But I Say to You…

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ and sorry I could not travel both/ and be one traveler, long I stood/and peered down one as far as I could/ until it bent in the undergrowth.” (Robert Frost) Scriptures to be read during the upcoming weekend are all about alternatives–each hearer is urged to examine the possibilities, and ultimately choose The System’s way or God’s way. Usually these are difficult: God helps us, but it often demands a life-style change…

Moses addresses his People on the edge of the Promised Land: they’ve spent 40 years crossing the desert in order to become a nation under God, and now at last they’re ready to cross the Jordan. DEUTERONOMY 30:15-20–“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, [or] death and adversity….Choose life so that you and your descendants may live.” Some of those folks were like little kids, chomping at the bit to be FREE! Moses tried to tell them and us that there’re still responsibilities to God WHEREVER they/we are. As independent people, we often boast of our Freedom of Choice; well, yes, but there are consequences to our actions. We’ve chosen Death when we settle for that which is inferior. But God wants us to choose actions and thoughts which lead to Life.

Irenaeus is reported to have said, “The Church has been planted in the world as a paradise.” It’s sometimes difficult to see the Church as a Perfect Place, where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are all sunny all day. Yet Paul reminds the CORINTHIANS (I 3:1-9) that only GOD is in charge, that he and Apollos are but gardeners: one plants, another waters, but only God gives the growth. These congregations and ours need to see issues of justice and exploitation resolved. Care for the hurting, share food with the hungry. Love kindness and walk with God.

The Sermon on the Mount continues in MATTHEW 5:21-37. There are seven instances where Jesus says, “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” Unless we live on Flyspeck Island, we’re pretty familiar with how the system works. But here, Jesus demands that we do even MORE than required: to excell, and not to just get by. More (difficult) alternatives! We’re told to get right with our brother or sister, to excise those items which would keep us from the Kingdom; to stay committed to others, and to tell the truth without outside references. The Good News is that God is willing and eager to help us do this! The passage exhorts Jesus’ followers then and now to celebrate those others in the world, and to keep open the lines of communication,

Life is full of choices. We often relate to Tevye, in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF:…”but on the OTHER hand…” In all of the flux, we have a God that saves us from ourselves. “And that,” says Frost, “makes all the difference.”

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

Please join us every Tuesday to be examined by the Scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend–at horacebrownking.com