Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
But when it comes to our life in Christ, when it comes to following Jesus, that’s not the message we hear today. We are still advised to take care of the big issues, e.g. murder, adultery, divorce, and false oaths, but Jesus encourages us to go deeper, to look to the smaller roots that lead to those bigger problems.
Because those big ones can be easy (at least to some or most) to keep. Most people are not going to murder another person. Most married couples do not cheat on their spouse. Most people do not “swear to God” and then do not follow through. And if that’s all we think that following Jesus is about, then we probably think we’re pretty good. Indeed, many have come to think that as long as they’re not a horrible sinner, then they’re probably going straight to heaven after death. It’s a nice wish, but not one that is in line with the Gospel.
Jesus reminds us that the small stuff is precisely where the big stuff begins. If you have enough trees to do get a forest. In following Jesus, it does not suffice not to be an egregious sinner. Jesus desires us to have a change of heart. In Church language we use the Greek word metanoia. In fact, what we translate as repent, often comes from that Greek word “metanoia,” which could also be translated, “change your hearts.”
And a heart that is changed to be more like Jesus is a heart that recognizes how those smaller desires in our hearts lead to action. Every action comes from a desire, really, but those big sins we see in seminal form by smaller sins and desires that stem from the heart.
Very few, if any, wake up one day and say, “You know what? I haven’t murdered anyone lately. I think I’ll give that a try!” No, it starts with that person that we find annoying, and an anger with that person in our heart. It continues with us calling others names, insulting them, giving them the middle finger. It builds to desiring evil for another person whom we do not like, hoping that some bad happens to them so that they’re taught a lesson. Those may not always lead to murder, to killing an innocent human being, but every homicide started many steps back with anger in the heart.
Very few, if any, wake up one day and say, “I haven’t cheated on my spouse” or “I haven’t messed around with my girlfriend” (ladies, you can replace this and later examples with the male counterpart) and then proceed to be unfaithful and unchaste. It starts with the song we hear on Spotify, or the Netflix drama we watch. It continues with that longer look we take of the attractive woman at work or in class, or the racy adds we linger on that pop-up on the Internet. It builds through watching pornography, or being alone in a room with a girlfriend when no one else is home, never intending to cross that line, but hoping to get as close to that line as possible.
When our desires and our hearts are rightly ordered, then the big stuff never enters our mind. When our desires and our hearts run wild, and follow any desire they have for small things, it is much easier to give into bigger evils. Again, smaller evils don’t necessarily lead to bigger evils, but even those small evils show that God is not number one, which means that we’re not ready for heaven, where God is all in all.
Jesus says later in the Gospel according to St. Matthew that, “‘the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.’” Following Jesus is not for sissies or wimps or whatever other word you want to use. Following Jesus means fighting battles day in and day out. It is not for the faint of heart. Following Jesus means we fight those small disordered desires in our hearts because even in themselves acting on those small disordered desires means that we’re pulling away from God. If someone were trying to take our life, we would fight with all we had, using any means necessary to preserve it. God wants us to use the same, all-out mentality when it comes to our eternal salvation, to eternal life. Fight with everything we have to deny ourselves those little sins that we often overlook.
The good news is that, just as we should sweat the small stuff, doing small things for Christ also can help us beyond what we imagine. Just as small disordered desires lead us away from God, and can lead to much greater sins, so small acts of fidelity to God can build up to greater witness that God is number one in our life. That excuse for the person who cut us off on the road, thinking that the person may be going to a dying family member rather than cursing them out; that change of the channel when something lewd comes on TV, or going to a different page when the Internet brings us a scantily clad member of the opposite sex; that act of kindness towards a person for whom we do not particularly care; the putting of a filter on the phone or the choosing of an accountability partner who helps us avoid pornographic sites; all those things help change our heart for the better, and make us better disciples of Christ.
The good news is also that we don’t have to fight alone. No good, whether small or great, is possible without the grace of Christ leading us there, accompanying us through it, and completing it. And God showers down his grace like rain at all moments of our life so that we can say no to evil and yes to good. Pay attention to the small desires of the heart. Keep what is good, reject what is evil, so that, by God’s grace, we will be as prepared as we can be for our judgment, and hopefully be welcomed into eternal life in heaven.