"Creating a Community of Love, Justice, and Peace"

A Sermon by the Rev. Amelie M. Sell

Preached at Pleasantville UCC, February 13, 2011

   This winter, one of the scriptural focuses of our Epiphany season is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  The Sermon on the Mount is found in the Gospel of Matthew.  Since the time of the Protestant Reformation, Biblical scholars have believed that Matthew pieced together this sermon from several shorter sermons and statements attributed to Jesus by his earliest followers.  Matthew intended to capture in the Sermon on the Mount the main points of Jesus’ teachings and theology—somewhat like a condensed version of the essential teachings of Jesus.  Today, we read just a portion of this sermon.  This section reminds us to act with love towards our family members and our colleagues. Please hear these teachings of Jesus as found in Matthew 5:

[Jesus said:] "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.   "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one."

   In today’s reading, Jesus mentions laws from the Hebrew scripture and then provides an extreme application of those laws.  In his exaggerated words, Jesus gives a different option to his followers.  The Jewish society of the first century was an “honor-shame” society.  If a “man” was dishonored, he could avenge his honor by retaliation….if a man murdered another, his punishment was his own death.  If a man shamed another by committing adultery with another man’s wife, the punishment was also his own death.  Christians, instead of operating on principles of retaliation and revenge, have a new option—we must work to restore relationships with those we hurt and with the people who hurt us. In today’s text, Jesus uses vivid language to impress upon his hearers that if they cannot learn to deal with anger and jealousy, lust and dishonesty, they are not living according to the values of God’s realm.  Jesus shows us a new way of being human, of being peacemakers, of reconciling conflict, and of telling the truth.

   Jesus taught his followers to restore broken relationships and to care for each other with dignity and respect.  We can be distracted by the “rules” we find in the Bible.  We must remember… following the spirit of the rules is more important than following the letter of the law.  Jesus did not expect his followers to cut off their hands or gouge out their eyes when they made a mistake.  The purpose of our faith is not in being legalistic, but instead our faith is about learning to live lives of kindness and generosity.  So, we must work to make right our broken relationships.  We must work to not demean and objectify others.  We must work to be true to our words and speak with sincerity and honesty. 

   The words of the Sermon on the Mount give us inspiration to create religious communities built on foundations of honesty, fairness and love.  How we live out the teachings of Jesus is just as important as professing to believe in Jesus’ teachings.  Each day that I serve the people of Pleasantville church, I am impressed with how sincerely our members work on living out these teachings of Jesus in our interactions with each other.  We are working diligently to live in community with each other.  The impetus to build our new sanctuary came out of a strong desire for our congregation to be able to gather together in one place to worship. We have loved each other enough that we are willing to make difficult choices to be together.  Many years, committee meetings, money and sweat went into making our new sanctuary a reality.  I celebrate the risks we have taken to strengthen our relationships with each other.

   The members of Pleasantville are also committed to 170 years of our history as a church.  Now that our new sanctuary is complete, work is being done to make the older part of our building a more beautiful and welcoming space.  Our members have been working to restore our Chapel space to its former glory – in addition to a new wall in the back of the room, plans are underway to paint and insulate our Chapel so that it will be a useful and welcoming space for the next 170 years of its history. Our members care about the people who are sustained by our chapel service and who are most at home in this sanctuary.

   Being a follower of Christ is not easy.  It is not an easy thing to forgive or to admit we need to be forgiven.  It is not easy to remember to love each other and respect each other all the time.  It is not easy to always be honest in our words and our actions.  But, our God strengthens us to do the hard work it takes to create communities of love, justice and peace.  We can lean on each other and rely on our God to help us do the work it takes to make a new way of living possible.  May it be so.  Amen.