KN Essays

"Liar, Liar" A sermon on Matthew 5:33-37 Preached on 17 February 2002 By Jeff Krajewski Common Ground Christian Church Indianapolis, IN Published here with permission Click Here for a printable version in MS Word format We must always keep the greater context in our minds as we look at the specific teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. It would be very easy for us to forget the context by which Jesus is addressing these individual issues. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and all that the Prophets spoke about. He is righteousness in the flesh. It is in this context that Jesus contrasts Himself against the supposed righteousness of the Pharisees who believed that they had correctly "interpreted" the law of God and had attained righteousness before God by their good deeds. Now, before their very eyes, stood the true fulfillment of the law, everything that they had hoped they were and pretended to be now stood on a mountainside teaching a correct understanding of righteousness before God. Jesus used this as an opportunity to draw a comparison between the Pharisees religious externalism and true righteousness. It is in the contrast between what the Pharisees were teaching and what the true spirit of the Law was meant to accomplish that we get a complete understanding of the intentions of the Ten Commandments. Jesus is the fulfillment of all righteousness. The law was given to illuminate our sin, and Jesus came to illuminate righteousness. What we see is that apart from Jesus, there is no righteousness to be found. Jesus goes right down the line addressing all of the major issues of His day and of our day as well. He shows us that though we may appear to be righteous, meaning we haven't slept with another persons spouse or killed another person, that the spirit of the law went much deeper than simple, outward acts of goodness. The heart of the matter is found in the matters of the heart. The matters of the heart are the lust and the anger and the deceitfulness that marks us on the inside, when on the outside we may appear to be clean. This was the life of a Pharisee. Outward righteousness and inward sinfulness. And we too must be careful to see that our righteousness from God comes in the sacrifice of the fulfillment of the Law on our behalf. Jesus, the perfect example also became the perfect sacrifice. We are made right by His death. Allegiance to a church or a denomination, or a country, or to a particular teacher has no value in your citizenship in heaven. Jesus came, declaring the arrival of the Kingdom of God and calling us to repent and be baptized into the citizenship of a new kingdom and under the reign of a new King. Obedience to the new King is the call of the disciple. We receive citizenship in heaven through Jesus Christ. Our new life as Disciples in God's kingdom requires obedience. As we obediently adopt this new ethic, this new way of living, we will look foolish to those who are still living under the deception of Satan. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins to teach His disciples about this new way of life. It doesn't take long before we see that the ways of the Kingdom of God and the ways of the world are directly opposite one another. You cannot live as a citizen of heaven and a citizen of this world. You must choose one. To choose Jesus will mean that you will be called to live as He lived, to act as He acted, to love as He loved. It is in this new behavior that we define ourselves as the church. And not that we define ourselves, but that our discipleship, our peculiar behavior when contrasted with the world defines us. It is not by our words, but our lives testify to the kingdom of God having arrived like a rushing river calling anyone to jump in and enjoy the salvation adventure. Tonight we invite you to jump in and to enjoy the adventure with us. This isn't our story, it is God's. He was writing it long before we came and will continue to write it after we are gone. We are not calling you to join our institution or to ascribe to the new face that we have put on the old church. We are a peculiar people, called by God and saved by faith in Jesus Christ. It is to that end that we intently study the ancient writings of a Jewish carpenter named Jesus and his band of misfit followers who were inspired by God to write the text that help us to understand life in a new kingdom. Do Not Swear (Matthew 5:33-37) The world teaches us that our words are meaningless. We grow up thinking the worst of people's words, not trusting people at what they say. We are skeptical of salesman. When someone tells us they love us, we aren't really sure what they mean. We live amongst a people of unclean lips. We don't know how to tell the truth. We are liars. And so we say things like, I promise, or I swear on a stack of Bibles, or as God is my witness. And we do this so that we can add credibility to our already compromised integrity. There is an add on the radio right now. The exchange is between a mother and a daughter and the mother cannot believe that her daughter answered the phone like she said she would. The company is selling its product on the premise that everyone lies, but they tell the truth. It is unfortunate that we live in a society that glorifies half truths and innuendos. "Honey do