“Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.
“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7:1-14, 24-29 (NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator; Christ, our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, our Sustainer. Amen.
It happened when I was in fifth grade. We got a new student in class. A new girl, named Audrey. Now, in most schools that’s probably not a very big deal. But, in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else, like my hometown, this didn’t happen very often.
Audrey and I disliked each other from the start. Has that ever happened to you? Whether it’s a personality thing or whatever it is, we rubbed each the wrong way from the very beginning. To make matters worse, not only did we have to spend the entire school day in the same room with each other, but, we also rode the same bus to and from school each day.
Our dislike for each other escalated throughout the first two weeks of school, reaching a climax one day in the girls’ bathroom, which was located right beside our fifth grade classroom. Audrey and I got into a shouting match over something. (I have no memory of how it started.) We grew more and more angry with each other, until, at one point, Audrey reached up her hand and slapped me across the face.
I was completely stunned. But, that didn’t stop me from reacting. I reached up my hand, then, and slapped her across the face. By this point, our teacher, Mrs. Daczewitz, had heard the shouts coming from the bathroom and she rushed in.
Now, Mrs. Daczewitz was a very experienced teacher. By the time I reached her classroom, she had taught in our elementary school for well over 35 years. She knew that she could punish us for our behavior, which was pretty inexcusable. But, I think, she knew that punishment wouldn’t necessarily solve the conflict between Audrey and I. So, as a consequence for our poor behavior, she mandated that, for a week beginning with the time Audrey and I got on the bus in the morning to the time we got off the bus in the afternoon, we had to spend every moment with each other. Every. Single. Moment.
You see, Mrs. Daczewitz was not only an experienced teacher, but she was also very wise. She knew that most often the things we dislike in others are the things we dislike about ourselves. So, when we meet someone who has the same qualities that we dislike in ourselves, it’s like looking in a mirror. And we don’t like it.
This week’s lesson from Matthew, chapter 7, is the last of our three lessons from the famous teaching of Jesus we call the "Sermon on the Mount." If you recall, we spent the first week talking about what God’s reign looks like. About who are the priority in God’s kingdom. And about how this reign is completely reversed from the world’s priority.
Then, last week, we talked about relationships. That God’s reign is built on relationships and, first, that it begins with our relationship with God. A relationship that is constructed on spiritual disciplines, with the most important one being that of prayer. Of talking with God. Of seeking God out. In our own, often simple words. And of listening for God.
This week, we continue that theme of relationship. Of how important relationship is in God’s reign. Particularly, today, our relationship with others. You see, God’s kingdom is made up of both vertical and horizontal relationship. Vertical - meaning our back and forth relationship with God. And horizontal. Meaning our back and forth relationship with others.
In the first part of today’s reading, the focus is on our own self-deception. We deceive ourselves by believing that we are better than others. It’s the same kind of self-deception Audrey and I were engaged with in our own little spat.
In the opening words of the reading, Jesus says, “Do not judge.” Warren Carter, a New Testament professor at Brite Divinity School has studied and written extensively on Matthew. He suggests that this common translation is neither accurate, nor helpful. Because, as he writes, we have to make judgments every day in our lives. We would be in trouble if we did not make judgment or discernment about various people, situations, and actions. So, when Jesus says, “Do not judge” - this is an impossible ethic for us. In addition, in previous chapters, Jesus himself has judged things: synagogue practices, Gentile prayer, and lives that are focused on material goods.
Carter suggests that a better translation is to use the word “condemn.” That, instead of the phrase being translated as “do not judge,” it is better translated, “do not go on condemning to hell.” It is meant to address various situations that involve other people - situations in which we have a tendency to write off others as beyond redemption. As outside of God’s grace. As people who should be confined to hell. People with whom we are in conflict. Or intolerant of because of differences, or prejudice, or disgust, or anger, and the like. Jesus’ command in this first verse forbids the arrogance of denying someone mercy. Particularly, of declaring that someone is beyond God’s mercy.
It’s easy to deceive ourselves about others with whom we are in conflict. To think we need to pluck out the splinter in someone else’s eye, when, as our text says, we have a log in our own.
"Do unto others as we would have others do unto you," our text tells us. "Love your neighbor as yourself," Jesus will say later on in Matthew. The Golden Rule. How much do we hear this espoused in today’s world? So much that it has become an ethic to live by that is completely disconnected from its context here in the Word. Because, this Rule provides a vision of discipleship that is shaped by God’s grace in commissioning Jesus to show and to be the example of God’s saving presence. This Golden Rule cannot be disconnected from the life of Jesus. And from Jesus’ death. It is a rule that was initiated with God’s movement downward. To us. And for us. Freeing us from the guilt and shame of our sin and failure. Thereby, freeing us to love without abandon our neighbor as our self.
And then we come to pigs. You’re probably wondering what’s going on today with me and pigs. It started with this Valentine gram that came in the mail from ELCA World Hunger. “Hogs ‘n kisses.” More on that later. After this, then, it seemed that every time I turned around, I was being bombarded by pigs. Today’s reading talks about swine. This past Tuesday was the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Yep, you guessed it. It’s the Year of the Pig. Pigs all over the place. And, then, I got to the last verses of our text. The comparison of the wise builder and the foolish builder. The wise builder who builds his or her house on rock. Compared to the foolish builder, who builds on sand. So, of course, what should come to mind, but the story of “The Three Little Pigs!”
I have to admit, I had to look it up. Because, it’s been a long time since I read it. Can you help me tell the story?
It’s a story about three little pigs who decide to seek their fortune and build their houses. The first little pig built his house of...straw. The second built his house of...sticks. The third pig decided to build his house of...bricks, because he wanted to make sure his was a very strong house. When all three were finished, they were very happy.
Then, along came the wolf. He went to the first house - the one made of straw - and he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down. Then, he went to the second house - the one made of sticks. And, again, he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down. The wolf went to the third house - the one made of bricks. And he huffed and he puffed. And he huffed and he puffed. And he huffed and he puffed. But, he could not blow the third house down.
The moral of the story? Be like the third pig. Ground your lives in the kingdom of God, the great reversal, that is here and now, and eternal. Ground your lives in Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, that you may have lives of deep relationship with God. And with others. But, mostly, ground your lives in God, who is our very Rock and our Salvation, and upon whom our lives of faith should be built. Amen.
Preached February 10, 2019, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Epiphany 5.
Readings: Matthew 7:1-14, 24-29, Psalm 37:16-18.
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