Gospel text for Sunday 19 February 2017

Matthew 5:38-48        Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 Reflection         Jesus is turning up the heat, inviting us to be honest, ethical and trustworthy -  as he is. Those words, honest, ethical and trustworthy, sound good but when we put them on they may itch, set us apart from the ways of the world. 

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” “The best defense is a good offense.” “Drastic times call for drastic measures.” “God helps those who help themselves.” Do we not appear inept, inadequate or just plain foolish in the eyes of the world when we choose instead to “Turn the other cheek?” “Refuse to mount a retaliatory attack?” “Put our trust in God rather than ourselves?”

Then we remember, like Jesus we are baptized. By our baptism we make a promise to God and God’s people, to “persevere in resisting evil,” to “proclaim by word and example the Good News” that God is with and for all people, to “love our neighbors as ourselves,” to “strive for justice and peace,” and “respect the dignity of every human being.” Essentially we are promising to be honest, ethical and trustworthy.

By our baptism we die to our ‘world defined’ selves and are born into our ‘God defined’ selves. When the priest anoints our forehead saying, “You are marked as Christ’s own forever,” she is saying, “you are distinguished, you are not like the rest of the world that proclaims, “The man who dies with the most toys wins,” “The only things you can count on are death and taxes.”

By our baptism and anointing we are born as people freed from the shackles of social, political and religious conditions that pit us against one another. By our baptism and anointing we are born as people freed to express our deepest truest self, our inherent goodness. By our baptism and anointing we are freed to love our neighbors, our enemies and those who persecute us. By our baptism and anointing we promise to be honest, ethical and trustworthy, with God's help. 

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Gospel text for Sunday 1 January 2017

Luke 2:15-21        When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Reflection        Two thousand years have passed since we stood in the temple and witnessed the kvatters take the child from Mary and bring him to the mohel who executes the Law of Leviticus 12.2  “On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” it is two thousand years since we heard the infant Jesus’ cries mixed with the mohel’s prayers, “Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning circumcision.”

Our Jewish sisters and brothers understand that the act of circumcision, marking the completion of the body, is a human act. It teaches that “our spiritual, emotional, moral and ethical perfection requires human effort. G‑d cannot do it for us.” ** During our lifetimes we enter many partnerships, most of which will come to a natural end or be broken. The ritual circumcision, is a symbol of partnership with God. Etched in the body’s flesh, it represents a partnership that will never end and never be forgotten. Humanity is meant to live in partnership with God cultivating our “spiritual, emotional, moral and ethical perfection” without end.

Jesus grew up understanding the ritual of circumcision and that his name was no accident; he was responsible for living in partnership with God. He was named, called Yeshua, to be the saving revelation of God. As we reflect on the life and ministry of Jesus we see what happens when we try to put words around the amazing partnership of humanity and divinity as expressed in and of and as Jesus.

God’s indelible partnership with us is one thing we cannot adequately identify or represent so instead we describe aspects of God with us as revealed in the life of Jesus; brightness of everlasting light, King of glory, prince of peace, pattern of patience, gentle and humble of heart, model of goodness, our refuge, eternal wisdom, teacher of apostles, courage of martyrs, crown of all saints…. there is no end to this litany. 

Here is the thing,  the revelation of God with us does not end with Jesus. It continues in and of and as each of us fulfill our lives in partnership with God. By our baptism we are children of God and as children of God we are sisters and brothers of Jesus, each named to live in and of and as the revelation of God’s saving presence with all of humanity. So, remember your baptism!

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**  http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1472861/jewish/The-Circumcision-Ceremony-in-a-Nutshell.html