I look ok in this dress?" Our politicians lie to us while kissing our babies and we believe as Christians, if we could just get some good Evangelicals in Washington, where deception is the name of the game, we would be so well off as a country. We have lost our integrity as a nation and in the church, we have done the same. We tell people to come to Jesus, it's easy. You're almost there, just make the decision to follow Jesus. All the while we forget that the call of Jesus is not easy and citizenship in this new kingdom is not something that can be entered into lightly. God is calling you to change the way in which you think, act, and feel. He is calling you to die to everything that you used to be. We, as a church, need to be more truthful with ourselves and with the world. You might think that this is not such a big deal. It's not like we are killing anyone when we click on the I AGREE bar of the software license agreement that we just installed from a pirated copy that our friend gave us. Bill Gates is making loads of money, what is one more copy going to hurt. Or when we tell someone we will be there at 8:00 and at 8:22 we come smiling in the door. Or when we commit to help someone move and then bail out at the last minute, knowing that others will be there and they won't miss us. Our words are meaningless and as citizens of a new kingdom, Jesus is instructing us to say what we mean and mean what we say. What Moses and the Law taught Jesus quotes an accepted saying of the day, "Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord." Though everyone that He was speaking to understood this statement to be an accepted religious standard, we cannot find these words in Scripture anywhere. Really, this is a fairly accurate summary of many OT instructions. The problem isn't found in the wording of the instruction, but in the practice. This, like the instruction on divorce, is a twisted version of an earlier instruction in the Law. What Jesus is referring to is an interpretation of the 3rd commandment in Exodus 20:7, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Swearing an oath and then calling on the name of God to add security to that oath or asking that if you break it, for Him to punish you was considered taking the name of God in vein. Misuse in the 3rd commandment means literally, "to lift it up to or attach it to emptiness." The 3rd commandment was designed to encourage truth telling in all circumstances, not just when the name of Yahweh was called upon. God cannot be a party to emptiness and His people should reflect Him. God's instruction to the Israelites was to tell the truth, to be honest with your speech and to not use the name of God in association with lies. Ecclesiastes 5:1-6 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin." Moses instructed the Israelites to stay away from the practice of swearing by the name of God. Leviticus 19:12 "'Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. Numbers 30:2 When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said. The idea was that we are to be truth tellers and if we have to call on the name of God in order to validate our own words, than there must be sin behind the words. Well, what about swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? What about the court room? Again, we have not been called to avoid vows, but to tell the truth. If someone asks you to testify for them, under oath, tell the truth. The same thing applies when someone asks you a question outside of a courtroom, tell the truth. Is that it? Is that the sum total of what Jesus was talking about and the third commandment was intended to accomplish? It isn't ironic or coincidental that Jesus instruction on truth telling follows directly his instruction on divorce. We so often rush into the house of God to pledge a vow without first considering it. Jesus isn't saying that we shouldn't make a vow before God, He is simply saying, keep your word. God has no pleasure in empty promises, fulfill your vows. Jesus is reminded us that obedience in the kingdom of God demands that we tell the truth. The Pharisees Interpretation Again, it is obvious that this goes against the teachings of the Pharisees who completely missed the intention of God in His commands to His people. They had focused their intentions on the formula of the oath rather than the truth telling the oath was meant to promote. The Pharisees had made special stipulations on the whole idea of oaths. Jesus condemns them in detail later in Matthew 23:16-22 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. The Pharisees had some weird ideas about what constituted a solemn and binding oath and what was not a binding oath. They were the judges in handling disputes. So if Joe and Jim had entered into an agreement based on Joe's word sealed by his oath, sworn on the alter, it wasn't binding. But if Joe swore on his word on the gift that was on the alter, then he would be responsible. They had these little rules that allowed them to get away with just about anything and to not tell the truth. Jesus, in Matthew 5, explains that it isn't only the name of God that is to be revered, but also the creation of God. Heaven is the place where God sits, He owns it. The earth is where God rests His feet, it is His, not yours. Jerusalem is the city of the Great