Lectionary 230. Feb.23. Perfection

230.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 230.Feb.23.  Deuteronomy 26:16-19. Psalm 119: 1-2.4-5.7-8. Matthew 5:43-48.

Deuteronomy is all about God’s covenantal love and fidelity to Israel.  We, too, are included in this covenant through our faith in Jesus who taught us the meaning of Deuteronomy and also has given us his Sermon on the Mount which leads us through these early days of Lent.  We are inspired to fulfill our part in the covenant by responding to the laws, precepts, commandments, and statutes of the Lord. Jesus lived them to the fullest and handed them on to us in his own words in the Sermon on the Mount.  We listen to God speaking through Moses saying,” Today you are making this agreement with the Lord, he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments, and decrees, and to hearken to his voice.”

Psalm 119 is a remarkable alphabetical psalm about the covenantal terms of agreement between God and us. It consists of stanzas that begin with each letter of the alphabet, then with each verse the same letter is carried through at the beginning of the verse—a perfect alphabetical psalm of 24 letters. Some of our Bibles contain the Hebrew letter at the front of each stanza.  It is the greatest of the psalms that helps us to learn and praise God’s wisdom in giving us the laws of love in the covenant made with Moses and his people, Israel.

Jesus continues the theme of love in his Sermon on the Mount by telling us how generous and far-reaching our love should be in loving our neighbor, our enemies, and our friends in a new and deeper way.  He even calls us to perfection in this final verse of today’s reading: “In a word, you must be perfect as y our heavenly Father is perfect (telios).” (Matthew 5:48).  Luke takes the word perfect and changes it into compassion (hesed, rachamim). And Moses in Deuteronomy tells us we must be holy even as God is holy!  In our modern idiom we may interpret this as living the life of God fully, holistically, while being transparent and true to the image and likeness of God in which we were created.  Amen.

230.doc

Scripture: Lectionary 230.Feb.23.  Deuteronomy 26:16-19. Psalm 119: 1-2.4-5.7-8. Matthew 5:43-48.

Deuteronomy is all about God’s covenantal love and fidelity to Israel.  We, too, are included in this covenant through our faith in Jesus who taught us the meaning of Deuteronomy and also has given us his Sermon on the Mount which leads us through these early days of Lent.  We are inspired to fulfill our part in the covenant by responding to the laws, precepts, commandments, and statutes of the Lord. Jesus lived them to the fullest and handed them on to us in his own words in the Sermon on the Mount.  We listen to God speaking through Moses saying,” Today you are making this agreement with the Lord, he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments, and decrees, and to hearken to his voice.”

Psalm 119 is a remarkable alphabetical psalm about the covenantal terms of agreement between God and us. It consists of stanzas that begin with each letter of the alphabet, then with each verse the same letter is carried through at the beginning of the verse—a perfect alphabetical psalm of 24 letters. Some of our Bibles contain the Hebrew letter at the front of each stanza.  It is the greatest of the psalms that helps us to learn and praise God’s wisdom in giving us the laws of love in the covenant made with Moses and his people, Israel.

Jesus continues the theme of love in his Sermon on the Mount by telling us how generous and far-reaching our love should be in loving our neighbor, our enemies, and our friends in a new and deeper way.  He even calls us to perfection in this final verse of today’s reading: “In a word, you must be perfect as y our heavenly Father is perfect (telios).” (Matthew 5:48).  Luke takes the word perfect and changes it into compassion (hesed, rachamim). And Moses in Deuteronomy tells us we must be holy even as God is holy!  In our modern idiom we may interpret this as living the life of God fully, holistically, while being transparent and true to the image and likeness of God in which we were created.  Amen.