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From Black and White to Gray

Both of our Scripture passages concern commandments. First we hear God’s word to the Hebrews as they near the conclusion of their time in the wilderness and prepare to enter the promised land, led by Moses, perhaps 15 centuries before Jesus.

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

11Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today
is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12It is not in heaven,
that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?”
13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say,
“Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us,
and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?”
14No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. 15See, I have set before you today
life and prosperity, death and adversity.
16If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God
that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God,
walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees,
and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous,
and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
that you are entering to possess.
17But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray
to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today
that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land
that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today
that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
20loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him;
for that means life to you and length of days,
so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give
to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Our Gospel Reading is from The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s Gospel. This is the third week we have read from this very long speech by Jesus. In this section, Jesus addresses old commandments and gives them his own interpretation.

Matthew 5:21-24, 27-30, 33-35.
Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times,
‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry
with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment;
and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled
to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift….
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away;
it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell…
“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces
his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.…

”Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times,
‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made
to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven,
for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool,
or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Sermon

I am not sure if it means that I’m getting wiser or weaker, but the older I get…
the less absolute, hide-bound, dogmatic I am about many things.
As time and experience challenge my views and beliefs,
sometimes it is disconcerting, but its also enlivening in some ways,
because the change brings a kind of personal growth in thought, worldview, faith.

For ex., I used to have the opinions about people who are on food stamps or assistance… that they’re irresponsible, didn’t care about much, lazy.
But I’ve found this is largely not true, that there are lots of ppl who need food stamps who are hard-working, smart, caring…
& that there are wealthy ppl who are lazy, irresponsible, wasteful …
and lots of people in between.
What I’ve learned is = the biggest factor in wealth is opportunity & the situation into which you are born. So, I’ve changed my view….

I read a quote that explains somewhat, from former boxing great Mohammed Ali – “A man who thinks the same at 50 as he did at 20, has wasted 30 years.”
Another thing I am less and less absolute and literal about is the Bible.
As I try to live according to it and mainly the teachings of Jesus,
I see fewer hard and fast commands, and more and more subtleties and nuances which I have to interpret and apply with faith and honest intellect.

It’s easy, tempting, common to use a few select verses of scripture
to justify a position or principle.
The Bible has at times been a tool to justify oppression, intolerance, violence.

There is a useful phrase in Biblical studies, from German scholars,
which is sitz-im-leben, meaning essentially “life setting.”
Scholars remind us that to understand a Bible passage,
we need to look at the sitz-im-leben;
where & when & how it was written or said, who said it to whom,
and what the situation and original intent was.
Then we can begin to faithfully derive some meaning from it.

So, when we read a passage like the one from Deuteronomy,
it seems to offer such a simple, clear instruction –
“I have set before you this day life and death….
obey God’s commandments and choose life.”

This could be used as a kind of slogan or motto – “Obey God & choose life!”
We could even shorten it further to “Choose life!”
We could then apply these words to our own beliefs, values, even prejudices
about issues like capital punishment, assisted suicide/deaths,
abortion or birth control, or war, or refugees, or using human stem cells.

But, Biblically speaking, these words directly refer to none of those issues.
And although “Choose life,” sounds simple,
if you look at the sitz-im-leben, context it comes from,
then you learn how un-simple it really is.

In chapters 30 and 31 of Deuteronomy, the admonition to “choose life,”
is spoken by Moses to the Hebrews just as they are about to
cross the Jordan into the promised land,
where Moses will die and Joshua will take over and lead them.

Moses is telling them to follow all the laws and commandments…
… he has passed down to them so that they will be strong enough
to take possession of the land when God helps destroy those who live there.
(An aside- How many commandments are there in the OT / HS ? – 613. )
Deuteronomy 31:3 reads –
“…the Lord your God himself shall cross over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them.”

A short time later, when they’re planning their operation to seize-occupy the land, Joshua instructs his officers – “Whoever rebels against your orders & disobeys
your words, whatever your command, shall be put to death.” (Joshua 1:18).

So now what does “Choose life” mean?
It would seem that choosing life, in the sense it was spoken, does not mean to oppose war or capital punishment or other harsh behaviors that were sanctioned & approved in the settling of Palestine & the establishment of a culture & society.