King, Jesus, not your city. Even your head is not yours, you cannot turn one hair a different color, but God can. Jesus proclaims a woe to them and says, "Don't elevate the form of religion above the function of righteousness." The Pharisees made these rules so that they could appear to be telling the truth and still lie. Yet the spirit of the Law of God was that we tell the truth all the time, no exceptions. Jesus says that anything beyond yes or no is from sin. Anything beyond the yes or no comes from Satan. Tell the Truth all the Time, No Exceptions We don't have to go far from the teaching's of Jesus to see that the early Christians still struggled with these issues. Paul tells the Colossians as part of their new life in the new kingdom to not lie to each other. Our community should express itself differently as we relate to each other in Christ. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are baptized into Him. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Because we belong to Him, because we have crucified our old way of life by dying to that life, we are truth tellers. What if our salvation was based on the Word of a God who sometimes delivered and sometimes did not? What if we thought there was a good chance that God was going to fulfill His covenant? Yet we see throughout Scripture that God does what He says He will do. When He makes a promise, He keeps His promise. Hebrews 6:13-19 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It is impossible for God to lie, to tell us one thing and do something else. It doesn't matter if the circumstances change, or if we don't live up to our end of the bargain. Our hope is firmly anchored in the character of God who tells the truth, all of the time. It should follow, then that our church, the community that is springing up out of people who are obediently following the example of Jesus, would also tell the truth to each other, all of the time, with no exceptions. That seems a bit unrealistic, doesn't it? Telling the truth, all of the time, might seem to be nearly impossible. Your ears are too big, your dress looks bad, who cut your hair? It would seem that if we are truthful all of the time, that no one would like to talk with you. Even with more important issues, character issues. When we share the truth with people, sometimes it hurts. The truth isn't always an easy thing to hear. Friendships are lost, feelings are hurt, so what do we do? We need to remember that the Gospel isn't meant to make us feel good. The Gospel of Jesus is a Gospel of conflict. We forget that Jesus was killed for telling the truth. Jesus didn't die on the cross so that you would feel better or have a higher self-esteem. He died so that you might be saved from the lies of Satan by the truth of Heaven. The truth of the Gospel points out victory and illuminates sin. In our world, people are attracted to communities that allow them to escape the sometimes painful process of transformation and obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet we have been called to tell the truth. (cf Hebrew 4:12-13) Telling the Truth in an Atmosphere of Love - The Example of Jesus The issue isn't whether or not we are to tell the truth all of the time, that is non-negotiable. Our problem is that we are trying to fit the Gospel of Jesus into the dominate culture. We see that telling the truth all of the time is hard in the world that we live. Our challenge isn't to figure out how to tell the truth in the world, but to be the community of Jesus Christ that supports truth telling as the standard that we are to live for. What will it take for us to be the community of faith? An atmosphere of love - Paul tells the Colossians that the one thing that binds them together, the one distinctive that allows the Gospel to be lived out in real life is to, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." We can be a people of truth, who tell the truth, all of the time, when we have an understanding of the love that binds us all together. The love not of this world, which is self-serving, but the love of heaven that is self-sacrificing. · Selfish love tears down and points out fault so that we can feel better about ourselves. · Selfless love builds up and points out opportunities for growth through prayer and relationship. Truth cannot be told outside of a relationally loving context. Jesus is the ultimate example of truth and love. Ex. Woman at the well, Peter. Ex. Dr. Laura and Dr. Phil. Both are telling the truth often times Biblical truth, but there is no context of Christ like love and relationship. The church is the only opportunity for the world to see that God is redeeming them from the lie of Satan. The Gospel is empty outside of a loving, caring, communal expression of people living in such a way. We are that people called to live in such a way that God can tell His story through us. "Once we were not a people, now we are the people of God." We cannot do that if we do not embrace Jesus as the way the truth and the life. We are strangers and aliens in a world that desperately needs to hear the truth and so rarely is able to see it from the church or from those who call themselves followers of Jesus. We are to let our yes be yes and our no be no. We are to tell the truth, all of the time, no exceptions. Anything else is from sin.