“Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Wow – those are two really bold, demanding statements, aren’t they!?! And yet, they’re straight from God, one through Moses, as we heard in today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus, and the other from Jesus himself as we continue to hear from his Sermon on the Mount. That’s what we – we who believe in God and follow his son, Jesus – are called to do. It’s a very important lesson for us as we continue Ordinary Time – that is, time ordered by God for our salvation – and especially as we prepare for another season of Lent; it begins this Ash Wednesday. So, what does it mean to be holy? The word “holy” that we use today has a long and interesting history. I would like to offer it to you for your reflection.
The original Hebrew word for “holy” is “Kadesh.” It means “pure, sacred.” It referred primarily to God, but also to God’s chosen people, Israel, who were called to be pure and sacred, like their God. When the Hebrew Scripture was translated into Greek, the word “hagios” was used. That word means “different, unlike the rest, set apart.” It was probably used because the ancient Jews were feeling the secular influence of the Greeks who had swept over the ancient world and influenced everyone with their philosophy and focus on worldly prosperity. When it was translated into English, it was taken from an Old Dutch word, “halig,” which means “whole, sound, healthy, complete.” This was a time when Europe was striving to become united under the fledgling nations and there was a call for wholeness, completion. All three words help to capture what it means to be holy: pure, sacred, different, unlike the rest, set apart, whole, sound, healthy, complete. Today’s readings, which present sermons from both Moses and our Lord, give us insight into who God is and who he calls us to be. The law of our land seems so often to be an expression of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” – but we hear our Lord, Jesus, tell us that this is not the way to holiness. He calls us to take no revenge and cherish no grudge against anyone; we hear Moses exhort his people in the same way in today’s first reading. Jesus goes on to command “love your enemy” and “pray for those who persecute you.” Here, we are given one of the most difficult tasks as a follower of Jesus: to love those we see as our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We probably find it much easier to do physical tasks in the name of Jesus than respond with forgiveness to someone who offends us. It is easier to take care of the poor nearby or far away than to forgive our wayward son or daughter. It is less challenging to work at the soup kitchen than it is to love the co-worker who does not do his or her share of the work, or the neighbor who is argumentative and irritating.
Of course, caring for the poor and working in a soup kitchen are good and necessary, but loving our enemies or praying for those who persecute us are the hallmarks of a true follower of Christ.
Jesus tells us in today’s passage that the greatest response to any situation is love. It is a direct imitation of the way God treats us – his children – in his great mercy. When we come to realize that our worthiness is not the cause of God’s loving us – and that his love and mercy are pure gift – our response should be one of gratitude, which brings about a transformation in our relationships with others. Quite simply, it may feel counter-intuitive to be kind to those who are unkind to us, but that is what we are called to do. Living out the Gospel in a radical way is essential to spreading the Good News. Of course, praying for others and treating them lovingly does not mean we have to endure disrespect or abuse from others without recourse. We should work to set healthy boundaries that shield us from abusive and disrespectful behavior on the part of others toward us.
But, due to the sinful nature of humanity, we will inevitably find ourselves in situations when we are not being loved. Recalling for us that God “makes his sun rise on the good and the bad and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust,” Jesus calls us to a love that is more than just but is a reflection of God’s abundance toward everyone, the good and the bad.
And, Jesus gives us examples of how we are to love, easily understood when you are aware of the situation of his day. As you know, he lived in a world where the Roman Empire was in charge and the Roman military was ever present and always ready to make its presence – and its power – felt. Jesus refers to one of the habits Roman soldiers had: slapping their subjects on the cheek as a sign of power. The slap was delivered as a put-down, a power play, to demonstrate their authority over their subjects. It was intended to put the victim in his or her place rather than to incapacitate her or him. Turning the other cheek changed the game by having the victim say, “Hit me with integrity and then we’ll talk.” Surely the audience chuckled as they pictured a browbeaten subject standing up like that to an arrogant soldier. With this example, Jesus is teaching us to respect each other.