This week in the Gospel we have some tough texts. Jesus says some things about hate, about adultery, about divorce, and about swearing — and for some of us it doesn’t feel like good news.
When we see something we don’t like there is a tendency to reject it. To say “Jesus didn’t mean that.” Or “This isn’t about me.”
But the Gospel is almost always about me. Or better stated that the Gospel is almost always about us.
You see the text this week is talking to us about how we are together. And it is not an accident that the audience is explicitly and intentionally men. Because these texts are not just about relationships, but they are about POWER.
The power we hold. The power we give to others. The control we let others have over us and the control that we maintain. In this Gospel Jesus reminds us that we must be careful with our power and not use it abuse or mistreat others.
We should remember in 1st century Palestine marriage was not about love or relationship it was about power and control. Maintaining economic, social or religious power and relationships. Marriage (and adultery) were controlled by men and the victims were always women.
The gospel opens with Jesus inviting people to not use the courts to solve their problems but instead to work it out amongst themselves. And he is speaking to connected, powerful men saying “stop suing your poor neighbors in court and work it out” because THE judge may not look as favorably on you as that judge.
The gospel closes with Jesus reminding us not to swear. But he isn’t talking about Four Letter words — instead he is talking about swearing oaths, and invoking a higher power in our claims for justice and restitution. Don’t tell your poor neighbor that GOD says they need to pay you back, just work it out. Don’t tell your spouse, your children, your friends, your neighbors that GOD is coming for them — instead see if you can work out a better solution. Let our yes, be yes and our no, no.
Why? Because in God’s house - all the power that sustains us in the world outside disappears. Inside the Church you are not the wealthy business owner, the high powered lawyer. You are no longer the harried parent, the overwork single mother, the grandparent or aunt or uncle trying to care for children that aren’t your own. You are not an adulterer. A tax cheat. A bad spouse or a bad parent. You are not any of those things the world has tried to put on you. You are no longer food insecure, housing insecure, or love insecure.
You are a child of God. And it is only on those terms that God sees you and that Memorial sees you.
Or at least hope to.
It is fair to say that this is an aspirational statement, right? Power and money and authority still hold a lot of sway in the wider church and in any human community. But at Memorial we seek to model a better way. And this is what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel this morning.
I hope it is a source of hope for you and a vision for what this place could be.