7th Sunday Year A
7th Sunday Year A
I wonder – outside of our weekend services – how often we think about the Old Testament? I wonder how even more seldom we may think about the Laws of the Jewish people as written in the Old Testament? I think it is fair to say that these subjects are not that high on our agendas: not that high on our list of interests at all.
And yet we have spent the last few weeks here at mass doing just that. We have spent the time listening to one Old Testament prophet or another talking about different items of that Law and then Jesus challenging and or clarifying what those Laws really mean or should mean to his disciples.
At the end of the day - the Law is the Law - same as it is today: you may not like it, you may even agree with Oliver Twist’s Mr Bumble that, “The Law is an ass” – but it is as it was – for him, for us, for everyone – the Law.
Similarly so with the disciples and with the Jewish people. They were given clear – although brief –laws on how to behave with each other and with foreigners – none-Jews. These laws may have seemed brutal and savage at times but they had been designed to keep the peace within the Israeli nation. An eye for an eye may sound savage – but it did in fact limit the amount of revenge that could be exacted.
But it had left the Jewish people with an almost ‘black-and-white’ choice of – “Follow the letter of the law and be saved – or not”. So you did not kill your neighbour but you could hate and despise them. You did not commit adultery but you could choose to lust and leer. You could stay within the letter of the law but choose to live a life that made it a mockery. A “good” Jew was one that followed the letter of the Law and had to do no more than that.
Today’s readings are about challenge. They are about the need for us to challenge the words and language of the Law and the need for us to seek deeper understanding of those words so that we can live them out fully and completely in our lives.
Isaiah gives us some fairly simple and straight forward instructions but precedes them with one that it is simple to overlook and yet takes everything else to completely new and higher levels. “Be holy, for I the Lord, am holy.” The Lord is saying, “Be like me,” for if we are like him then we will do so much more above and beyond the following statements and instructions. We will not hate; we will be open; we will not be vengeful and we will love our neighbour as ourselves. But – But – we will do so much more than that – because He wants us to be like him.
It is about challenging what is written and seeing how we can build our lives into great examples of God’s love for mankind.
Our Gospel helps us with this. Jesus gives us some further clarification on what it is to be God-like. “Not hating” is not enough. Loving others as your neighbours – as in fact your fellow Israelites – is not enough: loving others means everyone else in God’s great humanity – Yes – even those who may hate us!
Jesus did not challenge the written Law: he challenged how people chose to live it in their everyday lives, this “living by the letter” but not by the meaning.
Jesus challenged the “Do as you would be done by” approach to life. This is a path chosen by even the least of those around us. It demands nothing beyond the lazy and the ordinary. If we choose to live our lives as a response to what others actually or may possibly do to us - then we are not living as the chosen people of God. We are simply walking, talking echoes or mirrors of other peoples’ life choices.
It is for us to choose to live our lives in our true nature and our true nature is as sons and daughters of God – who is love. Our true nature is love and it is for us to show this love of God in our everyday lives and dealings with each other.
Our example is Jesus Christ, our saviour, who lived and loved all he came into contact with; who showed his God-nature in his dealings with all nationalities; all ranks; all roles and positions. He gave his own simple law to his disciples – Love one another as I have loved you – unconditionally, freely, immediately, without charge or favour. Look to provide invitation and welcome, inclusion and participation, acceptance, tolerance and love. He took the previous limiting idea of ‘neighbour; that meant in reality only other Jews and expanded it to cover and include the whole of humanity: everyone is your neighbour.
Challenges and Choices. We need to challenge our understanding of our scriptures and our laws so that we can then make informed choices about how to act, on how or whether to change our lives. God has given us the ability to explore, to investigate and to challenge to achieve fullest understanding.
He has also given us the ability to choose what to do with our improved and enhanced understanding: we can act or we can do nothing. But – if our desire and our drive are to be more like Him – then we will change.
Greater and fuller understanding is nothing unless we choose to put it into action: unless we change our life-practices and make them different. We must change our living to show every day and in every way that we are full of God’s love and that we make this available to everyone we come into contact with. We must aim to be perfect just as our heavenly father is perfect.
Challenge – Choose – Change. These are the three messages from today’s readings. We need to take each of them and apply them daily to our understanding of God’s law and to the living of God’s love.
We can choose not to challenge, not to explore and not to investigate. We can choose not to change and to remain stagnant and stale and unprepared for when the floods and the rains come. Or – or – we can accept the challenge and choose to change. We can build our protections against storms, against winds and floods; we can make barriers to sin stronger; we can change from a passive acceptance and passenger to a proactive champion of God’s law and God’s love here on earth.
Let us pray for God’s guidance in our explorations; his wisdom in our challenges and choices and his strength, fortitude, love and support in the changes we make.
Bidding Prayers
1. That we might challenge every unfairness and inequality that we come across and seek to apply God’s love to all situations. Lord in your mercy
2. That we choose wisely to become more like Jesus in how we treat each other, seeking out those on the margins and offering them practical help. Lord in your mercy
3. That we change ourselves to become more like our Lord, showing love to all and being open to receive their love and friendship when offered. Lord in your mercy
4. That all those who are unemployed are given every opportunity to find work that sustains them and their families. Lord in your mercy
5. That the sick of our parish receive the help and support they need. Lord in your mercy
6. That those who have died recently enter into eternal peace with the Lord. Lord in your mercy
7. That Mary our Mother join her prayers with ours as we now say together - Hail Mary, full of grace . . .