Sermon on the Sixth Sunday
of Epiphany 2020
Sirach 15:15-20; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew
5:21-37
St. Richard’s Episcopal, Winter Park, FL
In our
lesson from Sirach this morning we are told that “If you choose, you can
keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.”
Today’s lessons are all about how we live out our lives of faith. They raise
ancient questions of how much of our moral and ethical behavior is our own
initiative and how much of it requires the power of the divine.
In our
Baptismal Covenant, we Episcopalians are asked to respond to a series of
questions about our lives of faith every time there is a baptism. We are asked
if we will “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ,
seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves,
striving for peace and justice and honoring the dignity of every living being.”
And we respond to each of those questions with the words “I will with God’s
help.” What is clear from our liturgy is that our initiative must
come first but we can never do any of this alone. We always need the help of
the Holy One.
But
what does the example of the Good News in Christ look like? What does loving
our neighbors as ourselves mean? What if we have trouble loving ourselves, much
less anyone else? How do we recognize what is just and how do we create a peace
that is grounded in right relations, not the mere absence of conflict? In our
lives together, how often does our sense of entitlement to comfort mean that
dissent is stifled in the name of a superficial civility, the hard questions
unaddressed, the elephant left to roam around the back of the room?
We
all want the answers to those questions. And, being the well-trained consumers
that we are, entitled to instant gratification, we want them simple, black and
white and we want them right now. Truth be told, I wish I had such answers to
give you this morning. But I don’t. And I don’t think anyone else does either.
The
Journey of Spiritual and Ethical Development
Much
of my graduate work was spent studying ethical and moral development. As a
result I have come to believe that finding answers of how to follow the Way of
Jesus is a journey, a process of ongoing development we all must engage, a journey
at which each of us may find ourselves at different points along the way, a series
of lessons in which we often learn more from our mistakes than from our
successes.
St.
Paul points toward that understanding in today’s epistle. He says,
Brothers and sisters, I
could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh,
as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not
ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of
the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you
not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?
What St. Paul is acknowledging here
is the journey, that process of moral, ethical and spiritual development to
which the Way of Jesus calls us.
Developmental
theorists from Lawrence Kohlberg to James Fowler to Ken Wilber all speak of
varying stages of development, stops along the way if you will, at which all
human beings find themselves. To illustrate this process of development, I will
rely on a visual aid this morning. If you will look to the space above our
altar, you will see a modernist vision of a crucifix. It is red in the middle
with blue arms stretching horizontally from the center and multi-colored arms
extending above and below the center. Bear this in mind as I lay out the stages
of spiritual development.
In the red center of the crucifix is
the place where everyone begins their journey of spiritual development. It is
the egocentric heart of every human being that develops naturally in childhood.
Here, the question of the right thing to do is determined by self-interest. At
the earliest stages of moral reasoning the question sounds like this: “What
must I do to keep from being punished?” reflecting the power differential
between the child and the adult in control of them. We hear that question in
our criminal law: Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time. We also
hear that understanding in some expressions of religion: Either turn or burn.
An entire industry of Chick tracts with their four spiritual laws reflects this
initial stage of spiritual development.
The second stage is also egocentric
asking the question “What’s in it for me?” We often hear this question
in consumerist advertising: Your life will only be complete if you buy our
beer, our clothes, our cars. We also hear it in the manipulative aspects of
our religious tradition: Buy into this set of ideas and you win a free trip
to heaven.
If this thinking sounds somewhat
childish, it is. But, most human beings
begin to grow out of childish ways of understanding the world as they enter
their teenage years and there a whole different set of considerations become
paramount.
Horizontal Arms: Looking to Others
Looking
again to the cross, moving from the red center of our crucifix to the blue arms
on either side, as we leave behind the egocentrism of our childhood, human
beings begin to look to others for guidance from others. This is called the
conventional stage of moral and spiritual development. The initial stage comes
in our teen years. What our friends think about us becomes paramount. The worst
thing a teenage kid can be is uncool, i.e., different. We hear that in our
concerns for our reputation: “What will people say if I do this?” And
few organizations manifest the pressures to conform to group think with its
tribal values of “us and them” more intensely than religious bodies.
As we
grow into our adulthood, the conventional values of our society become more
important to us. At the next stage of moral and spiritual development the
judgment we defer to expands beyond the confines of our local tribe. The
classic example is the role of the law in determining our behaviors. Most of us
feel it is important to follow the law sometimes even when we know the laws are
not morally sound. But when laws are broken, we are confronted with the
question, “What if everyone did that?”
The religious expression of
conventional reasoning is found in the concern for orthodoxy. For many people
of faith, being in agreement with what some call “the received tradition” is
important. We look for affirmation from those who hold the same ideologies we
do. And those who don’t find those understandings compelling are often subject
to being called names like heretic, pagan, blasphemer and Pelagians.
What is striking about all
conventional thinking is the implicit and often unrecognized need for
affirmation. Looking again to our crucifix, we tend to look to either side,
horizontally, looking for someone to say to us, “You’re right! You have
permission to believe and act as you do” And for most of us, that’s where
our moral, ethical and spiritual development ends.
But
not for all.
Vertical Arms: Looking Within, Beyond
Vertical Arms: Looking Within, Beyond
Theologian
Paul Tillich, the same fellow who told us that G-d is the ground of all being, reminds
us that the cross of Jesus has vertical dimensions as well as horizontal and that
the vertical dimensions of the cross are generally ignored in our focus on the
horizontal. Looking again at our crucifix, the lower arm of the cross reflects
the need to go deep within ourselves and consider who we are and how our
thoughts, words and deeds reflect our very character. The upper dimensions of
the cross point toward the world outside of us and how our thoughts, words and
deeds impact that world. More importantly, that upper dimension reminds us that
we belong to a reality that is much larger than ourselves and our daily lives.
In today’s Gospel Jesus is calling his
listeners to exactly such considerations: “You have heard that it was said
to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall
be liable to judgment.’” Our egocentric considerations tell us that we
should not kill someone because we might ourselves be killed if we do – what
must I do to keep from being punished? Our conventional considerations tell
us that people may think poorly of us if we harm other people and the law
prohibits such behaviors. Who wants to be condemned as a criminal?
Jesus is also calling us to ascend the upper arm
of the cross, to consider how our attitudes, words and behaviors impact the
world around us. Why would we believe that the mere replication of the killing
of the human being who has murdered another would somehow result in justice? Justice
means doing the right thing in the face of wrongdoing. Mahatma Gandhi
recognized this years ago when he observed that an eye for an eye only rendered
the entire world blind.
 |
| Crucifix, St. Leo Abbey, OSB, St. Leo, FL |
O God, the strength
of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because
in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your
grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and
deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. [Collect, Epiphany VI]
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Harry Scott Coverston
Orlando,
Florida
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined
belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding. Most things
worth considering do not come in sound bites.
For what does G-d require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your G-d? (Micah 6:8, Hebrew Scriptures)
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world's grief. Do justly,
now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the
work, but neither are you free to abandon it. - Rabbi Rami
Shapiro, Wisdom of the Jewish Sages (1993)
©
Harry Coverston, 2020
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