So in the Old Testament/ Hebrew Scriptures, “Choose life” meant
they could invade and punish and execute, in the name of following God.
There was lots of other situations in which capitol punishment was permissible.
To “Choose life” had little nothing to do with the morality
of the death penalty, abortion, birth control.

Do you see how interpretation poses a problem?
And this doesn’t begin to touch on the rights of women and children, slavery,
or of how to treat the refugee, alien, widow and orphan, the LGBTQ person
How do we reconcile these kinds of dilemmas, paradoxes, and contradictions
which do come up frequently in the Bible.

We could just ignore them, & pick & choose whatever Bible verses,
taken out of context, support our agenda, our views,
and the prejudices with which we’ve grown up,
not allowing questions, and not allowing our own faith to grow up.

The Bible has been used at times to dominate, to oppress and do violence.
This occurs when interpreters insist on making the Bible agree with
their assumptions, rather than asking what Scripture is trying to convey.

But in time, questions do get asked,
and when we really listen to the experiences of other people,
our absolutes fall apart, and we can either shut our ears and eyes,
or embrace the reality = there’s more gray to the world & Word than black & white.

In the personal, spiritual move from black and white to gray,
I look to Jesus for help – to his teachings and to
my own conception of Jesus as a person, as the revealer of God, and as God.
Within a broad Christian understanding,
we must each come to our own concept of God, and how God operates…
and when I speak, I’m sharing my own.

And my understanding is something like this –
that God works grace in great mystery, in paradox and goodness,
and is revealed to us in by Jesus in Scripture and in Christ-encounters.
This may be a little more gray than some people would like.
But that’s ok- I’m sharing – I’m not delivering final answers.

So, I look to the Jesus I see in scripture and experience, for help.
In today’s passage from Matthew, we hear Jesus
commenting on some of the commandments –
which were instituted after the Exodus from Egypt, per Dt.

These few verses we heard, about murder and anger, adultery, false testimony,
are just part of a long series of comments Jesus made…
And this is all from the Sermon on the Mount, which, if you recall,
begins with soothing promises about being blessed – the blessed-ares –
words which are like big soft pillows to fall back on.
But here Jesus turns edgy, & his teachings on the commandments
are not at all simplistic.

Now, I’m not going to try and dissect each subject he touches on- take all day.
I just want to acknowledge
-it can be daunting to interpret passages like this,
-AND its ok to not have a clear understanding, Gray area is alright…

As I said, when looking at the Bible, it is helpful to look at context – sitz-im-leben,
to understand Jesus’ original intent.
For instance, the language, the culture, the world itself in Jesus’ day
was very different from the Canaanite and Hebrew world in which the commandments were first handed down over 1,000 years before.

There’s another thing we can do, especially when reading the NT,
to understand, or get a picture of the whole Jesus.
We can listen for what I call a core message.
The Greek word used by Paul in letters,
when he goes around speaking is “kerygma” – means proclamation or preaching.

So if you study the 4 Gospels & letters…
What is the core, the heart of Jesus’ message or proclamation.. the kerygma?

I don’t claim to have the last word, but for me,
at the heart of Christ who reveals God, I find that –
God is good, and life – all of life and creation – is good and precious to God,
and while we are individuals,
we exist in inescapable relationship to one another, to creation & God.

And Jesus taught that we are most alive when we relate in ways
which affirm and embrace life (or choose life) in a broad sense –
affirming our basic worth and dignity, our diversity, our experiences,
our frailty, our abilities and giftedness.
That’s a long way of saying “Love God and love your neighbor” –
Now, how to do that can take a lifetime of learning.

I believe that faith is more a process or journey of discovery and acceptance,
than a hardening of concrete absolutes.
And if we trust God, then the journey, the adventure is fascinating and life-long.
When we insist on old, simple, black and white answers, and close our eyes,
ears, minds and hearts, we miss seeing what is possible and true.

And as I find less about which I’m absolute, and black and white,
I find it’s OK that I’m still learning,
because Christ has more and more to teach me.

And so, for all the beautiful shades of gray in this precious life,
I say thank you Jesus, and thank you God. Amen.

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