Jeremy Abbott did not win a medal for his skating in the men’s
competition. He didn’t come close,
actually. But he will be remembered by
all who watched him perform for being a true Olympian skater. Early in his routine during the short
program, he fell so hard it caused a mild earthquake in the Black Sea. He laid there against the wall of the rink,
motionless, for what seemed like an eternity.
Then he rose, a little disoriented, and began to skate. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, which
energized him to finish his routine with great strength. The focus after this routine was not on what
he didn’t do – win a medal – it was on who he was: a great athlete who finished
what he came to do.
When Jesus hit the scene in the first century, he gain renown for many
things – his teaching was inspired, his miracles were empowered, and his company
was ordinary. During one of his most
famous teachings, he took some liberties with his handling of sacred text. For the most part, when a rabbi or Jewish
scholar would give an interpretation of the ancient Jewish law, they would
quote someone from the past to strengthen their position. What right would they have to give insight to
a new audience?
When Jesus spoke about the law, however, he did so with personal
authority and conviction, which would have raised eyebrows and focused
attention on what he was saying. What he
said was profound because it drove right to the heart of Jewish thinking
regarding ethics. He moved the dialogue
beyond simple do’s and don’ts to examining our interior life and innermost
motivations.
At the time of his ministry, a lot of focus was given to living to the
letter of the law. The Sadducees – the dominant
group that held leadership in Jesus’ day, was invested living righteous
lives. And they were quick to alert
anyone who wasn’t. Their attention to
detail clearly defined where the line was separating sin from non-sin. But their efforts left a lot to be desired,
and a lot of people judged unjustly.
This is why Jesus got in trouble for healing on the Sabbath, and for his
disciples picking a few heads of grain on the Sabbath as well – the line
regarding working on the Sabbath had been drawn, and he crossed it. Same reason why he got in trouble for keeping
company with tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans, and lepers – he couldn’t
help but cross the line. Not because he
was rebelling against the law, but because he understood the heart of the law
differently than his contemporaries.
Jesus was after the Spirit of the law – the heart of what God is all
about – more than the letter of the law.
A grave mistake, then, would be to interpret Jesus’ teaching in Matthew
5:21-37 as being even more narrow than his already hyper-conservative
contemporaries. At first glance, a
reader might conclude that if you have ever been angry, called someone an
idiot, cursed someone, held a grudge against someone, sued someone, had lustful
thoughts, done anything devious with your hands, divorced your spouse, or made
a vow, you just might find yourself burning in hell. Isn’t that good news?
While this interpretation has been used to get people in line out of
fear of God’s wrath, I think it completely misses the point Jesus was trying to
make. He wasn’t trying to raise the bar,
he was redirecting the focus of our morality, of the ethics involved in
following Jesus. Defining sin is a
secondary concern for a Jesus follower.
Our primary interest is in growing in our relationship with God. Instead of debating if Chardonnay is any more
or less sinful than Cabernet, we should be asking ourselves how our
relationship with God or with others is impacted by our life choices.
If you are looking for a list of do’s and don’ts to make sure you are
on God’s good side so that one day God will let you into heaven, I am sure you
will find churches to support you in your effort to do so. We can always find people to gather with and
determine who is wrong while we – who are right – pass judgment on them. If all you want is a simple contract with God
to give you eternal security, you’ve got it.
You can certainly make a case with scripture to do just that.
But if that’s your goal, you have stopped following Jesus. Because Jesus is one who continually pursues
God at every stage of life, and invites the Spirit of God to examine,
enlighten, and inspire every corner of our lives. God is about redemptive relationships with
those who want it. God’s Spirit
constantly flows toward shalom, salvation, saving those who are lost.
Maybe that’s why our rebellious, radical Jesus said that the way to
fulfill the law isn’t in trying to define it to the nth degree, but to rather
spend our time loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Maybe it’s this insight that led Augustine to
say such a bold thing as this: Love God, and do as you please.
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