March 26, 2025: Deuteronomy 4:1–2,5–9 Psalm 78:1–6 Matthew 5:17–19
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets,” said Jesus to the first-century equivalent of huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Rather like the European immigrants who passed by the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island, the Jewish people of Israel longed for freedom from economic and political oppression. And to them, Jesus said yes—freedom is your birthright—but freedom flourishes under the guidance of the Law.
I feel like it’s important to mention this because the Law—as in the Hebrew Scriptures—has gotten a bad rap in some Christian circles. Ever since Martin Luther found his own freedom in reading Paul’s Letter to the Romans, some Christians have been inclined to view law and liberty as antitheses. As in law vs. grace, or living by strict observance of the rules, vs. living in the freedom of God’s certain forgiveness and favor. This is not actually what Luther wrote, but I’m guessing you’ve heard some variation of the law and grace dichotomy because it’s been so influential in the American church.
We North American protestants tend to think of ourselves as people living by the grace of God, and that’s true and good. But it’s also only part of our story. At this critical point in our nation’s history, it bears asking ourselves anew what it means to be people of law AND grace. Our readings refer specifically to the Law of Moses—also known as the Torah in the Jewish scriptures—but this conception of law is foundational to virtually all Western governments. And I’m not just talking about the public display of the Ten Commandments, which is actually a rather reductive version of the rules guiding the rich common life the ancient Israelites practiced.
Our laws—by which I mean all the rules governing our contemporary life as a nation—have become something of a lightning rod these days. Popular culture portrays rules as somehow limiting our freedom. By insisting, for example, that we get vaccinated and respect the limits of power and the rights of the vulnerable. Conversely, it’s become become strangely socially acceptable to ignore constitutional due process, disrupt the smooth functioning of democracy and sell access to government favors. This hurts all of us, even those whose power may temporarily shields them from consequences. But the purpose of laws—as the mosaic covenant exemplified—is to limit authoritarianism, foster public health and safety, and respect freedom to do good. These are right equally protected for all under our laws.
Absent the limits of rules and law, people tend to squander our God-given freedom. We follow false idols, we commit violence, we covet what is not ours, we lie. I’m not telling you anything you haven’t heard in this morning’s news. Our media bears witness to the tragedy of our human condition every day. Has lawlessness made us a happier people? I’ll leave that to your judgment. But I’ll say that, for our own good, Jesus did not want us to live without law.
Confession time: I am weirdly addicted to Orthodox Jewish tik tok. You know, the short videos that dominate certain social media applications? They’re these sweet vignettes of a contemporary Jewish culture that is both familiar and strange. Personally, I’m influenced enough by Luther to know that I’m not likely to try to keep kosher or observe even a fraction of the many rules our stricter Jewish siblings do. But I do find beauty in their way of life, mostly because it’s shared. Observing the daily details of the Law keeps their whole community conscious of God, moment by moment, and their weekly Shabbat becomes a celebration of the rules they observe and life of generosity they make possible.
We could do worse than that—in fact, we often do—but we could also take a page out of their Torah playbook. We Christians could live within the blessed assurance of God’s grace, and also observe both the law and the laws. Not to earn God’s favor, as Paul worried about, but for the sake of our mutual wellbeing as a church and a country. For observing law—as our first reading from Deuteronomy teaches—”will show wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!”
