The first reading from the Book of Sirach stresses the free will of human beings. It says that all human beings are free to choose either between good and evil. God meant us to stay in his family not by force but out of love, that is why he gave us freedom to reject the life he offers or accept it, to observe or violate the guidelines to happiness that he established for us all out of love. Today we have to make a choice of how we will live. Our happiness or unhappiness depends on our choices.
Beyond the letter of the Law
While explaining the ABCs of Christianity to an aged tribal chieftain, a missionary was stressing the don’ts more than the do’s. “You mean I must not take my friends’ wives?” clarifies the chieftain. “That’s right!” said the missionary. “And not rob their goats and cattle?” The missionary nodded. “And not kill warring chieftains?” queried the chieftain again. “Yes!” replied the missionary. “Then,” concluded the chieftain, “I’ll be a good Christian because I am too old to do any of those things.” We often reduce Christianity to a long list of don’ts forgetting that the essence of Christianity is the ‘spirit’ behind them.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
For the third consecutive Sunday the gospel is from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus sets out his programme for the kingdom. Today’s extract gives us some of the rules for the road. But there is a huge contrast between the understanding of laws as presented by the scribes and Pharisees and the deeper meaning of religious conversion as preached by Jesus. This passage specifically highlights the laws forbidding murder, adultery, divorce and swearing. Jesus does not stop at the letter of the law but reaches into the virtue that gives meaning to the law. Jesus speaks of what has been heard in the past and what has to be listened to now. Jesus is not changing the Law and the traditions passed on through the prophets. He is applying a proper spirit to what has become too legalistic. He explains the ‘dictates of the law’ were for the head to guide the five senses. The spirit of Jesus was to form the heart as well as the mind. Jesus then focuses on two of the basic energies within us which are the sources of sin if they remain unchecked: anger and lust. All of us have anger in us and it is normal to feel angry at times. Instead of just expressing our anger we need to look at the cause of our anger. We can’t avoid getting angry, but we can avoid acting out our anger. Jesus tells us to seek to be reconciled. Jesus does not espouse a minimalist approach to morality. Jesus enlarges the prohibition of murder to embrace anger, the prohibition of adultery to include lustful glances, and the prohibition of false oaths to include any kind of swearing. Jesus’ new law is not a soulless set of don’ts. He asks us to look deep within ourselves at our inner motive: Why am I doing what I am doing? And why am I not doing what I ought to be doing? Ultimately, there is only one precept that we need to embrace if we are to live in his kingdom: the command of loving our neighbour. Only love will help us to live for God.
Passion and Reason
The Greek philosopher, Plato, four hundred years before Christ, wrote of two horses in the human heart, Passion and Reason. Passion is the wild untamed horse with boundless strength and energy, but very hard to control and direct. Reason is the tamed horse, accustomed to the reins, disciplined in stride and responding to directions. A chariot hitched to a pair of Passions might go anywhere but would surely crash or overturn before long. However, a charioteer who selects a pair of Reasons will be too cautious and fearful to go anywhere worthwhile. But if Passion and Reason can be paired, then the powerful energy is harnessed and the journey of life can be enjoyed. – The teaching of Jesus strongly affirms the need of rules, but rules are to be understood as a means to the end, which is a life of spiritual strength and commitment.
Sylvester O’Flynn in ‘The Good News of Mathew’s Year’
Anger destroyed his life
Two great men were born in the year 1564 A.D. One man- Shakespeare lived to the age of fifty-two and became the greatest dramatist of the English language. The other- Christopher Marlow perished midway in his life at the age of twenty-nine, because of his anger. Christopher wrote some of the best tragical plays at a very young age. One of his best plays is “The tragical life of Dr. Faustus.” Had he lived longer he probably would have become greater than Shakespeare. He was a man given to anger. He picked up a quarrel with a man in a tavern. That man challenged him to a sword fight unto death. They both fought and Christopher was mortally wounded and later succumbed to his injuries. A great promise was terminated because of anger.
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
“Take me to a better neighbourhood!”
Several years ago William F. Merton of Mt. Clements, Michigan, wrote to Reader’s Digest to tell of a memorable argument he had with his wife. The argument was well underway as they left the party one evening. Once they were in the car, words were flying. The area they were driving through was not the best, so they stopped arguing just long enough to lock the doors. Then they started again. Merton’s wife had really worked up a storm, and after a few choice words from him, she shouted, “Stop the car and let me get out!” Merton pulled over to the curb. His wife unlocked the door and got out, but then looked around and got back in again. Looking a little sheepish she said, “Take me to a better neighbourhood.”
William F. Merton in “Our Argument….Argument too” –Reader’s Digest Oct. 1983
The Forbidden Anger
Little Johnny had a quarrel with his younger brother, Willy. Before he said his night prayers, Johnny’s mother said to him, “Now I want you to forgive your brother.” But Johnny was not in a forgiving mood.” No, I won’t forgive him”, he said. Mother tried persuasions of every motherly variety, but nothing worked. Finally she said, “What if your brother were to die tonight? How would you feel if you knew that you hadn’t forgiven him?” Johnny gave in or so it seemed. “Alright, I forgive him,” he said, “but if he is alive in the morning, I’ll get even with him.” The gospel invites us to reconcile with our brothers and sisters before we come to him.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
Develop the virtue of forgiveness
Once the son of King Louis XVI was taken prisoner by a rival nation and sent to the torture room. The French Dauphin was held prisoner by one of the most difficult jailors. The jailor was waiting to lay his hands upon this poor helpless child, for having been born into the royal family. Everyday, the jailor would increase his torture a little more, and each time the child would quietly bear it all, praying to God. One day the jailor asked him, “What would you do, Carpeto, if the Vendeanos set you free? What would you do with me? Would you have me hanged?” The little boy smiled and said: “I would forgive you.” Forgiveness is one of the noblest virtues of man. As St. Francis of Sales once said, “If, someone in hatred were to pluck out my left eye, I think I could look kindly at him with my right eye. If he plucked that one out too, I would still have the heart with which to love him.”
G. Francis Xavier in ‘101 Inspiring Stories’
*****
While explaining the ABCs of Christianity to an aged tribal chieftain, a missionary was stressing the don’ts more than the do’s. “You mean I must not take my friends’ wives?” clarifies the chieftain. “That’s right!” said the missionary. “And not rob their goats and cattle?” The missionary nodded. “And not kill warring chieftains?” queried the chieftain again. “Yes!” replied the missionary. “Then,” concluded the chieftain, “I’ll be a good Christian because I am too old to do any of those things.” We often reduce Christianity to a long list of don’ts forgetting that the essence of Christianity is the ‘spirit’ behind them.
