This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with headline from world news

WAR ON THE PIG SOCIETY (Daily Mirror 27/9) 

1 Corinthians 7:32-40

32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.

36 If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly towards his fiancée, if his passions are strong, and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. 37But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée, he will do well. 38So then, he who marries his fiancée does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.

39 A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord. 40But in my judgement she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

This is the kind of passage which contributes to the modern dislike of Paul: it sounds puritan, interfering and grudging and somehow at odds with the spirit of Christ. It’s therefore as well to remember Jesus’ words about disciples having to hate family; and how some have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom. Early Christianity was a revolutionary faith calling people to a common shared life which cut across the revered institutions of the ancient world: wealth, nationality, sacred tradition and family. It had a fierceness of purpose which horrifies many believers today.

Yes, we can note that Paul also thinks God’s rule will soon be openly established in his world; his present time was seen as an interim period. This mistaken timetable however does not evacuate his teachings of all value. The world will not be turned upside down by people for whom home improvement is a major concern. One of the reasons that people don’t take Christianity very seriously today is that Christians don’t.

Matthew 7:1-12

7‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your neighbour, “Let me take the speck out of your eye”, while the log is in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s eye.

6 ‘Do not give what is holy to dogs; and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under foot and turn and maul you.

7 ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? 10Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? 11If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

12 ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

do to others-Norman Rockwell

The first section of this passage is about not judging (condemning) others and is straightforward. Jesus uses knockabout humour to make his point: our moral precision about the faults of others is in question as long as we’re blind to our own.

The section on asking, searching and knocking is more difficult: does God always give the good we ask for? Luke’s version of this passage substitutes “Holy Spirit” for “good things” in verse 11, showing that he saw a problem. I think Matthew’s version is the more original: Jesus encourages complete confidence in God. Those who have it know that it is not misplaced. What then about Jesus’ question “Why have you forsaken me?” Even that anguish asks, searches and knocks; and finds, we believe, an open door.

The golden rule” is found in a number of religions and philosophies before Jesus, but only he presents it in this simple and positive form.

That leaves the dogs, the pearls and the swine.

All manner of interpretations have been offered, most of them designed to soften the obvious meaning. I think Matthew includes this utterance in the midst of the “sermon” of Jesus as a warning against using its teachings with worldly people. If worldly people are told for example that their asking will always result in gifts from God, they will expect discipleship to give them prosperity-indeed there are some Christian groups who expect exactly that. The teachings of Jesus only work for those who receive them as “holy” that is, as outposts of heaven on earth, and obey them as such. The use of dogs and pigs to describe unholy humans is conventional and should not worry animal lovers too much. My newspaper this morning has a headline in which the uncaring rich are described as pigs.