Pentecost 24A, Proper 25 RCL, October 26, 2008
St. James, Zanesville
Kathryn P. Clausen

Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

“The Compassionate Choice”

Matthew’s Gospel, more than any of the others, is developed in a way that carefully, almost slavishly, tells the story of Jesus without implying that there is any departure from the law. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abandon it. Mark isn’t so careful. Some laws can be discarded in favor of the Good News. And as we have been learning from our adult class, Luke is the most “gentile’ of all the gospels. But not Matthew. He is a Jew writing for Jews, and legal argument and legalism are the tools he uses to support the message. It was probably the best way to reach his audience in terms that they could understand and respect. To that extent, Matthew comes as close as any writer in the New Testament, Paul included, to being a “Scriptural Fundamentalist”. For him, every word of the Hebrew Scriptures is true, all 600+ of the laws are to be observed, all prophecies fulfilled, and the message of Jesus must fit within that structure in order to be believed.

And so, it is fascinating to read this final exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in the temple. Matthew is able to make the point in the most stunning and dramatic way, without in any way discarding or contradicting Jewish law or the words of the prophets. Jesus is affirming and upholding Mosaic law, but is quite capable of pointing out that some of the laws are much more important than others. He is prioritizing the law, something that has not been done so explicitly before. For legalists and fundamentalists, this must have been shocking. For them, it was all or nothing. If one of the laws wasn’t valid or relevant, none of them could be. If one statement in Scripture was false or inappropriate, none of it could be believed. That is the nature of fundamentalism and literalism. It leaves no room for judgement or interpretation. It is the easy way out. Jesus will not let them off that easily. He is cutting through all the clutter and verbiage to point out, not just the letter of the law, but rather its basic essence, the underlying principle, the spirit of the law. And that principle is rather simple, love of God and neighbor. That love is the foundation of everything else – the law, the prophets, the community, the worship in the temple. The whole history of salvation, for the Jewish people and for everybody else, is based on that simple principle.

Jesus is broadening their world view, expanding their concepts beyond just the strictures of the statutes and laws. Jesus turns the tables and questions the Pharisees about their definition of Messiah, and they give the stock answer about a descendent of David. For them, Messiah was a return to the royal court, a Davidic king for the Jews. They could never conceive the true essence of kingship that Jesus brought to them. He uses a play on words, again from Scripture, to point out that the word “ Lord “ means more than king in an earthly kingdom. It refers to God, not man. It has cosmic significance. Sometimes Matthew’s way of developing an argument on a foundation of law can be tedious and frustrating. It seems to take forever to get to the point. But that can give more credibility to a concept than simply jumping to the point without a context or audience. He could have simply quoted the sayings of Jesus or his exchanges with the Pharisees straight out. But this way, they have nuance and flavor. There is power in the words spoken with such authority. The Pharisees were undone by their own arguments. Their only recourse was to eliminate this threat, get rid of this Jesus who was making their heads spin and turning their beloved laws upside down against them. Their hypocricy had been exposed. The truth was more than they could handle.

In our own lives, there are many times when we are faced with choices and decisions that are not easily resolved by simply consulting the Holy Scripture as if it were some sort of rulebook that addresses every situation. Our lives would be a lot easier if that were true. It is our job to try to cut through all the words to find the essence of the laws and then do our best to apply that to our own behaviour. Today, Jesus is helping us out. He has pointed out to us the essence of all the laws and prophets, and distilled them into two simple statements. Love of God is most important. And love of neighbor must govern our lives. Everything else flows from that. Nothing else can be as important. Nothing else really matters.

A few years back, I had a spiritual director. Among many of the wise things he taught me, was his advice that, when confronted with a moral dilemma, don’t rely just on rules and technicalities. It is always better to make the compassionate choice. It is most consistent with the greatest commandments to love God and neighbor.

In recent years, our church has been criticized for being too accepting and forgiving in areas where perhaps a more dogmatic approach would have been more appropriate. We are sometimes accused of being wishy-washy on Scripture and flexible on ethics. But I don’t think that is true. The same thing was said of us over a century ago for coming out against slavery, even though it was upheld in Scripture. Or for allowing women to speak in church and even have vocations in ministry. In every such instance, I think we have held up the Great Commandments to love God and neighbor above all else. To that extent, we are fulfilling the Gospel mandate. When it was decision time, we have made the compassionate choice. Ultimately, only the test of time and historical perspective will show us if our decisions were right or wrong. Sometimes we may do more harm than good. We would be naïve and silly if we didn’t understand that.

During this season of stewardship, you are being asked to be charitable and compassionate in your giving. It might not be the most practical thing to do, but it may be the right thing to do. And today, our “second basket” collection is intended to replenish our discretionary account which is specifically for outreach to those in need. You will have to search your hearts for this one, and I hope you will be moved to help out. With so many demands for your support, it can be hard to decide what to do. Your best guide for this should probably be to remember the words of Jesus today and to allow love of neighbor and your own compassion to guide your decisions. I believe that is what the gospel says today, and that is what Jesus would have us do. Amen.