Moses did not easily come to the Wisdom and understanding he is so sure of in today's first reading.  He had to work hard at it.  Even so, it is only a small step in the right direction! For while he invites the community to holiness of life, expressed in the refusal to hate, to be two faced or to be imprisoned by the need for revenge, he is still upholding club rules, which have yet to find their way to the world outside the community.
 
Over time, we begin to see hints that this teaching will be replaced by something better.  And today's Gospel text from St Matthew is a fine example of this.   So far, we have learned that balance demands an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  This teaching was a major step towards controlling violence.  Previously, the Law of Lamech prevailed, 'I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.' (Genesis 4,23) There was no equality in inflicted damage.  But under the eye for an eye dictum, retribution was carefully measured.
 
The teaching of Jesus supersedes this now and disciples need to be careful that we don't go back to the older ways of Moses or  Lamech!    We  are  better  supported  in  this  regard  when appreciate how clever the teaching of Jesus really is.  He gives three examples of how to be creative when faced with violence in His own day. These clever actions are designed to change the  balance  of  power  from  the  violent  in  favour  of  the  non- violent.   Walter  Wink,  in  his  "Engaging  the  Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination", writes,
'Turn your cheek, thus indicating to the one who backhands you that their attempt to shame you into servility has failed.  Strip naked and parade out of court, thus taking the momentum out of the law and the whole debt economy and flipping them.  Walk a second mile, surprising the occupation troops with a sudden challenge to their control.'  p.185 
There is an adventure in the teaching of Jesus and we don't need to be afraid that if we apply the same creativity to our own situation that we will be more vulnerable.  The danger for the afraid is that we might talk ourselves out of following this light, or water it down so much as to make it worthless.
 
The Parable of the Snake is helpful here.  The snake hears the stunning teaching of Jesus from a  wandering  preacher  and  immediately  adopts  a  life  of  total  non-violence.   He  will  bite  no one.  When the local children realise that he won't bite, they begin to make fun of him and beat him with sticks every day.  The snake is near death when the preacher returns and asks how he is doing.  The snake tells the preacher of his heroic actions, expecting to be praised.  But the preacher says, " I told you not to bite. I didn't say you couldn't rattle and hiss!"
 
We are always praising heroic Christians who have laid down their life for their faith.  Perhaps it will prove wiser, over time, to praise clever Christians who are able to find new ways to bring non- violence  and  universal  loving  into  stubborn  hearts  and  stubborn  systems.   These  amazing women and men hold these values with an inner strength.  They combine them with experience and their knowledge of science and art.  They show us how unseen paths open beneath our feet and how to surprise the worldly wise to new ways of living.

Life and a Death.  These are matters of great importance, and the readings this week invite  us  to  consider  these  precious  things  which  are  in  our  hands.   We  are  also encouraged not to give up on the quest for holiness of life.  Our faithfulness unfolds in our  commitment  to  the  Charter  for  just  living  -  the  law-  and  to  the  teaching  of  the Prophets.  But notice how Jesus elevates certain aspects of these and allows others to fall away.  He affirms and deepens the heart of the Law and Prophets and sweeps away what doesn't really matter.
 
The  higher  calling  of  His  Disciples  is  the  struggle  for  community  in  an  age  of holocaust.  The struggle begins when we aim to strengthen our inner life.  The religious leaders seem to be fixated on externals and their need to be 'seen' by others.  Their egos  are  so  huge,  they  can  no  longer  see,  or  give  priority  to,  those  who  are hurting.  They tinker with trifles, obsess about details of the law and bury their passion for justice, love and compassion in the graveyard of their own self-importance.
 
Jesus calls his disciples to attend to their inner life. Life and Death, Love and Hate, Adultery and Faithfulness are huge polarities that we have to navigate every day.  The rabbis often speak of 'evil imaginings'. If our angry hearts overflow into abusive talk we have sown the seed for murder.  If we escape the need for reconciliation by just talking to God, Jesus sends us back to the person we have wronged to ask for forgiveness. If lust  and  deceit  leads  us  to  break  people's  hearts,  we  must  enlarge  our  hearts  by honouring the values which underpin love.
 
One  of  the  oldest,  and  wisest,  spiritual  injunctions  is 'Know Yourself!' We are pushed down the path of searing
honesty and self-discovery.  We set up a watching and listening  post  in  the  centre  of  our  being  and  begin  the
difficult task  of seeing  ourselves  as we  really are.  We need to know how anger rises in us, comes to expression
and then recedes.  We need to watch lust and note how it  can  grip  us  and  rush  us  along  paths  we  may  not
choose.  We need to understand how we want shortcuts to  forgiveness,  how  we  hesitate  and  sometimes  stall
when it comes to starting a conversation with someone that might bring us peace.   
 
As  St  Matthew  considers  the  size  of  the  problem,  he  takes  a  no  nonsense approach.   Whatever  causes  us  to  sin  must  be  removed!    Of  course,  he  is  right because sin is pretty ugly.  So, we just have to keep chiselling at our own statues.

When I was about seven, my granny took us to Saltcoats, the holiday Mecca of the west coast of Scotland.  It was mid-summer and still an icy gale swept from the North Pole over the  sunbathers  who  shivered  behind  their  windbreakers!    My  first  trip  to  the  beach,  I dashed towards the sea and ran straight into an underwater hole.  I sank like a corpse and managed to swallow what felt like a gallon of water.  I can still taste it to this day.  Too much salt, too much salt.
 
Isaiah's poetic prophecy in today's first reading is beautiful but it lacked maturity as it only applied to people in the community.  I've always thought that one of the marks of any genuine spirituality is the wideness of its embrace.  I become suspicious the moment I hear the language of exclusion, whether that is of individuals or groups.  Exclusions create control, heightened security and territory that needs to be defended.   
 
The Divine Teacher, on the other hand, situates His disciples  in  another  place.   You  are  the  salt  of  the earth!   You  are  the  light  of  the  World!   We  are something  and  we  may  not  know  it.   When  this happens, people lose their flavour. There is nothing to savour.  It gets trampled underfoot.  Jesus seeks to convince us of our high value.  He cuts through any sense of self that cripples and halts - I am a sinner - I'm no good - I'm useless - I lack the skill etc.  He fixes a  new  truth  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  His disciples.  Hot on the heels of this compliment there is a warning which is meant to strengthen our freedom to be the salt that we are.  We are here for the benefit of the earth.  He calls us to bring zest, meaning and light to all.
 
Over the last few weeks, we have lost some wonderful members of our community.  It was important to family members that they are remembered as people who made the world a better place.  I guess we would all like people to say that when our own time comes.  But what if people were to say, after we are gone, that the world has become a less interesting place!  We were a shot of zest, adding just the right amount of salt to every bland situation.  I wonder if something gets lost when we limit our understanding of salt and light to just good works.  We seldom think of it as meaning creative engagement with a wily world.  Yet the people of salt and light are called to be visionaries who are not afraid to try something new.  If the experiment fails, we don't retreat to our old ways but find even more creative energy to address the situation before us.  Think Big. Think New.  Think Creative.
 
Teilhard de Chardin once wrote that he was afraid that people would lose their zest and passion for the coming to be of the world.  He noted that if we do not find this drive in ourselves, we have not yet searched the full depth of our heart and mind.  Perhaps we are afraid of what we might find there.  Jesus reminds us that we have no need to be afraid.  No need to be afraid!