Francis Gonsalves in ‘Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds’
For the third consecutive Sunday the gospel is from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus sets out his programme for the kingdom. Today’s extract gives us some of the rules for the road. But there is a huge contrast between the understanding of laws as presented by the scribes and Pharisees and the deeper meaning of religious conversion as preached by Jesus. This passage specifically highlights the laws forbidding murder, adultery, divorce and swearing. Jesus does not stop at the letter of the law but reaches into the virtue that gives meaning to the law. Jesus speaks of what has been heard in the past and what has to be listened to now. Jesus is not changing the Law and the traditions passed on through the prophets. He is applying a proper spirit to what has become too legalistic. He explains the ‘dictates of the law’ were for the head to guide the five senses. The spirit of Jesus was to form the heart as well as the mind. Jesus then focuses on two of the basic energies within us which are the sources of sin if they remain unchecked: anger and lust. All of us have anger in us and it is normal to feel angry at times. Instead of just expressing our anger we need to look at the cause of our anger. We can’t avoid getting angry, but we can avoid acting out our anger. Jesus tells us to seek to be reconciled. Jesus does not espouse a minimalist approach to morality. Jesus enlarges the prohibition of murder to embrace anger, the prohibition of adultery to include lustful glances, and the prohibition of false oaths to include any kind of swearing. Jesus’ new law is not a soulless set of don’ts. He asks us to look deep within ourselves at our inner motive: Why am I doing what I am doing? And why am I not doing what I ought to be doing? Ultimately, there is only one precept that we need to embrace if we are to live in his kingdom: the command of loving our neighbour. Only love will help us to live for God.
Passion and Reason
The Greek philosopher, Plato, four hundred years before Christ, wrote of two horses in the human heart, Passion and Reason. Passion is the wild untamed horse with boundless strength and energy, but very hard to control and direct. Reason is the tamed horse, accustomed to the reins, disciplined in stride and responding to directions. A chariot hitched to a pair of Passions might go anywhere but would surely crash or overturn before long. However, a charioteer who selects a pair of Reasons will be too cautious and fearful to go anywhere worthwhile. But if Passion and Reason can be paired, then the powerful energy is harnessed and the journey of life can be enjoyed. – The teaching of Jesus strongly affirms the need of rules, but rules are to be understood as a means to the end, which is a life of spiritual strength and commitment.
Sylvester O’Flynn in ‘The Good News of Mathew’s Year’
Anger destroyed his life
Two great men were born in the year 1564 A.D. One man- Shakespeare lived to the age of fifty-two and became the greatest dramatist of the English language. The other- Christopher Marlow perished midway in his life at the age of twenty-nine, because of his anger. Christopher wrote some of the best tragical plays at a very young age. One of his best plays is “The tragical life of Dr. Faustus.” Had he lived longer he probably would have become greater than Shakespeare. He was a man given to anger. He picked up a quarrel with a man in a tavern. That man challenged him to a sword fight unto death. They both fought and Christopher was mortally wounded and later succumbed to his injuries. A great promise was terminated because of anger.
John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’
“Take me to a better neighbourhood!”
Several years ago William F. Merton of Mt. Clements, Michigan, wrote to Reader’s Digest to tell of a memorable argument he had with his wife. The argument was well underway as they left the party one evening. Once they were in the car, words were flying. The area they were driving through was not the best, so they stopped arguing just long enough to lock the doors. Then they started again. Merton’s wife had really worked up a storm, and after a few choice words from him, she shouted, “Stop the car and let me get out!” Merton pulled over to the curb. His wife unlocked the door and got out, but then looked around and got back in again. Looking a little sheepish she said, “Take me to a better neighbourhood.”
William F. Merton in “Our Argument….Argument too” –Reader’s Digest Oct. 1983
The Forbidden Anger
Little Johnny had a quarrel with his younger brother, Willy. Before he said his night prayers, Johnny’s mother said to him, “Now I want you to forgive your brother.” But Johnny was not in a forgiving mood.” No, I won’t forgive him”, he said. Mother tried persuasions of every motherly variety, but nothing worked. Finally she said, “What if your brother were to die tonight? How would you feel if you knew that you hadn’t forgiven him?” Johnny gave in or so it seemed. “Alright, I forgive him,” he said, “but if he is alive in the morning, I’ll get even with him.” The gospel invites us to reconcile with our brothers and sisters before we come to him.
John Pichappilly in ‘The Table of the Word’
Develop the virtue of forgiveness
Once the son of King Louis XVI was taken prisoner by a rival nation and sent to the torture room. The French Dauphin was held prisoner by one of the most difficult jailors. The jailor was waiting to lay his hands upon this poor helpless child, for having been born into the royal family. Everyday, the jailor would increase his torture a little more, and each time the child would quietly bear it all, praying to God. One day the jailor asked him, “What would you do, Carpeto, if the Vendeanos set you free? What would you do with me? Would you have me hanged?” The little boy smiled and said: “I would forgive you.” Forgiveness is one of the noblest virtues of man. As St. Francis of Sales once said, “If, someone in hatred were to pluck out my left eye, I think I could look kindly at him with my right eye. If he plucked that one out too, I would still have the heart with which to love him.”
G. Francis Xavier in ‘101 Inspiring Stories’
*****
From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection:
1) “I’ve got good news and bad news.” A cartoon in a national magazine shows Moses with two tablets under his arm coming down a mountain. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” he says. “The good news is I got Him down to ten. The bad news is adultery is still in there.” Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard once said: “Most people believe that the Christian Commandments are intentionally a little too severe, like setting a clock half an hour ahead to make sure of not being late in the morning.” Cable TV wizard, Ted Turner said that the Ten Commandments are out of date. I wonder which ones he would scrap. “Thou shalt not kill?” Absurd. Or “Thou shalt not steal?” Try stealing CNN’s signal without paying for it. Probably he had in mind, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Turner has been wrong before. The Ten Commandments will never be obsolete. Adultery is just as serious now as it was then. And neither God in the Old Testament nor Jesus in the New “intentionally [made His Commandments] a little too severe.” Jesus knew that happiness comes from living according to God’s laws. Breaking those laws, or sinning, brings unhappiness and even death. The life of integrity, or righteousness, is the life God intends for us to live. So according to the Sermon on the Mount, integrity is a big deal.
2) Passion and Reason: The Greek philosopher, Plato, four hundred years before Christ, wrote of two horses in the human heart, Passion and Reason. Passion is the wild untamed horse with boundless strength and energy, but very hard to control and direct. Reason is the tamed horse, accustomed to the reins, disciplined in stride and responding to directions. A chariot hitched to a pair of Passions might go anywhere but would surely crash or overturn before long. However, a charioteer who selects a pair of Reasons will be too cautious and fearful to go anywhere worthwhile. But if Passion and Reason can be paired, then the powerful energy is harnessed, and the journey of life can be enjoyed. – The teaching of Jesus strongly affirms the need of rules, but rules are to be understood as a means to the end, which is a life of spiritual strength and commitment. (Sylvester O’Flynn in The Good News of Mathew’s Year).
3) Anger destroyed his life: Two great men were born in the year 1564 A.D. One man, Shakespeare, lived to the age of fifty-two and became the greatest dramatist of the English language. The other, Christopher Marlow, perished midway in his life at the age of twenty-nine, because of his anger. Christopher wrote some of the best tragical plays at a very young age. One of his best plays is The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus. Had he lived longer he probably would have become greater than Shakespeare. He was a man given to anger. He picked up a quarrel with a man in a tavern. That man challenged him to a sword fight unto death. They both fought and Christopher was mortally wounded and later succumbed to his injuries. A great promise was terminated because of anger. (John Rose in John’s Sunday Homilies).
4) Bless my ex-sister. Two sisters spent the day fighting. That evening they prepared for bed, still mad at each other. As usual, each knelt by the side of her bed for their prayers. “Dear God,” the 8-year-old began, “Bless Daddy and Mommy, bless our cat and dog.” Then she stopped. Her mother gently prodded, “Didn’t you forget somebody?” She glared across the bed at her 6-year-old sister and added, “And, oh yes, God, bless my ex-sister.” [Pulpit Resource (Jan-Mar 1992), p. 14.]
