EMBRACING THE LAW; ALL OF IT
Author: Fr. Michael Byron
February 16, 2020
Jesus knew a great deal about law—specifically and especially about the ancient Law of Moses, which governed every facet of Jewish life in his day. But Jesus would have made a lousy lawyer, especially as we 21st Century Americans understand that profession. Because we live in a culture in which laws and lawyers are generally in the business of preserving or restricting people’s rights…And rights have to do with visible behavior: “I have a right to carry a gun; I have a right to an abortion; I have a right to spread hate speech; I have a right to be treated fairly; I have a right to worship in any way I wish…”
But Jesus didn’t go around preaching primarily about who has a right to do what—including himself. Jesus didn’t despise the law—in fact in our gospel today he expressly says that: “I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” But Jesus didn’t buy in to the idea that law was or is fundamentally about clarifying rights. Instead he saw that laws exist for the purpose of fashioning excellent human beings and holy communities. And as he teaches today, that is a far more difficult and demanding thing to embrace, far more than merely staying within the confines of what is “legal.” He appeals not much at all to the idea of rights (without denying that) but rather he appeals to the challenge of Christian duty and responsibility for the common good.
Laws, as saw it, exist as a kind of lowest common denominator—a bare minimum set of rules. No you can’t kill people. No you can’t commit adultery. No you can’t get divorced for no good reason. No you can’t swear false oaths.
That’s all well and good, he tells us, but if we think that suffices for a life of virtue and discipleship, then we have not yet begun to understand what is being required of us in becoming his followers. We don’t yet grasp our lofty and sacred duty.
We don’t hear the question raised by lawyers in courtrooms today, “Sir or Ma’am, just what kind of human being are you dedicated to becoming? And what sort of social solidarity are you committed to creating—perhaps even at the expense of some of your rights?”
And that is why Jesus would make a lousy lawyer—he’s not even speaking the same language as the court. You can just hear an opposing attorney jumping up from his seat and shouting, “Objection! Relevance!” Holiness—in its’ broadest sense—is singularly and supremely relevant for our Lord. If we do not yet perceive that, then we need to hear this gospel again—and again.
Laws can be enforced, and verdicts of courts can be imposed by other people and by the state. But nobody is capable of requiring me or anybody else to be a person of reconciliation rather than of contempt for my enemies. That choice is fully and freely mine. And nobody can force me to be a person of purity of heart, rather than lustful. And nobody can force me to pursue relationships that are based on respect and solidarity rather than on selfishness. That’s completely up to me. And nobody will be able to sue me for being a habitual liar or relentlessly greedy. Laws have nothing to say about all that. But Jesus has quite a bit to teach about that. He’d be a lousy lawyer because he won’t diminish the demands of the gospel to merely external behaviors or enforcement of contracts, merely the preservation of rights. Our task is much nobler—it is to cultivate a heart of true justice, solidarity, peace and love, with the help of God’s grace.
And for that reason, our task is also much harder. But there is nothing to stop us from that great mission and responsibility. We are free to engage the call to transformation whenever we are ready.
But we also ought to be clear that virtue for us Christian’s isn’t just an option. It’s a duty. The wise man Sirach tells us in today’s 1st reading that our choices involve life and death, good and evil, and that these are not morally neutral options:
“The eyes of God are on those who fear him;
he understands every person’s deeds.
He commands no one to act unjustly,
and to none does he give license to sin.”
Our decisions are always completely free, but they are not without heavy consequences—not from the law, but from the Lord.
We live in an unusual time right now in our world, our country, our church, and our culture. Maybe hateful hearts, corruption, indifference to suffering, lying, racism, and intentional fracturing of solidarity have always been with us, but rarely so publically and unapologetically. The Law and the lawyers can do only so much to put a limit to that. Only the gospel and the life witness of Jesus can implore us to something far better and far more necessary. We don’t need more laws. We need more Holy Spirit. And our resolve to claim our free invitation to chose love.
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