Anger, Authority, and the Kingdom
My sermon from Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 preached at the Chicago Temple
Today as we reflect on the holy scripture we just hear I am also reminded to be grateful to the lectionary. For on my own I would never have chosen this text. Those scholars called together to create the three year cycle of scriptures really knew how to challenge us as disciples to get into the tough stuff.
Today's passage highlights four major issues- Anger, Adultery, Divorce, and Oaths
Heavy stuff.
Emotionally charged topics-
And emotions are not bad - they are natural. We can not punish ourselves for having emotions, or block them out. And we can not use them to justify actions or shirk consequences of those actions either.
Heavy stuff - without cut and dry answers.
So let me begin by sharing with you a story by an unknown author-
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there." The little boy then understood how powerful his words were. He looked up at his father and said "I hope you can forgive me father for the holes I put in you." "Of course I can," said the father. Anger, brokenness, pain, wounds, punishment, forgiveness, reconciliation
Again these emotions and experiences are natural, key components of the human experience.
Our hope and our guide through this life as christians is Jesus- God incarnate, God who comes to earth in the form of a vulnerable baby born to poor parents in a land dominated and controlled by a foreign power. And the life and teachings of Jesus are revealed to us in the gift of scripture. A gift we take so seriously we will not take literally. If we did it would be very hard for me to preach or serve you today, one eyed and one handed as I would be.
You may remember the debate between scientist Bill Nye and creationist Ken Ham a little while back. A moment that has stayed me from that exchange is when Ken Ham spoke about some biblical texts being poetry and others literal history, Bill Nye asked- so you pick what parts you believe are literal and which are not?
This is a very real challenge for all of us as Christian disciples. Of course it is easy for us to memorize the verses we like, those that affirm what we already believe, and breeze past those that contradict and cause confusion or pain. Yet I assert still that this holy text, these stories of the people of God, reveal to us our mysterious God who loves us deeply. Therefore we take these texts so seriously, we can not take them literally.
We take scripture as authority in our lives. And as so, we diligently seek to understand the context of the authors, the intended audience, the realities of the people of God at that time, and yes - the genre of the text.
As we heard in the gospel of Matthew today, going further and future into the sermon on the mount - this is not the section we embroider on pillows as my mother did with the beatitudes, or a part that comes with a catchy song to teach kids about being salt and light to the earth. Here Jesus shows us the absurdity of the law.
Now it is difficult to read into any written word satire, yet with study I think it is appropriate here.
The underlying message here, past insults resulting in trials, prison time for conflict and drama, tearing out eyes, divorce on a whim of a husband is a lesson in broken relationship.
Anger, in older manuscripts the text adds - without cause
To be angry without cause brings toxicity into our relationships
Just as the father taught his son the consequences of not controlling temper
It is not being angry, but what we do with our anger that causes brokenness
The great Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini was legendary for his fits of rage. The librarian of one of Toscanini's orchestras was particularly vexed by the maestro's habit of throwing valuable musical scores at the musicians when angry. Watching closely, the librarian observed that Toscanini's first act when enraged was to take his baton in both hands and try to break it. If the baton snapped, Toscanini usually calmed down and rehearsal continued. If the baton did not break, he began hurling scores. The librarian's solution? He made sure the conductor had a generous supply of flimsy batons on hand for rehearsal!
Today in the Word, February, 1991, p. 22.
Learning how to channel our anger into productive forms of change, and not brokenness is the path of the kingdom of heaven.
Divorce without reason (only available to a husband)
In the world that Jesus lived, legally a husband could divorce his wife over anything. He could create brokenness, poverty, devastation if he wasn’t pleased. Thus as Christ addresses divorce here, he is not making harsh rules - he is standing up for relationship in a time when women were seen as property.
Therefore let us not shame those who have experienced the ending of a relationship based on a simple glance at this verse. Learning how to support and encourage mutuality, communication, and amicable ends, and not brokenness is the path of the kingdom of heaven.
Likewise with adultery - lust and objectification of others is another form of brokenness.
And finally oaths, swearing to whatever, or not being clear also creates brokenness in our relationships with one another.
Friends - beloved children of God - Brokenness is not the way of the kingdom of heaven. The good news friends is that our God is a god of reconciliation, not of brokenness. and that Christ lived to bring us life.
Life not in fear of punishment, doing good works to earn a reward, but life seeing the relationships and opportunities to build bridges and work together to further the kingdom.
We can not ignore the punishment in the text today. We heard the words “You will be liable to the hell of fire. Yet in the Greek - the word is not hell - it is Gehenna. When we today hear “hell” the images brought to mind are those of the works of Dante. Yet the original hearers of these words heard Gehenna - a real place.
Beza, Theodore - Geneva Study Bible
"Whereas we read here "hell", it is in the text itself "Gehenna", which is one Hebrew word made out of two, and is as if to say "as the Valley of Hinnom", which the Hebrews called Topheth: it was a place where the Israelites cruelly sacrificed their children to false gods, whereupon it was taken for a place appointed to torment the reprobates in (Jeremiah 7:31).
(n) The Jews used four kinds of punishments, before their government was taken away by Herod: hanging, beheading, stoning, and burning. It is burning that Christ meant, because burning was the greatest punishment; making mention of a judgment, a council, and a fire."
It is a dangerous thing to live out our faith for fear of punishment. For again - the good news is that our God wants restoration for our brokenness- and that Christ lived to bring us life.
And when we falter, when we break, when we cause brokenness - we can come to the table. For is this communion table a place for only the reconciled to come? Or a place to recieve reconciliation?
God lived among us to teach us life and love. Not simply to sacrifice and bleed. And in that life is extended a gift of grace. A way of healing, a path to the Kingdom. Come help us to build that kingdom. Be careful of the wounds you create with your hammer. And come together in community to seek a path of reconciliation and wholeness for yourself - and for the community. For we know that not all of our brokenness we cause through our own actions. Systemic sin is a reality for us all. We participate in systems together that keep the oppressed marginalized and boost those who already have enough.
God calls us as a people of God, we are not alone. And together we can do what alone I cannot. Your voice and your gifts add to the depth and beauty of this faith community.
In our world today, there is brokenness, and anger - even rightous anger divides us. Let us seek God together, and find ways to be bridges. To honor one another and to find ways to speak truth in love. That we may live out the theme of todays scripture - not looking for loopholes in the law - embracing the message of reconciliation and wholeness. Amen.
