In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Law of God is good and wise
And sets His will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
And dooms to death when we transgress.
How many times do parents hear that dreaded whine: “But Moooommmm!”, “But Daaaaad!” Why can't I have a cookie now? Oh, please... just this once? But Billy's mom lets him do it, so why can't I do it too? Children would often like their parents to relax the rules, just for a little bit, or just this once. And for the five-year-old screaming in the grocery store, many a parent has considered it, if not given in on account of embarrassment. I remember a children's book with a little boy who hated to take baths. Finally, his parents gave in and said that he did not have to take a bath anymore, which lasted for awhile, until a potato grew in the dirt caked in the boy's filthy hair. Then he begged to be bathed and cleaned up, and never protested bath time again.
And how often are we as adults guilty of wishing for a relaxing of the Law to make it more comfortable for us to follow. No matter what the speed limit on the roads, people will always drive five over. There will always be those who steal the stray grape from the produce display in the grocery store or the cookie from the cookie jar. There will always be those who fudge on their taxes. There will always be those who spread their manure the wrong way, according the the rules. There will always be those who consider it cheaper to be fined than comply with health codes. Making marijuana and prostitution legal will not make potheads and pimps good, upstanding members of society.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus warns against the temptation to relax the requirements of the Law. He says, “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” The Law of God is good and wise, and also irreduceably holy and perfect. God has spoken His Word to us, and what He has spoken, no one may alter or contravene. The Word of God remains forever, and the Law must be obeyed at all costs.
But there is always the temptation in the human heart to try to find some way around that. The teachers of the Law in Jesus' day were experts at this. The Old Testament declares 613 commands from God for His people. As if that were not enough, the teachers of the Law invented hundreds and thousands of laws and rules and prescriptions and guidelines to supplement and interpret and interpolate the Law of God. Now, from the outside, it would seem that the priests and scribes were making things more difficult for the average person, heaping up list after list of rules for daily living. There was a certain way to wash your hands. There was a certain way to harvest your fields. There was a certain way to slaughter your meat. There was a certain way to drink your wine. There was a certain way to do just about anything, or to avoid doing just about anything, as well. Don't want to support your elderly parents? Just declare your assets Corban, a gift to the Temple, and then you are freed from filial obligation.
However, when you consider more closely, all these volumes and volumes of added legal code were not designed to make the Law impossible, but rather just the opposite – the teachers of the Law were seeking to make the impossible possible! By adding layers of fencing around the Law of Moses, they were giving the people a system by which they could, by all appearances, follow the Law of God.
The problem, of course, is that we cannot follow the Law. Sinful from conception, the human heart is incapable of even hearing the Law, much less keeping it. The Law of God is good and wise, but it serves chiefly to expose our sins, because it holds up a shining, perfect mirror that exposes our failures and highlights our imperfections. By seeking to make the Law doable, the teachers of the Law were actually digging themselves in deeper and deeper holes. There is no way we sinful mortals can keep the Law of God – the sin of Adam removed that possibility from us.
But this is such a tempting message for sinful ears to hear. Why do people convert to Islam, with all its rules and strict codes and prescriptions and proscriptions? Because it is a system that looks doable. There is an answer for everything. There is a place for everything, and everything in its place. The same goes for Judaism today – a way to make it on your own. Just follow the rules, and if you mess up, do the prescribed fix-it action. Even Hinduism and Buddhism hold the same attraction – teach a man to fish, and let him do it himself. We sinful men and women crave this sort of message because it does not require us to confess our absolute spiritual bankruptcy and ineptitude. This sort of legalistic message makes us feel better because we need not feel dependent on anyone to help us along. If we screw up, we must take responsibility for it, but we get the pat on the back for doing things right when we get to the end of the road. And of course, there is the optimism that goes along with this notion, that in the end everything will sort itself out if you just wish and try hard enough. Whether you are a gay Jewish hippy or a fundamentalist abusive Muslim or a sit-on-your-head pacifist Buddhist, or even a run-of-the-mill American post-modernist, the universe will sort it out in the end. So just believe whatever you believe, as long as you believe it sincerely.
Do not believe this nonsense the devil shovels at you. There is indeed such a thing a right and wrong. The Law of God is good and wise, and is unchangeable and unrelenting. Your sins will not go away simply from you wishing hard enough. Your whining will not get God to chill out or relax, not even the dot on a single “i”. And neither should He. If the Law of God relaxed even for a split second, we could crash into the sun, or freeze solid, or simply lose our hold on gravity and go flying off into space. We like the Laws that keep us alive. But we don't get to pick and choose which laws we follow. And because we have broken the First Commandment, we have broken them all. We have failed to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.
But there is One who has done what is impossible for us. The perfect, sinless Son of God came to earth and took on human flesh and blood and became man for us. Jesus Christ bore all our sins and sorrows for us. He endured all temptations common to mankind, yet was without sin. He alone fulfilled the Law of God perfectly and completely. He feared, loved, and trusted in God above all things, even to the point of death, even death on a cross. The Holy One of Israel was made to be sin for us, that our sin might be taken away and nailed to the cross. That foolishness in the eyes of the world, that weakness and folly, is the greatest wisdom in the eyes of faith. Faith looks to Christ, and death passes over. The risen Christ proclaims freedom from sin, the fulfillment of the Law for us, and restoration between God and man. The Holy One of Israel is become the Lamb of God, who once was slain but now is raised to the glory of the Father, and who reigns for us as our own final, perfect sacrifice for sin.
Today, we are called to be salt of the earth and light of the world. To abide a relaxed Law is to cook with saltless salt or to put a lamp under a basket. Just as a relaxed Law is a trick and a useless item, so saltless salt does no one any good. You cannot preserve foods with salt that has lost its saltiness, nor can you flavor your food. Bread is impossible to make without salt. Meat tastes like a wad of protein without salt. Our bodies cannot operate without salt. Likewise, our world cannot operate without the full Word of God. The Law of God keeps this train on its tracks. The Law of God makes the sun rise in the east and spring come after winter. The wondrous Gospel of Jesus Christ makes us awaken each day with hope and joy in our hearts. The blessings of God protect and sustain us along life's way. And so, we are flavored and preserved with the salt of the Word of God.
Because we are the people of God, salted with His Holy Word, we shine with His all-consuming light. The love of God poured out for us in Jesus Christ has been poured into us the by power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. The light of God lives within you and shines through you. You are the light of the world, because you reflect the true Light of the World, the light no darkness can overcome. Into your heart the light has shined, and through your eyes and hands and mouth the light shines into this world. You live out the Word of God in your daily life as you do the things to which God has called you. You are the light of the world as you love your spouse unreservedly. You are the light of the world as you love and guide your children in the truth. You are the light of the world as you follow the God-pleasing laws of the land. You are the light of the world as you pray for those who seek to prevent the will of God. You are the light of the world as you proclaim the truth of God's Word. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Give us lips to sing Thy glory,
Tongues Thy mercy to proclaim,
Throats that shout the hope that fills us,
Mouths to speak Thy holy name.
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the light which Thou dost send
Fill our songs with alleluias,
Alleluias without end!
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
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