SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24 2024 - "YOU HAVE HEARD IT SAID...."
November 24, 2024
Deborah Laforet
“You Have Heard It Said...”
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by
your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Have you ever played that telephone game, where one person delivers a messages to the
next person and that person delivers the message they heard to another person, and then that
person delivers what they heard to the next one, until they reach the last person who then tells
everyone the final message they just heard, which, in my experience, is always very different
from the original message. It’s a fun game that shows just how different messages can be after
being passed from person to another. Sometimes it’s a good exercise about the dangers of
gossip, and how unreliable messages through the grapevine can be.
It’s also a great way to demonstrate how stories are passed down from generation to
generation. They pass through different people, different times, different contexts, and different
experiences. The stories change and evolve over the years.
You would think that once a story is written down, it wouldn’t change anymore. The
Grimm brothers, in the early 1800’s, attempted to write down folk tales as they heard them, with
very little editing, but in the second edition of their book, they themselves began to change the
stories to make them more friendly to children. Since that time, they have been even more
changed, and cleansed, especially recently by Disney.
The stories of the bible started as oral stories, but even though they have been written
down, they still keep changing. Whether it’s because of mistakes made by people copying the
texts before the printing press, or because they have been translated into other languages. Even a
slight change in a word or the absence of punctuation can change the whole meaning of a story.
Sometimes, even if the story is written accurately over the years, it follows the tradition of the
telephone game. It changes through word of mouth.
I read a CNN article from 2017, that refers to several quotes attributed to the bible that
can’t actually be found in the bible. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” “Spare the rod, spoil the
child.” “God helps those who help themselves.” “God works in mysterious ways.” The article
referred to NFL legend Mike Ditka, who was giving a news conference one day after being fired
as the coach of the Chicago Bears. After leading his team to only five wins during the previous
season, Ditka said, “Scripture tells you that all things shall pass. This, too, shall pass.” That’s
not actually in the bible.
From the CNN article, Rabbi Rami Shapiro says, “Most people who profess a deep love
of the Bible have never actually read the book. They have memorized parts of texts that they can
string together to prove the biblical basis for whatever it is they believe in, but they ignore the
vast majority of the text.”1
And this isn’t new. From believing it was Satan who tempted Eve, when it was a serpent
with no mention of Satan, to the misquote that God helps those who help themselves, when most
of scripture instructs people to care for others, being compassionate to those in need. The bible
has been used to promote people’s agendas for thousands of years, even during the time of Jesus.
In the gospel of Matthew, the author, who most believe was Jewish, quotes often from the
Hebrew Scriptures, and often begins with, “It is written...” In this gospel, we read about Jesus
asking the Pharisees several times, “Have you not read...” such and such in the scripture, or we
hear him command them to go and learn scripture, or he accuses them of setting aside the word
of God for the sake of tradition.
https://www.cnn.com/2015/02/19/living/bible-not-jesus/index.html 1
Terry read for us this morning a passage that is often used to show that Jesus had come to
overturn the Hebrew Scriptures, to abolish them, or, at the very least, to correct them, but Jesus
says very clearly in that first verse we heard, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law
or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
He then repeats over and over, “You have heard it said...” Just like the telephone game
or just like the common practice of misquoting the bible, Jesus is clarifying the intent of this
sacred scripture. Yes, don’t murder, but you must also reconcile with your sister or brother. Yes,
adultery is wrong, but you also should not lust after people. There are instructions on divorce,
but let’s talk first about the nature of divorce and who is getting hurt. Loving your neighbour is
great, but, our sacred scripture tells us, that we are not to hate our enemy. Nowhere in this
Hebrew scripture will you receive instruction to hate your enemy; we must love our enemy, just
as we love our neighbour.
Even then, these stories were thousands of years old. Even then, people had political
agendas, and people held tight to ancient traditions, justifying them through their religion,
through misunderstood texts in the bible, and sometimes by just making up supposed messages
from God. Jesus was trying to set the record straight, to fulfill what had been written.
For the past six weeks, we have been exploring the Hebrew Scriptures, the scripture of
the Jewish people, the sacred texts of Jesus, his disciples, and the Apostle Paul, which take up the
first three quarters of our bible. I have been lifting up the importance of this text to Christianity.
Without an understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, we cannot fully understand the Christian
Scriptures, mostly written by Jews, written by people who studied and had grown up with these
scriptures, sacred texts they lived by.
Many Christians dismiss these texts. I recently heard an Anglican priest scoff at
Christians who read the Hebrew Scriptures too much, saying they were trying to be Jewish.
Sometimes these texts are seen as outdated or antiquated and not necessary to our Christian faith.
These sacred writings are living, breathing texts. I’m not saying that every story is holy
and that every word is sacred. In fact, sometimes the opposite feels true. But if you take the bile
as a whole, there is an opportunity, with the original writers, with these people of faith, to
struggle with the big questions in life, to wrestle with the meaning of suffering, to question what
it means to believe in a mysterious divine presence. Instead of reading these texts literally, or
seeing them as fixed, as inflexible, we can play with them, we can explore them, we can study
them, and they will surprise us, inspire us, frustrate us, and confuse us, comfort us, fill us with
hope, and maybe even love.
As we study the bible and journey with the original authors, as well as mystics and
theologians across the centuries, with our minds and hearts open, we can explore the big
questions, we can find relevance in our own lives, and we can discover divinely inspired
messages. And for that, we give thanks to God. Amen.
Selected verses from Matthew 5:17-45
(Introduce yourself. - Do not move or tap microphone.)
Chapter five of the gospel of Matthew is often called the Sermon on the Mount.
We read that Jesus saw the crowds, went up the mountain, sat down and began to
teach them. Beginning with verse 19, he lists several laws from the Jewish
tradition, starting with, “You have heard it said...” and then, “but I say to you.”
I'm going to read excerpts from this chapter that offer the several laws that Jesus
was addressing. I’ll start with an introduction from Jesus, verses 17 and 18.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come
not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass
away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is
accomplished.
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not
murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you
that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if
you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council...
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say
to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of
divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the
ground of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a
divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not
swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to
you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the
earth,
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
39 But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn the other also, 40 and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt,
give your coat as well, 41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the
second mile
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your
enemy.’ 44 But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute
you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun
rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous.
May the Spirit guide our understanding of this holy scripture.