5) You win the war: My wife and I have a rule. We don’t fight on Saturday nights. You know why? Because I have to preach on Sunday morning. Now I don’t want you to get the idea that we fight the other six nights of the week. Quite frankly, I gave her an unconditional surrender several years ago. Husbands let me teach you a lesson that will save you a lot of grief. When it comes to your wife, if you lose the battle, you win the war. (Rev. Curtis Fussell).
6) “But if he is alive in the morning.” Little Johnny had a quarrel with his younger brother, Willy. Before he said his night prayers, Johnny’s mother said to him, “Now I want you to forgive your brother.” But Johnny was not in a forgiving mood.” No, I won’t forgive him”, he said. Mother tried persuasions of every motherly variety, but nothing worked. Finally, she said, “What if your brother were to die tonight? How would you feel if you knew that you hadn’t forgiven him?” Johnny gave in or so it seemed. “All right, I forgive him,” he said, “but if he is alive in the morning, I’ll get even with him.” The Gospel invites us to reconcile with our brothers and sisters before we come to him. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word)
32- Additional anecdotes
1) A marriage that disintegrated over a bar of soap. Philip Yancey in his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace? tells about a novel by a Nobel prize-winning author that illustrates how anger nursed in the heart destroys a marriage. In the novel, Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez portrays a marriage that disintegrates over a bar of soap. “It was the wife’s job to keep the house in order, including provision of towels, toilet paper, and soap in the bathroom. One day she forgot to replace the soap, an oversight that her husband mentioned in an exaggerated way (‘I’ve been bathing for almost a week without any soap’), and that she vigorously denied. Although it turned out that she had indeed forgotten, her pride was at stake and she would not back down. For the next seven months they slept in separate rooms and ate in silence.
“Even when they were old and placid,” writes Marquez, “they were very careful about bringing it up, for the barely healed wounds could begin to bleed again as if they had been inflicted only yesterday. How can a bar of soap ruin a marriage? Because neither partner would say, ‘Stop. This cannot go on. I’m sorry. Forgive me.’” Today’s Gospel gives Jesus’ teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.
“Even when they were old and placid,” writes Marquez, “they were very careful about bringing it up, for the barely healed wounds could begin to bleed again as if they had been inflicted only yesterday. How can a bar of soap ruin a marriage? Because neither partner would say, ‘Stop. This cannot go on. I’m sorry. Forgive me.’” Today’s Gospel gives Jesus’ teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.
2) Whichever you choose: John Trippe of Rochester, New York, developed a kidney malfunction at the age of five. By the time he was 27, this condition had so worsened that he was bedridden and constantly on a dialysis machine. There was only one possible permanent remedy, physicians assured the family – a kidney transplant. Transplant donors are usually sought among members of the patient’s family. Unfortunately, none of the older members of the Trippe family was found to qualify; neither the parents nor John’s four sisters. That left kid-brother Jerry who was only 16. It was a big decision for a teen-ager, so the family was careful to bring no pressure upon him. John himself, however much he desired to regain his health, neither encouraged Jerry to take the tests nor discouraged him. The choice had to be his own. Jerry decided to take the tests because he wanted to. He volunteered to submit to the almost excessive number of examinations required. He almost had to fight his way to be considered. The doctors and technicians warned him again and again to think twice about doing something he might live to regret. Final results of the tests showed that John and Jerry’s system matched closely. Hence there was 80-90% chance of successful transplant which could give John at least 24 more years to live. Jerry gave his consent. The operation took place November 17, 1981. The transfer of the one kidney from brother to brother was a success, and both recovered nicely. When an interviewer of the Democrat and Chronicle asked Jerry why he had fought so hard to give up a kidney, he said, “I love John, and I wanted to do it. It’s as simple as that!” One of God’s gifts most like God Himself is His Gift to us of our free will. As today’s first reading says, “There are set before you fire and water: to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand.” We can choose fire and be burned, or water and be refreshed. But we can choose, of our own free will. What better motive is there for choosing to sacrifice a part of our life than because we love our brother? (Fr. Robert F. McNamara)
3) “BLESSED ARE THEY WHO FOLLOW THE LAW OF THE LORD!” A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers ‘the Little Flower’ because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids. One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. “It’s a real bad neighborhood, your Honor.” the man told the mayor. “She’s got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson.” LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said “I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions–ten dollars or ten days in jail.” But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: “Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore, I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.” So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation. In this story we see how the mayor of New York City maintained and defended the laws under his jurisdiction, not by merely keeping them himself, but much more than that by showing respect, even to the accused and being compassionate to her and helping her out at the same time. Today is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, and through the Scripture Readings of today God calls us to a radical way of living. We are called to be more than just moral: God calls us to be virtuous. .
4) “Never curse the umpire: Angelo Bartlett Giamatti was the President of Yale University, and later, the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti loved baseball. He felt that the structure of the game was a paradigm of the human journey in which all of us seek to break from the box, make a wide turn and get home safely. At his memorial service, Giamatti’s son recalled endless hours in which his father (clad in a vest, a tie and a Red Sox cap) pitched them in to him. His son also recalled a word of advice, forcefully delivered after a Little League argument at first base (with father admonishing son): “Never curse the umpire. He’s the only one who knows the rules.” It was Giamatti’s contention, you see, that the beauty of the game … indeed, the very ballet of the game … required someone who could define the difference between ball and strike, fair and foul, safe and out, and who could also articulate the rules that give the game its structure. For the rules are to baseball as the law is to life. They are not the game. But without them, the game has no meaning. Or, as a character exclaims in Woody Allen’s excellent film Crimes and Misdemeanors: “Without the law, all is darkness.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus reinterprets the Mosaic laws giving them a new meaning.
5) Stealing a hammer is no big deal? A man confessed to his pastor that he stole something, a hammer, from the steel mill where he worked. Everybody was doing it, he said. No big deal. His pastor, though, told him about a report in the newspapers that thefts at this particular mill averaged out to a thousand dollars a week. His hammer along with what others were taking was costing the company over $50,000 a year. “To make up for that loss,” his pastor noted, “the factory raises the price of steel. Consequently, everyone who buys a car, purchases an appliance, remodels his house, etc., has to pay the price for your hammer. You didn’t hurt the company,” his pastor assured him, “you hurt everybody in this city” [B.A. Botkin, ed., A Treasury of American Anecdotes (New York: Galahad Books), pp. 205-206).] And that’s true. We hurt the entire society when integrity is not maintained. It pays to be a person of integrity.
6) Excluded from both groups: An amusing anecdote relates the experience of a group of theologians who were debating predestination and free will. Their arguing escalated to the point that the group divided into two factions. But one theologian was undecided as to which group he favored; finally, he decided to side with those who believed in predestination. When he came to join them, they asked, “Who sent you here?” “Nobody”, he replied, “I came of my own free will!” “Free will?!” they shouted. “You belong with the other group.” When he turned and tried to join the proponents of free will, they inquired, “When did you decide to join us?” “I didn’t decide,” the theologian responded. “I was sent here!” At this, the group shut him out saying, “You can’t join us unless you choose to do so by your own free will.” In the end, the theologian was excluded from both groups. A similar debate concerning human free will forms the backdrop for today’s first reading from Jesus Ben Sirach. (Patricia Datchuck Sánchez)
7) Phenol in the leaves: Recently, ecologists at the University of Washington found that willow trees transmit a warning to other willows from as far away as two hundred feet. When caterpillars are attacking, the trees emit a chemical signal that travels on the wind. This enables distant trees to prepare their protection, phenol in the leaves which is distasteful the caterpillars. This advance warning of an attack amazes scientists: The individual trees have the ability to behave in a way that benefits, not just themselves, but the whole species. [Melanie Brown, PH.D. Attaining Personal; Greatness, (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1987).] Are we not a higher form of species than willow trees? That is why the Sermon on the Mount insists that we should treat other people as we would like to be treated.
