Greater Righteousness 2
Matthew 5: 27 – 32.
I. Introduction.
Three years ago, I preached a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments. I taught you an easy way to use your fingers to remember the Ten Commandments in their proper order. The Seventh Commandment literally reads, “Do not commit adultery.” However, I usually edit this one when I am with children to say, “Do not break your marriage promise.” Ultimately, that is what adultery is. On one hand, it is a sexual sin. On the other hand, it is breaking the lifelong marriage promise between a man and a woman.
On Thursday night of last week, the ABC News program “Nightline” broadcast an episode from a church in Texas. Evidently they are doing a series on the Ten Commandments, and Thursday night was dedicated to the Seventh Commandment.
The program consisted of a panel discussion with the Nightline reporter sitting in the middle of the stage. On her right were two people who were arguing IN FAVOR of adultery. On her left were two people arguing against adultery. I didn’t get to watch the entire program, but the entire 90 minute panel interview is available online at www.abcnews.com under the “Ten Commandments” link.
The idea that two people would publicly argue IN FAVOR of adultery would have been a big surprise to Moses. I’m sure that when Moses presented the Ten Commandments to God’s people on Mount Sinai, he probably thought this was one of the more obvious commandments. Do not commit adultery, or do not break your marriage promise, is an obvious commandment. When marriages break down, the society is not far behind. Marriage is the backbone of the culture.
I realize that not everyone present today is married. But, when Jesus spoke these words, he wasn’t speaking only to married people either. I think you will notice that Jesus took an Old Testament principle for married people and expanded it to include married people, people who hope to get married some day and singles. In other words, Jesus took a marriage principle and applied it to everyone—at least it applies to all Christians.
In Matthew 5: 20 Jesus said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” This verse tells us that following Jesus as a Christian requires a “Greater Righteousness.” Then, Jesus took six Old Testament commandments and showed us how our righteousness is supposed to be greater than the Pharisees. Today, we are going to look at his second and third examples.
Read Matthew 5: 27 – 32.
The Old Testament understanding of “adultery” was a very specific understanding. It did not refer to sexual relations before marriage. It only referred to sexual relations outside of marriage—a husband or a wife cheating on their spouse.
Interestingly, the Old Testament afforded more sexual freedom to husbands than wives. For example, the Old Testament allowed a man to have more than one wife in cases where his first wife was not able to provide him with children. However, a woman was never permitted to have a second husband.
Jesus’ teaching on adultery is very similar to his teaching on murder—which we looked at last Sunday. The commandment “Do not commit murder” places the boundary between obedience and sin at the wrong place. In other words, it is possible to keep the commandment “Do not murder,” while still being guilty of anger, hatred and calling other people hurtful names. Jesus took the external commandment about murder and moved the boundary. It is not good enough to resist the temptation to murder while harboring anger and hatred in your heart. Anger and hatred are just as sinful as murder.
II. Lust = Adultery of the Heart.
There are several key words and phrases in verse 27, which demonstrate how Jesus has moved the boundary of this commandment.
Adultery…Again, this is a word that refers specifically to “breaking a marriage promise.” In the Old Testament, both men and women could be guilty of adultery, but there was a double standard. A woman was guilty of adultery if she was married and had sexual relations with any man other than her own husband. A man was guilty of adultery ONLY if he had sexual relations with a wife of another man. If a husband had relations with an unmarried woman, it was not considered adultery. This kind of activity was still considered a sin, but it was not adultery. Instead, it was more like stealing, because the ancient world viewed women as the property of the men in their lives. A wife was the property of her husband. An unmarried woman was the property of her father. A man who had relations with an unmarried woman had stolen something from her father
Anyone…This is why I say Jesus was not just speaking to married people. Adultery is “breaking a marriage promise,” and it only applies to married men and women. But Jesus did NOT restrict his words to married men. Jesus said, “anyone” can be guilty of adultery. It does not matter what your marital status might be—married, single, widowed, divorced. It does not matter how old you might be—teenager, young adult, middle aged, senior adult. Jesus has given this commandment to “anyone.”
A Woman…This word could present us with some unusual problems with interpretation. For example, we could take this literally and say that Jesus is only talking to men. Women are exempt from this teaching. But there are at least two reasons why we shouldn’t be so literal. First, lust is a sin which affects men significantly more than women. Second, Jesus is reinterpreting the adultery commandment and expanding it equally to apply to both men and women. The Old Testament—and the application of the Old Testament—created a double standard. Men had more loopholes to help them avoid the prohibition against adultery. Not anymore. Men, Jesus is holding you to a higher standard. This standard is not higher than Jesus’ standard for women. It is higher than anything required in the Old Testament.
Lustfully…The pastor in the Nightline program on adultery was Ed Young, Jr. of Dallas. He made a great statement on the program: “Lust is a God-given desire gone haywire.” In fact, the Greek word for lust is the same as the word for “desire.” It will help us to understand the concept of lust by thinking of it as “the desire to have” something. This is similar to the Tenth Commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Exodus 20: 17).” Notice that the Tenth Commandment includes a man’s wife as one of his possessions: wife, ox and donkey are described as things. This is what it means to lust after a woman: to think of a woman as a piece of property—or a thing. There is a big difference between a person and a thing. A person is an equal—he or she has been created in the image of God, just as you have. Things have not been created in the image of God—they are simply objects to be used for our pleasure. To lust is to objectify women, to think of women as objects to serve my desires rather than a person created in the image of God.
In His Heart…Jesus has moved the boundary for this commandment. Adultery is a sin of the body. Lust is a sin of the heart. And Jesus equates the two. It is not enough to resist the temptation to commit adultery. If you objectify women by harboring lust in your heart, you are already guilty of sin.
III. Lust Requires Radical Avoidance.
We can summarize Jesus’ teaching on adultery by saying that lust is a sin of the heart that affects a man’s soul. There are eternal consequences at stake. This is not simply a matter of living up to a certain ethical standard. Jesus said this sin can affect your soul. That is what he means by referring to Hell.
On the negative side, lust is a matter of Heaven and Hell. On the positive side, Jesus teaches us that lust can be controlled. Jesus does not agree with the modern day theories that men cannot be faithful to their wives. Jesus does not provide men with excuses such as “It’s in the nature of men to look at pretty women.” No. Jesus says that lust is a radical sin of the heart, which requires radical action to avoid falling prey to sin.
He illustrates this with two radical and grotesque examples: If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. This is not the only place where Jesus makes this statement. In Matthew 18, Jesus repeated his words about plucking out your eye and cutting off your hand. Then, he added: “If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off…”
I do not believe this is to be taken literally. If we were to follow Jesus’ words literally, How many of us would be blind AND crippled? The church is not a place for perfect people to gather to keep ourselves separate from the sinners outside. The church is a place for sinners to find forgiveness and remedy—like a hospital for sinners.
I believe this is hyperbole. Jesus is stating a couple of extreme examples to show us how we should take extreme measures to avoid sin.
First, there is a message for men. There are no excuses for lust. It is not the result of your God-given desire. No. It is a perversion of your God-given desire. A husband’s desire is to be limited to his own wife. And there is no excuse for thinking of women as objects to serve your desires. These kinds of desires can be controlled ONLY if we take radical steps to avoid lust. You won’t have to pluck out your eyes if you discipline yourself to look away—as if you are blind to sin. You won’t have to cut off your hand if you put filters on your Internet (and let your wife be the only one who knows the password)—as if those websites do not even exist. You won’t have to cut off your foot if you have someone in your life to keep you from going places where you should not go—accountability among men is one of the best ways to avoid tempting situations.
Second, there is a message for women. Women, men notice the way you dress. (I truly believe you already knew this, but now that I have said it, you can’t say you didn’t know.) I am in no way trying to blame the victims, legislate how you dress or take away your freedom. But you need to know that men like to look at pretty things. Have you ever noticed the way men look at a new pickup? When a man gets a new truck, he drives it to his friends so they can look at it and grunt. The same thing is true about a fishing boat. We look at the truck and boat and dream about having one just like it. Women, you are not a truck or a boat. You are a person created in the image of God. But sometimes you dress like you want us to look at you like a boat.
IV. Jesus’ Teaching on Divorce.
Adultery and lust are both sins against God. When David confessed his sin in Psalm 51, he said, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…(Psalm 51: 4)” Yet, the consequences of these sins affect marriage.
