Learning to be patient with laws and lawgivers
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said: “Now, Israel, hear the
statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and
may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your
fathers, is giving you. Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the
LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are
entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of
your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these
statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is therethat has gods so close to it as the LORD, our
God, is to us whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this
whole law which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the
things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as
long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s
children.”
Several years ago I
visited Washington D.C. and took a tour of the U.S. Capitol. Have you seen it? I learned something amazing: in the House
Chamber there are side portraits -- bas reliefs -- of 23 great lawgivers
throughout history. Among them are
Hammurabai, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon I, and even Pope Innocent III. What's even more fascinating is that all the
reliefs are seen from the side, except one, the central portrait of Moses. Moses' face is depicted from the front, a
full view. What's even more mind-blowing
is the other 22 reliefs are on either side of Moses -- 11 on his right and 11
on his left -- all facing toward Moses.
The art in the House Chamber conveys one clear message: among all human
lawmakers, Moses enjoys pride of place.
Why? Moses legislated not merely
human laws, but divine laws. Our U. S.
Representatives would do well to look up often and remember in whose footsteps
they walk.
The greatest image of Moses, however, is not found in D.C.
but in Rome, Michaelangelo's Moses, in the Church of St. Peter in Chains. The statue is so life-like that after
Michaelangelo finished it, he took a hammer, hit Moses' knee and said,
"Speak!" There are a few
people I'd like to hit with a hammer and say, "Shut up!" But I believe Michaleangelo wasn't just
patting himself on the back for another masterpiece. Rather, when he hit Moses' knee, he made a
crack (still visible today), a flaw in that perfect sculpture. And when he declared, "Speak!"
Michaelangelo remembered Moses' great flaw.
Do you recall it? Moses
st-st-st-stuttered. The greatest
lawgiver in human history -- someone who finally had something worthwhile to
say -- couldn't speak well. Michaelangelo's point was that no human
lawgiver is perfect, even those who legislate God's laws. Laws and lawgivers are always a work in
progress; they are never perfect.
Today's first reading is from the book of Deuteronomy. But do you know what the word
"deuteronomy" means? It comes
from two Greek words, "deutero" and "nomos," which
literally mean "second law."
The people couldn't keep the original law of God, the Ten Commandments,
so Moses created thousands of exceptions and provisos and loopholes so that the
people could keep MOST of the law. The
whole book of Deuteronomy is Moses telling the people that laws are always a
work in progress; be patient with the laws and be patient with the lawgivers,
and most of all be patient with the people who must obey the laws.
Keep this in mind whenever you hear about human laws:
immigration laws, or abortion laws, or about same-sex marriage laws or about
tax laws. Some laws we like and some
laws we don't. Some laws we'd really
like OTHER people to obey! But all laws
are a work in progress; all laws st-st-st-stutter in trying to convey God's
eternal laws. The last law of the
Church's Code of Canon Law states, "The highest law is the salvation of
souls." In the end, the salvation
of souls will be the only law that matters.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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