8) Dead body on the mattress for funeral: Henry Nouwen tells the story of a family he knew in Paraguay. The father, a Doctor, spoke out against the military regime there and its human rights abuses. Local police took their revenge on him by arresting his teenage son and torturing him to death. The father responded with the most powerful protest imaginable. At the funeral, the father displayed his son’s body as he had found it in the jail – naked, scarred from the electric shocks and cigarette burns and beatings. All the villagers filed past the corpse, which lay, not in a coffin, but on the blood-soaked mattress from the prison. [Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), p. 185.] Is that not what God did at Calvary? He laid it all out there so all of us could see the price that must be paid for humanity’s refusal to obey God’s Law.
9) Manage your anger: Richard F. Shepard in his book, In Enemy Waters, tells about two men he saw pummeling each other in a gutter where each had a car half-parked, one frontward, one backward, in a parking space. The irrationality of it all, he says, was emphasized by a sign in front of the parking place that said, “No Parking.” Of course, the point wasn’t that they were both trying to park in a no parking zone. The point was that they both were probably carrying around anger that was just waiting to erupt. There was an article in the newspapers about two men in Philadelphia who got into an argument over who was the better point guard, Allen Iverson of the 76ers or Gary Payton of the Seattle Supersonics. Words turned to gunfire and when the smoke cleared two innocent bystanders–a man and a woman, both of whom were parents of small children — lay dead. Do you think that either combatant in that fight really cared that much who was the best point guard? Of course not. They were simply venting anger. Anger can make you do stupid things.
10) “Don’t let her brush your hair.” In the book, Wit and Wisdom from the Peanut Butter Gang, by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. some children offer advice on spotting and dealing with anger. Morgan, age 11 says, “When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.” Lezlee, age 11 advises, “When your mother is mad and asks you, ‘Do I look stupid?’ it’s best not to answer her.” Children become quite adept at spotting the signs of anger because so often they become the unsuspecting target of adult anger. Martin Luther King admonished his people “to avoid not only violence of deed but violence of spirit.” That’s sound advice based on the Sermon on the Mount.
11) Angry argument splitting a family: The Knot of Vipers by Nobel prize winner Francois Mauriac tells a similar story of an old man who spends the last decades of his marriage sleeping down the hall from his wife. A rift had opened thirty years before over whether the husband showed enough concern when their five-year-old daughter fell ill. Now, neither husband nor wife is willing to take the first step. Every night he waits for her to approach him, but she never appears. Every night she lies awake waiting for him to approach her, and he never appears. Neither will break the cycle that began years before. Neither will forgive.” [Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D., Making Peace with your Parents, (Ballantine Books, 1983).] Shall we say it again? “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” But it happens. Do not harbor negative thoughts in your heart. Often healing comes as soon as one party is willing to take the first step.
12) What is the Sermon on the Mount? George Barna is a well-known Christian pollster and religious sociologist. One of his recent surveys opened with this indictment, “Americans revere the Bible- but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.” Some of the data behind that summary is as follows: * Fewer than half of all adults can name the Four Gospels. * Sixty percent of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. * Eighty-two percent believe that the proverb, “God helps those who help themselves” is found in Scripture. For those who identify themselves as serious Christians, the percentage is only one percent better! * Twelve percent of adults think Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife! * Fifty percent of graduating high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife! [Quoted in R. Albert Mohler, “The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy,” Southern Seminary: The Tie,” Spring 2006, Vol. 74, No. 1, inside cover]
13) “Stop the car and let me out!” Have you ever noticed that anger can cause us to do some dumb things? Several years ago, William F. Merten, of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, wrote to Readers’ Digest to tell about a memorable argument he had with his wife. The argument was well under way as they left a party one evening. Once they were in the car, words were flying. The area they were driving through was not the best, so they stopped arguing just long enough to lock the doors. Then they started again. Merton’s wife had really worked up a storm, and after a few choice words from him, she shouted, “Stop the car and let me out!” Merton pulled over to the curb. His wife unlocked the door and got out, but then looked around and got back in again. Looking a little sheepish she said, “Take me to a better neighborhood.”
That broke them both up – and the argument too! Anger can cause us to do some dumb things. [William F. Merton in “Our Argument…. Argument too” –Reader’s Digest (Oct. 1983).
14) Road rage: One of the phenomena we are seeing now in America is what is called road rage. Recently, on the Golden State Freeway in Sylmar, CA, Delfina Moralis and her daughter were irritated by an unnamed driver. Other motorists saw the two women tailgate a van and make angry gestures at the driver. When the van exited from the freeway, Mrs. Moralis followed closely and then got into position to spin her tires and splash the van with mud. She quickly spun around flinging mud and then drove up the ramp from which both vehicles had just exited. In her state of anger, she lost her bearings and treated the off ramp like an on ramp. She drove straight into oncoming freeway traffic. She and her daughter were instantly killed when they crashed into a Federal Express truck. Anger, like that, can not only cause you to become a murderer in your heart but it can become the murderer of yourself.
15) Da Vinci’s Last Supper: The story is told that when the painter Leonardo Da Vinci was painting “The Last Supper,” he had an intense and bitter argument with a fellow painter. Da Vinci began to think of a way to get back at this guy. He came up with a devious plan. He decided to paint the face of his enemy as the face of Judas Iscariot so it would be captured for all time, and that is exactly what he did. When people came to look at his work, while it was still in progress, they immediately knew who “Judas” was. Da Vinci got great joy out of portraying this man as Judas Iscariot. But as he continued his work on the painting of Jesus and his disciples, he finally came to the face he had saved for the very end-the face of Jesus. But he drew a mental blank. He had what writers call “writer’s block.” He could not paint a thing. Finally, God convicted him and showed him the trouble was he had painted the face of his enemy as the face of Judas Iscariot. He realized that his hatred and bitterness was keeping him from being able to face the face of Christ. So, he went back to the image of Judas and painted some nebulous face. He went to his painter enemy, asked forgiveness, and they were reconciled. Then he went back and could clearly paint the face of Christ and finish one of the world’s greatest portraits.
16) “I was also taught that you forgive people, no matter what.” The date was June 11, 1963; the place – The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Vivian Malone, a young black woman, enrolled that day as a freshman. Federal troops ensured her entrance, but the doorway was blocked by Governor George Wallace. Holding out for segregation, the governor ultimately failed, and Ms. Malone became the first African American to graduate from the University of Alabama. Vivian wasn’t the only newcomer that day. James Hood was at her side and needed encouragement. So, she slipped him a note; on it was this prayer: “Whatever may be our adversary this day, our Father, help us to face it with courage, for it can be conquered when Thou art with us. In faith we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.” Years later, after an assassination attempt and a deep change of heart, Wallace was rolled in his wheelchair into the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, and there, asked forgiveness. More particularly, the former governor regretted how he had treated Vivian and sought her forgiveness face to face. He wanted to make amends before he died. At their meeting, Vivian told him that she had forgiven him years earlier. Interviewed in 2003, she was asked about the meeting: “You said you’d forgiven him many years earlier?” “Oh yes.” “And why did you do that?” Her reply: “This may sound weird. I’m a Christian, and I grew up in the Church. And I was taught that — just as I was taught that no other person was better than I — that we were all equal in the eyes of God. I was also taught that you forgive people, no matter what. And that was why I had to do it. I didn’t feel as if I had a choice.” (Edited by Newsweek, October 24, 2005, 10.
