The Rev. Leyla King, whose Week Four sermon series closes this morning, preaches Sunday in the Amphitheater.
The Rev. Leyla King juxtaposed the Decalogue, colloquially known as the Ten Commandments, and the Beatitudes in her sermon at the 9:15 a.m. Thursday morning worship service in the Amphitheater.
Her sermon title was “Delighting in the Dance,” and the scripture text was Matthew 5: 1-12; 17-22.
In the Episcopal church, members of the congregation confess their sins corporately every Sunday. After confessing, the congregation says, “have mercy on us and forgive us; / that we may delight in your will, / and walk in your ways,/ to the glory of your Name.”
King said that to delight in doing God’s will and to walk in God’s way is to dance in it. God’s law was the main topic of her sermon and she used the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes to show how the law applies to us and how we respond to it.
Some parts of the law are easy to follow, she said. For most people, it is easy not to murder but it is harder not to tell a lie.
It is even harder with Jesus’ preaching in the Beatitudes, like “blessed are the peacemakers.” King suggested to the congregation that it would be easier if they worried less about breaking the law and delighted in the law more.
The Decalogue, given to the people of Israel through Moses when he led them out of Egypt, is a covenant agreement, a gift from God. To walk in God’s way means to follow the Ten Commandments as God’s law.
Moses, at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, reminded the people of Israel that if they followed the law, they would become numerous; but if they were led astray, they would perish. If they followed the rules, they would have health and wealth, King said, but if they did not follow God’s law, they would die. Choose the Ten Commandments or die.
It was an easy choice, she said. She related a story from a British comedian that the English were too polite to have an Inquisition. Instead of killing heretics, they would give them a choice — choose cake or die.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did not just warn the people not to murder; they were to refrain from violence in their hearts and minds. They were not to commit adultery, but also to keep their desires in check and be pure of heart. They were to be merciful and not call people fools.
King called the supposed difficulty of keeping these rules a misreading. She said we do not have a transactional relationship with God. The law is a gift of love from God. It is a gift, not earned. God loves us so much, she said, that God gives us the law of life.
The word “law” can be confusing. There is a kind of law that comes from a higher authority, like getting a ticket for speeding. Then there is the law of gravity that is an explanation of the way things work. If we try to walk off a cliff to test the law of gravity, the consequences are severe. God’s law, she said, is the best way to function in God’s world, and when we push against the law of God, the world does not function well. God gives us dance steps to help us delight in God’s will and to dance in God’s way.
Jesus’ words in Matthew are harsh because Jesus is trying to get the people’s attention. Talk of the law is not theory; it is life and death. The law cannot be cast aside, whether we follow it or not, King said. There are consequences when we try to do our own thing.
So, she asked the congregation, how do we walk in the ways of God so we don’t fall off a cliff? If we all follow the Lord’s dance, we will all flourish.
When we allow anger to fester; if we are not transparent; if we use objectivity for our own selfish purposes, we leave a legacy of hurt. We create our own versions of hell on earth, she said. We don’t need God to throw us into hell — we do it well on our own.
The higher calling is to delight in God’s law and to root our lives in God’s desire for us to flourish.
She told the congregation that to achieve abundant life for all, we need to show — by our authentic deeds and words — the way to overcome fear and hatred. It is not a matter of just obeying the rules, but dancing in the way of God’s passionate love through the whole of creation.
The Rev. George Wirth, an associate with the Chautauqua Department of Religion, presided. Jim Evans, a Motet and Chautauqua Choir member and tuba player with the Chautauqua Community Band, read the scriptures. For the prelude, Motet Consort members Barbara Hois, flute and Willie LaFavor, piano, played “Prelude” and “Ostinato” from Suite Antique by John Rutter. The Motet Choir sang “The Beatitudes,” by James Biery and Marilyn Bier. The choir was under the direction of Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist, accompanied by Owen Reyda on the Massey Memorial Organ. Stafford played Rutter’s “Toccata in Seven” on the Massey Organ. Support for this week’s services and chaplaincy is provided by the Alison and Craig Marthinsen Endowment for the Department of Religion.
