6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Cycle A 22-23
SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Sirach 15:15-20 | 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 | Matthew 5:17-37
Oh God, who teaches that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling place pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, amen.
You can probably separate people by one very different thing that they do, and that is whether they read the instructions that come with any new appliance or new thing that they buy. There are those like me who never read the instructions and just figure they’ll figure out how to do it, and maybe that’s a good image of most of us when it comes to scripture. Scripture is, in a way, an instruction book of how to live in this life, and what it’s promising is that this thing called life will work. It will function. It will produce what it’s intended to produce, and what it is intended to do is to continue to evolve the human race so that we grow more and more like our creator and that we become more and more conscious of who that is and who we are in him.
I love the opening prayer, because it would say, as an instruction manual might say, the heart of this whole machine that you’ve now got, the heart of what might go wrong, is the heart, so be sure that you make sure that the heart is running. And what it is clearly in the opening prayer is that God has intended to dwell within our hearts. Our hearts have the most amazing qualities. They can think. They can make decisions. They are not just simply pumps, and the Egyptians always cremated the heart along with the rest of the body, because they really believed that was the person, the heart. And so what we’re told is that it’s the dwelling place, the dwelling place of God, and so it needs to be fashioned in such a way that we welcome that presence of God into us. And it’s not just saying yes to it, but it’s understanding the role that this God has when he dwells within us. It’s about choice. It’s about choosing what you want in this world, how you want to live in this world. The most amazing clarity comes in this first reading when it says, “You have a choice. You can keep the commandments or not, but you need to choose, and you need to trust.” What that means is that the choice you make for the commandments is not that you want to give up your freedom, you want to be a servant, you don’t want to make any decisions on your own. No, it’s not that you’re going to use it as a crutch so that you don’t have to figure out who you are and what you’re here for. No, it’s a commandment to be in touch with, in union with, connected to this God dwelling in your heart. And then if you trust that he’s there and that he’s going to share with you wisdom ⎯ I love the image of you are set ⎯ something is set before you, fire and water, and that fire is the fire of transformation, the baptism of fire. Water is when you clean up the outside and make yourself look a little better. It’s the baptism of John versus the baptism of Jesus, but choose one. Choose to be transformed or choose to just be a nice person. And when you choose, have an intention, an strong intention, which is to stretch forth everything in you so that you can have this thing, and you’ll be engaged in something that is life-giving, not death-giving, good, not evil. And there’s a key to having this gift within you, and the key is wisdom ⎯ wisdom. You have to understand that there is something about the wisdom that you need to have in your heart if you’re going to allow God to come and freely dwell there, and you go there to find him and to listen to him. And it’s all about this wonderful process of opening your eyes to the wonders of his plan, being instructed in what that’s about and always having discernment to find whether you’re really in that place or not. Those are all gifts that come through that responsorial Psalm.
So let’s look at wisdom for a moment. The wisdom is something that only comes with living to those who are mature. It’s seldom that it’s given to a young, young person, and it’s a wisdom not of the way the world is working. It doesn’t mean the world is bad, but the way the world works is generally not the way that God intends it to. It tends to be somewhat self-centered. It’s people using other people for their benefit, whether they buy something or act in a certain way or whatever. It’s something radically different, and the only thing I think is cool about the way this reading from Paul talks about it is saying, “It’s just something that is not known by the culture, but what it is, it’s written in your heart. And when you see it and you hear it and when you allow it to enter there, you’re in touch with what God has prepared for you and how you want to live your life.” And it’s so beautifully clear. It’s about love over fear. It’s about somehow being there with the intention of enlightening and not using, a wanting someone to become everything they are meant to be and not to use that person.
Notice the gospel has two images. The law says don’t kill. Your heart says forgive. Forgive, don’t stay in anger. It doesn’t work. It causes problems. It creates a need for revenge. It creates a need for being the one who metes out justice. It’s dangerous, so be careful. If you go to your heart in anger, you’ll find forgiveness. If you are lustful for, whether it’s a sexual partner or whether it’s some possession you have, whether it’s a position or whatever, when you have that lust and you’re thinking about it all the time, “If I just had this, I’d be okay. If I just had that, I’d be much better.” What it’s really saying, when you’re unhappy with what you are, who you are or what you have, you’re already in trouble. You can’t want something intensely without going after it, and so what he’s inviting you to do, along with living in the heart, forgiveness in the heart, acceptance. Surrender to who you are and where you are right now, and then he closes with this most wonderful statement. “Don’t say it unless you mean it. Don’t promise it based on something that you’re going to be punished if you don’t keep the promise. Don’t do that. You don’t need to do that. What you need to do is to mean what you say. Say yes when you mean yes. Say no when you mean no, and it’s more healthy for you, or it’s healthier for you to be honest and say, ‘No, I’m not going to follow any of this. I’m going to do my own thing.’” And God will let you do that, not because he wants you to wallow in pain, but that he can use that to change you, to transform you, to make you more aware of what’s essential. The heart is a wonderful place. I love thinking about it as a room I can go to. I once imagined the room was red and had these wonderful white sofas and had a beautiful view. I could see the world as it really is. It was kind of cool, but all I know is it’s there, and God is there, and he has this intention. And that intention is just asking to connect, connect the wire of you to the wire of God. Fix it. It’s in the troubleshooting part of the manual I talked about. When you’re not feeling full and alive, you’re going through something dark, it’s a transition, not a place you’re going to be if you open your heart, open your mind, open your spirit to the presence of this loving, wise, transforming God who wants nothing more than for you to grow and evolve and change and bring your brothers and sisters with you. Amen.
Father, open our eyes so that we can see what your love is, experience it. Open our ears so that we can hear your wisdom and your voice guiding us. Enter into our heart and prepare us to be the ones you call us to be, lovers, givers, forgivers and a life force for the world. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.