17) Volunteers, please: Dr. Emil Coccaro has studied anger for decades. He says many hotheads suffer from a newly named pathology, Intermittent Explosive Disorder (I.E.D). Dr. Coccaro is championing treatment with the drug Depakote. Oddly enough, an effort to find volunteers with volatile tempers for the clinical studies has been unproductive. Apparently, few people see their anger as a problem, and that is itself part of the problem. (PreachingToday.com)
18) “You have room for one more VIP.” In 1962 came the Cuban missile crisis. It was a nuclear war standoff between the US and the USSR. In the event of attack, two thousand of the most important people in the US government were to be saved in a bomb shelter dug into a Virginia mountain. One VIP was Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. When he was handed his survival pass, Warren asked, “Where is my wife’s?” He was told she was not a VIP. Smiling, he handed the pass back. “In that case,” he said, “you have room for one more VIP.” This is the type of marriage Jesus had in mind because nowhere in the 5000 years of recorded history was marriage in worse shape than when Jesus came with its high rate of divorce denying all rights to wives. (Fr. James Gilhooley).
18) “I can’t help it.” A famous Jimmy Carter story illustrates this in a humorous way. When he was running for president, Carter mentioned in an interview that, although he had never been unfaithful to his wife, he had, he admitted, “committed adultery in my heart.” Back on the campaign trail, a married couple approached Carter, “This is my wife,” the man said with a smile, “but, please Mr. Carter, but don’t lust after her in your heart.” Carter looked at the portly, middle aged lady and said, “I can’t help it.” Well, Jimmy Carter had a way of being self-effacing. It was one of his better qualities. The whole issue of lustful desires is something that we need to approach with humility and good humor. When a person thinks he has it all under control and starts looking down on others, it often precedes a fall. (Fr. Phil Bloom)
20) Be reconciled first: Little Johnny had a quarrel with his younger brother, Willie. Before he said his night prayers, Johnny’s mother said to him, “Now I want you to forgive your brother.” But Johnny was not in a forgiving mood. “No, I won’t forgive him.” He said. Mother tried persuasions of every motherly variety, but nothing worked. Finally, she said, “What if your brother were to die tonight? How would you feel if you knew you hadn’t forgiven him?” Johnny gave in, or so it seemed. “All right, I forgive him.” He said, “but if he’s alive in the morning, I’ll get even with him.” Today’s Gospel invites us to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters first, before we come to him. (John Pichappilly in The Table of the Word).
21) Making choices out of love: Once Baal Shen, a Jewish Rabbi had a dream. He was in Heaven. He saw two empty seats and asked the angel for whom they were reserved. The angel told him one was for him and the other was for his companion if he used his intelligence. Baal Shen went to see his companion and found that although he was a Jew, he was not following the Jewish laws. He was a very happy man with a lovely family. The Rabbi asked him why he was not following the Jewish law. He said that he was very happy that he loved God and his neighbor. Then Baal Shen visited hell and found two empty seats there too. The devil told him one seat was for him and the other was for his companion. Baal Shen then went to his companion and found that he was a strict Jew who kept all the external laws, but he and his family were not happy. The Rabbi told him to change but he was not ready to change as he considered himself righteous for observing all the laws. From this Baal Shen concluded that truly good and happy people are righteous. But not all the righteous are good and happy. We can be true to our calling as Christians if in addition to our love for God and neighbor we also attempt to keep the spirit of the law we practice, intact. – “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.” (Elias Dias in Divine Stories for Families).
22) St. Thecla Shows the Power of a Grace-Filled Heart: Every once in a while, God reveals to the world the true power of a heart that is full of His grace and love. Take St. Thecla, for example. She grew up in the first century, a well-educated but pagan young woman who lived in the Greek city of Iconium. She became a Christian when St. Paul and St. Barnabas arrived and began to preach there. She fell in love with Christ through their teaching and witness, was baptized, received Holy Communion, and consecrated her entire life to the Lord.
Her pagan parents and fiancée were furious with this decision. They did everything possible to convince her to abandon her Christian faith and her consecration. But she persevered. Finally, they turned her over to the authorities (Christians were being persecuted at the time because they refused to worship the local, pagan false gods). The governor put her on trial, but she refused to give up her Faith. Even after eight days of prison, she still refused. They condemned her to death by burning. But when they tied her to the stake in the local arena and lit the fire, the eager crowds were amazed: miraculously, the flames left her entirely unharmed! And so, the frustrated governor sent her to the larger city of Antioch for execution. There she was put into an arena with an un-caged lion. The lion roared and circled around her, baring its teeth, as she knelt in prayer, then lay down beside her, licking her feet. They released three more lions – but the results were the same. Finally, the authorities gave up and set her free, and she spent the rest of her life in prayer and service, spreading the good news about Jesus Christ and his plan of salvation. Jesus looks to the heart, because he knows that that’s what really matters: a heart full of his grace can overcome any obstacle, withstand any trial, and conquer any evil. (E- Priest)
23) “Going beyond…” A soldier who was a Christian made it his practice to conclude every day with Bible reading and prayer. As his fellow soldiers gathered in the barrack and retired for the night, he would kneel by his bunk and offer prayers to the Lord. The other soldiers saw this and began to mock and harass him. But one night the abuse went beyond verbal assault. As the soldier bowed before His Lord in prayer, one antagonist threw his boot through the dark and hit him in the face. The other soldiers snickered and jeered, hoping for a fight. But there was no retaliation. The next morning when the taunting soldier awoke, he was startled to discover something at the foot of his bed. For all to see there were his boots, returned and polished. That is the Christian spirit taught by today’s Gospel. (Stephen Lawson in Absolutely Sure).
24) Lutz Long and Jesse Owens: Most people then had heard of Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the Berlin Olympics in 1936. But who had heard of Lutz Long? Lutz was one of Germany’s top athletes in the 1936 games. He was one of Adolf Hitler’s favourites. In the long-jump trials he broke the Olympic record. Only one man could possibly beat him –Jesse Owens. Just before Jesse’s turn came to qualify, Hitler left his seat and walked out. It was viewed as a snub of the black athlete, who did not fit Hitler’s Aryan supremacy theory. His snub affected Jesse, it made him mad and he fouled his first and second attempt to qualify. With just one try left he panicked. Then Jesse felt a hand on his shoulder and looked around to see Lutz. He suggested Jesse draw a line a few inches short of the take-off board and jump from there. It worked and Jesse qualified. That moment marked the beginning of a close friendship between Jesse and Lutz. In the days ahead Jesse won three gold medals with Lutz cheering him at each event. Then came the long jump finals, it pitted Jesse against Lutz. Jesse won! He recalls what happened next: “While Hitler glared, Lutz held up my hand and shouted to the gigantic crowd, ‘Jes-se Ow-ens! Jes-se Ow-ens!’ The stadium picked it up. ‘Cha-zee Oh-wenz! Cha-zee Oh-wenz!” My hair stood on end. Ordinary athletes don’t help their opponents. But Lutz Long was no ordinary athlete. He did for Jesse what he would have liked Jesse to do for him. Ordinary athletes don’t celebrate their opponent’s victory. Lutz rejoiced in Jesse’s victory. Ordinary athletes are usually forgotten a few years after their career ends. But Lutz was remembered half a century later. Every four years at Olympic time, the clip of Lutz chanting ‘Jes-se Ow-ens’ was shown worldwide on television. –All this speaks to us about the passage we just read from Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus demands that we go beyond what is the norm, motivated by love. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies).
