Dear Christian brothers and sisters,
This week’s Gospel reading is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1 – 8:1), and it’s helpful to think of it as revealing a spiritual blueprint for the world.
“You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye,” “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” etc. All this seems to make sense on a worldly level. But Jesus makes it clear that there are deeper laws at work in this world: “If anyone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other to him as well,” “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:39, 44).
Jesus not only said these things, He lived them all the way to the cross, and He summarized them this way: “Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
In other words, don’t judge things by the world’s blueprint. You are made in God’s image and union with God is your goal. So look to heaven’s blueprint and act according to its deeper laws. It won’t be easy. But it wasn’t made to be easy, it was made to be beautiful.
This week’s Bible reading also teaches us about planting moral and spiritual seeds.
Ahab and Jezebel conspire to kill Naboth in order to take his vineyard. But their immoral acts sow seeds that bear fruit to their own downfall. The prophet Elijah points out Israel’s sins, which bring persecution in this world. But his loyalty to God sows seeds that bear fruit in his being lifted up to heaven in a chariot of fire. Athaliah kills all the heirs to the throne to gain power. But her rebellion sows seeds that bear fruit to her own downfall. (In fact, it is biblical humor and irony when she cries out “rebellion!” “Yes, it is the full flowering of the seed you sowed.”) Finally, Jesus tells us: “For if you forgive others, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive you” (Matthew 6:14-15). We plant a seed and God allows it to ripen.
I want to draw a cautionary tale from these points about blueprints and seeds.
When America was founded, we planted the seeds of slavery as well as freedom. Both grew and bore fruit; one to our benefit, the other to our great suffering. Looking back, we know we could and should have done better in drawing up a blueprint for our nation. This week (June 22), as we celebrate our third annual Ma’afa at the Old Cathedral, we commemorate our failures and vow to do better.
This year in Missouri, we are asked whether to plant the seed of abortion in our state constitution. I say this: If we do, we will be planting in the foundational soil of our state the seed of the right to kill a child. That seed will ripen and undermine our ability to respect the dignity of every human being who needs our help. Looking back at our history, and facing this vote, I see the same lesson: we can and should plant a better seed.