Jesus’ teachings on divorce are probably the hardest teachings in the entire Bible. I think this is the first time I have ever addressed these verses in my 10+ years as a pastor. This is a hard teaching, because it comes from Jesus. I am not inclined to read Jesus’ words and interpret them by saying, “What he said is this, but what he meant was…” This is Jesus talking! He said what he meant. It is also hard, because this is not the only time Jesus said these words. Matthew, for example, records this teaching of Jesus twice: Matthew 5 and 19. (And Paul makes a similar statement in 1 Corinthians 7.) If Jesus said this more than once, then we have to take Jesus’ words seriously.
Certificate of Divorce…There is no Old Testament commandment that defines how a man can divorce his wife. Deuteronomy 24: 1 – 4, describes a divorce case and assumes a precedent for divorce. This precedence includes a reference to a “certificate of divorce.” Most scholars indicate that a man could divorce his wife by giving her a written pronouncement that included the words, “You are free to marry any man.” Divorce gave the ex-husband and ex-wife the freedom to remarry.
Marital Unfaithfulness…This is the only exception Jesus mentioned. The NIV translates this as “marital unfaithfulness,” but the literal Greek word is porneia, which is a reference to sexual sin in general.
Causes Her to Become an Adulteress…This is the phrase that gives us the most trouble. But this is not the best translation. Literally, this says, “makes her commit adultery.” As strange as these words sound to our modern ears, this is ultimately a statement about marriage as a divine institution.
If the state of Texas declares a man and woman husband and wife, then the state of Texas can dissolve that union. However, if God declares a man and woman husband and wife, then the state of Texas has no jurisdiction to dissolve what God has done. If God put a couple together, then regardless of what the state of Texas says, the couple is still married. Relations outside of that union are adultery.
Remember how I said that Jesus addressed his words about adultery and lust to married people and singles? Here Jesus is only speaking to married people. If you are married, these are Jesus’ words to you. This is a warning and prohibition against divorce. If you are already divorced, then I think there is another message.
Adultery is a sin. But it is not beyond the grace of God. You can be forgiven and restored. Divorce is never God’s plan for your life. If you are married, don’t get divorced. If you are divorced, you are not beyond the grace of God. You can be restored. God can redeem any circumstance of your life.
V. Conclusion.
Christian marriage is a reflection of God in the world. On one hand, Christian marriage is supposed to be free from sexual sins—adultery and lust. On the other hand, Christian marriage is to reflect Christian forgiveness and reconciliation. If we cannot forgive the people we live with, how can we forgive others? If we cannot reconcile the relationships closest to us, how can we be reconciled with the world?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009: Greater Righteousness (Part 1)
Greater Righteousness
Matthew 5: 21 – 26.
I. Introduction.
There is an interesting phrase that is repeated many times in the Old Testament: “Thus sayeth the LORD.” Some Old Testament scholars would refer to this as a “prophetic formula.” That is simply a fancy way of saying, “anytime a prophet speaks in the Old Testament, he begins with the words, ‘Thus sayeth the LORD.’”
I find the prophetic formula interesting for a couple of reasons. On one hand, it shows us what prophecy really is. Prophecy is not primarily about predicting future events. Prophecy is speaking God’s word to God’s people. Old Testament prophecy does, in fact, contain many predictive prophecies. However, the predictive nature of the prophecies has less to do with the nature of prophecy (or prophets) than it does with the nature of the One who originally gave the words to the prophet. God said it; therefore the words can be trusted. God’s word is always true…Even when God’s word contains descriptions of events that have not yet occurred in history. When the prophet announced, “Thus sayeth the LORD,” the people had a clear signal that the words could be trusted.
On the other hand, the prophet never claimed to have authority within himself. In fact, true prophets do not take credit for their words. “Thus sayeth the LORD,” shifts the authority away from a human preacher to the divine source of the words.
In my understanding of prophecy, these are two things that have never changed. Prophecy is simply speaking God’s word to God’s people. This is my role as a preacher. God’s word is the Bible. The church is God’s people. It is my responsibility as a prophet to speak God’s word to God’s people. I do not preach poetry, history or even current events. I am called by God to preach his word. I do not claim to have authority. My only authority is the Bible. If you question my authority, do so by comparing my words with the word of God.
This was also the case in Jesus’ day. Ancient Jewish rabbis did not speak on their own authority. They appealed to a greater authority whenever they spoke. It was common for the ancient rabbis to begin their teachings with phrases like, “Abraham said;” “Moses said;” or “David said.” All the rabbis did this, except one. Jesus did not appeal to a greater authority. In fact, Jesus set himself up as an authority. He spoke like no other rabbi or prophet before him. At times Jesus said, “Verily, Verily (Truly, Truly) I say to you…” Other times Jesus said, “You have heard it said…But I say to you…”
Jesus set himself up as the authority for our lives. Can he do this? Is it acceptable for Jesus to speak with such authority?
Read Matthew 5: 21 – 26.
Last Sunday, we read in Matthew 5: 17 that Jesus came into the world to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. He did not come to abolish (or set aside) the Old Testament. Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament.
Jesus kept all the requirements of the Law.
Jesus lived up to all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.
Jesus accomplished the intentions of the Old Testament.
Jesus satisfied the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.
Therefore, as the only person who has fulfilled the Old Testament, Jesus does have the authority he claims for himself. Jesus could have used his authority to tell us to discard the Old Testament. Yet, he did not. Instead, Jesus used his authority to interpret the Old Testament properly and finally. In other words, when Jesus interprets the Bible, he is telling us what the Bible really means AND what the Bible will always mean.
He begins his interpretation of the Bible by describing the true meaning of the Sixth Commandment: Do not murder.
Do not murder is a better translation of the Sixth Commandment than “Thou shalt not kill.” It’s a better translation for at least two reasons. First, the Hebrew of the Sixth Commandment refers to an act of murder, and not to other types of “killing.” Second, the Old Testament does not forbid killing animals for the purpose of food or religious sacrifices. (It is completely wrong to think the Sixth Commandment teaches us to be vegetarians.) In addition, the Old Testament speaks of times when it is acceptable to kill other human beings: war and capital punishment. (The Sixth Commandment addresses murder and is not the appropriate Scripture to use against war or capital punishment.)
I think Jesus began his interpretation of the Law with the Sixth Commandment, because this one is easy. Most people have never intentionally killed another human being. AND, everyone knows if they have or have not committed murder. This is one commandment that does not require a lot of thinking. Either you have murdered or you haven’t. And if you have committed murder, you probably are not likely to forget about it. Of course, this commandment also reveals something about a person’s heart.
II. Minimalist Approach to the Law.
One of the things Jesus speaks against is a minimalist interpretation of the Law. It is possible to be a bad person who has never committed murder. Every parent knows how important it is to “draw lines” or boundaries for our children. Think about a hot stove. We don’t tell a child to touch anywhere on the stove except the hot part. We tell them not to get near the stove at all. When a child first starts riding a bicycle, we don’t want them to ride into the street. But we don’t make the edge of the street the boundary. We set the boundary far away from the street.
The Sixth Commandment is different from the boundaries we set for our own children. The Sixth Commandment says, “Do not murder.” If we draw the line at murder, there’s a lot of ground to cover before we actually get to the point of intentionally taking someone’s life.
Imagine this conversation…How did things go today? Well, first I got mad; then I started calling him names; then we broke into a fist fight. But I feel really good about myself, because I didn’t kill him.
If that is what your relationships look like, then you have set your standards too low. Sure, you have not broken the Sixth Commandment. But, what about all the other things you did? Jesus has higher standards for his followers. Jesus does not ask us to view the Law as the minimum… “At least I didn’t kill anyone.” Jesus draws the boundaries farther away.
III. Intention of the Law.
If God told us in the Old Testament not to murder each other, I think it is safe to assume that God doesn’t want us to murder each other. But, Jesus seems to teach that God had another idea in mind. Murder might be a symptom of another problem, or even the result of an ongoing issue in our hearts. It is possible to be guilty of an underlying sin problem before it manifests itself in murder. Jesus said that underlying sin problem is anger.
However, this raises an interesting problem. There are at least three places in the Bible where Jesus demonstrated anger.