25) Peter Pan: There is a delightful scene in James Matthew Barrie’s famous play, Peter Pan. Peter is in the children’s bedroom. They’re all jumping up and down with excitement. Peter has just flown across the room, and now the children want to fly too. They try to fly from the floor, then try to fly from the bed, but they can’t do it. “How did you do it?” John asks Peter. Peter answers, “It’s easy, John. Just think wonderful, beautiful thoughts. They will lift you off the ground and send you soaring into the air.” –It’s the same way with the Christian life. The way to live a Christian life is to “think wonderful, beautiful thoughts.” They will lift you off the ground and send you soaring to Heaven. (Mark Link in Sunday Homilies).
26) “To be, or not to be: that is the question” To some extent every man is a split personality. There is a part of him which is attracted to good, and part of him which is attracted to evil. William Shakespeare presents this conflict beautifully in his play Hamlet. On a dark winter night, a ghost walked the ramparts of Elsinore Castle in Denmark. Discovered first by a pair of watchmen, then by the scholar Horatio, the ghost resembled the recently deceased King Hamlet, whose brother Claudius had inherited the throne and married the king’s widow, Queen Gertrude. When Horatio and the watchmen brought Prince Hamlet, the son of Gertrude and the dead king, to see the ghost, it spoke to him, declaring ominously that it was indeed his father’s spirit, and that he was murdered by none other than Claudius. Ordering Hamlet to seek revenge on the man who had usurped his throne and married his wife, the ghost disappeared with the dawn. Prince Hamlet devoted himself to avenging his father’s death, but, because he was contemplative and thoughtful by nature, he delayed, entering into a deep melancholy and even apparent madness. He thought of taking his life: “To be, or not to be: that is the question” . Hamlet was unable to make a decision. One part of him instigated him to end everything in death. But the other part told him that it was against the commandment of God. — We all experience this inner tension. So long as there is this inner tension, this inner conflict, life must be insecure. In such circumstances the only way to safety, is to eradicate the desire for the forbidden thing for ever. The standard Jesus demands from us is not only our deeds but also our thoughts should be pure. So, Jesus forbids forever the anger which broods, the anger which will not forget, the anger which refuses to be pacified, the anger which seeks revenge. (Fr. Bobby Jose).
27) Beyond the letter of the Law: While explaining the ABCs of Christianity to an aged tribal chieftain, a missionary was stressing the don’ts more than the do’s. “You mean I must not take my friends’ wives?” clarifies the chieftain. “That’s right!” said the missionary. “And not rob their goats and cattle?” The missionary nodded. “And not kill warring chieftains?” queried the chieftain again. “Yes!” replied the missionary. “Then,” concluded the chieftain, “I’ll be a good Christian because I am too old to do any of those things.” We often reduce Christianity to a long list of don’ts forgetting that the essence of Christianity is the ‘spirit’ behind them. (Francis Gonsalves in Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds).
28) Criterion of corruption: A cartoon in New Yorker magazine: Two clean-shaven middle-aged men are sitting together in a jail cell. One inmate turns to the other and says: “All along, I thought our level of corruption fell well within community standards.” But in today’s Gospel, Jesus insists that our righteousness should exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees.
29) Develop the virtue of forgiveness: Once the son of King Louis XVI was taken prisoner by a rival nation and sent to the torture room. The French Dauphin was held prisoner by one of the most difficult jailors. The jailor was waiting to lay his hands upon this poor helpless child, for having been born into the royal family. Every day, the jailor would increase his torture a little more, and each time the child would quietly bear it all, praying to God. One day the jailor asked him, “What would you do, Capeto, if the Vendeanos set you free? What would you do with me? Would you have me hanged?” The little boy smiled and said: “I would forgive you.” Forgiveness is one of the noblest virtues of man. As St. Francis of Sales once said, “If, someone in hatred were to pluck out my left eye, I think I could look kindly at him with my right eye. If he plucked that one out too, I would still have the heart with which to love him.”(G. Francis Xavier in 101 Inspiring Stories).
30) Dentist’s mirror: Evangelist Fred Brown used three images to describe the purpose of the Law. First, he likened it to a dentist’s little mirror, which he sticks into the patient’s mouth. With the mirror, he can detect any cavities. But he doesn’t drill with it or use it to pull teeth. It can show him the decayed area or other abnormality, but it can’t provide the solution. Brown then drew another analogy. He said that the law is also like a flashlight. If suddenly at night the lights go out, you use it to guide you down the darkened basement stairs to the electrical box. When you point it toward the fuses, it helps you see the one that is burned out. But after you’ve removed the bad fuse, you don’t try to insert the flashlight in its place. You put in a new fuse to restore the electricity. In his third image, Brown likened the law to a plumb line. When a builder wants to check his work, he uses a weighted string to see if it’s true to the vertical. But if he finds that he has made a mistake, he doesn’t use the plumb line to correct it. He gets out his hammer and saw. The law points out the problem of sin; it doesn’t provide a solution.
31) “Man is the only animal that blushes.” Somebody asked Charles Darwin the proponent of the theory of evolution the question, “Is there anything that is true only of man?” Darwin answered: “Man is the only animal that blushes.” And what does it mean to blush? It means that there is an innate capacity for embarrassment. And what is “an innate capacity for embarrassment,” if not an internal awareness that one is falling short of expected standards of behavior and deportment? Consider Adam and Eve. The Bible says that when they violated God’s commandment “their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked.” Who told them they were naked? Here we are, talking about the world’s first blush, as recorded in the world’s first story. In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us how to obey God’s laws so that we need not blush.
32) Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time: In 1994, Christopher Burns wrote an article, “Wars’ Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans,” on the casualties of war –not the most current one with its Improvised Explosive Devices but of wars that officially ended seventy-three years ago in the case of World War II (1946) and one hundred years ago as regards World War I (1919). How is that? “The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up, and sometimes blow up, at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches decades after the guns fell silent. Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France in 2009, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said. ‘I’ve lost two of my colleagues,’ said Yvon Bouvet, who heads a government team in the Champagne-Ardennes region that defuses explosives from both World War I and World War II…. ‘Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time,’ Bouvet said. ‘With corrosion inside, the weapon becomes more unstable, the detonator can be exposed.’”(PreachingToday.com). What is true of buried bombs is true of lingering anger. It explodes when we least expect it. That is why Jesus advises us to manage our anger in the Sermon on the Mount.
*********************
From Sermon Illustrations:
LAW
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Romans 6:15.
