Hollowell & Guilsborough,  3[rd] Sunday before Lent: 16[th] February 2014
"Now, O Lord, take my lips and speak through them;
Take our minds and think through them;
Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you and our neighbours. 

The Book of Common Prayer is not was widely read as it was in times past: but,  personally speaking,  I  feel comfortable with its expression of eternal truths set out in beautiful language -  and its admonishments  :     Dangers of repetition without thought.     
  " There never was anything by the wit of man so well devised or so sure established which in the continuance of time hath not been corrupted"   is that opening sentence of one of its prefaces.  New forms of worship valuable in helping us to think. 
But what caught my attention this past week I as I leafed through it was the Canticle                      " Benedicite Omnia Opera "  - that starts with the words     O,  All Ye works of the Lord , bless ye the Lord, praise Him and magnify him for ever  "  
And it goes on in a repetitive recitation of all the elements of God's creation : O Ye Heavens, O Ye Sun and Moon, O ye Winter and Summer. O Ye whales  etc  etc urging them to bless the Lord.  And I was enjoying the re-reading of this rather forgotten  song/ poem until I came across  the verse " O ye seas and floods bless ye the Lord, praise him and magnify him, for ever"  .  
In the light of what has been  happening in the West Country and along the River Thames recently ,  it was not quite what we want to express these days especially.   I note, too,  that Common Worship and other modern versions of the Benedicite omit the Seas & Flood bit.   A side effect of climate change?  So I explained it to myself, with the more comforting thought that the writer perhaps had in mind the annual flooding to the Nile Delta, and other rivers whose waters nurture life around the world .  
Then I picked up the newspaper......
I am enjoy reading  the letters columns and from time to time have had one of my own missives to an editor published   -   not  pulsating with indignation from " Disgusted of Creaton "  -  but usually on some slightly frivolous subject like Japanese  attitudes nudity,  or on the origins of Codds Wallop.    And  its fun to see what, if any, reaction they provoke.  What is it that moves people to contact the Editor.  Pedantry, vanity, arrogance, a sincere desire to make a point to the readers, perhaps to influence someone in the Government or simply to show off.    
So I was interested   this week to read two letters in the Daily Telegraph about the Floods that are afflicting us at present.  Some of you may have seen them: but if so I hope you will agree they are worth a second reading.     [ read the letters ]  
The first of those letters has a ring of pious indignation about it, a rather  fundamentalist message  one might call it, about crime and divine  punishment,  which the second letter rather undermines it  with the writer's tongue  -  at least as I read it and hope   -  firmly in her cheek. 
There is a serious point here.   It has been instructive to read and hear the reactions to the misfortunes brought about by the bad weather .   To a large extent they are predictable:  there is the divine punishment school ,  the global warming school ( there may, of course, be some kind of links there to divine punishment) ,  the incompetence or negligence by Government and its agencies school ;  then there is resentment of arrogant and unfeeling  leaders who blame those choose to live on flood plains;  there is  misleading statistical analysis  [ January usually a quite dry month, 48 wetter Octobers in the last 250 years]   ;  Then there are representatives of the media who exaggerate the problem,  whip up indignation and fail to put our plight into perspective when compared to catastrophes in other  countries.  
 In short the sound of grinding axes and political point scoring is deafening.  That's human nature :  and it requires a huge effort of will to rise above it.   But it is heartening to see what does happen pretty regularly :   helping neighbours out and community spirit.    .As that doctor put it the Dunkirk Spirit without the War.  
Which brings us to our reading from St. Matthew's Gospel.  It's not an easy one to interpret.  My purpose,  against the background of what has been happening in this country recently,  is to provoke thought,  rather than give an authoritative interpretation.     
 The reading is part of  Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.   In the first part of  Matthew  Chapter 5  he gives us the Beatitudes and refers to all those famous  virtues and attributes  that make us blessed.  And the Chapter goes on to use some vivid, in part complimentary,  language:    " Ye are the salt of the earth" and  " Ye are the light of the world"  ;   "let your light so shine before men" etc etc . 
And we feel quite good about that. 
Then comes the difficult bit.  Jesus presents his audience with a stiff challenge.  It's dead easy to agree that we should not commit murder ( who wants to go to Gartree for 20 years or so?  ) :  but it's harder to agree that anyone who is angry with his brother or sister is also guilty of the equivalent of  murder.   
If your brother has a grievance reconcile yourself to him.  If you meet an enemy make it up with him.    The same goes with committing adultery.  Don't do it : and  even looking at a woman is tantamount to committing adultery.   As for the bad bits,  tear out your right eye if it causes you to sin, and the same with your right hand.    And if you don't make it up with your enemy, you could end up in gaol. 
Perhaps one of the most radical aspects of what Jesus said about the Mosaic law here is his extension of it to feelings inside us.  Not only behaviours, but attitudes and emotions fall within its scope.   This was not new to Jewish thinking. Throughout Hebrew Scriptures, the law is to be taken to heart and not just outwardly observed.   
But here Jesus links outward acts to internal orientation,  from murder to anger, from adultery to lust.   It is one thing to behave right. That's not too difficult.   It is another thing entirely for one's heart to  change and be oriented toward love.  It is far easier to keep the commandment against murder than it is to avoid resentment . 
But Jesus puts forward a more radical idea,  one already hinted at in the list of beatitudes that I mentioned.  The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the pure in heart, the meek --all of these are blessed not because they are keeping a Mosaic law, but because of the inward orientation of their  hearts.   The kingdom of God is more than just following rules on tablets of stone, it requires and empowers a life surrender to God's will,  and one dedicated to our neighbours. 
We can pat ourselves on the back for not committing murder at the same time as we attack someone's reputation through our words--we even call it "stabbing someone in the back." 
The notion that we must be reconciled with anyone who has something against us before we can give our gifts to God, is a difficult one to handle.  Resentment, alienation, and estrangement from others,  can prevent us from even giving our gifts to God, however much we would like to do that.  
Again, we can pat ourselves on the back for not committing adultery, and yet create relationships with people at work, on the sports field , or even the internet, rather than our own  spouses.   Jesus, then,  is linking behaviour we must avoid ( murder, adultery, anger )  to particular internal feelings that  we need to cultivate.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Very hard.  
Last week's theatre with Eileen Akins playing Ellen Terry.  
An epiphany. Portia's speech to Shylock in the court.  
" The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
Ellen Terry described this speech as a " Kinsman to the Lord's Prayer" 
So Jesus is telling us to bury our resentments.  Be reconciled with our brother or with other people who, we feel have sinned against us.  Get rid of the feelings of resentment ( the eye or the right hand that offends)  or the right hand.  God forgives us : and teaches us how to " render the deeds of mercy".    
That's  a Thought for the Day









 



