Word to the Wise
Thursday, June 14, 2018 - Thursday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 18:41-46 and Matt 5:20-26]"I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.....Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." [Matthew]
One might call the Sermon on the Mount "Christianity 101." Jesus lays out for our consideration and observance the vision of the Kingdom and invites us to accept it and live it. He tells his disciples (that includes you and me) that we cannot be satisfied with surface behavior that follows the forms but leaves out the substance of love. In short, our motives (interior) are as important as our actions (exterior). The scribes and Pharisees were concerned about the physical observance of Mosaic Law. Jesus challenges us to go deeper than what the law requires on the outside and purify our motives for our actions. The most important motive is love of God and neighbor.
This challenge means that love of God and neighbor are more important than worship observance! Worship is not downgraded here. It means that we should come to worship with clean hands and heart! Isaiah and the other great prophets continually criticized people who made great offerings and oppressed the poor, the orphans and the widows, as if God could be bought off and pleased while the poor neighbor would be robbed and persecuted. To the extent that we approve public policy that hurts those whom Jesus holds out to us in Matthew 25:31-45, even if we are not personally engaged (some just leave that to enforcement agencies), we are interiorly creating something against our brothers and sisters.
Jesus is a demanding teacher. Christianity is a demanding faith. We will continually fall short, but what Jesus is asking is not impossible, just demanding. The final exam in Christianity 101 is given in Matthew 25:31-45. We know what the questions will be. What kind of grade do we want? AMEN