In Mark 3, Jesus entered into a synagogue on the Sabbath. There was a man present who had a “shriveled hand.” The Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Mark 3: 5 says, “(Jesus) looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’…”
In Mark 10, we read the famous story of people bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples “rebuked” the children and their parents. Then Mark 10: 14 says, “When Jesus saw this, he was indignant…”
Then Mark 11 tells the story of Jesus’ driving the money changers out of the Jerusalem Temple, because they had turned God’s house into a “den of robbers.”
Is Jesus here condemning himself? Or is Jesus setting up a standard for his disciples that Jesus himself did not meet?
The answer can be found in the reasons why Jesus became angry. He was angry at injustice (the Pharisees cared more about the Sabbath Law than the needs of a suffering human being); preventing people from encountering Jesus; and perversion of worship. Jesus held the Kingdom of God as his highest priority. Anything that prevented the spread of the Kingdom of God angered him.
Does your anger live up to this standard? Most of the time, our anger is the result of not getting our way. That has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. That is selfishness. Selfish anger is the root of the problem.
Selfish anger leads us to attack other people. Sometimes we attack physically. Other times we attack verbally. Jesus condemns both kinds of attacks.
The first kind of verbal attack is to call our brother “Raca.” This is an Aramaic slang term for an “empty-headed” person. It would be similar to calling someone an “idiot” today.
The second kind of verbal attack is to call anyone a “fool.” Don’t call your brother an idiot; and don’t call anyone a fool. This sounds like the exact same thing in our twenty-first century ears. But, do you remember what the Old Testament says about a “fool?” Psalm 14: 1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’…”
The Old Testament definition of a fool is a person who does not know God. A fool is morally corrupt and outside of the community of God’s people. In other words, a fool is someone who is lost and going to hell. Jesus says that if you tell someone they are going to hell, watch out! You might be in danger of hell yourself.
IV. Relationship Problems Affect Our Worship.
A common thread running throughout each of Jesus’ illustrations about selfish anger is the reality of broken relationships. Broken relationships are a fact of life. No one has ever made it through life with all relationships intact.
Jesus tells us that our relationships with other human beings affect our relationship with God. Your relationship with your husband, wife, children, boss, employee, friends, etc. will affect your ability to worship God.
Offering a sacrifice on the altar is an expression of worship. We don’t offer animal sacrifices in our worship today, because Jesus has satisfied the sacrificial requirements. However, we do offer sacrifices. Financial offerings are one form of sacrifice. Worship through song; prayer; and participation in a Sunday morning service are other expressions of sacrifice. And, if you are here today with a broken relationship, you cannot offer your best to God in worship.
Notice what Jesus said in verses 23 – 24, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
Notice that Jesus did NOT say, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that you have something against your brother…”
Jesus is not talking about the people who have offended you. Jesus is talking about the people you have offended.
Are you here today with a broken relationship? Maybe you are not responsible for the brokenness. But, maybe you ARE responsible for the brokenness.
Jesus gives us two very important instructions in this Scripture.
First, don’t murder. But to make sure that you don’t murder, draw the boundary far away from murder. Don’t be so selfish that you become angry at others.
Second, when you fail in this regard…when you get angry…when you call people names…when you are responsible for broken relationships…fix it. Reconciliation is an important part of living a Christian life. Reconciliation is Christ-like and a quality we ought to imitate. Reconciliation is important to worship. When you can’t get along with your brothers and sisters, you can’t get along with God.
V. Conclusion.
In Matthew 5: 20, Jesus said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Jesus requires his followers to have a righteousness that is greater than the righteousness found in the rest of the world.
It’s not enough simply to resist the impulse to murder. We have to address the matters of the heart—anger and reconciliation.
Matthew 5: 21 – 26.
I. Introduction.
There is an interesting phrase that is repeated many times in the Old Testament: “Thus sayeth the LORD.” Some Old Testament scholars would refer to this as a “prophetic formula.” That is simply a fancy way of saying, “anytime a prophet speaks in the Old Testament, he begins with the words, ‘Thus sayeth the LORD.’”
I find the prophetic formula interesting for a couple of reasons. On one hand, it shows us what prophecy really is. Prophecy is not primarily about predicting future events. Prophecy is speaking God’s word to God’s people. Old Testament prophecy does, in fact, contain many predictive prophecies. However, the predictive nature of the prophecies has less to do with the nature of prophecy (or prophets) than it does with the nature of the One who originally gave the words to the prophet. God said it; therefore the words can be trusted. God’s word is always true…Even when God’s word contains descriptions of events that have not yet occurred in history. When the prophet announced, “Thus sayeth the LORD,” the people had a clear signal that the words could be trusted.
On the other hand, the prophet never claimed to have authority within himself. In fact, true prophets do not take credit for their words. “Thus sayeth the LORD,” shifts the authority away from a human preacher to the divine source of the words.
In my understanding of prophecy, these are two things that have never changed. Prophecy is simply speaking God’s word to God’s people. This is my role as a preacher. God’s word is the Bible. The church is God’s people. It is my responsibility as a prophet to speak God’s word to God’s people. I do not preach poetry, history or even current events. I am called by God to preach his word. I do not claim to have authority. My only authority is the Bible. If you question my authority, do so by comparing my words with the word of God.
This was also the case in Jesus’ day. Ancient Jewish rabbis did not speak on their own authority. They appealed to a greater authority whenever they spoke. It was common for the ancient rabbis to begin their teachings with phrases like, “Abraham said;” “Moses said;” or “David said.” All the rabbis did this, except one. Jesus did not appeal to a greater authority. In fact, Jesus set himself up as an authority. He spoke like no other rabbi or prophet before him. At times Jesus said, “Verily, Verily (Truly, Truly) I say to you…” Other times Jesus said, “You have heard it said…But I say to you…”
Jesus set himself up as the authority for our lives. Can he do this? Is it acceptable for Jesus to speak with such authority?
Read Matthew 5: 21 – 26.
Last Sunday, we read in Matthew 5: 17 that Jesus came into the world to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. He did not come to abolish (or set aside) the Old Testament. Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament.
Jesus kept all the requirements of the Law.
Jesus lived up to all the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah.
Jesus accomplished the intentions of the Old Testament.
Jesus satisfied the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.
Therefore, as the only person who has fulfilled the Old Testament, Jesus does have the authority he claims for himself. Jesus could have used his authority to tell us to discard the Old Testament. Yet, he did not. Instead, Jesus used his authority to interpret the Old Testament properly and finally. In other words, when Jesus interprets the Bible, he is telling us what the Bible really means AND what the Bible will always mean.
He begins his interpretation of the Bible by describing the true meaning of the Sixth Commandment: Do not murder.
Do not murder is a better translation of the Sixth Commandment than “Thou shalt not kill.” It’s a better translation for at least two reasons. First, the Hebrew of the Sixth Commandment refers to an act of murder, and not to other types of “killing.” Second, the Old Testament does not forbid killing animals for the purpose of food or religious sacrifices. (It is completely wrong to think the Sixth Commandment teaches us to be vegetarians.) In addition, the Old Testament speaks of times when it is acceptable to kill other human beings: war and capital punishment. (The Sixth Commandment addresses murder and is not the appropriate Scripture to use against war or capital punishment.)
I think Jesus began his interpretation of the Law with the Sixth Commandment, because this one is easy. Most people have never intentionally killed another human being. AND, everyone knows if they have or have not committed murder. This is one commandment that does not require a lot of thinking. Either you have murdered or you haven’t. And if you have committed murder, you probably are not likely to forget about it. Of course, this commandment also reveals something about a person’s heart.
II. Minimalist Approach to the Law.
One of the things Jesus speaks against is a minimalist interpretation of the Law. It is possible to be a bad person who has never committed murder. Every parent knows how important it is to “draw lines” or boundaries for our children. Think about a hot stove. We don’t tell a child to touch anywhere on the stove except the hot part. We tell them not to get near the stove at all. When a child first starts riding a bicycle, we don’t want them to ride into the street. But we don’t make the edge of the street the boundary. We set the boundary far away from the street.
The Sixth Commandment is different from the boundaries we set for our own children. The Sixth Commandment says, “Do not murder.” If we draw the line at murder, there’s a lot of ground to cover before we actually get to the point of intentionally taking someone’s life.
Imagine this conversation…How did things go today? Well, first I got mad; then I started calling him names; then we broke into a fist fight. But I feel really good about myself, because I didn’t kill him.
