers have been teaching. Jesus tells us to look at the heart of the law and make a decision based on that. Jesus is providing models for such thought knowing scripture cannot cover in detail every possible, future challenge we will face.

In many ways this discussion parallels our secular discussion about the meaning of the US Constitution. Issues have come up the Constitution writers could never have dreamed of. Phone taps. Assault rifles. Health Insurance. None of those were considered by the writers so where does that leave us?

Jesus sees the same type of challenges. MAYBE ..... MAYBE this passage has more to say to us than to the first generation listeners. After all, their lives were not much different from the lives a few hundred years earlier when the ten commandments were proclaimed. So for them Jesus is focusing on the specifics of those issues.

For us? MAYBE this is guidance about all the questions the ten commandments don’t touch on directly, or even more common, questions for which the parameters have changed.

Our lives are very different from the lives of people in 30AD – true. Jesus tells us that means we need to look into the heart of the commandments to seek the purpose and from that understand what action to take.

Example: Fairly often when capital punishment is discussed the debate centers around what the word “murder” means. When the government orders an execution is that murder? When there is war, is that murder?

In those discussions the focus is on trying to pick apart the specific law rather than seeking the heart, the purpose, the goal of the commandment. When we focus on that word it is similar to when we look for a break in the tax laws! We hope to twist the word to what we want.

Instead we should be seeking what God was trying to teach us at the very core. That is what Jesus is attempting to illustrate today. That we are to seek the perfection of God’s kingdom and not look for ways to slide around the regs!

Another tendency is to read this passages about anger and quickly reject it as unrealistic – which it is – showing that we are missing the point. Jesus’ point is that God’s goal, the kingdom of heaven includes a lack of hostility between people.

Most of what Jesus teaches today is not possible. If I had to be reconciled completely with everyone before I could approach the altar, I would never be able to approach the altar. If I cut off every part of me that sinned there would not be much left!

Jesus’ teachings are not a scorecard we either pass or fail. He is setting the goal. He is describing the kingdom of God. Which does not give us justification for not making the effort. It does give us justification for accepting God’s mercy.

Notice that all of Jesus examples are about relationships between people — not about worship style or rules. Our true worship of God has nothing to do with prayer posture, or music styles, or dress codes. Our true worship of God has everything to do with our hearts and how we live our lives outside the worship service. The worship service is intended to focus and instruct us .... focus and instruct us about all the other hours of the week.

That is the point Jesus makes next: leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled with whomever it is you are at odds with. Being present in a worship service and putting money in the basket are not what it is all about. They are important, possibly essential but not complete. To be complete we have to live the rest of our lives as if these worship hours truly mattered.

The teaching about cutting off your hand is meant to be extreme. ..... By the way ... please notice that many Islamic laws such as stoning an adulterer or cutting off the hand of a thief are also in our Bible so we may want to be a tad more sensitive and less judgmental.

The teaching about cutting off your hand is meant to be extreme ... to make a point. I doubt Jesus actually meant that since He is teaching about what is in our hearts, or we would say in our minds, and not what is in our hands! Our hands do not make us sin ... our minds and hearts lead us to sin. But the point is that whatever it takes to reduce our potential to sin is what we should do.

The divorce teaching is one we may want to skip over but is important. Part of what Jesus does here is create a more even playing field between men and women. But Jesus is again setting the ultimate goal. In the kingdom of heaven mistakes are not made which could lead to divorce. In the kingdom of heaven people do not get angry with each other. In this world such mistakes – sins happen. As a divorced and re-married person I am extremely thankful that ultimately Christianity is about repentance and forgiveness. Ultimately Christianity is not about living perfectly but about being able to be forgiven, “reborn” and start over.

Ultimately our Christian lives are about learning to go deeper in our relationship with God. Not to ignore the simple commandments but to go beyond them to understand God’s true intentions. And we do that only by seeking God’s guidance. By learning to be righteous - in right relationship with God and to receive God’s blessings.

To quote Moses as written in Deuteronomy, may we love the Lord our God by walking always in His ways.

Amen