Blessed are You

Editor’s Note: This essay also appears in The Line Issue 11.11 (November 2024); subscribe to The Line here.

What constitutes Christian ethics? How should Christians behave, not just with etiquette, but in the profound challenges of life; in war; business ethics; marital and sexual matters, life-and-death concerns like abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty; stewardship of the world; care for others; and more. It is a long list, sometimes with decisions of great complexity, sometimes of great simplicity but of great difficulty to achieve. Where do we find the guidance to live as Christ would have us do?

The Alabama Supreme Court has posted the Ten Commandments at the entrance to their building. It is their answer to the question. The decision to find the source of Alabama law in the Ten Commandments and prominently post it was not without controversy. Opponents cited the principle of church-state separation or questioned how they, perhaps as atheists or unchurched persons, yet nevertheless American citizens, could find justice in such a court.

Interestingly, both proponents and opponents in the debate assume that the Ten Commandments are the essential Christian statement of ethics. Both seem entirely unaware of how Jesus interprets the Ten Commandments. That the Ten Commandments are actually Jewish law appears an irrelevant detail, or given a nod as being the “Judeo-Christian” heritage of America.

This is mentioned, not to single out the Alabama court, but as an example of a widespread misconception shared by many, perhaps most, Americans regarding the standards by which Christians should live. Much legislation is on the books to clarify in detail how we are to keep these laws. For example, “thou shalt not kill” is divided into numerous categories ranging from pre-meditated murder, punished by execution in many states, through various degrees of murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, justifiable homicide to the other end of the spectrum where killing done in war by the military, or by police action or by judicial execution is not usually punished, but often is rewarded. The other commandments are similarly codified into categories. For most citizens, this is all as it should be.

But we began with the question, What constitutes Christian ethics? Civil lawbooks may be influenced sometimes by Christian ethics, but we will not find the answer in them. The answer is found, in great completeness and simplicity by reading Chapter 5 of St. Matthew’s Gospel. There can be no question if wish to live as a Christian, we will live according to Jesus’ precepts in Matt. 5. Jesus notes that the Law as given needs no amendments, but is enshrined in its totality. This applies not just to the Ten Commandments, but to the entire body of Old Testament Law. To infringe on any of the laws is to find yourself among the least in the Kingdom (Matt. 5:19).

Jesus then continues to explain how the laws are to be kept, using as examples “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt love thy neighbor” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Matt. 5:20-32, 43-48). In conjunction with these, he also clarifies related laws on oaths and revenge (Matt 5:33-42).

The result of this clarification is that we are doomed. We may convince ourselves that we keep these laws by doing our own “spin” on them. But Jesus explains them in a way that no one could possibly keep them. “There is none righteous, no not one,” says the Psalmist. Even being angry or insulting someone breaks the very serious commandment against killing. This obliterates the shades of action our civil law imposes in determining the extent of breaking the law. The same applies to adultery. Even to look at a woman lustfully is to break the commandment. Failing to love our enemies breaks the commandment to love our neighbor, which elsewhere Jesus calls one of the two basic commandments. Jesus amplifies this with the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), the Samaritans being both societal and religious enemies of the Jews. He does so to answer the question asked of him, “Who is my neighbor?”

Nevertheless, people persevere in the fantasy. “God gives us credit if we try to live by his laws.” “God will accept us if we keep the main tenants of the Law.” Or, a church version of Buddhist karma, “As long as the good we do outweighs the bad, God is pleased.” This is without even getting into ethical accounting systems like the Roman Catholic treasury of merit, allowing you to borrow from saints much holier than you to cover your violations.

The trouble with all this is, it is not what Jesus said. The saints, all of them, also fall short, and Jesus explains that any infraction means you have failed to keep the Law. It is kind of moot anyway, because none of us are righteous, meaning none of us, no small print or exceptions because of sainthood or any other claim to have succeeded in saving yourself. The problem, as Jesus points out, is not with the Law, which is perfect. It is with us, who are not. The people of Jesus’ day most observant in the Law were the Pharisees. Yet Jesus dismisses this with, “If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into heaven” (Matt. 5:20).

There is no exit from this. Our whole species, is doomed, throughout history since the Fall. History and current events, along with our own lives, continually witnesses to this.

What, then, are we to do? The most common answer is: ignore Jesus, and cling to your pathetic attempts to look righteous, by whatever denial mechanism works for you. We have all been to funerals where the preacher attempted to argue the deceased into heaven by talking of his good points and good deeds. Few funerals center on throwing the deceased and ourselves on the mercy of God. But that is in fact the only way out of this, and hopefully it has already started for you, instead of waiting for your funeral. A community of Christians who actually paid attention to Jesus in Chapter Five would constitute a radically different church than the one we have. Keep in mind that Jesus also says “I have come not to abolish [the Law and the Prophets], but to complete them” (Matt. 5:17).

Jesus does not begin his discourse with the Law. Perfect as it is, he knows it is a failed vehicle to achieve Christian ethics. The Law reveals to us that we cannot keep it. Therefore, its purpose is to condemn us and drive us to the Cross. Instead, the ethics Jesus unfolds for us are the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:2-12), and they reflect the new testament, or covenant, one based in love, not law, and a personal relationship with him, not a failed, cold relationship with a book of rules.

He does not thunder with “Thou shalt not.” Instead, he says, “Blessed are you if you can do this.” It is not a prescription for self-righteousness or righteous revenge. Rather than being prescriptive, it addresses life’s situations and guides us on how to find a way forward, regarding material wealth, despair and grief, proactive humility, seeking the right way, showing mercy, adjusting ourselves to God’s way of living, helping others to reconcile and find peace, standing strong even in persecution.

In short, these are the ethics of love.

All Saints Day is often presented, and rightly so, as the vision of a glorious heavenly future for us, and a depiction of the joys now experienced by our loved ones who have already departed. Yet there is another dimension to the festival, proclaimed in the Gospel for the Day, which is the Beatitudes, Jesus’ plan for us now on earth, not in the distant future. As Christians confronting our current politics of anger and division, and of nations seeking mutual endless revenge, we have a message from God to share. And for each of us in our individual situations, blessed are you indeed, and all those whose life you touch, when you can follow him in this path.