If that is what your relationships look like, then you have set your standards too low. Sure, you have not broken the Sixth Commandment. But, what about all the other things you did? Jesus has higher standards for his followers. Jesus does not ask us to view the Law as the minimum… “At least I didn’t kill anyone.” Jesus draws the boundaries farther away.
III. Intention of the Law.
If God told us in the Old Testament not to murder each other, I think it is safe to assume that God doesn’t want us to murder each other. But, Jesus seems to teach that God had another idea in mind. Murder might be a symptom of another problem, or even the result of an ongoing issue in our hearts. It is possible to be guilty of an underlying sin problem before it manifests itself in murder. Jesus said that underlying sin problem is anger.
However, this raises an interesting problem. There are at least three places in the Bible where Jesus demonstrated anger.
In Mark 3, Jesus entered into a synagogue on the Sabbath. There was a man present who had a “shriveled hand.” The Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. Mark 3: 5 says, “(Jesus) looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’…”
In Mark 10, we read the famous story of people bringing their children to Jesus. The disciples “rebuked” the children and their parents. Then Mark 10: 14 says, “When Jesus saw this, he was indignant…”
Then Mark 11 tells the story of Jesus’ driving the money changers out of the Jerusalem Temple, because they had turned God’s house into a “den of robbers.”
Is Jesus here condemning himself? Or is Jesus setting up a standard for his disciples that Jesus himself did not meet?
The answer can be found in the reasons why Jesus became angry. He was angry at injustice (the Pharisees cared more about the Sabbath Law than the needs of a suffering human being); preventing people from encountering Jesus; and perversion of worship. Jesus held the Kingdom of God as his highest priority. Anything that prevented the spread of the Kingdom of God angered him.
Does your anger live up to this standard? Most of the time, our anger is the result of not getting our way. That has nothing to do with the Kingdom of God. That is selfishness. Selfish anger is the root of the problem.
Selfish anger leads us to attack other people. Sometimes we attack physically. Other times we attack verbally. Jesus condemns both kinds of attacks.
The first kind of verbal attack is to call our brother “Raca.” This is an Aramaic slang term for an “empty-headed” person. It would be similar to calling someone an “idiot” today.
The second kind of verbal attack is to call anyone a “fool.” Don’t call your brother an idiot; and don’t call anyone a fool. This sounds like the exact same thing in our twenty-first century ears. But, do you remember what the Old Testament says about a “fool?” Psalm 14: 1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’…”
The Old Testament definition of a fool is a person who does not know God. A fool is morally corrupt and outside of the community of God’s people. In other words, a fool is someone who is lost and going to hell. Jesus says that if you tell someone they are going to hell, watch out! You might be in danger of hell yourself.
IV. Relationship Problems Affect Our Worship.
A common thread running throughout each of Jesus’ illustrations about selfish anger is the reality of broken relationships. Broken relationships are a fact of life. No one has ever made it through life with all relationships intact.
Jesus tells us that our relationships with other human beings affect our relationship with God. Your relationship with your husband, wife, children, boss, employee, friends, etc. will affect your ability to worship God.
Offering a sacrifice on the altar is an expression of worship. We don’t offer animal sacrifices in our worship today, because Jesus has satisfied the sacrificial requirements. However, we do offer sacrifices. Financial offerings are one form of sacrifice. Worship through song; prayer; and participation in a Sunday morning service are other expressions of sacrifice. And, if you are here today with a broken relationship, you cannot offer your best to God in worship.
Notice what Jesus said in verses 23 – 24, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
Notice that Jesus did NOT say, “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that you have something against your brother…”
Jesus is not talking about the people who have offended you. Jesus is talking about the people you have offended.
Are you here today with a broken relationship? Maybe you are not responsible for the brokenness. But, maybe you ARE responsible for the brokenness.
Jesus gives us two very important instructions in this Scripture.
First, don’t murder. But to make sure that you don’t murder, draw the boundary far away from murder. Don’t be so selfish that you become angry at others.
Second, when you fail in this regard…when you get angry…when you call people names…when you are responsible for broken relationships…fix it. Reconciliation is an important part of living a Christian life. Reconciliation is Christ-like and a quality we ought to imitate. Reconciliation is important to worship. When you can’t get along with your brothers and sisters, you can’t get along with God.
V. Conclusion.
In Matthew 5: 20, Jesus said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Jesus requires his followers to have a righteousness that is greater than the righteousness found in the rest of the world.
It’s not enough simply to resist the impulse to murder. We have to address the matters of the heart—anger and reconciliation.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009: Quest for Righteousness
Quest for Righteousness
Matthew 5: 17 – 20.
I. Introduction.
Two times last year, we had groups of our church members do a small group study of the book, Just Walk Across the Room, by Bill Hybels. The book is built on the concept that the world is full of people who are “far from God.” Those of us who have a relationship with God have an awesome responsibility to share our faith with others. And sharing our faith with someone else begins with a walk across the room. Before any of us can share faith with someone else, we must build a genuine relationship with them.
In the book, Hybels describes some of the ways he shares faith with others. One of the ways Hybels uses is to draw a ladder. The top of the ladder represents God. The bottom of the ladder represents Satan. Everyone else falls somewhere on the ladder between God and Satan. At the bottom of the ladder, just above Satan, we can place evil people like Hitler and Bin Laden. At the top of the ladder, somewhere lower than God, we can place good people like Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. But, where would we place ourselves on the ladder?
I’m not as good as Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. But, I hope I’m better than Hitler and Bin Laden. I would put myself somewhere in the middle.
After placing himself on the ladder, Hybels then gives the pen to the other person. He asks them to place themselves somewhere on the ladder.
Then, Hybels asks one of the most important questions of life. What kind of plan do you have to move from your place on the ladder to the top of the ladder? What is your strategy to get into heaven? Or to become a good person?
This is what makes up most of the world’s religions. Religion is basically nothing more than a human attempt to reach God by becoming a better person. Some religions teach a set of rules and regulations to make us better people. Another way to say this is to say that religion is a quest for righteousness. Yet, notice that even the people we think of as the best representatives of humanity (the most righteous people we can think of) are still not as good as God. There is still a gap between Billy Graham and God. Perhaps we should ask, what is Billy Graham doing about the gap between himself and God?
The Bible tells us there is nothing we can do about the gap between us and God. That’s the bad news. It is impossible for you and me to become good enough to enter heaven. Yet, the bad news is not the end of the story. There is Good News.
John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10: 9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
One way we can restate this Good News is to say that the crucifixion and resurrection brings a new standard for righteousness. The righteousness God requires is not about human beings’ becoming good enough. God’s standard is the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus—the one and only Son of God, the One who died and rose again. Righteousness is not what you can do for God. Righteousness is what God has done for us through Jesus.
Read Matthew 5: 17 – 20.
In this passage, Jesus just did the same thing Bill Hybels did with the ladder illustration. The difference is that Jesus didn’t mention Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. Instead, Jesus used the scribes and Pharisees. In the same way Billy Graham is the most righteous person we can think of, the scribes and Pharisees are the most righteous people first century Jews can think of.
This idea has been lost over time, primarily through the presentation of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Of course, our perception of the Pharisees comes through the eyes of Jesus. The average first century Jews thought the Pharisees were the most righteous people they knew. The Pharisees kept all the commandments of the Law, even the smallest legal requirement. However, Jesus could see through their external righteousness and see the wickedness of their hearts.
Ultimately, this is the righteousness Jesus is talking about. Not the righteous things you can do. That is no different from the Pharisees. They kept the Law. Jesus requires that his followers have a righteousness that goes beyond the external things you and I can do. Jesus requires a righteousness of our hearts. Since no one can change his or her own heart, the righteousness Jesus requires is impossible through human effort. Righteousness of the heart is something that only Jesus can bring about—through his crucifixion and resurrection.
II. Relationship between Jesus and the Law.
A. Jesus Did Not Abolish the Law
We don’t often use the word “abolish” in daily conversation. However, I think ya’ll are smart enough to know that it means “to eliminate” or “to set aside.”
At this point I want to point out a big difference between Jesus and me. When I stand up to preach on Sundays, I begin by reading the Bible. If I do not read the Bible, I do not have any authority. The only authority I have comes from the Bible as the Word of God. God said it first. I am just interpreting God’s words and applying them to modern day life in East Texas.
