Daily Scripture: Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
21 “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Do not murder,’[a] and that anyone who commits murder will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you that anyone who nurses anger against his brother will be subject to judgment; that whoever calls his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing!’ will be brought before the Sanhedrin; that whoever says, ‘Fool!’ incurs the penalty of burning in the fire of Gei-Hinnom! 23 So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. Then come back and offer your gift.[Footnotes:
Matthew 5:21 Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17]
38 “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you not to stand up against someone who does you wrong. On the contrary, if someone hits you on the right cheek, let him hit you on the left cheek too! 40 If someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well! 41 And if a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it for two! 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something from you, lend it to him.
43 “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Love your neighbor[b] — and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. 46 What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? Why, even tax-collectors do that! 47 And if you are friendly only to your friends, are you doing anything out of the ordinary? Even the Goyim do that! 48 Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.[Footnotes:
Matthew 5:38 Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21
Matthew 5:43 Leviticus 19:18]
Reflection Questions:When Jesus lived there, Palestine held many “righteous” people who were proud of their righteousness, who looked down on those who did not live up to their standards. Jesus called for a “greater” righteousness than theirs. He defined what he meant by “greater”—an inner righteousness, not just one seen outwardly. He wanted people to seek reconciliation rather than revenge. He said God’s strength lies in loving tirelessly, not in settling scores.- John Wesley, Methodism’s founder, said Jesus called us to be “perfect in love,” always growing toward loving with God’s all-inclusive love. He rejected the idea that “perfect” meant never sinning (missing the mark). Does it challenge you more, or less, to think that being “complete” or “perfect” is about the state of your heart rather than just your outward actions.
- Anxious about outward righteousness, the religious leaders in Jerusalem asked Pilate to hurry the deaths of three human beings to protect the purity of the special Passover Sabbath (cf. John 19:31). Jesus asked God to forgive the people responsible for nailing him to the cross (cf. Luke 23:34). How does that contrast illuminate Jesus' meaning when he talked about righteousness “greater” than one just concerned with externals?
Rev. Glen Shoup is the Executive Pastor of Worship and a Congregational Care pastor.
I think we trip over what Jesus is teaching/commanding in today’s reading for two reasons: we don’t really understand it and it’s hard.
We don’t understand Jesus’ command to love our brother, sister, enemy or neighbor (i.e., everyone) not because it’s so complex but rather because we tend to assume a wrong understanding as to the essence of love. We tend to think love…and loving someone…has essentially to do with how we feel about that person. If we love someone (we tend to think) then we must feel a certain way toward them because while no one descriptor fully captures the feelings of love, the feelings of love must include a certain profile of emotions that all of us would widely recognize as love.
The only problem with this assumption that the true essence of love is grounded in what we feel…is that it’s wrong…it’s inaccurate.
Love—at its core and essence—isn’t ground in what we feel; it’s grounded in what we choose. Oh to be sure, there are feelings that accompany love, but the feelings of love are like the ocean’s tide—they come in and they go out. There are high-tide moments (or even seasons) when we feel intently the love we might have for someone else and there are low-tide moments (or even seasons) where might feel things, but what we feel is resentment or irritation or frustration…or nothing…and none of these are feelings that any of us would categorize as “love”.
Yet even in those times when we are feeling things that seem antithetical to what “love” feels like (including those times when we feel nothing)—we are still fully capable of loving. Because Love is grounded in what we choose. But love isn’t just any choice—it’s a very particular and specific choice. Love is choosing to keep on choosing the other’s best interest over our own selfish interest…regardless of how we feel.
Now only God does this perfectly and without fail…but this definition of love is what it means for God to love us. While God may very well have feelings for us as his children (Jesus seems to me to suggest this in Matthew 7:11ff), God loving us isn’t grounded in how God feels towards us—God loving us is grounded in the fact that God has forever chosen our best interest no matter what it costs God…the best image or icon of this that I know of is the crucifix.
And us loving God isn’t principally a statement of how we feel towards God, us loving God is us choosing God’s interests and God’s agenda over our own selfish interest.
Me loving my spouse, my children or my neighbor isn’t principally grounded in how I might feel about them at the moment—me loving my spouse, my children or my neighbor is about me choosing to keep on choosing their best interest over my own selfish interest.
That’s what love is; it’s a choice. It’s the very specific choice of choosing to keep on choosing the other’s best interest over our own selfish interest…regardless of how we feel.
So hearing and living Jesus’ teaching and command to love in today’s reading is first about understanding accurately what it means to love. And second, it’s about tackling the thing that makes choosing the other’s best interest over our own selfish interest so hard—namely our own tendency to be self-addicted.
