Father Snort

Brad Sullivan 6 Epiphany, Year A February 12, 2017 Emmanuel, Houston Sirach 15:15-20 Matthew 5:21-37 The Quest “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” That’s where we left off last week in Jesus’ sermon in Matthew chapter 5. At a first hearing, it sounds like Jesus is giving a major, “you’ve got to be good enough for God” kind of statement. “You’ve got to be righteous enough in God’s eyes in order to be good enough for God.” That’s certainly where my teenage brain took this passage when I read it back in high school. “Man, I’ve got to be even better that the religious leaders in order to be good enough for God?” Yikes! Well, I’ve got a few critiques to that particular understanding of Jesus and the Gospel. The