Jesus did not depend on anyone else’s authority. When Jesus spoke, he actually spoke the Word of God. He is the unique Son of God. He has authority in his very nature. And he has the authority to eliminate or to set aside any or all of what God has said in the Old Testament.
B. Jesus Fulfilled the Law and Prophets
What you and I think of as the Old Testament, others refer to as the Hebrew Bible—or the Jewish Bible. The Hebrew Bible is commonly divided into three sections: Law, Prophets and Writings. The Law typically refers to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Prophets are typically the books that have a man’s name: Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc… The Writings are everything else: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, etc…
When Jesus uses the phrase “the Law and Prophets” he is actually referring to the entire Old Testament. For first century Jews, Jesus is answering the question, “What are we supposed to do with the Bible?” For twenty-first century Christians, Jesus is answering the question, “What are we supposed to do with the Old Testament?”
i. Jesus kept the requirements
There are several places we can go to find Jesus’ keeping the requirements of the Law. In the Gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus’ being faithful to the Law when he was tempted by Satan. On one hand, Jesus was faithful to the Law, because he did not sin. On the other hand, Jesus demonstrates faithfulness by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy in all three temptations. In Matthew 17, we read a story about Jesus’ paying the required Temple tax. In Matthew 26, we read how Jesus observed the Jewish Passover. Each of these were requirements. And Jesus kept them all.
ii. Jesus carried out the prophecies
Matthew seems to spend more time on this fact than the other Gospel writers. He shows us how the Old Testament prophets predicted that Jesus would be born of a virgin; born in Bethlehem; sojourn in Egypt as a child; suffer for our sins; and rise again on the third day. Jesus is the only person who has fulfilled each and every prophecy from the Old Testament.
iii. Jesus accomplished the intentions
Ultimately, the purpose of all the laws in the Old Testament was to bring human beings into an intimate and exclusive relationship with God. Yet, the Old Testament is filled with examples of how God’s people did not maintain this exclusive relationship with God. Israel was unfaithful. They turned away from God to pursue the gods of neighboring nations.
iv. Jesus satisfied the sacrifices
The sacrificial system is a large part of the Old Testament. Different sins called for different sacrifices. There were grain offerings, dove offerings, lambs, goats, oxen and bulls. There were so many different types of sacrifices that it was necessary to have a class of professional priests to determine what kind of sacrifice was needed and then to offer the sacrifice.
Jesus was not just a teacher, or a good man. Jesus gave his life as the ultimate and final sacrifice. The crucifixion of Jesus brought an end to the animal sacrifices and an end to the priestly class. Jesus became our sacrifice for all our sins as well as our priest who provides us with access to God.
C. Jesus Did Not Leave the Law Unchanged
Another way Jesus fulfilled the Law was the way he interpreted it for his followers. Jesus did not eliminate the Law. But, Jesus did not leave the Law unchanged either. He interpreted the Law in a radical new way. Only Jesus can do this, because only Jesus has the authority. None of us can re-interpret the Law, because we are not the unique Son of God.
III. Relationship between Christians and the Law.
There are a lot of people who live by the mantra, “I live under grace and not the law.” While there is some truth in that statement, I am afraid it does not take Jesus’ words seriously enough. For example, Jesus did not say that we have the freedom to choose between grace and law. Instead, he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…”
The best way to interpret Jesus’ words here is for us to add the words “for you.” In other words, Jesus did not come to do away with the Law and Prophets “for you.” You and I do not have a choice between grace and law. The Law still serves a purpose. If the Law no longer has a purpose, Jesus would have said so. Yet, he didn’t. He clearly tells us that the Law still applies to Christians. However, it is not the same old interpretation of the Law. It is the radical new interpretation that comes through Jesus.
IV. Conclusion.
In the next few weeks, we are going to look at some of the specific laws from the Old Testament that Jesus reinterpreted for his disciples. But let’s look at the way Jesus also reinterpreted a ritual from the Old Testament.
In Matthew 26, Jesus gave instructions to his disciples to prepare for the annual Passover meal. In the Old Testament, it was commanded that all Jews would observe the Passover annually to remind them of their miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt. This is the central event of salvation in the Old Testament and continues to be the defining moment for the Jews today.
The Jews were instructed to remember the Exodus in the simple act of sharing a meal together as a family. Jesus shared this meal with his family of faith—the disciples. Yet, notice how Jesus took this Old Testament requirement and reinterpreted it in light of himself…
Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body…”
Jesus took the cup and said, “This is my blood…”
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me…”
Jesus is the source of our righteousness. Jesus is the only One who can make up the difference between us and God—the only way to be saved and have eternal life in heaven. And, Jesus is the central event of salvation for us to remember…
Matthew 5: 17 – 20.
I. Introduction.
Two times last year, we had groups of our church members do a small group study of the book, Just Walk Across the Room, by Bill Hybels. The book is built on the concept that the world is full of people who are “far from God.” Those of us who have a relationship with God have an awesome responsibility to share our faith with others. And sharing our faith with someone else begins with a walk across the room. Before any of us can share faith with someone else, we must build a genuine relationship with them.
In the book, Hybels describes some of the ways he shares faith with others. One of the ways Hybels uses is to draw a ladder. The top of the ladder represents God. The bottom of the ladder represents Satan. Everyone else falls somewhere on the ladder between God and Satan. At the bottom of the ladder, just above Satan, we can place evil people like Hitler and Bin Laden. At the top of the ladder, somewhere lower than God, we can place good people like Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. But, where would we place ourselves on the ladder?
I’m not as good as Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. But, I hope I’m better than Hitler and Bin Laden. I would put myself somewhere in the middle.
After placing himself on the ladder, Hybels then gives the pen to the other person. He asks them to place themselves somewhere on the ladder.
Then, Hybels asks one of the most important questions of life. What kind of plan do you have to move from your place on the ladder to the top of the ladder? What is your strategy to get into heaven? Or to become a good person?
This is what makes up most of the world’s religions. Religion is basically nothing more than a human attempt to reach God by becoming a better person. Some religions teach a set of rules and regulations to make us better people. Another way to say this is to say that religion is a quest for righteousness. Yet, notice that even the people we think of as the best representatives of humanity (the most righteous people we can think of) are still not as good as God. There is still a gap between Billy Graham and God. Perhaps we should ask, what is Billy Graham doing about the gap between himself and God?
The Bible tells us there is nothing we can do about the gap between us and God. That’s the bad news. It is impossible for you and me to become good enough to enter heaven. Yet, the bad news is not the end of the story. There is Good News.
John 3: 16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Romans 10: 9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
One way we can restate this Good News is to say that the crucifixion and resurrection brings a new standard for righteousness. The righteousness God requires is not about human beings’ becoming good enough. God’s standard is the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus—the one and only Son of God, the One who died and rose again. Righteousness is not what you can do for God. Righteousness is what God has done for us through Jesus.
Read Matthew 5: 17 – 20.
In this passage, Jesus just did the same thing Bill Hybels did with the ladder illustration. The difference is that Jesus didn’t mention Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. Instead, Jesus used the scribes and Pharisees. In the same way Billy Graham is the most righteous person we can think of, the scribes and Pharisees are the most righteous people first century Jews can think of.
This idea has been lost over time, primarily through the presentation of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Of course, our perception of the Pharisees comes through the eyes of Jesus. The average first century Jews thought the Pharisees were the most righteous people they knew. The Pharisees kept all the commandments of the Law, even the smallest legal requirement. However, Jesus could see through their external righteousness and see the wickedness of their hearts.
Ultimately, this is the righteousness Jesus is talking about. Not the righteous things you can do. That is no different from the Pharisees. They kept the Law. Jesus requires that his followers have a righteousness that goes beyond the external things you and I can do. Jesus requires a righteousness of our hearts. Since no one can change his or her own heart, the righteousness Jesus requires is impossible through human effort. Righteousness of the heart is something that only Jesus can bring about—through his crucifixion and resurrection.
II. Relationship between Jesus and the Law.
A. Jesus Did Not Abolish the Law
We don’t often use the word “abolish” in daily conversation. However, I think ya’ll are smart enough to know that it means “to eliminate” or “to set aside.”
