Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Saturday in the First Week of Lent
[Deuteronomy 26:1-19 and Matthew 5:43-48]Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice.......
My father went to Tulane Law School in the early 1930's. I began law school at Tulane in 1963 (I finished much later on - 1971 - due to the intervention of a vocation to religious life as a Dominican!). We had one thing in common in regard to our legal education, which we shared with all the generations of law students in between: the professor who taught CONTRACTS! Although we learned in that course from that eccentric tyrant about the sacredness of contracts, we shared with all Americans (and other legal systems) the notion of the "arms-length" deal - two or more individuals making an agreement - tit for tat! The idea was nothing new. Some of the most ancient documents known to humanity are contracts! What many of us don't realize is that one form of contract that shows up frequently in the Bible and is the model for much of the way God and the Chosen People is that of the TREATY - more precisely, a "suzerainty" treaty where one party is much bigger and more powerful (or at least won the battle) and is in a position to dictate terms! In modern parlance, we might call this a "my way or the highway" or a "take it or leave it" proposition, with dire consequences to follow if we say "No" and great rewards if we say "Yes." In our option-crazy society, we are so accustomed to "mix and match" and "package deals" that we think any agreement or purchase should allow for a maximum of flexibility and choice. God does not offer a lot of choices in Deuteronomy. God determines the package. In the Sermon on the Mount, God once more (but in the person of Jesus) offers a challenging covenant. The reward is eternal life. But the terms of the covenant seem to run against some very deep human instincts: to love one's enemies! The perfection mentioned at the end of the passage means to follow Jesus in the way that he later challenged the rich man (Matt. 19:21). The Bible and our own experiences teach us that we often try to "haggle" or "bargain" with God. This happens particularly in times of crisis! Or we try to cut a "side deal" which usually happens when our faith becomes inconvenient to our appetites. The fact remains, however, that we do not dictate terms to God. We have a free will, yes! We can turn down the deal, yes! But we do not write our own ticket. The popular expression says, "The Devil is in the details!" In God's covenant, it is God who is in the details! AMEN
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