JUNE152023

The gospel readings for these days are from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) where Jesus presents his vision of a Godly life. He sets a tone when he says that “not the smallest letter” of the law will be done away with until everything is fulfilled. Jesus then presents six antitheses to show how the letter of the law can lead to “surpassing righteousness.” He does it by presenting what is written in the law and then expands the usual understanding to surpass the customary understanding. “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors … But I say to you…” What Jesus does is expand the law away from minimums and asks us to think in terms of maximums. Instead of thinking, what is the least I have to do in order to get God off my back we should think, what more can I do in order to live as a child of God. Think of lovers — they don’t imagine that giving one rose will suffice — they want to give dozens of roses to show their love. So with God, we want to do whatever we can so we can live more fully in God’s grace, peace, love.