Delight in the law?

Psalm 112

Matthew 5:13-20

"Praise the Lord!
   Happy are those who fear the Lord,
   who greatly delight in his commandments."

Sometimes we Americans are perceived to be rebellious, but truth is we do kinda like the law.   While we may push the speed limit a bit, I would bet that most everyone hear has gone out of the way to try and obey the law this week.

We are a society that highly values law and order.  When is the last time you heard a politician say-  “Vote for me- I’m weak on crime!”

Thus, the scripture passage we read today from the sermon on the mount should make us especially happy.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 

So, whereas last week, in the beatitudes, we experienced a very difficult message, one that always makes us strive to embrace such features as humility, peacemaking and a thirst for righteousness, we get an easy message today.  Just follow the law, right?

Let’s see-  “Thou shalt not kill.” .............Uh yea, I think I was ok with that today.

“Thou shall not bear false witness- ..........  There were a couple white lies in the last week, but all and all, I think I’m good here.

But, I guess these are the biggies here.  We know that the law, the Torah, contains far more than just the ten commandments.  Jesus does add in verse 19-

¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Thus, maybe we ought to take a look at some of these other ones:

Leviticus 11:7-  The pig has a split hoof, divided in two, but doesn't chew the cud and so is unclean. You may not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Leviticus 25:44-46: "The male and female slaves which you have are to come from the surrounding nations; you are permitted to buy slaves from them.

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Exodus 22:20- Anyone who sacrifices to a god other than God alone must be put to death. 

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (excerpt)  If a man marries a woman, consumates the marriage and than turns on her saying that she was not a virgin, she is to be taken to the gate to be examined by the village elders.   if it turns out that the accusation is true, the men of the town are to take her to the door of her father's house and stone her to death.

  

For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Alright, now I’m lost here.  Could Jesus possibly be saying that we have to fulfill the law here?  I mean, these are some strange laws, even terrible laws here.  I mean, yes, I’d hate to give up pork.

But I’m supposed to be ok with buying slaves?

with killing those who worship another God?

with allowing a woman who was not a virgin to be killed?

What is going on here?  This doesn’t seem to be the Jesus I know.

In the last 150 years or so, I thought we had made tremendous progress as Christians.  We had thrown off the part of our faith the permitted, or even at times demanded, the ability to own slaves.  We’ve learned to get along with our brothers and sisters in other faith traditions-  we may not agree, but we certainly would scream out against situations like the Holocaust.  And, while we may argue that people should wait to engage in sex until they are married, I don’t think anyone wants to make this a capital offense.

So, what on earth, is Jesus getting at here?  Why all of this talk of fulfilling the law?  Are our moves toward greater equality really going to keep us away from the kingdom of heaven?

Now, wait a minute here Jesus-  I seem to recall some other story.  

Matthew 12:9-14

"He left that place and entered their synagogue; a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?’ so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him."

You did it-  you broke one of the laws.  And its not even one of the least of these-  you broke sabbath.  That’s one of the ten!  So what, is Jesus excluded now to?

Well, it seems pretty unlikely that Jesus is going to exclude himself from the kingdom of heaven.  So, one more time I ask, what is going on here?

As usual, context would appear to be everything here.

I actually think its the first part of the passage that can provide the key to interpreting this.

So, lets work backwards.  What is so special about salt?

Is salt valuable in it of itself?  Can we survive just eating salt?  What does it do?

It enhances flavor! It rounds out flavor, and it makes everything seem to come together.   It is like this miracle substance that makes meat, vegetables, bakery, everything taste better.  And it does it, not so much by adding something new, but by calling attention to the best aspects of what it already there.

So, the point isn’t the salt, its in bringing out the flavors of what it is added to.

Let’s take the light.  Does light have value in it of itself, aside from solar power that is?

The value of light is in showing us something.  When it is dark, and we use a flashlight, we appreciate it because it helps to show us what is in front of us and what we are looking for.  The value is not in the light- it is in what it illumines for us.

So, salt and light.  Both are valuable, not for their intrinsic qualities- but for what it can bring out, what it can illumine, about that to which they are applied.  The salt and light are not the point.

And thus, we return to the law.  When Jesus talks about fulfilling the law, his point is not to say that the law itself is what is of value.  Even his rhetorical flourish about not one jot or tittle falling from the law, is to emphasize the importance of what that law is pointing to-  We know why salt and light exist, what they help.  What about the law, why was that brought about?

Remember, the law is part of the covenant that the Hebrew people entered into with God.  The point wasn’t to establish some arbitrary sets of laws, it wasn’t God’s way of making everyone live in fear.  The point of the law, the point of the covenant, was to bring the people into relationship with God.

So, when Jesus comes to say, I have come to fulfill the law, he is saying that he has come to bring us into a fuller and richer relationship with our God.  Jesus is trying to help to form us into that person that God had intended each one of us to be.  That is truly a precious, and not onerous, gift.

But, but, you say, what about all those laws that seemed unjust for us.  Are we to say they are valuable to?

Let’s remember, the point isn’t the law itself, its the relationship its supposed to bring about.  It isn’t about enacting some code, its about seeing justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever living stream.  When Jesus was confronted with the man who needed healing, he did not bow to the individual law- he lived into the spirit of God’s healing relationship and cared for the man in front of him.

Here’s the problem-  that’s messy.  I can understand why the Pharisees decided to try and be strict about the law instead-  it seems easier on the surface than trying to always figure out what is the bigger picture.  In this month in which the nation pays special attention to the history of our African American brothers and sisters- I think there is no more obvious example of this messy righteousness than that which was called forth by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his letter from the Birmingham jail.  He especially castigates those Christians who say that Martin should stop causing trouble.

To that- he responds- “We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive...I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law.”

So this is how Jesus shows respect for the law- by pointing to its higher purpose-  by pointing to God and calling us to live into God’s kingdom.  It is in Jesus, and not the law, that we find our salvation.  This does not mean we dismiss the law- but that we ask ourselves the question- what is it that will truly bring me closer to God?  What does God's desire for justice call for on this issue?  It is only then, when we wrestle with these difficult question, that we can truly find the path into God’s kingdom.  Amen.