Reflection - The Law

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090421.cfm
Colossians 1:21-23
Luke 6:1-5

Leaving Judaism is like leaving an abusive relationship.

I’ve tried to leave countless times over the past few years. It’s weird, because according to my Pharisee friends, I’ve already left. To them, being a Jew is all about outward expressions. Did I go to synagogue? Did I follow the purification rules? Did I keep the Sabbath? Did I do Jewish things? But to me, Judaism is a belief system — in particular, one that pursues justice and the restoration of humanity to God. The thing is, it’s been ingrained in the very fiber of my identity for decades. The roots run deep.

Claiming that Judaism is akin to an abuser is incendiary — but where is the lie?

The origin of this text was a woman I never heard of writing in a publication that I never heard of. But she was writing about leaving her Christian community and her Christian Faith. I changed the reference because her article reminded me of the obsessive concern of the Pharisees with observing the rules, such as we hear in the current Gospel text.

A bit later in the article the author says: “the more I deviated from what the mainstream understanding of Christianity was, the more I was actually Christian.” How that is supposedly true is not explained. Moreover, she says this as one who finds Christian beliefs constrictive while her own beliefs (which she claims are more Christian) offer freedom. She then suggests that the reader take a quick look at the beliefs Christianity supposedly espouses. These are slightly edited, but the editing does not change the meaning.

1) You are a born sinner (rotten from the very beginning).
2) No one else can love you as much as God does — and you’ll never find someone who loves you as much as God.
3) God died for you (because you suck).
4) God will give you a new life if you leave everything and follow him.
5) God tells you to look to Him for everything.
6) Give God control over every aspect of your life.
7) Love no one more than God — God is the first and only.

Not my summary, but an interesting list. The tell comes in the next few lines.

Can you imagine some person requiring you to feel this way about them? If my child dated someone — if my child was friends with someone like this — I would tell them to run away. Run far and run fast!

Her statement is revealing. It presumes that you can compare your relationship with God to a relationship with another person, as if both are on the same plane. That doesn’t work with the God of Christianity. Nevertheless, the implication is that these seven listed beliefs are, along with others, at the root of the command to follow certain rules and do Christiany things. (And just a brief aside — neither doing Christiany things nor following certain rules makes one a Christian.)

Jesus seldom mentions sin except for the sin of leading others astray. That’s hardly a surprise considering that the principal teaching on sin — that of the Pharisees — was that you could avoid sin by rigidly following the Law of Moses. Jesus did warn of the dangers of pride and hypocrisy as well as the dangers of certain other practices. Usually, however, his teaching was to go further than the mosaic law demanded as in “Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” But most of all he talked about the Kingdom he had come to bring.

Paul started off as a Pharisee and some might contend that he was just as rigid after his conversion as he had been before. But consider how Paul refers to those to whom he writes. They are God’s beloved, new men (and women) with new life, they are a new creation, Children of the light, sons and daughters of God. To Paul, being a sinner does not mean ‘rotten to the core’ but ‘ being separated from God’ — a situation now overcome by the Son of God Himself. Reflect on the following passage from Paul which might properly be referred to as the marks of the true Christian.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.
Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
No, " if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head."
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21)

But, while these may be the marks of a true Christian, even following this advice from Paul does not make one a Christian. Besides, it does seem like Paul is continually engaged in a morality lecture. Even in those instances, however, it is clear that Paul is attempting to clarify what is and what is not compatible with this newly established relationship with God.

Leaving an environment of strict rules is like leaving an abusive relationship; but if leaving Christianity meant leaving an environment of strict rules then one is not living in a Christian environment and leaving might be justified. After all, the rules are not my faith; the Law is not my God. Nevertheless, Jesus did caution us.

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

All of this becomes quite confusing when we pursue an answer to the question: What word most readily comes to mind when you think of Christianity, particularly the Catholic version of Christianity? “Rules” or some variant of that word! It may not be the first response, but I would bet it would be among the top five, even among Catholics. Somehow, in practice, little seems to have changed since the day of the Pharisees. Yet, everything has changed.

Being Christian means our lives are different than they otherwise would be. It means that we believe that “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) It means we believe that the Father has set aside our sin as far as the east is from the west. It means that we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It means that we are now a new creation, Children of the light, sons and daughters of God — and all these wondrous descriptions fit us because we are united to his only Son, Jesus, the Christ. All else is a consequence of these few truths.

John tells us that God is Love; that there is an equivalency between the two.

The Law will not lead us to Love. It didn’t for the Jews of old; it won’t for us today. Our hearts should break from sadness at the very thought that our faith is seen as a practice of rules — either by others or ourselves. It is equally disturbing that someone might see themselves as better Christians because they discard the rules.“In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.” (I John 4:10) We love because he first loved us, not the other way around. It is our response of love for him that brings us to the Law; because, through the law we can more readily know what separates us from him.