My Sisters and Brothers,
Our readings from Matthew this past Sunday (Mt. 5:13-20) concluded with Jesus saying he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them. That clearly was not how the Jewish officials saw his ministry. So, what did Jesus mean when he said he would not abolish the law? I attended The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina. We had the “Blue Book.”It spelled out all the things we could not do and if we did and got caught, what the repercussions would be. At the time, it was a two-inch thick three-ring binder and covered every possible infraction that could occur. Well, it covered all those we had not yet thought of. After all these years, I suspect it is now at least three inches thick. I still remember the cadet who was written up for having a pet in the barracks. During an inspection, they found gerbil food under one of his hats. They never found the pet so in an attempt to get out of the infraction he responded that maybe he just liked to eat gerbil food. So, they tore up the report and then wrote him up for having food in an unauthorized container. Soon after the event, a new page was added to the book, quibbling was now an offense. What I firmly believe Jesus meant when he said he had not come to abolish the law was to say that what really mattered was the meaning behind the law. The law was meant to free up the followers of God, to give them a guide as to how to live, not just in relationship to God, but with each other. Moses was given ten commandments on the mountain, but like the cadet, the Israelites soon found themselves turning the law into detailed lists like the Blue Book and many lost the meaning behind. When the lawyer tried to catch Jesus by asking which was the greatest commandment, our Lord replied with the essence of the commandments, love God and love your neighbor. If we would only do this, wouldn’t our lives be simpler, and more peaceful? As I said in my sermon Sunday when Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world, those descriptions were just that, what his followers were. They were not proscriptions to say this is what you should be, but what they already were. They were the flavor of the world, they were the light that would brighten the world, just as Jesus was the love of God on earth, not telling us how we should be, but by showing us by the way he was. To follow Jesus, we do not need detailed lists of what we should and should not do, we need one simple commandment, to love God, because if we truly do, we will also love our neighbors, thereby fulfilling all the laws and the prophets.
Peace
Bryant+
