Midweek Homily: Jesus fulfills in the modern chaos
Rev. Vicky Curtiss and I led a reconciliation retreat at Siena Retreat Center in Racine, Wisconsin that included a ritual of casting burdens like stones into the water to be washed away. Photo: Gerald Farinas.
Today’s reading from the Lectionary is from Matthew 5:17-19.
Several of you have told me that when you turn on the news you feel like the world is just changing too fast. Everything you once knew is different. Younger people’s values are foreign.
I feel the same sometimes.
But what of your own grandparents thought of your generation? They probably said the same thing.
Nevertheless, yes, there is a chaos in our national politics, and chaos in the world, and it is hard to find hope in what always has been with all that is new.
In a world that seems to change by the hour, it’s natural to feel unsteady.
Values shift, traditions fade, and sometimes it feels like the very ground beneath us is moving.
But in the middle of that swirl, Jesus speaks words that anchor us, “I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them.”
Jesus is saying, “I’m not here to tear everything down. I’m here to bring it to its true and complete purpose.”
For those worried about the world letting go of what’s good, this is a word of peace.
God’s plan hasn’t been derailed.
Jesus didn’t discard what came before.
He revealed its fullness.
Think of the Law not as a burden, but as a road sign pointing toward Him.
Keep doing what you’re doing: loving your neighbor, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, sheltering the homeless, giving mercy and compassion to all around you.
You are upholding the Law when you do!
And by doing that, you point others to Him!
The sacrifices, the commands, the promises—they all find their meaning in Jesus. And that means God hasn’t changed His mind or His character.
What was holy still is.
What was true still stands.
Jesus even says that not one “iota or dot” will pass away until all is accomplished.
In a culture where everything feels up for grabs, this is our stability: God’s Word does not shift with the winds.
Christ has fulfilled what we could never fulfill ourselves, and now He invites us not into fear, but into faithfulness.
So what do we do in changing times?
We lean into the unchanging truth of God’s Word.
We walk in obedience—not out of fear, but out of love for the One who fulfilled the Law for us.
And we remember: though the world may change, Christ has not.
His promises are still good.
His kingdom is still coming.
And we are still His.
This is a homily from worship at Sophia Chapel in the former Swedish Home in Evanston, Illinois.
