Jesus’s Infectious Goodness

Daily Office Devotional, Wednesday, May 11, 2022

The week of the fourth Sunday of Easter

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

17 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 961)

AM Psalm 119:49-72; PM Psalm 49, [53]

Exod. 33:1-23; 1 Thess. 2:1-12; Matt. 5:17-20

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel, Matthew 5:17-20

17 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18For 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. 19Therefore, 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. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

David’s Reflections

There is an old Hasidic saying:

"God is not nice

God is not an uncle

God is an earthquake."*

Today’s Gospel communicates something of that feeling, especially in the last verse. We are told that our righteousness must exceed that of the most scrupulous in Judaism or else we have no chance of being admitted to the kingdom of heaven. What happened to “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”? I can hope for poor in spirit. But, this . . . . God IS an earthquake.

Jesus says in verse 17 that he came to fulfill the law and prophets (shorthand for the entire Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament). And, he expects us to take seriously his life and teachings, which live out, complete, and actually expand the moral and spiritual reach of the Old Testament. To live by Jesus’ teaching would to go beyond any expectation the scribes and Pharisees could find in the law and prophets. (As we shall see in the Gospel readings for the next several days.)

To whom are we accountable for our lives? To whom do we answer? I certainly respond negatively to the half-baked strictures of Bible-thumping believers, well intentioned though they may be. I don’t want to be told by them what my responsibilities are toward God and others.

Yet, some external guide, some external authority keeps us from establishing our own moral guidelines. You may have heard about the person who went around shooting holes in the sides of barns and then drawing bull’s eyes with those holes in the center. If we are left to our own designs, our reading of Holy Scripture and church traditions might not be the most emotionally honest and forthright. We might be continually painting bulls eye around our personal conduct.

Will we embrace the life and teaching of Jesus, taught, preached, and discussed in community as an adequate moral and spiritual guide for our lives? We might find ourselves called to account by a sermon, a remark, a conversation with a loving fellow believer, or a moment of reading and reflection. Our eyes might be opened to a place where evil has done its insidious work, to a place of personal inconsistency, to a place of relational failure.

In those moments, we hope we can remember that Jesus is not only an external moral and spiritual compass but also an internal loving presence. Then perhaps we will not find ourselves striving to imitate so much as seeking to discover and receive his transforming presence. He did come to fulfill. We can trust him to bring that fulfillment into our personal experience with transforming love and grace, to draw us persistently toward the full humanity he embodied and embodies even now in his heavenly existence.

Anglican preacher and poet, G. A. Studdert-Kennedy refers to:

. . .the thrilling discovery that, impossible as He was, this Person was alive,

alive and infectious; that though His goodness could not be taught or

learned, it could be caught, and could catch you; and though it still

remained beyond you, it could draw you towards it, and very slowly, and often

painfully, transform you into its own image. The Jesus order of goodness is

not only impossible and inevitable, it is also, thank God, infectious. +

*Cited by Leonard J. Sweet, "The Rainbow Church," in The Christian Ministry 17(March 1986): 5.

+G. A. Studdert Kennedy, I Believe: Sermons on the Apostles’ Creed (New York: George H. Doran, 1921), pp. 139-41.

Collect of the Day, Fourth Sunday of Easter

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 225)

A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)

Disturb Us, Lord

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess we have lost our thirst for the water of life.

Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery, where in losing sight of land we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hope, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen.

(Attributed to Sir Frances Drake upon departing to sail to the New World, 1577. Cited by The Right Rev. Clay Matthews, Clergy Retreat, Diocese of So. Virginia, 2004.)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP, 101)