“Polarisation” is a word that is coming to define our age. Social media algorithms, we are told, double down on our prejudices, and ramp up our reactions. Civility, debate and humanity have left us, and outrage anger and aggression appear to have become virtues. Even Christians, whom I would expect to have read Matt 5: 21-26 (it’s only Jesus’ most famous sermon- and our text this week) are jumping onto this destructive bandwagon.
You may have heard Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s appeal to President Trump at the National Prayer Service asking him to show mercy to LGBT people and undocumented immigrants. Whatever the political ramifications and policies around these issues Christians subject to scripture must “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly”. However, one incensed response from a Christian leader to her comment was to claim:
“Women’s ordination is a cancer that unleashes untethered empathy in the church (and spills over into society).”
It’s the “untethered empathy” that left me choking on my tea!
Is that not what Paul calls the greatest of all God’s gifts in 1 Corinthians 13: love?
Is that not what Jesus said motivated him to lay down his life on the cross?
Is that not “grace without measure”, “kindness unceasing”?
Are some leaders beginning to rewrite the moral core of Jesus’ teaching?
Is our culture veering toward the law of the jungle where only the strong survive with Christians approving the trend?
Jesus certainly lived in an empire which was violent and merciless and placed limited value on human life. Yet here in this sermon, he calls his followers to follow a different way and to live a different ethic. Anger is emotional dynamite he contends and is to be managed with care. Conflict is to be confronted and resolved quickly not stirred up and stewed over. Words of slander, destructive gossip and name-calling are a cancer in the body of Christ that needs rooting out. To ignore Jesus’ warning is to place ourselves under God’s judgment.
This Jesus tells us is not simply good advice for people in general but commands for his followers to obey.
Perhaps as we head to Sunday, we might consider where unresolved conflicts exist in our lives with other people?
Whether there are issues around which our anger and hurt has created contempt for others which we need to disconnect from?
Perhaps even challenging ourselves to connect with people who are different from us?
Let’s ask for God’s mercy and lots of “untethered empathy “
Iain