At this point I want to point out a big difference between Jesus and me. When I stand up to preach on Sundays, I begin by reading the Bible. If I do not read the Bible, I do not have any authority. The only authority I have comes from the Bible as the Word of God. God said it first. I am just interpreting God’s words and applying them to modern day life in East Texas.
Jesus did not depend on anyone else’s authority. When Jesus spoke, he actually spoke the Word of God. He is the unique Son of God. He has authority in his very nature. And he has the authority to eliminate or to set aside any or all of what God has said in the Old Testament.
B. Jesus Fulfilled the Law and Prophets
What you and I think of as the Old Testament, others refer to as the Hebrew Bible—or the Jewish Bible. The Hebrew Bible is commonly divided into three sections: Law, Prophets and Writings. The Law typically refers to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Prophets are typically the books that have a man’s name: Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc… The Writings are everything else: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, etc…
When Jesus uses the phrase “the Law and Prophets” he is actually referring to the entire Old Testament. For first century Jews, Jesus is answering the question, “What are we supposed to do with the Bible?” For twenty-first century Christians, Jesus is answering the question, “What are we supposed to do with the Old Testament?”
i. Jesus kept the requirements
There are several places we can go to find Jesus’ keeping the requirements of the Law. In the Gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus’ being faithful to the Law when he was tempted by Satan. On one hand, Jesus was faithful to the Law, because he did not sin. On the other hand, Jesus demonstrates faithfulness by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy in all three temptations. In Matthew 17, we read a story about Jesus’ paying the required Temple tax. In Matthew 26, we read how Jesus observed the Jewish Passover. Each of these were requirements. And Jesus kept them all.
ii. Jesus carried out the prophecies
Matthew seems to spend more time on this fact than the other Gospel writers. He shows us how the Old Testament prophets predicted that Jesus would be born of a virgin; born in Bethlehem; sojourn in Egypt as a child; suffer for our sins; and rise again on the third day. Jesus is the only person who has fulfilled each and every prophecy from the Old Testament.
iii. Jesus accomplished the intentions
Ultimately, the purpose of all the laws in the Old Testament was to bring human beings into an intimate and exclusive relationship with God. Yet, the Old Testament is filled with examples of how God’s people did not maintain this exclusive relationship with God. Israel was unfaithful. They turned away from God to pursue the gods of neighboring nations.
iv. Jesus satisfied the sacrifices
The sacrificial system is a large part of the Old Testament. Different sins called for different sacrifices. There were grain offerings, dove offerings, lambs, goats, oxen and bulls. There were so many different types of sacrifices that it was necessary to have a class of professional priests to determine what kind of sacrifice was needed and then to offer the sacrifice.
Jesus was not just a teacher, or a good man. Jesus gave his life as the ultimate and final sacrifice. The crucifixion of Jesus brought an end to the animal sacrifices and an end to the priestly class. Jesus became our sacrifice for all our sins as well as our priest who provides us with access to God.
C. Jesus Did Not Leave the Law Unchanged
Another way Jesus fulfilled the Law was the way he interpreted it for his followers. Jesus did not eliminate the Law. But, Jesus did not leave the Law unchanged either. He interpreted the Law in a radical new way. Only Jesus can do this, because only Jesus has the authority. None of us can re-interpret the Law, because we are not the unique Son of God.
III. Relationship between Christians and the Law.
There are a lot of people who live by the mantra, “I live under grace and not the law.” While there is some truth in that statement, I am afraid it does not take Jesus’ words seriously enough. For example, Jesus did not say that we have the freedom to choose between grace and law. Instead, he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets…”
The best way to interpret Jesus’ words here is for us to add the words “for you.” In other words, Jesus did not come to do away with the Law and Prophets “for you.” You and I do not have a choice between grace and law. The Law still serves a purpose. If the Law no longer has a purpose, Jesus would have said so. Yet, he didn’t. He clearly tells us that the Law still applies to Christians. However, it is not the same old interpretation of the Law. It is the radical new interpretation that comes through Jesus.
IV. Conclusion.
In the next few weeks, we are going to look at some of the specific laws from the Old Testament that Jesus reinterpreted for his disciples. But let’s look at the way Jesus also reinterpreted a ritual from the Old Testament.
In Matthew 26, Jesus gave instructions to his disciples to prepare for the annual Passover meal. In the Old Testament, it was commanded that all Jews would observe the Passover annually to remind them of their miraculous escape from slavery in Egypt. This is the central event of salvation in the Old Testament and continues to be the defining moment for the Jews today.
The Jews were instructed to remember the Exodus in the simple act of sharing a meal together as a family. Jesus shared this meal with his family of faith—the disciples. Yet, notice how Jesus took this Old Testament requirement and reinterpreted it in light of himself…
Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body…”
Jesus took the cup and said, “This is my blood…”
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me…”
Jesus is the source of our righteousness. Jesus is the only One who can make up the difference between us and God—the only way to be saved and have eternal life in heaven. And, Jesus is the central event of salvation for us to remember…
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009: Christian Influence
Christian Influence
Matthew 5: 13 – 16.
I. Introduction.
An older married couple had just arrived in heaven. They began to walk around on the streets of gold, through the gates of pearls, looking at the fabulous sights of heaven. It was almost more than they could comprehend. They began to share with each other how beautiful each part of the scenery, making sure to point out anything the other might not have noticed. After several hours of just walking with their mouths open wide, the husband turned to his wife and said, “Honey, did you have any idea that heaven would be this wonderful?” His wife replied, “No! This far exceeds anything I had ever heard or read about heaven.” The husband spoke up, “Just think. If you had never started us on that salt free diet, we could have been here 30 years ago.”
Salt free diet! That sounds awful! Some of you may be required to eat a salt free diet, so you agree with me.
A friend of mine has a “ritual” he performs in his church every time they observe baptism. When the person comes out of the water, he places a taste of salt on their lips. Then he hands them a lighted candle. They walk out of the baptistery holding a lighted candle and with the taste of salt on their lips. This is a reminder of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount that Christians are to be salt and light in the world.
Now imagine what the world would be like on a “salt free diet.” What would the world be like if there were no Christians? Would the world be a better place to live? Or, would the world be no different than it is today? I hope Christians make the world a better place to live. In fact, that is what I think Jesus is saying when he calls us salt and light.
Read Matthew 5: 13 – 16.
II. Christians Are Supposed to Be Different from the World.
There are two ways we can interpret Jesus’ words about salt and light. On one hand, these words might reflect an understanding of the individual Christian life. On the other hand, these words might describe a Christian community—the church.
Honestly, I don’t think we should choose one over the other. I think Jesus is describing both individual faith and the life of the Christian community.
As individuals, Jesus calls us to be different from the rest of the world. When light enters into a dark room, it is noticed. When salt is added to food, it is noticed. We notice the light and the salt, because they are different from their surroundings.
Can we say the same thing about individual Christians in the workplace? Is your life noticeably different from the other people you work with? When you enter the room, does the complexion of the room change? Do you cut other people down with your words to make yourself look better then them? Do you cheat your employer by not working a full day or by doing personal work on company time? What about your ethics? Christian employees should be the most ethical people in the work place, different from all the other employees—like salt and light.
What about at school? If you are a Christian student, then you are supposed to be different from the other students at your school. The Christian student should not cheat or cut corners in their work. Christian students should not use the same kind of coarse and vulgar language. Christian students should not engage in underage drinking or sexual activity. Do you look exactly like the other students at your school? Or do people notice that you are different—like salt and light?
What about in your neighborhood? This is a tough one, because no one puts on a mask when they come home. We might put on our “spiritual masks” when we go to church on Sunday or even project a certain spiritual image at work and school. But, no one pretends at home. This is the one place where we can be ourselves. When you let down your guard and act like yourself, do your neighbors see you as salt and light? Or do you live just like the rest of the neighborhood—just like the rest of the world?
It’s interesting how Christian men and women forget that we are supposed to be different. We just want to fit in—to be one of the guys, or one of the girls. But, Jesus didn’t call us to be one of the guys / girls. Jesus called us to be salt and light. We cannot serve Jesus if we are just like the rest of the world. In fact, no one benefits when individual Christians become like the world.
This reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12. Therefore, I urge you, brothers (and sisters), in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not (be) conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12: 1 – 2 NIV).
When you blend in and fit in with the world, you are conforming to the pattern of the world.
Who are we serving when we conform to the world’s standards? We are not serving God, ourselves or the world. No one benefits when Christians fit in.
