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Sermon: The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 23rd October 2011
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping 8:30 am
Readings: Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-13; Matthew 22:34-46
We live in very strange times. World economies are in a mess. The most developed countries seem to lurch from recession to recession and no one seems to be offering any clear leadership. Yet in Australia the debate is completely different. The world looks at us and cannot believe what they see. No recession, almost full employment, low government debt and banks that are not only stable, but making very healthy profits while last year BHP’s profits broke all previous records. You would think it would be a dream run for any government in Canberra with this wall-to-wall good news.
Yet we have a minority government, a rare thing in Australia with both parties sharing almost identical policies, yet with any spirit of bi-partisanship virtually impossible because the biggest problem Australia faces today is choice. When your country is broke and your economy is moribund you have no choice. But Australia is wealthy, it is debt free, it is stable, with a mining boom that seems to go on beyond the horizon and the question we face is what kind of country do we want to be because we have the choice.
We can be anything we want to be. Should we have a carbon tax? We are free to choose. What should we do with asylum seekers? We are free to choose. Neither issue is a real threat to either our economy or our culture, and we have the luxury of being free to do whatever we like. When John Howard became Prime Minister, Labour thought it was the end of the world – but Australia prospered. When Rudd came to office the Liberals were devastated yet we are still doing well in spite of the Global Financial Crisis. We are a very privileged country and really the big challenge we face is to address the question of what sort of country do we want tobe? With all these options – what will we choose? What should we choose?
In Jesus day the Pharisees were in no doubt that Jesus was a significant teacher. So when Jesus entered into Jerusalem the Pharisees came to him, listened to him and then questioned him. Israel was under Roman occupation – the people of the promise, were suffering under a pagan authority. How should they respond to that? Under Roman rule what is Israel now? Under very different circumstances to us they were raising the question of nationhood. In their circumstances, what could Israel be now?
So we read in Matthew of a long debate between the Pharisees and Jesus over a range of different topics. At first they may seem unrelated to us, but for them, they are probing Jesus on key issues of their faith and Jesus seems to have a new perspective. He is saying things they hadn’t considered before. And so today we have the two issues of the commandments and questions about the Christ. The Jews had 631 commandments they believed they should follow. All were important to them, but they wanted Jesus to tell them which commandments were the greatest. His answer was “Love God, and love your neighbour.”
Now anyone would say that this was a good answer but it carried a greater significance for the Jews. Jesus had said some very radical things like endorsing Roman taxation. Anyone who tried to promote a new tax walks a fine line. But in discussing the commandments we come to the very centre of Judaism, and Jesus’ answer was the most orthodox response he could have given. By answering this way Jesus was identifying himself with the very centre of Jewish belief. There would be no Pharisee, no Sadducee who would disagree with this answer. Whatever else Jesus might say, he is making it clear that he is at the heart of Judaism.
But, of course, he is saying more than that. He is calling people back to the heart of the faith but he is also saying that we begin our life of faith at this point. As we discuss the question of what do we want to be, this is where we begin, loving God and loving our neighbour. This is where we begin as we discuss asylum seekers. Which is best, off-shore processing or on-shore processing. I believe both sides are motivated by a love for neighbour. so which approach will deliver the best result? Its hard to know. Of course there are a few who want a lawless response – let them all just come. There are a few who have a racist response – keep them all out.
But the majority are brave enough to tackle the harder question of what is the most loving response. What will promote the greater safety, what will do the least amount of harm? And how do we put the smugglers out of business. No doubt, a lot of politics is involved. That’s unavoidable. But at least, in this free country we can have this open debate about what will produce the best outcome. As well, it helps this country to mature, because it alerts us to the fact that there are no easy answers. No one’s clearly right or wrong.
On a related question, one night on TV, Tony Abbott admitted he didn’t have an answer to the particular question – it was a great moment of honesty. And the interviewer simply accepted that answer because it was so obvious that that was the best answer possible, and he respected that honesty – even though it was the ABC! When you probe our leaders it is clear they are attempting to do the best for our country and for those whose lives are at risk. Both sides of politics are attempting to achieve those results even though there are no clear answers – we really are a lucky country. Here we can see a central element of both Judaism and Christianity moulding our national development.
But then Jesus goes one step further. He then raises a question that for us may seem quite odd. He asked the Pharisees about the Christ. The Jews were looking forward to a new political leader, a new general who would give them their freedom. He would be a leader like their great King, David. They even believed that such a great leader had been promised to them by God. He would be their anointed King, and that’s what “Christ” means, it means “anointed one”.
But Jesus does something no one had done before. He asks about the details of this Christ. He is supposed to be a descendant of David, so he should give honour to David, yet David clearly calls him “Lord” in Psalm 110. So how can he be both less than and greater than David. And its clear the Pharisees don’t know the answer to the question. The point is that the Pharisees really know very little about the Christ. And this is Jesus role. He is the Christ and he has come to explain who the Christ is. And this is what Matthew is telling us, that there is more to life than just serving one another.
Of course, loving our neighbour is important but there is also another dimension to life, there is the Christ who has come into the world, who has become human to reveal to the world more of who God is. The two great commandments are to love God and love our neighbour, but the second command alone is not enough. Australia can be good in its care for others, in its welfare, in its health care. But there is more to life than that. Jesus has come as the Christ to reveal more of the nature of God to the world to help us understand better God’s plans for us as part of his creation and as a part of God’s re-creation of the world.
Not long after this Jesus will demonstrate his love for the world through his death on the cross and through his defeat of death seen in his resurrection, the first fruits of a new creation. So these closing chapters of Matthew show us both who we can be and our hope for the future. Both truths are necessary for the good life. Loving both God and our neighbour prepares us best to live this life as well as preparing us for the life of the future.