Matthew 5:38-48
The
Arban’s Complete Conservatory Guide for
Trumpet is a pedagogical method for students of trumpet and cornet. The original edition was published by
Jean-Baptiste Arban in 1864 and it has never been out of print. It is a trumpet player’s bible. It contains hundreds of exercises, ranging from
very simple to incredibly complex. At
the end of the book there are seven variations on The Carnival of Venice. Any trumpet player who learned to play
the instrument using the Arban Method eventually finds themselves at the back
of this tome, trying to navigate through each variation. The first is easy, the second is fun, the
third enjoyable but then the real players are separated from the rest. I came to two conclusions. First, I would
never be able to play anything beyond variation number three and second, there
was no one who could flawlessly play all seven.
A few years ago I picked up an album by
Jazz great Wynton Marsalis in which he covered many of the classical trumpet
standards. Carnival of Venice was among them.
The recording was magnificent, but not without flaws. I shared it with a friend who said, “If you
want to hear the real deal, listen to Maurice Andre.” I took his advice and became a convert. I had never heard the trumpet played with
such absolute perfection.
Why did I share this story? When one is
brave enough to read the Sermon on the Mount, particularly the text we read
this morning, I think it is best to remember the tenacity and virtuoso of folks
like Maurice Andre. I have to remind
myself that although the impossible might seem beyond my reach that does not
make it unattainable. How else can one
take seriously words like, “If someone strikes you, turn the other cheek.” Or “If someone forces you to go one mile, go
the second one.” Or the hardest of all,
“You have been told to love your neighbor and hate your enemies. I tell you to love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you.” This calls not
only for perfection, but for an endless effort correcting our imperfections, in
the hopes of reaching a goal most folks would consider bizarre.
Remember when your child came home from
school with a torn shirt and a bloodied nose.
You immediately ask what happened. Your son explained he got into an
argument with his former best friend.
One thing lead to another and the ex-friend threw a punch. Your response was, “What did you do next?”
Your bloodied child looked up through
his tears and says, “Jesus said to turn the other cheek. That is exactly what I did and Eddie hit me
again.”
How do you respond? Did you congratulate your child for his
principles? Did you grit your teeth and
say something innocuous like, “Well let’s get you cleaned up.” Did you call out Eddie’s dad? Did you visit
the minister and ask what kind of nonsense is being taught in Sunday School? Regardless
of the response, aren’t we constantly overwhelmed by the impossible demands of
Jesus when his words stand over against the harsh and ever changing realities
of life?
There are a number of ways folks have approach
this text. The first and the easiest is
to just ignore it. We are often
selective in the biblical passages we claim to be sacred. Many of the laws and customs of the Bible,
such as the role of women or the keeping of slaves are no longer relevant. Who can obey all the commandments? If we are going to be selective, this seems
like a great place to start.
A second approach is to try to
understand this text within the whole biblical message. While Jesus said to turn the other cheek in
Matthew, there are no parallel passages in the other gospels. Perhaps the writer of Mathew was doing some
creative editing. Besides, the Book of Leviticus
clearly justifies the legitimacy of an “eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth.”
Third, maybe Jesus is referring to the
way things will be when we get to heaven.
Perhaps Jesus is describing a place in the future where a hand will
never be lifted in anger. As we pray for
that day, we somehow convince ourselves that Jesus was definitely not speaking about
what happens to us today.
Fourth, maybe Jesus didn’t mean to be
taken literally. Maybe he was speaking in
the abstract. Jesus has been known to
use poetic language to make a point. Perhaps
Jesus was saying in a perfect world this is the way life should be, but life
isn’t perfect. Besides, isn’t that why
Jesus came, to be a sacrifice for our imperfections?
Finally, some folks will argue the
gospel of Matthew was written in a time that fully did not understand the
complexities of the 21st century.
In Jesus time Pax Romana kept the peace and it was suicidal to lift a
hand against the Roman Empire. We live in a democracy where people have the
right of free expression. Sometimes
keeping that privilege can get a bit messy. Perhaps The Sermon on the Mount can only be understood
within its own historical setting.
All
of these are worn out and over used responses to the complexities of the Sermon
on the Mount. It is nice to have them in
our back pocket should the text come up in a Sunday School Class. The problem is, none of the above deal
adequately with verse 48, “Be perfect, even as your heavenly father is
perfect.”
Our temptation is to homogenize the hard
sayings of Jesus into a mushy, domesticated faith that resembles a Hallmark
Card. Jesus will have none of it. The commandment is to love our neighbors and
our enemies as we love ourselves. The
rational for this is, as disciples of Christ, we are called to imitate God, who
blesses both the righteous and unrighteous.
Why are we called to do this? Because, as disciples, God demands that our
behavior should be different from everyone else. Imitating God is not just an option. It is the very goal of discipleship.
The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus’
commentary on the Holiness Codes of the Old Testament. In our text this morning
Jesus was clearly speaking about Leviticus 19 which expands on the cultic
requirements and ethical obligations of the Ten Commandments. You shall not
murder; You shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud
another; you shall not render unjust judgment; you shall not take vengeance;
you shall love your neighbor. Why were the people of Israel expected to act in
this way? The answer is found in Leviticus 19:2, “You shall be holy because I
the Lord your God am holy.”
When Jesus calls for perfection, this
must be taken with the utmost seriousness but also with the understanding that
any attempt to attain literal perfection is beyond possibility. In Matthew’s Greek
world, perfection was viewed as impossible because of the ambiguities and flaws
of creation itself. Plato claimed in order to become perfect one would have been
perfect from the beginning. He reasoned perfection assumes always being without
flaws. Since we are all flawed, human perfection cannot be achieved.
But
in Jesus’ Hebrew world, perfection is understood within the context of what one
can become. Therefore despite the imperfect nature of creation we are called to
aspire to wholeness within that same creation. We are called to be holy.
Jesus says to us, “You are human, created
in the image of the God. When you clench
your fist, you become less than human.
Work hard on the traits God implanted in your soul from birth. Learn how to love as God continues to love
you.”
Those are wonderful words, but they are
difficult to remember when our child’s nose is bloodied, or a co-workers has
started a vicious rumor, or even when someone steals our parking place. We live
in a world filled with tension and it is our human nature to react. Yet, Jesus calls on us to act in a way that
just doesn’t seem natural. What are we
suppose to do?
I’m
smart enough to know that nothing said from this pulpit is going to get any of
you to change a lifetime of practiced retribution. Truthfully, I struggle with this just as much
as you. So I am going to ask you to do something different. I want you to go home, turn on your computer,
and google Maurice Andre playing Carnival
of Venice. Listen to it, and then ask yourself, “Did
he do play it that way the first time?”
Of
course not. He practiced until he got it
right. Go and do likewise. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment