Sermon for 6th Sunday after Trinity, 2021
Our sermon text today is from the appointed Gospel, but I would first like to comment on today’s Epistle from Romans chapter 6. This year, the season of Trinity lasts from May 30th (Trinity Sunday) all the way to November 28th (the First Sunday in Advent). We may be tempted to spiritually “coast” over the next 5 months, and then get more serious about our spiritual life as Christmas approaches. As we learned last week, however, that would mean giving in to the sin of acedia. I will suggest one way to counter this. In the previous Sundays, the Epistle Readings were from the Apostles John and Peter. Beginning today, however, and for the rest of Trinitytide the Epistle Readings will be from some of the most important passages from the Apostle Paul. These will be read in their canonical order. We will hear passages from Romans, I Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. What if we made the Pauline Epistles the focus of our personal Bible study over the next five months as one way to resist acedia? If we did this, each Sunday Epistle would already be familiar to us, allowing us to think more deeply about its meaning and application. We may also come to understand why, when the Church Fathers referred simply to “the Apostle” everyone knew which one they meant.
You may want to turn in your service booklets to today’s Gospel – Matthew chapter 5, verses 20-26. This passage is part of the well-known Sermon on the Mount. For many of us, no portion of Jesus’ teaching is as familiar as the Sermon on the Mount. It begins with the comforting words of the Beatitudes and then the familiar images of Christians as the salt of the earth and the light of the world. What immediately follows, though, is one of the most shocking passages in Scripture – verse 20 – and this is where we begin: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Upon hearing this, the disciples’ mouths would surely have dropped open. No one was more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees. They were such experts in the law they were referred to as “those who sit on Moses’ seat.”[1] They were not only meticulous in keeping all 613 precepts of the Old Testament, but also the oral law and traditions based on those written precepts, which Saint Mark refers to as “the tradition of the elders.”[2] You could resent their conceit, but there was no arguing they lived exceptionally virtuous lives as understood by most people. And yet Jesus says, “You will not enter heaven, unless you are more righteous than they.” How is this possible for us? Is it possible? We will find the answer in the rest of the passage. We will see, first, true righteousness is internal, and second, it is relational.
First, true righteousness, the kind that exceeds that of the Pharisees, is internal. Verses 21 and the first part of 22: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you…” With that phrase, Jesus is signaling that He, as the greater-than-Moses in their very midst, is about to tell them the true meaning of the 6th Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.” Notice the three statements that follow. First - “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” Second - “and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council.” Third - “but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” We see 2 sets of escalations in this verse. First, note 3 words: “angry”, “Raca”, and “fool.” You see an escalation in a person’s feelings and actions. We move from mere anger, to calling someone “Raca” – a term of insult meaning “empty-headed,” to saying “You fool.” The word we translate “fool” includes the idea of a wicked and godless person. The escalation here is from anger, to insults, to condemnation. For the second set of escalations, note the words “judgment,” “council,” and “hell-fire.” This is an escalation in the consequences for engaging in anger, insults, and condemnation. We move from “judgment” – a local tribunal of 7 judges, to “the council” – the 71 members of the Sanhedrin who ruled on more serious matters, to “hell-fire.”[3] The escalation here is from the local court, to the district court, and finally to the court of God.
Jesus has shifted the deeper meaning of “Thou shalt not kill” from an external behavior (don’t take innocent life) to an interior disposition of the heart. You have heard that is was said by them, “Do not murder,” but I say unto you, “Do not be angry.” The truest and deepest meaning of “Thou shalt not kill” is that the many inner, emotional preludes to murder, no matter how small or subtle, must be avoided as much as the external act of murder. Your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees.
Jesus applies this principle of interior righteousness in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard that is was said by them “Do not commit adultery,” but I say unto you, “Do not lust.” You have heard that is was said by them “Love your neighbor but hate your enemy,” but I say unto you, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” This is why, when we recite the 10 Commandments, we follow each and every one with “Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.”[4] In summary, true righteousness, the only kind that can exceed that of the Pharisees’, is interior – our feelings, thoughts, and words should always reflect perfect charity.
Second, true righteousness is also relational. There are 2 parts to this: our relationships with each other, and with God. First, our relationships with one another. Verses 23 and 24 begin with “therefore.” We are about the see the results of what Jesus just said about the internal nature of true righteousness. “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” Note the word “brother.” It occurs 4 times in verses 22-24. Our relationships with each other are an essential part of the kind of righteousness that Jesus requires. These verses are often misunderstood. We think they mean that if I have something against you, I should leave my gift at the altar and seek reconciliation, but the text doesn’t say that. It says if I think you have something against me, I should stop what I am doing and seek reconciliation with you without delay. It doesn’t matter who started it, who is in the right, or whose turn it is to do make the next move. There are practical and spiritual consequences if I refuse my responsibility. Jesus illustrates this in verses 25 and 26 with the imagery of being taken to debtor’s court for failing to reconcile with one’s accuser. Jesus is telling His disciples to interrupt their worship to tend to relationship. “First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” True worship is not possible without healthy community. Together in life must precede participation in liturgy.
The second relational component of true righteousness is a right relationship with God. For the Pharisees, or anyone attempting to live a good life apart from God’s grace, the source of righteousness is merely adhering to the external forms of religion. You are a good person if you do these things, and refrain from those things. Even making an effort counts, doesn’t it? For the Christian, though, our righteousness is because we are in Christ. I am the vine, you are the branches.[5] If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[6] Is righteousness a trait I possess, or a Person who dwells in me? Is my righteousness a what, or a who? Here is how Anglican theologian E. L. Mascall puts it: “…The Christian should be defined not in terms of what he himself does, but of what God has made him to be. Being a Christian is an ontological fact, resulting from an act of God.”[7] Our Christian conduct then, is not the source of our righteousness, but its expression.
We have seen that the righteousness Jesus speaks of is first internal – a disposition of our hearts by God’s grace which leads to right conduct. Second, this righteousness is relational in two directions. First, we will have right relationships with each other which require us to actively seek reconciliation when needed. He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.[8] Second, we will have a right relationship with God, for only then can He work His righteousness in and through us. “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”[9] The stakes couldn’t be any higher. Jesus tells us, “You cannot have true righteousness unless you have me. But once you have me, you have the kingdom of heaven.”
It is astonishing that we have the actual words of a former Pharisee whose life was transformed when he came to understand the real meaning of righteousness: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.”[10]
[1] Matt. 23:2.
[2] Mk. 7:3b; Raymond Brown, et al., ed. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), pg. 641.
[3] J. R. Dummelow, ed. A Commentary on the Holy Bible (1938), pg. 642.
[4] The Book of Common Prayer, pp. 68, 69.
[5] Jn. 15:5.
[6] 2 Cor. 5:17, RSV.
[7] E. L. Mascall, Christ, the Christian, and the Church (1946), pg. 77.
[8] I Jn. 4:20b.
[9] Matt. 5:20b.
[10] Phil. 3:8b, 9a, ESV.