Epiphany 6

Epiphany 6 (Matthew 5:21-37)
You have heard that it was said.

Much of our spiritual growth lies in the work of unlearning what we think we know.
Steven Covey in his book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” discusses this principle. The book lists the four levels of competency.

At the first level we don’t know what we don’t know. This is the level of unconscious incompetence. There is no shame or fault at this level. There is simply unawareness. It is the mind of an infant who has yet to experience the many possibilities in the world.

The second level is the level of conscious incompetence. At this level we know that we don’t know. This is the level of the beginner. The beginner practices the scales on the piano and suddenly realizes that it will take a lot of time and effort before he can play even the simplest tune. This is the level of effort. This is the level of deferred gratification. We give up some of our time and devote a portion of our energy to overcome our lack of knowledge and skill in order to accomplish our goal.

As we accomplish our goal we enter into the third level. It is the level of conscious competence. At this level we know that we know. This is the level of proficiency. We’ve mastered the basics. We know the scales backwards and forward. We are ready for the 4th and final level.

The 4th and final level is the place of unconscious competence. We can sit at the piano and play the music with grace and creativity. We don’t need to stop and think where middle C is. We just know. We know so well our mind is set free to be spontaneous and creative. This is the level of mastery This is the level of delight.
The Bible used history, poetry, symbol and metaphor to express the same concepts Steven Covey set forth in a more analytic mode in his book. The Biblical authors were interested in observing the barriers that emerge in these four levels of competency. And, the Biblical writers were interested in proposing a solution to the problem those barriers created.

The competency the Bible was most interested in is the competency of being human. Many people assume that the Bible is all about God and humanity’s search for God. This is only partially true. The Bible is about humanity evading God, rejecting God and rejecting who God has called us as to be.

The Bible is also about God seeking us and finding us in Jesus Christ. The purpose of Christ is not to answer religious questions. The purpose of Christ is to call humanity back to its true nature. The purpose of Christ is to restore what we lost.
The Bible sets forth the proposition that there are two basic ways of being human. There is the way of Adam. And, there is the way of Jesus Christ.

The way of Adam is the way of power. It is the exercise of real choice through the will to power. It is the way of demand backed by threat. It is also the subversion of love, the distortion of holiness and the corruption of grace. The way of Adam is the way of fear, self will and pride. It is the way of being human characterized and defined by sin and death.

The Bible observes that regardless of the level of competency we achieve in our lives we have all chosen to remain at the primary level of unconscious incompetence in terms of being human. The Bible also observes that we actually choose to remain at this level so that we never encounter a challenge to our unconscious incompetence. The choice of Adam to separate from God is the choice to abandon the next step in growth: the level of conscious incompetence. To use Covey’s vocabulary: we not only don’t know what we don’t know we assert self will to make an active choice not to know.

The barrier we erect to block our development is pride. Pride rejects the need to grow. Pride asserts: I’m OK just as I am. If there is a problem it lies with other people, the world, God.

Jesus challenged this pride in his teaching and in his person. Jesus challenged this pride because Jesus is the one by whom, through whom and for whom God the Father created each of us. Our heavenly Father designed us to be fully human in relationship with God the Son. There is no other model for being fully human.
God wants us to grow. God wants us to develop the amazing potential for love and holiness he has placed in our souls. The growth is what we now call spiritual growth. It is spiritual growth because it is rooted in the most fundamental level of our being- at the level of the soul.

The soul defines who we are as a species and who we may become as an individual. From the soul we mold our minds, hearts and wills to form our identity. With Christ we form a unique authentic personal identity. Apart from Christ we form a false ego based on the assumptions and demands of the surrounding culture. There is ultimately a dull tedious sameness to the false ego. It is a monotone of a single syllable: me.
The soul lost in separation is a soul that endlessly repeats me, me, me in order to drown out the authentic personal identity God has placed within us.

In his sermon on the mount Jesus provides a corrective commentary on the Law of Moses. Jesus does not reinvent the law or abolish the Law. He does challenge us to discern how human pride subverts divine principle and keeps us locked and lost in the Adamic nature of sin and death. That is the level of willful unconscious incompetence. That is the level of the monotonous “me”.

Jesus introduces his corrective commentary on the Law by acknowledging where we are stuck. “You have heard it said.”

You have heard it said that murder is a violation of the Law. That is true. But it is incomplete. Wake up. Pay attention. Ask yourselves the questions that lead to understanding and wisdom. Ask: what is the underlying principle that forms the reality of this law?

You have heard it said that if a man wants to divorce his wife he can follow a certain legal procedure and end the marriage. That is true. It is also incomplete. Wake up. Pay attention. Question. Discern the principles that define marriage before you apply the Law to dissolve marriage.

You have heard it said to keep your vows. That is true. Can you by an act of will alone do this? Does the vow give you power over your sin nature? Is there a better way? Ask: where am I stuck in the false ego? Where do I exist and choose by not choosing, by default? How can I live by conscious intent?

When Jesus states: “you have heard it said” he is asking us to examine our assumptions and our habits. He is offering us a way through unconscious incompetence by encouraging us to question . And, he is offering himself as the guide on the path to spiritual growth and maturity.

There are currently two ways of being human. There is the way of Adam. That way rejects the plan and purpose of God for our souls. That way creates and sustains and defends a false ego based in the will to power. That way keeps us locked and lost at the level of unconscious incompetence. It is the way of the surrounding culture. It seems right and it seems normal because it is the way our educational system, entertainment, academic and political system instructs us to think. It is the way the soul remains lost and it is the way we choose not to choose.

The Bible describes this way of being human as the sin nature and the way of death. In order to remain on this way we need to ignore, suppress and distort the image and likeness of God in our souls. As we follow this way, the way of Adam, we in fact kill our authentic self in order to create and sustain a false ego.

It may seem esoteric and complicated. Fortunately, the Bible approaches the issue in a very simple and straightforward manner. The Bible encourages us to examine our assumptions about life and our actions in life.

Jesus gives us the model in his sermon on the mount. You have heard it said. But- is it true? Is what you have learned consistent with divine principles revealed in the Bible? Is the way you set your priorities and achieve you goals grounded in the love and holiness of God? Or, is it grounded in the individual will to power?

The primary purpose of the church Christ founded on the day of Pentecost is the salvation and sanctification of souls. It is the restoration of the image and likeness of God in each of us. It is the invitation to wake up and make a conscious choice to grow and to mature into the nature of the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

To accomplish this great and wonderful purpose we need to ask ourselves: are we willing to move from unconscious incompetence into conscious incompetence? Are will willing to admit that we don’t know what we don’t know but we want to grow? Are we willing to trust God that the best way of being human is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

God does not just give us a book and leave us alone to try to figure it out. God gives us his Son, Jesus Christ, to be our constant companion and guide on this path of spiritual growth and maturity. God gives us the Holy Spirit to offer advice and strength and courage to wake up, ask questions, and make changes. God places us in a community of faith to encourage each other and to support each other.

As we approach Lent, ask the Holy Spirit to help you examine one assumption you have about life. Ask: is this true? Don’t get mad- get even. Is this true? Everybody is against me and if I don’t demand my rights I will never get what I want. Is this true? Other people exist to serve me. Is this true? If some one pushes me I will push back even harder. Is this true?

The call to self examination is not the call to self obsession. It is the call to wake up into a new and wonderful process of effortless effort. It is the call to see where the false ego covers the true self. It is the opportunity to wake up and to live life fully and joyfully by conscious intent.

Jesus teaches: you have heard it said. Jesus encourage us to take next step and ask the question: is it true?