Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Year A
RCL
Radical Obedience from the Inside Out
By +Brian Ernest Brown, CWC
If we are completely honest with ourselves, most of us like a clear, straightforward rulebook. Rules make life manageable. They give us a baseline for what is acceptable, and they let us know exactly where the line is so we can stay just an inch or two on the safe side of it.
We see this human desire for a clean checklist challenged completely by Jesus in our Gospel reading from Matthew.
Jesus is continuing His Sermon on the Mount, and He starts using this intense formula over and over again: “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you.” He takes the most concrete, foundational laws of the tradition and completely shatters the idea that external compliance is enough.
He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not murder.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment.”
He does the exact same thing with adultery, divorce, and the taking of oaths. He moves the goalposts. He takes the law out of the courtroom and drops it right into the hidden, messy spaces of our human hearts.
Think about how radically uncomfortable this is. Most of us can sit in the pews today and confidently check off, “Well, I haven’t murdered anyone this week.” We feel pretty good about ourselves. But Jesus looks at us and says, “Great. But what about that toxic resentment you’ve been nursing against your coworker? What about the silent treatment you’ve been giving your spouse? What about the casual, biting comment you made to destroy someone’s reputation over lunch?”
Jesus is showing us that sin isn’t just the explosion; it’s the spark. He doesn’t just care about our external behavior; He cares about the hidden, internal mechanics that drive our behavior.
This internal reality is exactly what the book of Sirach is hitting home. Sirach reminds us that our choices carry immense, weighty consequences. He writes:
“Before each person are life and death, and whichever one chooses will be given… He has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose.”
God doesn’t drag us kicking and screaming into the Kingdom of Heaven. He gives us agency. Every single day, in a hundred tiny, unnoticed decisions, we are reaching out our hands. We are reaching for the water of life, grace, and reconciliation, or we are reaching for the fire of anger, lust, and self-preservation.
The Psalmist echoes this beautifully, singing: “Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!” That word “blameless” doesn’t mean earning a flawless score on a test; it means being whole, undivided, and integrated. It means that who you are on the inside matches who you claim to be on the outside.
So why do we struggle so much with this integration? Why do we constantly choose the fracturing fire over the life-giving water?
Paul gives us a hilariously blunt diagnosis in his letter to the Corinthians. He looks at this church, a community that is constantly fighting, comparing spiritual gifts, and splitting into factions and says, “Brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.”
Paul tells them he had to feed them milk, not solid food, because they weren’t ready for it. And how does he know they are still babies? He says: “For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?”
Infants are entirely focused on their own immediate desires, their own comfort, and their own validation. When we reduce our faith to a competition, arguing over who belongs to Paul or who belongs to Apollos, or holding onto grievances because our ego demands it, we are acting like spiritual toddlers.
Paul reminds us of the cure for this spiritual immaturity: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
This week, let’s stop trying to play the role of the perfect gardener of our own reputation, and let the true Gardener do some deep weeding in our hearts.
First, when you feel the smoke of anger or resentment rising up in your chest this week, don’t just congratulate yourself for not letting it explode out loud. Take it to Jesus immediately. Ask Him to pour His grace onto that hidden spark before it catches fire. Reconciliation isn’t something we do only when it’s convenient; Jesus says it’s so urgent that if you are at the altar and remember a fracture, you should drop everything and go fix it.
Second, practice simple, transparent honesty. Jesus tells us, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Drop the manipulation, drop the exhausting need to manage how everyone perceives you, and just speak the truth in love.
We are God’s servants, working together. We are God’s field, God’s building. Let’s pray for the courage to step past a faith that is just skin-deep, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out, so that our lives can truly reflect His peace.
Amen.