“Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5: 23-24)
It isn’t news to anyone that COVID-19 has burrowed into the consciousness of our society, bringing out the best and worst in people. I was taught early in life that a healthy society is founded on agreeing to exercise one’s freedom in such a way that no harm is brought to another member of society. Our freedom extends broadly, but it ends when one person can cause another harm or put them in a position where they are less safe than before. I wear a mask in public to guard against harming you in case there is something wrong with me, not necessarily to protect me from you.
On top of the stress of combating the pandemic through forced stay-at-home and social distancing rules and directives, we now have another situation where members of a police force have caused the death of a black man while in their custody. In a lot of cities across the nation what started out as peaceful protests and marches have unfortunately led to more deaths, violence, and looting. Law enforcement officers have at times reacted to protect with compassion and solidarity, but also to control and enforce order with gasses and clubs.
As I reflected on the Gospel for today (Matthew 5:20-26) my mind kept turning to these competing social situations. There are news stories of religious leaders who have expressed a variety of opinions and words of guidance to their congregations on both the pandemic and the latest racial violence. One pastor famously insisted that “God’s rule” transcended public authority in this area and that his congregation would meet in violation of social distancing rules; he contracted COVID-19 and died of the disease. Some religious leaders have expressed more support for law and order than for the racial intolerance that results in the deaths of innocent men and women.
As He so many times does, Jesus reminds us to not be like the scribes and Pharisees. He refuses to exalt process and false piety above real compassion and empathy. For Jesus, following ritual while one’s heart is troubled by strained human relationships is hypocrisy. He admonishes His followers to fix their human problems before they attempt to meaningfully interact with the divine.
I think Jesus is telling us to give up our fear of the unknown. He’s asking us (rather, teaching us) to calm our anger at the changed economic and life security circumstances that are beyond our personal control. I think He’s absolutely condemning our hatred and prejudice for those who we think of as the “other”.
Jesus is challenging us to look inward, to reflect on our attitudes and dispositions, to understand how we may hold unfair expectations of entitlement and privilege. He’s inviting us to open our hearts and arms, to unclench our fists, and to join in His love for those who are hurting from the pandemic, for those who are victims of senseless racial violence, for those who oppress and persecute these innocents, and for those in authority who act as unthinking bullies. If we’re humble enough to ask Him, He will join us in dialogue with victims and their families, with communities and businesses, with police and other government security forces, in searching for paths to a more just future for us all.
And so, our prayer today should be for the grace to be ever mindful of how we have unknowingly treated others with prejudice, how we have failed to be sensitive to our positions of privilege, and for the strength to open our arms and unclench our fists in solidarity with Jesus and all our sisters and brothers.
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