From the Daily Office for Wednesday in the third week of Lent, in the time of the Coronavirus pandemic:
Matthew 5:17–19
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
The above passage is from Matthew’s account of Jesus’ so-called ‘sermon on the mount.’ It’s really not a sermon per se, more like a lecture… an excerpt from Jesus’ teaching mission in Galilee. The particular gist of Jesus’ teaching is that his ministry and teaching are nothing new. This is centuries before the church fathers deemed Jesus God’s very own flesh and blood. I’ve always imagined that Jesus would have been stunned by the theological speculations about his life , his iconic apotheosis in the third and fourth centuries. Jesus is merely teaching in the Rabbinic tradition, the art of Torah, the law given to the wandering Israelites in the wilds of Sinai; Laws by which the people of Israel could live together justly, with dignity, and mutual care and well-being. Jesus is reminding his hearers of their vocation, in short. That as followers of the way of Torah, the way of God, they are to be about fulfilling the Law, acting on it for the good of the whole. And Jesus will later say that the entire Law of Moses is summed up is one simple phrase: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Despite the fear and disorientation of our present situation, we have a stunning opportunity as latter day followers of the Way to be about ‘fulfillment’. Our keeping social distance, our making sacrifices for the health of our neighbors, and our willingness to forbear inconvenience in deference to their care, and for our attending to the viability of our healthcare system…. all of these things exponentially affect the fulfillment of God’s law… which is the very vocation of the church.
This is nothing new, but a renewed sense of the profound privilege of serving our God by loving our neighbor. Take courage, and stay the course of sacrificial love, which is the very process of God’s accomplishing God’s purposes… and, who knows, you may be called great in the kingdom of heaven!
A Prayer In Time of Great Sickness and Mortality (from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer)
O most mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succor. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
