EPIPHANY VI

El Greco's St Paul

Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20
or Deuteronomy 30:15-20
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37
Psalm 119:1-8

In this week’s Epistle St Paul tells the new Christians at Corinth that, when he first preached to them he had to treat them “as infants in Christ.”  “I fed you with milk”, he says, “not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.” It is easy to imagine some of them bridling at this remark, just as a modern congregation might take serious offence if a priest or preacher spoke to them in this way. ‘Who are you to assume such a superior tone?’ would be a natural response.

Yet there is a very important lesson to be learned here. We happily concede that when it comes to medicine or law, business management, physical fitness, playing an instrument, or a host of other activities, there are beginners and there are experts. No one would commit their affairs to a wholly inexperienced lawyer, physician or financial adviser, no matter how friendly, caring, or amusing they might be. Are we to suppose that these welcome traits are enough when it comes to spiritual wisdom and guidance, that warm feelings and good intentions are enough?

In the passage from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus shares Paul’s assumption that there is such a thing as spiritual and moral development. This development is a matter of moving on from good behavior to a deeper state of mind and heart. Of course, Moses was right. Outward actions are important – murdering, committing adultery, swearing falsely are all things to be avoided. Still, observing moral rules, however socially valuable, cannot be enough for those whose minds are set on the things of the spirit. God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship him in spirit.

The evangelical message for the Church today is plain. Schools with open admission policies are not expected to leave their students there. Similarly, 'inclusiveness' is just a start, never the last word. Welcoming all and sundry to join the church is undoubtedly Christian, but it has to be followed by setting out the spiritual challenges of real discipleship. Without continual growth we, and they, will remain pretty much as before -- ‘people of the flesh’ and at best ‘infants in Christ.’