| It is an age old question but it
is as important and relevant today as the first time it was posed. "Who
is my neighbor and what is involved in loving him or her?" Although
we are only reading verses 10-20 from Matthew 15 we need to deal
with verses 1-28 to understand the ramifications of this part of
Matthew.
The religious leaders in Jerusalem had heard about Jesus. Now
some of them have come to Galilee for a first-hand look. It is
an understatement to say they didn't like much of what
they heard and saw. For strict Jews circumcision, keeping the
Sabbath and observing dietary laws were absolutely essential.
Jesus appeared not to do either of the latter two.
We have a hard time understanding this in our society today
where we joke that dying and paying taxes are the only two things
we have to do, and many find ways to avoid paying taxes. God's
Law then and now consists of the Ten Commandments and doing unto
others what you would like them to do to you. Within the Ten
Commandments loving God and loving neighbor are the two essential
requirements. In John 13:34, Jesus further says we are to love
each other the way He loves us. In Mark 12:29, Jesus responds
in the following way when He was asked which commandment is the
most important. "The first is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord
our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with all your strength. The second is this; you shall love
your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater
than these."
There is just one small problem with this. We humans have to
interpret what these few sentences mean. In addition to the Torah or
books of law the early religious leaders of the Jews added at
two different periods additional directions in what have come
to be known as the Mishnah and the Talmud. Together
these volumes of law are about three times larger than our entire
present-day Bible.
Whenever a religious authority decided what it meant to love
God in a particular circumstance it became law. Of course with
all of these laws there had to be those who interpreted and enforced
them. Enter the Scribes and Pharisees!
Jesus and His disciples did not follow their laws or so it seemed
to them. Working on the Sabbath, spending time with sinners and
breaking many of the dietary laws were chief offenses. Now the
Pharisees were upset the disciples of Jesus did not wash their
hands before they ate. If their concern had been the same as
that of loving mothers, namely physical cleanliness, Jesus no
doubt would have understood. This, however, had nothing to do
with germs and the like. It was in violation of some man-made
law that was a misinterpretation of some other law.
Now we come to today's part of the larger passage and
to the core of the matter. Matthew 15:11 states, "It is
not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is
what comes out of the mouth that defiles." The Pharisees
did not understand this but neither did the Jewish disciples
of Jesus. So in verse 18 Jesus explains. "What comes out
of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles."
Today the purists would say the mind controls what comes out
of one's mouth but the heart is still seen by many to be
the center of emotions and passions that drive each of us.
Most of us are familiar with phrases such as:
- "She has a good heart" which means the person
is honest, kind and caring.
- "Follow your heart" which means you need to
trust your emotions.
- "Trust your mind not your heart" which means
we are to do what we know is right in spite of wanting to act
upon our feelings.
What Jesus seems to be saying to the Pharisees and His disciples
is that there is a foundational spirit to the law which they
are not understanding nor accepting. We see some of the same
thing going on in our own nation today as we argue the church/state
relationship intended by our founding fathers. We see this in
both church and state courts on issues like abortion, gay rights,
stem-cell research and euthanasia.
In Hosea 6:6, the prophet says, "Mercy is more important
to God than sacrifice." This does not say there is no place
for sacrifice whatsoever. It does say that sacrifice is less
important than mercy. The problem stems from knowing the extremes
or limits of both in a given situation knowing they could be
different at another time.
This is part of what makes being a Presbyterian both challenging
and difficult. Each of us has to decide in each situation. However,
we are not to do this in a vacuum but rather within the word
of God. The problem with this is that we do not agree on how
to interpret the Word of God and today we even argue if the Word
of God is really the true Word of God. In some instances both
sides of an issue use the same identical passage to argue their
particular position.
Who gets to decide? Jesus claims to be God so that gives Him
authority. The Pharisees and Scribes felt they also had authority
to determine what was right. So have many other individuals and
groups throughout the centuries of human existence. In some instances
it is the one who has the most power who decides what is right
even though they are often wrong according to others.
One can easily see why the Pharisees were upset with Jesus.
In one sentence He eradicates Kosher Law and eliminates blocks
of Scripture, most notably the Book of Leviticus. Today what
some of us consider to be social injustice and violation of human
rights are believed by others to be a necessary part of a free
enterprise system of democratic government. People on both sides
of this argument believe they are right. Who decides?
The Law of God is not the only thing that is confusing. Consider
the Internal Revenue Service code. I am also told that Medicare
will soon have a new system with several classifications and
guidelines the average person will not be able to interpret nor
will teams of legal consultants be able to agree.
How, then, are we to know what is right? The apostle Paul says
to, "be transformed by the renewal of your mind." (Romans
12:2) Does transforming our mind also transform our heart? Even
if two different people love God with all their heart, mind,
soul and strength there is still a 50-50 chance they will disagree
about what this means. We need only look at what is happening
in our own denomination.
What, then, are we to do? How about not saying of doing anything
to hurt someone else as long as they are not hurting us or anyone
else? What if you think they are hurting themselves? Does loving
them dictate interfering? How do we know?
It seems to me that Jesus is telling us that treating others
lovingly and fairly is more important than what we eat or how
we eat it. While the Sabbath is meant for rest which we need
and for worship which God desires, doing good for others on the
Sabbath does not violate its intent. In the end it seems it depends
upon where our hearts and minds are centered.
Is it about God? Is it about others? Or, is it mainly about
us? How we answer has a great deal to do with the condition of
our heart, where it is centered and what it causes us to say
and do. For this reason alone our heart needs to be centered
in what is truly God and not in what we are comfortable making
God to be. |
