A Matter of the Heart and Not Just Obedience

God gave us the ten commandments through Moses on Mount Sinai. Jesus gave us the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount.

In the longer version of the Gospel reading - Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them" – Meaning – Jesus brought the laws given to Moses to their intended goal, purpose, and complete expression… shifting the focus from just strict adherence to the laws -  to obeying the commandments with the right intention and attitude… for the very purpose they were given - with faith in God.

Matthew's Gospel was written primarily for Christians who were Jews who knew the commandments, but they knew them as their rabbis had taught them. Their rabbis, for the most part – were Pharisees, who unfortunately, put all the emphasis on the letter of the law and on its external observance.

So - Jesus taught his followers that their attitude towards obeying the commandments must be different, and must surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees… because merely fulfilling the law was not enough.  The attitude and lifestyle of a Christian must reflect living the law. That is why Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes… the attitudes we Christians must have. 

Instead of giving a list of do’s and don’ts like the Ten Commandments, Jesus gave a list of what we are called to be:

- To be Peacemakers, to be Merciful, to be Pure in Heart, to be Hungry for Righteousness.

- To be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World as we heard last Sunday.

Jesus taught his audience to understand that obedience is not the ultimate purpose of observing the law. You see, it is not in the action itself but it is in the motivation or intention behind the action - why we do what we do - where the person's true identity is found and formed.  People see our external actions but God sees our intentions. We can never deceive God who is able to look into our hearts and God knows what lies there in our hearts 

On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains that our external actions must be a reflection of what we really are like because if what we do is not a reflection of who we are, then we are hypocrites.  “Hypocrite” - that’s the word that Jesus used over and over again to describe the Pharisees.

To demonstrate his point, Jesus contrasted the written law of the Torah with the new Christian attitude.

Jesus said, "You have heard it said - that murder is wrong, but harboring hatred in your heart is also wrong even if you do not physically kill someone because murder is conceived by hatred in one’s heart.

The person who hates but does not murder is actually NOT a good person.  You might not be doing anything wrong but it does not mean you are good; it does not mean you have not sinned.

Instead of feeling proud or self-satisfied because we have not killed someone, let us examine our hearts to see the angers or resentments in our hearts we may have towards others.

Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Meaning - When you look at a person with lust in your heart; when you watch pornography – you turn the person into an object for your personal pleasure -  as somehow less than human… instead of seeing the person as a beloved daughter or son of God. 

It is not a sin to be tempted but to think and entertain evil thoughts is the same as actually committing the sinful act.

You may not have committed murder or adultery, but maybe, if you are honest with yourself – maybe -  if given the opportunity and if you think that you will not be caught, maybe you might have done it… because it is already in your heart… then, you are already a sinner.

From our first reading – Sirach reminds us that faith is not just about knowing God’s law, but about living it. Choosing.  God gives us a choice: choose God or reject God. If we reject God, we die. If we choose God, we live – plain and simple. Before man is this choice - life or death, . . . whichever he chooses shall be given him. (Sirach 15:17)

Free will. It is God’s greatest gift to us. Of course, our heavenly Father longs for us to choose life in him, but he will never force himself on us. We need to remember this:  God respects our choice. We are free to choose but we are not free from the consequences of our choices. Every choice has a consequence and so again, we are not free from the consequences of our choices.

So - How can our righteousness then exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees? The Good News is - We already have what the Pharisees did not have: By virtue of our baptism in Christ - We have the Spirit of Jesus dwelling in us. By our own merits and strength, admittedly - we cannot keep the commandments; but Jesus is with us; more importantly – Jesus is in us and so by the power of the Holy Spirit - we already have in us the strength and understanding and the power to live a whole new life of obedience to the Father. 

St. Paul was a Pharisee and a strict observer and follower of the law of Moses - as such - he believed he was working out his salvation by his careful observance of the law.

But - once St. Paul was converted, after encountering Christ, he began to realize that even perfect observance and even following every precept of the law did not lead to salvation because salvation actually comes from our personal relationship with Jesus and Jesus’ free gift of love.

The question is – How is your own personal relationship with Jesus? How real is Jesus in your life? … or is Jesus just a concept in your head?

This is very important - we do good works – we avoid doing evil as an expression of faith – rooted in our personal relationship with God - and not to earn or merit our salvation because – if you think about it - if we can earn our way to heaven by doing enough or so much good works, or by reciting long formulas of prayers, that would be trying to save ourselves through our own merits and efforts - meaning - if we can earn our own way to heaven by our own merits and efforts – then we do not need Jesus.

The truth is – Everything is by the grace of God - We cannot do anything enough, we cannot pray long enough to earn our way to heaven. We cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior… We need Jesus.

So – you might ask: What then – why do we even pray – what do we hope to gain by doing good works and avoiding violating the ten commandments?  For example - Why are you here in the church? You have to ask yourself - Why do you come to mass? Hopefully, your reason is more than just to fulfill an obligation – so to speak – and more than just out of fear of hell or out of fear of not going to heaven. We all need to get to the point in our spiritual life that we are beyond that reasoning.

Doing good works and avoiding evil - is how we say thank you to God.  We love God and we love others; we serve God and we serve others because that is how we respond to the fact that God loves us unconditionally. He loved us first.

As we enter into the Lenten Season this coming Ash Wednesday – Let us aim for purity of hearts – so that our intentions, our desires, whatever is within our hearts - is not contrary to the goodness, the integrity and the love of God.

We must move from the external actions into interior worship… a matter of the heart. Going through the motions alone – because it is a Catholic thing to do -  is pointless.

The question is:  Is it worth it to follow Jesus?  Admittedly, it is not easy. The answer is from our second reading today:  

What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him… meaning – beyond our imagination. 

In other words: Is it worth it to follow Jesus? Definitely… You can bet your life on it - beyond what we can ever imagine. My brothers and sisters in Christ - we are IN for a glorious surprise! 

God bless…