Loving (accurately defined) is hard because I’d much rather be self-focused than other-focused (and so would you)—it’s our MO as human beings. And in all my years I’ve only found one ongoing treatment for my tendency to be a self- oholoic and that’s daily (sometimes moment-by-moment) surrendering to the power and grace of God.
All I can say with certainty is what I’ve found in my own life and that’s this: there’s never been one time when I’ve been tempted to choose myself over the other person when I’ve asked God to give me the strength to choose the other over myself when God has not faithfully done that…which is to say everytime I’ve asked God to help me love—He has. Now there have been plenty of times when I’ve been tempted to choose myself over the other’s best interest and I’ve had no interest in asking God to help me—I’ve just gone ahead and not loved and chosen selfishness instead…but never once have I asked God to help me love (choose the other’s best interest over my own selfish interest) when God has not faithfully done it…it just comes down to whether I want to let God do for me what I can’t do for myself…or not.
So yes, Jesus’ teaching and command to love is oft misunderstood and hard—but it doesn’t have to be that way. It doesn’t have to be that way for me, for you, or for anybody—and that’s good news. That’s freeing news. That’s gospel news.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
I think we trip over what Jesus is teaching/commanding in today’s reading for two reasons: we don’t really understand it and it’s hard.
We don’t understand Jesus’ command to love our brother, sister, enemy or neighbor (i.e., everyone) not because it’s so complex but rather because we tend to assume a wrong understanding as to the essence of love. We tend to think love…and loving someone…has essentially to do with how we feel about that person. If we love someone (we tend to think) then we must feel a certain way toward them because while no one descriptor fully captures the feelings of love, the feelings of love must include a certain profile of emotions that all of us would widely recognize as love.
The only problem with this assumption that the true essence of love is grounded in what we feel…is that it’s wrong…it’s inaccurate.
Love—at its core and essence—isn’t ground in what we feel; it’s grounded in what we choose. Oh to be sure, there are feelings that accompany love, but the feelings of love are like the ocean’s tide—they come in and they go out. There are high-tide moments (or even seasons) when we feel intently the love we might have for someone else and there are low-tide moments (or even seasons) where might feel things, but what we feel is resentment or irritation or frustration…or nothing…and none of these are feelings that any of us would categorize as “love”.
Yet even in those times when we are feeling things that seem antithetical to what “love” feels like (including those times when we feel nothing)—we are still fully capable of loving. Because Love is grounded in what we choose. But love isn’t just any choice—it’s a very particular and specific choice. Love is choosing to keep on choosing the other’s best interest over our own selfish interest…regardless of how we feel.
Now only God does this perfectly and without fail…but this definition of love is what it means for God to love us. While God may very well have feelings for us as his children (Jesus seems to me to suggest this in Matthew 7:11ff), God loving us isn’t grounded in how God feels towards us—God loving us is grounded in the fact that God has forever chosen our best interest no matter what it costs God…the best image or icon of this that I know of is the crucifix.
And us loving God isn’t principally a statement of how we feel towards God, us loving God is us choosing God’s interests and God’s agenda over our own selfish interest.
Me loving my spouse, my children or my neighbor isn’t principally grounded in how I might feel about them at the moment—me loving my spouse, my children or my neighbor is about me choosing to keep on choosing their best interest over my own selfish interest.
That’s what love is; it’s a choice. It’s the very specific choice of choosing to keep on choosing the other’s best interest over our own selfish interest…regardless of how we feel.
So hearing and living Jesus’ teaching and command to love in today’s reading is first about understanding accurately what it means to love. And second, it’s about tackling the thing that makes choosing the other’s best interest over our own selfish interest so hard—namely our own tendency to be self-addicted.
Loving (accurately defined) is hard because I’d much rather be self-focused than other-focused (and so would you)—it’s our MO as human beings. And in all my years I’ve only found one ongoing treatment for my tendency to be a self- oholoic and that’s daily (sometimes moment-by-moment) surrendering to the power and grace of God.
All I can say with certainty is what I’ve found in my own life and that’s this: there’s never been one time when I’ve been tempted to choose myself over the other person when I’ve asked God to give me the strength to choose the other over myself when God has not faithfully done that…which is to say everytime I’ve asked God to help me love—He has. Now there have been plenty of times when I’ve been tempted to choose myself over the other’s best interest and I’ve had no interest in asking God to help me—I’ve just gone ahead and not loved and chosen selfishness instead…but never once have I asked God to help me love (choose the other’s best interest over my own selfish interest) when God has not faithfully done it…it just comes down to whether I want to let God do for me what I can’t do for myself…or not.
So yes, Jesus’ teaching and command to love is oft misunderstood and hard—but it doesn’t have to be that way. It doesn’t have to be that way for me, for you, or for anybody—and that’s good news. That’s freeing news. That’s gospel news.
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
____________________________
____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment