WwtW OT C 8: God suffices

Bible study notes for the coming Sunday's Gospel.  This will be the last "Wednesdays with the Word" post for now, as the parish has decided that for Lent to turn out attention to Pope Francis' new encyclical, the joy of the Gospel.

Gospel:           Matt 5:17-37

Context.           We continue reading of the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the five main discourses of Matthew’s gospel. The Sermon is preceded by an account of Jesus’ healing and preaching ministry and his call of the first disciples.  It began with the beatitudes, proclaiming blessing for the persecuted Church.  Blessing comes before demand.  Next, we moved us from indicative to imperative (be what you are!; salt and light) in very general terms.  Then, after a reminder on the continued relevance of Torah, the instructions started getting a lot more specific (the so-called antitheses).  Next, comes a section of proper cult (fasting, prayer and almsgiving).  We do not read this in the Ordinary Time lectionary, is it will be read in Lent.  The Lord’s Prayer becomes the center of the Sermon.  Today’s reading is part of what follows that: how to deal with possessions.  After this will come a section on how to deal with your neighbor.  The Sermon concludes with promise and warning: whether you heed these words will determine how you weather the storm that is coming.  After the Lent and Easter seasons are over, we will pick up our continuous reading of Matthew’s gospel a few chapters later (some weeks are skipped each year).  It would be good to read over the whole Sermon (chapters 5-7) as Lenten reading.

Interpretation. The first saying of our reading can be summarized simply: divided commitment is an oxymoron.  All humans serve something, ascribe absolute value to something.  Our choice is what, and we can choose God.  Wealth can master anyone, the rich through greed or the poor through envy.  Mammon is just the Aramaic word for possessions.  It is not a Syrian deity (sorry, Milton).  Its etymology might be ’mn (‘trust’), so Jesus could be playing on the idea that possessions are not what you should trust in.  If Matthew understands it this way, that would explain why he leaves the word in Aramaic.

The next section warns against anxiety.  This is intended as a respite in the midst of challenging summonses: God will take care of you; providence is trustworthy.  Just like with God and mammon, we have a choice between anxiety and faith: is what’s really real what we fear and what God promises?  Worry puts God out of the picture.  Modern science could confirm Jesus’ insight by showing us that worry actually shortens life.  Looking to nature can help us understand God (so it’s not that the material world is bad – that would be the Gnostic reason for eschewing possessions).  The kingdom is real and has already started to in-break with Christ and his Church.  So, it can be sought.  God will do the adding (divine passive).  There is no guarantee of prosperity or even comfort here, just “daily bread.”

Questions

1.      Can we freely choose not to be anxious?  What are good responses to anxiety?

2.      What ‘other gods’ do we feel tempted to follow?

3.      What do we say about world hunger?

4.      How else can nature bring us closer to God?

5.      Now we’ve read all that will from the Sermon on the Mount, what impression do you have of it?