Homily - Sunday
February 16, 2020
The Spirit of the Law
Matthew 5:17-37 (Readings) "I did not come to abolish the law"
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach / San Diego, CA
I was a bit
of a smart Alek when I was a kid. I remember once I was in one of my
smart-aleky moods, and was taking things quite literally. So as we sat at dinner
and my sister asked to pass the butter, well, you probably guessed it, I passed
the butter. As it went flying from my side of the table to hers it stopped abruptly
as the butter collide with her glass of milk, and as the milk flew through the
air onto my sister you can imagine she was not happy with me. I told her “You
said PASS the butter”
Life before
Jesus the rules were quite literal, You worship God, you don’t take the Lord’s
name in vain, you keep holy the sabbath, you honor your parents, don’t kill anyone,
don’t commit adultery, don’t steal and don’t bear false witness against others.
From these
ten commandments from God, revealed to our ancestors by Moses, most of the laws
of their day were created. As time went on the laws and how to live by them got
more and more specific, and more and numerous and complicated.
They got to
the point that in Luke’s Gospel we hear of Jesus having dinner with the
Pharisees, and asking them if it is lawful to heal the man with dropsy on the
Sabbath and not getting a reply, Jesus proceed to heal the man and send him on his
way, Jesus then responds of which of you having an ox that fell into a ditch
wouldn’t pull him out on the Sabbath. Matthew 12 and Mark 2 have similar
stories of the disciples walking through the grain, and ate some of the grains,
and when they were accused of working, and Jesus rebuked the accusers with the
story of how David went into the temple and fed the bread offering to his
companions.
These are
just two examples of how the law in the day’s of Jesus was held to such high
regard as to defy the spirit of the law.
When Jesus
came for us, he went one step further, he raised the bar on following the laws.
He teaches us in today’s Gospel that we
have to be as righteous as the pharisees and the scribes. But then he turns that on it’s head… he doesn’t
say you have to follow those laws, PLUS you also this and this and this, laying
down more laws… no… he doesn’t add anymore laws at all, but instead tells us
that we have to follow the spirit of the law…
The law was
you shall not kill, But Jesus says you shouldn’t even be angry with brother.
The law says
Don’t commit adultery, but Jesus makes it clear that everyone who looks at a
woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
And when the
law said Do not take false oath, but make the Lord all that you vow, Jesus said
do not save your honesty for when you make a vow, but let your no mean no and
your yes mean yes.
We have had a
lot of funerals recently, and over the years, having heard many eulogies at the
funeral vigils, I have heard about the good side of many of our parishioners
that have gone before us. Many were loving, good mothers and fathers, great
examples to their children, some were good cooks, quite a few lived joyfully, many
had a great sense of humor, some were strong, some comforting, caring and
generous, and still many also lived their lives faithfully. But the one word
that I love to hear in a eulogy about someone, is that they had great
character, that they had integrity. Integrity to me is that one word that sums
up so many of the positive qualities of living that Jesus calls us to. A person
of integrity can be trusted, and is someone that we can call upon in our time
of need. No one gets up at eulogy and says of the dead, he was good at
following the rules, he obeyed every law… it just isn’t that likely to be true
first, but also we would know that while most of us try to obey the laws, there
are times that require us to set aside the law, and follow the spirit of the
law. If for example your wife is pregnant and you are speeding on the freeway
in order to get her to the hospital it could be considered OK to speed, or if your
lost in the woods in the middle of the winter and come across a cabin and break
in to it seeking shelter, it could be considered OK that you broke in. There
are extraordinary times in our lives when the rules need to be broken, but they
are the extraordinary, the outside of the ordinary moments when the rules don’t
need to be followed.
But today’s Gospel
isn’t so much saying forget about the laws, but elevate them. Live your life
not meeting the minimum requirements of the rules and laws, but live your lives
mimicking the example of Christ in all you do. Love your neighbor and love God
with your every action, and even with your thoughts. When a need is seen in
front of you act on it. When someone is in pain comfort them. When someone is
hungry feed them. When someone is lonely visit them. When see a need fill it.
There is a
great show on Facebook, starring Mike Rowe formerly of Dirty Jobs, it is called
Returning the Favor. They go around the US looking for “Better than average
do-gooders, doing good things for others”, and then they reward them. The
people they find are the masters of filling a need, the man that builds free beds
for kids that don’t have a bed of their own. The woman that makes hot meals for
first responders stuck on scene, serving those in need at forest fires, house
fires, and other catastrophes. The mechanic that fixes cars for free for those
that can’t afford to fix their car but also, can’t afford to be without that
car. The people that have created retreats for our veterans so that they can have
a place to visit as a family that is friendly to their wheelchair. Or the lady
that collects bras to give to woman that need a little support. Or the woman right
here in Chula Vista that has a little room in the back of her hair salon where
she outfits women fighting cancer with free wigs.
They don’t
do it because the law says they have to, they do it out of kindness, they do it
because they want to live their lives to the fullest, helping others along the
way. They do it in the spirit of the law of loving your neighbor and loving God.
