Matthew 5:21-37
For these past 18 days I have been amazed by the revolution in Egypt that lead to the removal of President Hosni Mubarak from office. The people desired government reform, sustainable wages, a true democracy and an end to police brutality. They desired to determine their own destiny rather than be forced to continue to live another day under the oppressive rule of Murbarak’s 30 year regime. For the most part the protests were non-violent but unfortunately 300 hundred protestors did lose their lives in the protests. Today the Egyptians celebrate their new found freedom. In Cairo’s Tahrir square the crowds shouts of “Get out! Get Out!” are now replaced with chants of “Egypt is Free! Egypt is Free!” It is incredible that in 18 short days, a thirty year dictatorship could be brought down by just the power of the people. It is as President Obama said from White house, “The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same…but this is not the end of Egypt’s transition. It’s a beginning.” (1)
For these past three weeks we have been listening to Jesus preaching to an oppressed people living under the regime of the Roman Empire. We heard Jesus encourage his disciples to exceed following the letter of God’s love by digging deeper into the law to understand the spirit in which God gave them the law. At the core of each of these laws, in each stroke of each letter of the law is God’s great desire for all of creation to have everything they need to live full, sustainable lives. This is the fulfillment that Jesus speaks of when he proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand. He tells his disciples that by participating in mending a broken world, they exceed the law in bringing God’s realm to realization. In building the kingdom of God, they are also entering it!
Today we hear Jesus describe to his disciples concrete ways they can exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and Scribes in the way they live the lawThe first step to healing a broken world is by reconciling broken relationships. In this passage Jesus addresses four big ways by which relationships can break: anger, lust, abandonment and the avoidance of truth. As always, Jesus was never afraid to, “go there” with his people.
It’s not hard for us to be at odds with today’s gospel reading. These are pretty controversial things, anger, lust, abandonment and avoiding the truth. But rather than sweeping these issues under the rug, Jesus brings them out into the light of day and tells his people that the way of reconciliation.
“You have heard it said ‘you shall not murder’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment’ But I say to you that if you are angry at your brother or sister, you shall be liable to judgment’” (5:21-22a) At first blush it appears that Jesus was saying that it was wrong to be angry. But digging deeper into the text shows that it wasn’t anger that Jesus was condemning but the act of not acknowledging anger and thus stuffing it and/or holding a grudge. Jesus continues, “If your brother or sister has something against you…first be reconciled to your brother or sister…come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him.” (5:23b, 24b, 25a) Jesus states that reconciliation is essential in order to heal anger and bring right relationship. Without reconciliation you will not be able to get out from under the anger and the damage will continue to build even to the extreme of murder.
“You have heard it said ‘you shall not commit ‘adultery’ But I say to you ‘whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery.’” (5:27-28) followed by “It has also been said “whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce, but I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (5:31-32) We remember that the most oppressed people of Jesus’ day were women. Women were literally the property of her male relatives. Biblical scholars note that, “In ancient Israel and in the Hebrew Scriptures, women were given in marriage by men and found their fulfillment in bearing sons who would carry on both the family line and its religious beliefs and practices. To be barren was a curse and a reason for the husband’s marriage of a second wife or for his begetting of children with a concubine. Divorce was the prerogative of men...In the Greco-Roman setting of early Christianity, women passed in their early teens from the household and the control of their fathers to a husband twice their age or more...A right to inherit property from her biological [sic] family gave her some independence, but she could be divorced at the will of her husband or even her father...The prohibitions of divorce attributed to Jesus may have functioned to protect women from male abandonment or manipulation.” (2)
What is interesting to note is that in the biblical times women were the only ones who could be accused of being adulterers. If a man cheated on his wife, it was not considered adultery, but because women were considered the property of their husbands, if they had relations outside of marriage, then it was considered adultery. And so Jesus challenges the hypocrisy of only calling women adulterers by stating, “Whoever divorces his wife and causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (5:32) In essence Jesus is calling those who are powerful (the men) to be accountable in faithful in relationships with those who have less power (the women).
“You have heard it said ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, ‘Do not swear at all.” (5:33-34a) To swear is to take an oath similar to what happens in a court of law when people swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the whole truth before they testify. This implies that without an oath, you cannot tell for sure if what the person is saying is a lie or if it is the truth. We’d like to think that we are 100 percent honest but we’ve all told the occasional white lie. Whether to avoid conflict, keep from hurting someone’s feelings or to protect ourselves we’ve stretched the truth or omitted it all together to keep the peace. But in order to bring about a healed world Jesus says that everything we say has to be the truth. Let every yes you say really mean yes and every no you say mean no. Now I don’t think Jesus is telling us to say, “Yes those jeans really do make you look fat.” But that in situations where we are seeking reconciliation in conflict that we are called to tell our stories, our truths authentically in order to bring together that which is broken.
After the abolishment of apartheid, the government of South Africa assured a successful and peaceful transfer of power after the abolishment of apartheid by forming of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Through the forum of public hearings victims and perpetrators of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences on order to “enable South Africans to come to terms with their past on a morally accepted basis and to advance the cause of reconciliation.” (3) Many criticized the South African Government for this commission. Some believed that peace and stability in post apartheid Africa could only be found in the punishment of perpetrators. Others felt that they needed to leave the past behind. They thought that it was counterproductive for people to publically recall the horrible events of the past. However the government believed that in order to make lasting peace in their country reconciliation not retribution was going to bring their country to wholeness. That nationwide healing will found when the humanity of all both victim and perpetrator are honored after the de-humanizing atrocities of apartheid. The leader of the commission Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu states, “For the black people it is the essence of being human. I am human because you are human. My humanity is caught up in yours and if you are dehumanized, I am dehumanized, and anger and resentment and retribution are corrosive of this great good, the harmony that has got to exist between people. And that is why our people have been committed to the reconciliation where we use restorative rather than retributive justice, which is a kind of justice, that says - we are looking to the healing of relationships, we are seeking to open wounds, yes, but to open them so that we can cleanse them and they don't fester; we cleanse them and then pour oil on them, and then we can move into the glorious future that God is opening up for us.” (4)
This process is not easy. It takes hard work, patience and open hearts. It may seem easier to try to forget what happened in order to move on. But when things are left unsaid and the truth is kept silent, the wounds remain and fester under the surface. My hope and prayer for Egypt is that they follow South Africa’s example of reconciliation and truth telling as they form their new government. You have heard it said that we need to forget in order to be free but Jesus says to us that reconciliation and truth telling are the true way of freedom. May it be so. Amen
(1) CNN Wire Staff, “Obama Praises Egyptian Revolution.” http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/11/egypt.us.reaction/index.html?iref=allsearch#
(2) Lisa Sowle Cahill, “Marriage.” Dictionary of Feminist Theologies. Russell, Letty M., and J. Shannon Clarkson eds. (Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996 ), 172-173.
(3) Official Truth and Reconcilliation website http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/
(4) Desmond Tutu interview with Ray Suerez on PBS Newshour Oct. 6, 1999. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec99/tutu_10-6.html
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