Just as individuals face the temptation to conform to the world, so the church faces this same temptation. Just as Christians are called to be salt and light—to be different from other people—so the church is called to be different from the Rotary Club. If there is no difference between church and Rotary, then we have failed to live up to our name…our calling…our character.
III. Be the Person God Called You to Be.
The best way we can be different from all other individuals, clubs or organizations is to become less self-serving. Life is not about you. It’s not about the church. God has placed us here for a purpose, and that purpose is not to serve our selfish wants and desires.
Think about how salt and light serve their intended purposes. Both salt and light are only effective when they give themselves away. This is not a selfish act. This is a self-less act of giving away who we are and expending ourselves on behalf of others: Giving ourselves away to make the world a better place to live.
Another way salt and light fulfill their purposes can be illustrated in the way they penetrate something else. For example, salt must penetrate the water to make the water salty…salt must penetrate the food (meat or vegetables) in order to be effective. Also, light must penetrate the darkness in order to light up a room.
Salt is good as long as it stays in a bowl…or a shaker. It has to get out of the bowl / shaker in order to be useful.
A lighted candle does no good in a room filled with light.
Can you see where I am going with this? Today is Sunday morning, the traditional time for Christians to gather in the church. (It’s kind of like a bowl full of salt, or a room filled with hundreds of lights.) What purpose does a bowl full of salt fulfill? How much light shines in a dark world, when all the candles are gathered in one place?
Worship is one of the five purposes of the church. We gather on Sunday mornings to worship. We also have good fellowship with one another in the church on Sundays. And fellowship is one of the five purposes of the church. But, worship and fellowship are not supposed to be all we do. We are also called to grow in discipleship, to serve as ministers and to do the work of evangelism. If all we do is gather at the church, like salt in a bowl, we are not fulfilling all that God has called us to be and do. We have to get out of the church. We have to penetrate the culture.
In Matthew 5: 1 – 12, Jesus described what it means to live a “blessed” life. (We typically refer to these verses as the Beatitudes.) Everything Jesus described as blessed stands in stark contrast to the world’s opinion of what blessedness looks like. If we compare Jesus’ Beatitudes with his teaching about salt and light, it seems apparent that Jesus was calling us to be “counter-cultural.” On one hand, Jesus wants us to be different from the world. On the other hand, Jesus wants us to change the world to become more like us. He does not call us to allow the world to change us or to conform us into the pattern of the world’s values and behavior. Our values and behavior are different from the world. But the world will not change as long as we remain like salt in a bowl or light gathered into one room. We must penetrate the world.
IV. Two Christian Responsibilities.
Every home in the ancient world had access to both salt and light. Neither salt nor light was reserved for just the rich or just the poor. Everyone used both salt and light. We can say the same thing about households in the Twenty-First Century. We know what salt is. We know what light is. And, we know how to use them.
It’s interesting to me to think about how we use salt and light. Do you remember where you were when Hurricane Ike came through Lufkin? I remember, because it was my first hurricane. The electricity went off in my house about 7:00 that morning. We were some of the more fortunate ones, because our electricity was turned on about 36 hours later, on Sunday night. Others of you went without electricity for 5 – 7 days. However long you went without electricity, none of us pulled out our salt shakers. We used flashlights and candles, because salt and light have two completely different purposes. Salt will not help in the dark. And no amount of light makes bland food taste better! This makes me think Jesus is telling us we have two responsibilities in the world.
Our first responsibility is to be salt. Most of the sermons I have heard about being salt focus on the way salt was used in the ancient world to preserve meat, since there was no such thing as refrigeration. However, I noticed something this week by reading all the Old Testament references to salt. I decided to read the Old Testament, because I believe the Old Testament stands behind what Jesus has to say in the Sermon on the Mount. (We will see this most clearly next Sunday when we read what Jesus had to say about the Old Testament Law in Matthew 5: 17 – 20.)
In the Old Testament, salt was used in four different ways. But, the Old Testament never refers to salt as a preservative.
In Job 6: 6, we read: “Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?” Salt was used as a seasoning, to enhance the flavor of food.
Judges 9: 45 says: “All that day Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.” In this case, salt was used to prevent the crops from growing back in the destroyed city.
2 Kings 2: 19 – 22 tells a story of Elisha the prophet after his mentor, Elijah, had been taken into heaven. Elisha encountered a group of men in a remote city. The city was about to die, because they had poor water. They asked Elisha for help. Elisha took a bowl of salt and threw the salt into the city’s water source. Immediately, the water was “healed.” This was obviously a miracle, but in the miracle salt was used to symbolize purity.
2 Chronicles 13: 5 says: “Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” Then Leviticus 2: 13 says: “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.” These two verses illustrate an ancient point of view. Salt was viewed as a long lasting mineral. It is almost impossible to change the nature of salt. Therefore, a covenant made with salt was an eternal, unbreakable covenant. God made David the king of Israel with a covenant of salt—an unbreakable covenant. God made his promises of forgiveness of sins with sacrifices that had been salted—again, an unbreakable covenant.
I think Jesus’ use of salt as a metaphor for the Christian life ought to be viewed through these four Old Testament references to salt. Christians add flavor to the world. Christian influence in society keeps society’s evil from growing and spreading. Christians are the only source of purity in the world. Christians represent God’s eternal and unbreakable covenant in the world. As long as there are Christians in the world, God will always keep his covenant promises. But none of these are possible if the salt remains in the bowl. We must penetrate the culture of our world and change it.
In the Old Testament, light was not used in as many different ways as salt. Light is slightly less complicated. It is only used in two distinct ways.
First, light was often used to symbolize the presence of God. In Exodus we read the story of the Hebrew people. After they were released from slavery in Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. During those forty years, God reminded them of his presence by providing them with a cloud to lead them by day and a pillar of fire (light) to lead them by night. In the book of Leviticus, we read the story of how God gave his Law to his people during their forty years in the wilderness. When God gave them the Law, he also gave them instructions for building a tabernacle for public worship. That tabernacle had a series of lamp stands, which burned all day, every day. This symbolized God’s presence in the tabernacle. In the book of Psalms, David (and other authors) used “light” as a poetic metaphor to describe God’s glory and presence.
Second, light was used to describe God’s people. Isaiah 42: 6 – 7 says: “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” God’s original plan for Israel was that they would be a light to the Gentiles…Spreading the light of God’s salvation to all people.
V. Conclusion.
Now, Jesus has given this same assignment to his followers. You and I are called to be God’s covenant people (salt) and to serve as his light in our dark world. We cannot do this if we stay in the bowl or gather all the light inside the church building.
Matthew 5: 13 – 16.
I. Introduction.
An older married couple had just arrived in heaven. They began to walk around on the streets of gold, through the gates of pearls, looking at the fabulous sights of heaven. It was almost more than they could comprehend. They began to share with each other how beautiful each part of the scenery, making sure to point out anything the other might not have noticed. After several hours of just walking with their mouths open wide, the husband turned to his wife and said, “Honey, did you have any idea that heaven would be this wonderful?” His wife replied, “No! This far exceeds anything I had ever heard or read about heaven.” The husband spoke up, “Just think. If you had never started us on that salt free diet, we could have been here 30 years ago.”
Salt free diet! That sounds awful! Some of you may be required to eat a salt free diet, so you agree with me.
A friend of mine has a “ritual” he performs in his church every time they observe baptism. When the person comes out of the water, he places a taste of salt on their lips. Then he hands them a lighted candle. They walk out of the baptistery holding a lighted candle and with the taste of salt on their lips. This is a reminder of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount that Christians are to be salt and light in the world.
Now imagine what the world would be like on a “salt free diet.” What would the world be like if there were no Christians? Would the world be a better place to live? Or, would the world be no different than it is today? I hope Christians make the world a better place to live. In fact, that is what I think Jesus is saying when he calls us salt and light.
Read Matthew 5: 13 – 16.
II. Christians Are Supposed to Be Different from the World.
There are two ways we can interpret Jesus’ words about salt and light. On one hand, these words might reflect an understanding of the individual Christian life. On the other hand, these words might describe a Christian community—the church.
Honestly, I don’t think we should choose one over the other. I think Jesus is describing both individual faith and the life of the Christian community.