Some years ago, I had a little school for young Indian men and women, who came to my home in Oakland, California, from the various tribes in northern Arizona. One of these was a Navajo young man of unusually keen intelligence. One Sunday evening, he went with me to our young people's meeting. They were talking about the epistle to the Galatians, and the special subject was law and grace. They were not very clear about it, and finally one turned to the Indian and said, "I wonder whether our Indian friend has anything to say about this."
He rose to his feet and said, "Well, my friends, I have been listening very carefully, because I am here to learn all I can in order to take it back to my people. I do not understand all that you are talking about, and I do not think you do yourselves. But concerning this law and grace business, let me see if I can make it clear. I think it is like this. When Mr. Ironside brought me from my home we took the longest railroad journey I ever took. We got out at Barstow, and there I saw the most beautiful railroad station and hotel I have ever seen. I walked all around and saw at one end a sign, 'Do not spit here.' I looked at that sign and then looked down at the ground and saw many had spitted there, and before I think what I am doing I have spitted myself. Isn't that strange when the sign say, 'Do not spit here'?
"I come to Oakland and go to the home of the lady who invited me to dinner today and I am in the nicest home I have been in. Such beautiful furniture and carpets, I hate to step on them. I sank into a comfortable chair, and the lady said, 'Now, John, you sit there while I go out and see whether the maid has dinner ready.' I look around at the beautiful pictures, at the grand piano, and I walk all around those rooms. I am looking for a sign; and the sign I am looking for is, 'Do not spit here,' but I look around those two beautiful drawing rooms, and cannot find a sign like this. I think 'What a pity when this is such a beautiful home to have people spitting all over it -- too bad they don't put up a sign!' So I look all over that carpet, but cannot find that anybody have spitted there. What a queer thing! Where the sign says, 'Do not spit,' a lot of people spitted. Where there was no sign at all, in that beautiful home, nobody spitted. Now I understand! That sign is law, but inside the home it is grace. They love their beautiful home, and they want to keep it clean. They do not need a sign to tell them so. I think that explains the law and grace business."
As he sat down, a murmur of approval went round the room and the leader exclaimed, "I think that is the best illustration of law and grace I have ever heard."
H. A. Ironside, Illustrations of Bible Truth, Moody Press, 1945, pp. 40-42.
The law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean.
Dr. Phil Williams, DTS, 1976.
A duck hunter was with a friend in the wide-open land of southeastern Georgia. Far away on the horizon he noticed a cloud of smoke. Soon he could hear crackling as the wind shifted. He realized the terrible truth; a brush-fire was advancing, so fast they couldn't outrun it. Rifling through his pockets, he soon found what he was looking for--a book of matches. He lit a small fire around the two of them. Soon they were standing in a circle of blackened earth, waiting for the fire to come. They didn't have to wait long. They covered their mouths with handkerchiefs and braced themselves. The fire came near--and swept over them. But they were completely unhurt, untouched. Fire would not pass where fire already had passed.
The law is like a brush fire. I cannot escape it. But if I stand in the burned-over place, not a hair of my head will be singed. Christ's death has disarmed it.
Adapted from Who Will Deliver Us? by Paul F. M. Zahl.
According to a 3rd century rabbi, Moses gave 365 prohibitions and 248 positive commands. David reduced them to 11 in Psalm 15. Isaiah made them 6 (Isaiah 33:14, 15). Micah 6:8 binds them into 3 commands. Habbakuk reduces them all to one great statement: The just shall live by faith.
Source Unknown.
LAW, PURPOSE OF
Evangelist Fred Brown used three images to describe the purpose of the law. First he likened it to a dentist's little mirror, which he sticks into the patient's mouth. With the mirror he can detect any cavities. But he doesn't drill with it or use it to pull teeth. It can show him the decayed area or other abnormality, but it can't provide the solution. Brown then drew another analogy. He said that the law is also like a flashlight. If suddenly at night the lights go out, you use it to guide you down the darkened basement stairs to the electrical box. When you point it toward the fuses, it helps you see the one that is burned out. But after you've removed the bad fuse, you don't try to insert the flashlight in its place. You put in a new fuse to restore the electricity. In his third image, Brown likened the law to a plumb line. When a builder wants to check his work, he uses a weighted string to see if it's true to the vertical. But if he finds that he has made a mistake, he doesn't use the plumbing to correct it. He gets out his hammer and saw. The law points out the problem of sin; it doesn't provide a solution.
Fred Brown.
LAW, fulfilled in Christ
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers 'the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions--ten dollars or ten days in jail."
But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
Brennan Manning, The Ragmuffin Gospel, Multnomah, 1990, pp. 91-2.
*****************
It was my most embarrassing moment in the sixth grade. At recess my friend Johnny had done something I did not like. After returning to class I decided to send a message to him. As Mrs. Ferguson wrote on the blackboard I scribbled a message on a piece of paper, folded it into a type of glider that would sail, then tossed it in the direction of Johnny. That aerial production must have been flawed. It made a left turn and headed toward the teacher's desk just as she turned away from the blackboard. Then with horror I remembered that I had signed the note. She retrieved it and read it out loud. After all these years the memory of what I wrote is still clear: "Johnny, you are a fool. (signed) Billy."
Mrs. Ferguson, a staunch Calvinist Presbyterian, took her well-worn Bible from her desk. In those days we had scripture and prayer each morning. She turned quickly to Matthew, chapter 5, and read verse 22: "But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire." I felt lower than a whale's belly. She launched into a fervent sermon that would have made even the vilest sinner repent. She capped it off by saying, "And you, Billy, should be particularly ashamed for writing such words since your father is a minister." That was hitting below the belt, don't you think?
I could not attempt a sermon on the Sermon on the Mount without devoting one sermon to Jesus' words about the forbidden anger. I dedicate it to Mrs. Ferguson.
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, given in chapters five through seven of Matthew's Gospel, could be called "Lifestyle in the Kingdom of God." Here we have the party platform of the Kingdom. It contains exalted expectations, the most radical ethical standards ever articulated. Notice that in verse 21 Jesus said, "You have heard it said of old...but I say unto you." That one who spoke of old was Moses. Jesus was placing himself on the same level as Moses or higher. Some regarded that as the height of presumption...
___________________________
Some of us are born with green thumbs - able to water and plant barren landscapes into lush gardens.
Some of us are born with gangrene thumbs - unable even to grow a "Chia Pet."
Some people are born with the ability to take things apart and put things back together. They are handy-dandy, fixer-uppers from the get go.
But in the most shallow part of the wading area of that "fixer-upper" gene pool, there are those of us who should never be allowed to handle hammers, screwdrivers, or saws. There are those (like me) who find "Plumbing for Dummies" more challenging than a dissertation on quantum mechanics.
All of us have our special gifts; all of us have our special limitations for those things fixable or tweak-able. But, as we so often fail to realize, not everything in life can be "fixed." Nor was everything meant to be.
Cars and plumbing are areas of expertise some of us can "fix." But soul growth or church growth, the bringing forth of new life, the conceiving of new blooms of vitality and vigor, is something none of us can bring about by "fixing" the body of Christ. New life in the Spirit only comes from one source. That source is God. Dr. Alex Abraham, a well-known neurosurgeon in northern India who is an expert in India's 4000 people groups, 400 languages, and 600,000 villages in a nation of 1.2 billion people, echoes Paul's words for today when he says this: "We cannot grow God's church. Anyone can build a church building, but only God can grow a church. None of us can grow a tree or even vegetables."
That's why the language of "church growth" is problematic...
