6th Sunday After Epiphany (Year A)
We live in a society that is made up of laws. There are laws that keep us safe such as traffic laws—no doing wheelies on the interstate during rush hour traffic, for example. There are laws that protect money and property—no bank robbing or vandalism. There are laws that gives our government structure such as voting laws, and laws that are meant to protect human rights.
In addition to the laws written in the law books, we also have many unspoken social laws or expectations that dictate how we behave. For example, while it is not illegal to cut in line at the grocery store, our unspoken social law tells us that this is wrong. I also recently saw a commercial that made a joke about the law of elevators. Social expectations tell us that we should face the elevator door, no making eye contact or talking to strangers riding with you or risk making everyone uncomfortable.
Some laws are common sense, and some are very strange—for example, I did some research this week and learned that is it illegal in Kentucky to handle snakes during a religious service, and bear wrestling is also a big no-no. In general, laws are given for a reason and are meant to be helpful. They provide our society with boundaries and expectations and laws can often reflect a society’s values and helps people to make sense of themselves and the world.
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In the Old Testament, God also gave the Israelites various laws to follow, around 613 to be exact. We are most familiar with the 10 commandments, but some of the other laws had to do with diet, proper worship, property rights, how to do business, solving conflicts and so on. These commandments—or “paths” as defined by the Hebrew word Mitzvah— were given with the intention of setting the Israelite people apart from other nations, molding them into God’s people. These commands were meant to offer a new path, a new way of life to the Israelite people as they continued to grow in relationship with God.
These laws and commandments remained important to the Israelite community because they believed that following the commandments would bring God’s continued blessing, while disobeying would lead to trouble. We see this view in our Deuteronomy lesson today as Moses encourages the Israelites on the cusp of the Promise Land to choose life in obedience so as to avoid negative outcomes. I want to note that this does not mean that God was waiting to smite anyone who disobeyed, far from it, in fact. Think of this through the lens of a parent. Parents will give their children guidelines and rules meant for their overall wellbeing, and defying these guidelines can lead to consequences. Not looking both ways before crossing the street risks injury, choosing not to do your homework can lead to a failing grade, and lying leads to mistrust. These things are not necessarily punishments, but rather outcomes of poor choices, and sometimes, as every parent knows, you have to let a kid face the consequences in order to learn.
It was similar for the Israelites. God set boundaries and expectations for the wellbeing of the people, and defying them risked negative outcomes. Worshipping other gods, for example, left them vulnerable to other nations and unhealthy cultural influences. Similarly, choosing to use corrupted business practices led to the oppression of the poor. When the Israelites failed to follow God’s ways the outcome was forgetting who God was and who God called them to be. They needed the laws given to them by God in order to remember who they were and remember their ongoing need for God.
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Centuries later during the time of Jesus, the Mosaic Law was a tricky subject. The Pharisees and other religious teachers in the community were strict followers of the Mosaic Law and they were quick to judge anyone who didn’t meet their standards. The Pharisees used the Law as a form of power, and believed that they would receive God’s favor over the “Sinful Others.” The Pharisees used the Law as a means to salvation and as an excuse to look down on others.
So, when Jesus came along doing his healing and preaching and gaining popularity among the people, the Pharisees quickly came to see him as a threat to their status. Jesus was not using the Law and the Scriptures as a form of judgement, but rather as a message of grace and calling others to turn to God. Jesus was associating with sinners, breakers of the Law, and still welcoming them into God’s love. Jesus taught the people that the Law was a guide to be followed to the best of their ability, but stressed that it was God who saves, and not the Law in itself. This was different than how the Pharisees were using the Law, and so they decided they wanted to get rid of Jesus, and began to use the Law as a weapon, trying to trap Jesus and accuse him of abolishing the Law.
Of course, this is the opposite of what Jesus was doing. As our gospel tells us today, Jesus had come to fulfill the Law and not to abolish it. The Law had been given to the people by God. It was and still is good, not to be abolished. And yet, when the people were unable to live up to the Law, God did not condemn but rather had compassion. God so loved the world so much that God sent Jesus, to live a life according to the Law and to be an example of it to others. Jesus was the embodiment of God’s Law, and through the Cross he was also the embodiment of God’s love. God’s Love, Jesus, fulfilled the Law on our behalf and we have received God’s grace.
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So, if Jesus has fulfilled the Law on our behalf as a means of grace, then how does the Law still matter today? After all, we no longer follow many of the 613 laws of the Old Testament. I know I for one wear mixed blends of fabric and eat pork. It’s important to keep in mind that many of the laws were written at a different time and place and in a different culture, so some of them may not translate to modern day as well as others. Despite this, the core of the Law is the same—to love God and to love neighbor—to be God’s people. That part of the Law will always be the same.
Martin Luther teaches about the importance of the Law and the Gospel, stressing that both are needed and go hand in hand. According to Luther, the Law reminds us of our need for God. Try as we might we will fail to live up to God’s expectations, again and again. The Law keeps us accountable to this and reminds us that we cannot earn our own salvation. We need God’s help, and this knowledge helps us to truly receive the gospel and its gifts, accepting God’s forgiveness and living life anew out of this gift.
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In the second part of our gospel today, Jesus sums up the Law and the Commandments in a simple way, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
As Christians, our Law is to love—to love God in thanksgiving for all that God has done, and to love the neighbor in response to God’s Grace. We live life anew transformed by the gifts of the Gospel and God’s grace, and we seek to live this out in our daily lives. We follow the example of Jesus, and because Jesus lived a life following God’s Ways, we do our best to do the same by following the 10 Commandments. Like Jesus, we strive to do good works in service of the neighbor, and we do this not for our salvation but in response to God’s goodness. We strive to love as God first loved us and because God forgave us our sins, we try to extend grace to others for theirs. This is what it looks like to follow God’s Law.
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So this week, as you go about following the laws of our world—please continue to stop at stop signs and don’t rob any banks—also think about how you are living into God’s Law. How are you honoring God with your time, talents and resources? How are you giving thanks to God with your life, and how are you using that life to serve others? Where in your life do you need to hear God’s grace, and where in your life might you need to extend grace to someone else?
To be like Jesus and to follow God’s Law of Love is not always easy. In fact, sometimes it can be really, really hard to love, and there will be times when we get it wrong. The good news is that God is good and God is faithful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. When we fail to love God forgives and grace encourages us to try, try again. May God’s love bless us and may God’s grace guide us always, inspiring us to love God and love one another. Thanks be to God. Amen.