Friday of the First Week of Lent

Lectionary: 228

I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.'
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother....

 J esus hammers at our preconceptions about righteousness and morality with his repetition of the formula: "You have heard it said.... But I say to you...." 

We are to understand that he sets the standards of our morality, and they surpass whatever we might think is normal, good enough, or passable. Good enough will never satisfy the God who calls us to be holy as He is holy; for his generosity, patience, mercy, and courage are -- in a word -- infinite. And ours are not. 

I understand that metalsmiths in ancient Damascus discovered how to make steel from iron and their steel swords were legendary. (Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.) The smith poured iron into a sword-shaped mold and hammered it flat as it cooled. Then, while it was still malleable, folded in in half and hammered it again. And then folded that in half and hammered it again. Repeatedly. They had found that steel is stronger and holds its sharpness longer for being folded in half; and its strength increased exponentially -- a literal use of that word -- each time they folded it. 

A really valuable sword might have been folded and hammered repeatedly a hundred times; and in the hands of a skilled swordsman could shatter the swords, shield, helmet, and armor of any opponent. 

So Jesus, who intends to hammer us until we are the very image of the unimaginably Holy God, continually turns us back upon ourselves with encouragement and rebuke. No sooner do we think we are the very loveliness of God than we hear his rueful remark, "You are dust and to dust you shall return." 

And when we have absorbed that thought and recognized the guilt, shame, and enormity of our sins; and turned to his mercy again -- we hear the encouraging words of absolution:

God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the church may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, (+) and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The Lord's command that we surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees means we will never be comfortable with satisfactory; nor dissatisfied with disappointment. Surpassing is reconciliation with the process of God's merciful, diligent, and continual refinement. As the scriptures say, 

Malachi 3:3: The Lord is a refiner and purifier of silver 

Isaiah 48:10: God tests people in the furnace of affliction 

Job 23:10: People come forth as gold after being tested by God 

Psalm 66:10: God refines people like silver 

Zechariah 13:9: We shall be refined silver and tested gold