___________________________
Anger: Kilkenny Cats
Jesus warns us against anger, and reminds us to find a better way to resolve our conflicts. It is impossible to avoid confrontations and conflict, but we should never let anger poison our relationships or lead to damage that is impossible to undo. It reminds me of a traditional Irish poem:
There once were two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails,
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats there weren't any.
Each thought there was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
And they scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails,
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats there weren't any.
When anger takes over, irrational actions can lead to self-destruction and harm to others. While the cats of Kilkenny might not be unable to control their animal nature, Jesus reminds us we certainly can.
Traditional
______________________________
The Skeleton at the Feast
Of the 7 deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back--in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking Transformed by Thorns, p. 117.
_____________________________
Anger: I Told You Not to Bite
We are told that a rattlesnake, if cornered, will bite itself. Anger and resentment are like that. They are destructive and not only to others, but to ourselves as well. And so we ask, "How do we deal with anger in a constructive way? What are some guidelines?"
In the first place, we need to see that there are times when people ought to express their anger. That is something that a lot of good, sweet, nice, decent people need to realize. When Jesus told us to turn the other cheek, he did not mean for us to become doormats for everyone to walk on. Certainly he was no doormat. Remember how he drove the tax collectors out of the temple (Mt. 21:12-17; John 2:13-22)? He was angry with those who criticized him for healing on the Sabbath (Mark 3:5 even uses the word "anger"). And in Matthew 23:17 he called the Pharisees "blind fools."
So we conclude that there is a place for anger. We are wrong if we take these words to mean that all anger is sin. Paul tells us, "Be angry and do not sin" (Eph 4:26). There are times when expressing our anger is the proper thing to do.
There is an old story of a Swami at a village temple in Bengal, who claimed to have mastered anger. When his ability to control his anger was challenged, he told the story of a cobra who used to sit by the path and bite people on their way to the temple.
The Swami went to visit with the snake to end the problem. Using a mantra, he called the snake to him and brought it into submission. Telling the snake that it was wrong to bite people, the Swami persuaded it to promise never to do it again. And when the people saw that the snake now made no move to bite them, they grew unafraid.
Unfortunately, before long the village boys were tormenting the poor snake by dragging it through the village. Later the Swami again visited the snake to see if he had kept his promise. He found the snake miserable and hurting. The Swami, on seeing this, exclaimed, "You are bleeding. Tell me how this has come to be."
The snake was in anguish and blurted out that he had been abused ever since the Swami had made him promise to stop biting people. To which the swami said, "I told you not to bite, but I did not tell you not to hiss."
King Duncan, Collected Sermons, adapted from Carol Tavris, The Misunderstood Emotion
_____________
Truth Tellers
For generations, the Quakers refused to follow our legal system's requirement that witnesses in court must place their hand upon a bible and "swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." They were criticized, and ridiculed and in some cases, incarcerated for their refusal to take an oath. But because they have gained the reputation of being honest people, they are, in some courts, no longer required to swear on the bible. They are known as truth-tellers.
Perhaps the old joke that we have told for generations is not just funny but also true. Lena says to her husband "Ole, why don't you tell me you love me anymore?" And Ole replies "I told you fifty years ago that I loved you, and if that ever changes, I'll let you know." Even Ole was a truth-teller.
Steve Molin, The Power of a Promise
_________________________________
Destructive Anger
In the Spring of 1894, the Baltimore Orioles came to Boston to play a routine baseball game. But what happened that day was anything but routine.
The Orioles' John McGraw got into a fight with the Boston third baseman. Within minutes all the players from both teams had joined in the brawl. The warfare quickly spread to the grandstands. Among the fans the conflict went from bad to worse. Someone set fire to the stands and the entire ballpark burned to the ground. Not only that, but the fire spread to 107 other Boston buildings as well.
Anger, my brothers and sisters, is destructive. It poisons relationships. It often brings violence.
Adrian Dieleman, Be First to Seek Reconciliation
____________________________________
____________________________________
The Effects of Insults
Obviously, murder is not the only outcome of anger. Other harm can be done as well. Angry words can wound with insult. Have you ever been hurt...REALLY hurt...by what someone said to you? It has happened to most of us.
Let me tell you about an elderly lady, a shy and sensitive lady who lived to be just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday. When she was a young girl, about ten years old or so, somebody told her that she had a terrible singing voice. Now, most of us, I guess, would not let that remark bother us particularly, but it DID bother this lady. Ten years old is a tender age. It bothered her so much that, for the remaining 90 years of her life, she never sang another note. No one had any idea whether she had a good voice or a bad voice; she would never take the chance of letting anyone find out, and all because of one person's careless and unfeeling insult.
David E. Leininger, Make it Right!
___________________________________
As Forgiving As Children
Many people today struggle with forgiveness, and yet we cannot become the people Jesus intends us to become until we are able to forgive the wrongs of others and seek reconciliation.
The goal, then, is for us to love other people in the same way that God loves us. Leo Buscalgia writes of observing two children having an argument. The children were quarreling over some insignificant things. "You're stupid!" one said to the other. "Well, so are you!" the other replied. "Not as stupid as you!" the first one said. "Oh, yeah?" the other one said. "That's what you think."
The goal, then, is for us to love other people in the same way that God loves us. Leo Buscalgia writes of observing two children having an argument. The children were quarreling over some insignificant things. "You're stupid!" one said to the other. "Well, so are you!" the other replied. "Not as stupid as you!" the first one said. "Oh, yeah?" the other one said. "That's what you think."
When Buscalgia passed by the playground not more than ten minutes later, these two children were playing together again, having forgotten the whole thing. "No brooding, no wounded egos, no blame, no dredging up the past, no recriminations," Buscalgia writes. There it was, a brief and honest exchange of angry feelings, an even briefer cooling off period, and all was forgiven. "Children are certainly much more forgiving than adults," Buscalgia concludes. "Somewhere in the process of growing up we seem to have become experts at holding grudges, cradling fragile egos and unforgiving natures."
Leo F. Buscalgia, Born for Love (New York: Slack, Inc., 1992), p. 202.
________________________________
Get Rid of Your Anger
Don't let your anger fester and grow. Act quickly. Get rid of it. It will do you no good.
Author Kent Crockett tells about Sam and Jacqueline Pritchard, a British couple, who started receiving mysterious phone calls to their home in the middle of the night. The person on the other end never said anything. After a long pause, he would hang up.
The Pritchards changed their phone number to stop the harassing night calls. The stalker changed his tactic. He started sending them obscene and threatening anonymous letters in the mail. Then the problems escalated. The couple discovered their house had been daubed with paint, and their tires were slashed. The Pritchards became prisoners in their own home and spent a small fortune on a security system. Here's what was puzzling they had no idea what they had done to deserve such cruel treatment.
After four months of unexplained terrorism, they finally met the perpetrator. Mr. Pritchard caught James McGhee, a 53-year-old man, while he was damaging their car. As they looked at each other, Pritchard asked him, “Why are you doing this to us?”
The vandal responded, “Oh, no—I’ve got the wrong man!” McGhee thought he was terrorizing a different man, who had been spreading rumours about him. He had looked up Pritchard’s name and address in the telephone directory and assumed he was the person responsible for slandering him. He got the wrong Pritchard.
Assumptions make us jump to the wrong conclusions, and others suffer as a result.
(Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, Chattanooga, TN:
