Schooled

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15A)

Matthew 15.10-28

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Schooled. A term that is, at the same time, a blurring of proper English and slang. In proper English usage, schooled means to teach, train, or discipline someone. As a slang term, it takes on a slightly more biting connotation, meaning to defeat, or outsmart someone. Subtle differences, shades of gray, depending on intent. As we look at the Gospels, we see that Jesus is a master at schooling people, particularly his opponents. How many times does he go up against the scribes and the Pharisees, seeking to trap him on some liturgical or theological point, only to have Jesus turn the tables and school them in their own laws; resulting in them walking away, scratching their heads, and muttering, “what just happened?”

 

That’s what’s happening in the first half of today’s Gospel reading. In both the proper English usage and in the slang. Jesus is preaching to a crowd, attempting to explain his understanding of what it means to truly live a faithful, righteous life, in moral terms as opposed to the religious authorities’ focus on dietary laws as a means to ritual purity. “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” Effectively saying, “it’s not what you eat that makes you pure and righteous, but what you say and do.” Schooling the crowd in the proper English sense of the term, while subtly schooling the scribes and Pharisees in the slang sense of the term. The unwritten subtext being that the religious authorities are focusing on the wrong thing when it comes to righteous and faithful living. They are focusing on the letter of the law instead of the intent. To the point that they are obsessed with what foods are considered clean vs unclean, as opposed to focusing on moral teachings that are the foundation of truly faithful and righteous living according to God’s laws. Or put in more generalized terms, that purity and religious faithfulness are not about the blind worship of tradition—“we’ve always done it that way”—but about seeking to understand more fully God’s purposes and to strive to live accordingly. This is what true faithfulness and righteousness are about.

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Weathering Storms

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14A)

Matthew 14.22-33

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

I don’t know about you, but today’s Gospel lesson could be an analogy for my life. Not the entirety of life, but definitely certain moments. Those stormy moments when it feels like progress is inhibited as if by howling winds, when it feels like being battered by angry waves. Those moments when, despite our determination, we find ourselves suddenly swallowed up in the chaos swirling around us. Yet, at the same time, the Gospel also provides a model for how to weather such storms.

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Feeding of the Five Thousand Plus

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 13A)

Matthew 14.13-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Hopefully, we all know that the Bible contains four Gospels. Each written by a different author. Each written to a different audience. As a result, while each Gospel contains substantially the same story of the life and ministry, the death and resurrection, of Jesus Christ; while each contains many of the same basic stories about Jesus, each nonetheless contains and focuses on slightly different details. All that said, today’s miracle, commonly referred to as the “Feeding of the Five Thousand,” is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. Which says something about the importance of this single miracle.

 

The version we have today is in Matthew’s Gospel. In his Gospel, Matthew is writing primarily to a Jewish audience, essentially making the case that Jesus is the new Moses sent to liberate God’s people. With that as a lens, what does the feeding of the five thousand, as Matthew reports it, have to say to the crowd that was Jesus’ original audience? What does I have to say to the Jewish audience Matthew was writing to—Jews who were recent converts to Christianity or who were considering converting? And what does it have to say to the Church that eventually came into being, both the early Church and the Church we have inherited?

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