As individuals, Jesus calls us to be different from the rest of the world. When light enters into a dark room, it is noticed. When salt is added to food, it is noticed. We notice the light and the salt, because they are different from their surroundings.
Can we say the same thing about individual Christians in the workplace? Is your life noticeably different from the other people you work with? When you enter the room, does the complexion of the room change? Do you cut other people down with your words to make yourself look better then them? Do you cheat your employer by not working a full day or by doing personal work on company time? What about your ethics? Christian employees should be the most ethical people in the work place, different from all the other employees—like salt and light.
What about at school? If you are a Christian student, then you are supposed to be different from the other students at your school. The Christian student should not cheat or cut corners in their work. Christian students should not use the same kind of coarse and vulgar language. Christian students should not engage in underage drinking or sexual activity. Do you look exactly like the other students at your school? Or do people notice that you are different—like salt and light?
What about in your neighborhood? This is a tough one, because no one puts on a mask when they come home. We might put on our “spiritual masks” when we go to church on Sunday or even project a certain spiritual image at work and school. But, no one pretends at home. This is the one place where we can be ourselves. When you let down your guard and act like yourself, do your neighbors see you as salt and light? Or do you live just like the rest of the neighborhood—just like the rest of the world?
It’s interesting how Christian men and women forget that we are supposed to be different. We just want to fit in—to be one of the guys, or one of the girls. But, Jesus didn’t call us to be one of the guys / girls. Jesus called us to be salt and light. We cannot serve Jesus if we are just like the rest of the world. In fact, no one benefits when individual Christians become like the world.
This reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12. Therefore, I urge you, brothers (and sisters), in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not (be) conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12: 1 – 2 NIV).
When you blend in and fit in with the world, you are conforming to the pattern of the world.
Who are we serving when we conform to the world’s standards? We are not serving God, ourselves or the world. No one benefits when Christians fit in.
Just as individuals face the temptation to conform to the world, so the church faces this same temptation. Just as Christians are called to be salt and light—to be different from other people—so the church is called to be different from the Rotary Club. If there is no difference between church and Rotary, then we have failed to live up to our name…our calling…our character.
III. Be the Person God Called You to Be.
The best way we can be different from all other individuals, clubs or organizations is to become less self-serving. Life is not about you. It’s not about the church. God has placed us here for a purpose, and that purpose is not to serve our selfish wants and desires.
Think about how salt and light serve their intended purposes. Both salt and light are only effective when they give themselves away. This is not a selfish act. This is a self-less act of giving away who we are and expending ourselves on behalf of others: Giving ourselves away to make the world a better place to live.
Another way salt and light fulfill their purposes can be illustrated in the way they penetrate something else. For example, salt must penetrate the water to make the water salty…salt must penetrate the food (meat or vegetables) in order to be effective. Also, light must penetrate the darkness in order to light up a room.
Salt is good as long as it stays in a bowl…or a shaker. It has to get out of the bowl / shaker in order to be useful.
A lighted candle does no good in a room filled with light.
Can you see where I am going with this? Today is Sunday morning, the traditional time for Christians to gather in the church. (It’s kind of like a bowl full of salt, or a room filled with hundreds of lights.) What purpose does a bowl full of salt fulfill? How much light shines in a dark world, when all the candles are gathered in one place?
Worship is one of the five purposes of the church. We gather on Sunday mornings to worship. We also have good fellowship with one another in the church on Sundays. And fellowship is one of the five purposes of the church. But, worship and fellowship are not supposed to be all we do. We are also called to grow in discipleship, to serve as ministers and to do the work of evangelism. If all we do is gather at the church, like salt in a bowl, we are not fulfilling all that God has called us to be and do. We have to get out of the church. We have to penetrate the culture.
In Matthew 5: 1 – 12, Jesus described what it means to live a “blessed” life. (We typically refer to these verses as the Beatitudes.) Everything Jesus described as blessed stands in stark contrast to the world’s opinion of what blessedness looks like. If we compare Jesus’ Beatitudes with his teaching about salt and light, it seems apparent that Jesus was calling us to be “counter-cultural.” On one hand, Jesus wants us to be different from the world. On the other hand, Jesus wants us to change the world to become more like us. He does not call us to allow the world to change us or to conform us into the pattern of the world’s values and behavior. Our values and behavior are different from the world. But the world will not change as long as we remain like salt in a bowl or light gathered into one room. We must penetrate the world.
IV. Two Christian Responsibilities.
Every home in the ancient world had access to both salt and light. Neither salt nor light was reserved for just the rich or just the poor. Everyone used both salt and light. We can say the same thing about households in the Twenty-First Century. We know what salt is. We know what light is. And, we know how to use them.
It’s interesting to me to think about how we use salt and light. Do you remember where you were when Hurricane Ike came through Lufkin? I remember, because it was my first hurricane. The electricity went off in my house about 7:00 that morning. We were some of the more fortunate ones, because our electricity was turned on about 36 hours later, on Sunday night. Others of you went without electricity for 5 – 7 days. However long you went without electricity, none of us pulled out our salt shakers. We used flashlights and candles, because salt and light have two completely different purposes. Salt will not help in the dark. And no amount of light makes bland food taste better! This makes me think Jesus is telling us we have two responsibilities in the world.
Our first responsibility is to be salt. Most of the sermons I have heard about being salt focus on the way salt was used in the ancient world to preserve meat, since there was no such thing as refrigeration. However, I noticed something this week by reading all the Old Testament references to salt. I decided to read the Old Testament, because I believe the Old Testament stands behind what Jesus has to say in the Sermon on the Mount. (We will see this most clearly next Sunday when we read what Jesus had to say about the Old Testament Law in Matthew 5: 17 – 20.)
In the Old Testament, salt was used in four different ways. But, the Old Testament never refers to salt as a preservative.
In Job 6: 6, we read: “Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?” Salt was used as a seasoning, to enhance the flavor of food.
Judges 9: 45 says: “All that day Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.” In this case, salt was used to prevent the crops from growing back in the destroyed city.
2 Kings 2: 19 – 22 tells a story of Elisha the prophet after his mentor, Elijah, had been taken into heaven. Elisha encountered a group of men in a remote city. The city was about to die, because they had poor water. They asked Elisha for help. Elisha took a bowl of salt and threw the salt into the city’s water source. Immediately, the water was “healed.” This was obviously a miracle, but in the miracle salt was used to symbolize purity.
2 Chronicles 13: 5 says: “Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” Then Leviticus 2: 13 says: “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.” These two verses illustrate an ancient point of view. Salt was viewed as a long lasting mineral. It is almost impossible to change the nature of salt. Therefore, a covenant made with salt was an eternal, unbreakable covenant. God made David the king of Israel with a covenant of salt—an unbreakable covenant. God made his promises of forgiveness of sins with sacrifices that had been salted—again, an unbreakable covenant.
I think Jesus’ use of salt as a metaphor for the Christian life ought to be viewed through these four Old Testament references to salt. Christians add flavor to the world. Christian influence in society keeps society’s evil from growing and spreading. Christians are the only source of purity in the world. Christians represent God’s eternal and unbreakable covenant in the world. As long as there are Christians in the world, God will always keep his covenant promises. But none of these are possible if the salt remains in the bowl. We must penetrate the culture of our world and change it.
In the Old Testament, light was not used in as many different ways as salt. Light is slightly less complicated. It is only used in two distinct ways.
First, light was often used to symbolize the presence of God. In Exodus we read the story of the Hebrew people. After they were released from slavery in Egypt, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. During those forty years, God reminded them of his presence by providing them with a cloud to lead them by day and a pillar of fire (light) to lead them by night. In the book of Leviticus, we read the story of how God gave his Law to his people during their forty years in the wilderness. When God gave them the Law, he also gave them instructions for building a tabernacle for public worship. That tabernacle had a series of lamp stands, which burned all day, every day. This symbolized God’s presence in the tabernacle. In the book of Psalms, David (and other authors) used “light” as a poetic metaphor to describe God’s glory and presence.
Second, light was used to describe God’s people. Isaiah 42: 6 – 7 says: “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” God’s original plan for Israel was that they would be a light to the Gentiles…Spreading the light of God’s salvation to all people.
V. Conclusion.
Now, Jesus has given this same assignment to his followers. You and I are called to be God’s covenant people (salt) and to serve as his light in our dark world. We cannot do this if we stay in the bowl or gather all the light inside the church building.
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