Sunday, October 4, 2009: Greater Righteousness 3

Greater Righteousness 3
Matthew 5: 33 – 37.

I. Introduction.

“Spiritual, but not religious.” That is a term you will read in today’s issue of the Parade magazine (Parade is the free magazine that comes in the Sunday newspaper.) I read the article yesterday afternoon on the Internet.

In a recent Parade magazine poll, most American readers claim to be religious people, who practice prayer on a regular basis. But, Parade noted that there is a new category of American religion. People continue to claim Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and other religions. Yet, there is a growing number of Americans who claim to be “spiritual, but not religious.”

I think there are at least three ways to interpret the phrase “spiritual, but not religious.” First, it might be something like we Baptists like to claim: “We are not religious, we just love Jesus.” Relationship with Jesus is more important than religious adherence. Second, it might refer to the growing number of people who have become dissatisfied with church and dropped out. These people probably have some reference to faith in their background and probably practice prayer, but they do not participate in any kind of worship or faith community. Third, it might refer to the people who have become so tolerant of any and all world religions that they have syncretized all world religions into one. In this case, spirituality is a combination of Christian prayer and Eastern mysticism.

For the past several weeks, I have been preaching from the book of Matthew chapter 5. This is the first chapter of the text we have come to know as the Sermon on the Mount. Some people have interpreted the Sermon on the Mount as a connection between Jesus and Moses. In the Old Testament, Moses went up on Mount Sinai and received the Law from God. Jesus went up on the mountain and gave his followers a new law to replace the Old Testament Law. However, this is not what Jesus tells us.

In Matthew 5: 17 Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

A few verses later Jesus continued, “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 (Matthew 5: 20).”

In other words, Jesus does NOT give us a new law. There are certain ethical requirements of being a follower of Jesus. On one hand, Jesus does not abolish the Law. On the other hand, Jesus does not call us to be “spiritual, but not religious.” Followers of Jesus are supposed to have a greater righteousness than the most righteous adherents of any other religious group.

The greater righteousness Jesus requires is not a new law. Rather it is a new and proper interpretation of the old Law. He illustrates this by interpreting six commandments or teachings from the Old Testament.

The first illustration comes directly from the Ten Commandments. In Matthew 5: 21 – 22 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”

The second illustration also comes from the Ten Commandments. In Matthew 5: 27 – 28 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

The third illustration is not an Old Testament commandment at all. Rather it is a precedent that was described in Deuteronomy 24. Jesus said, “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery (Matthew 5: 31 – 32).”

In two of these examples, we can see that Jesus has moved the boundary between obedience and sin. Sin is not limited to what you do with your body (e.g. murder and adultery). Sin is a matter of the heart. Murder and adultery continue to be sins. But, it’s not good enough to resist murder and adultery while harboring hate and lust in your heart. When your heart sins, your whole person is guilty. Greater righteousness is living up to a higher standard than following the letter of the Law.

Jesus’ teaching on divorce is a little different. Jesus didn’t move the boundary from the body to the heart. Rather, Jesus completely obliterated the boundary. With only one exception, Jesus tells his followers not to get divorced.

Since Jesus’ teaching on divorce breaks from the pattern of the first two teachings on murder and adultery, we might say that something else is at work here. What do all three of these teachings have in common? All three of these teachings call us to become more like the character of God.

For example, murder and hate do not reflect the character of God. In the very first book of the Bible, we learn something about the character of God. God is the creator of all life. If we are to become like God, we will be life givers and not life takers. We also read throughout the Bible that “God is love.” If we are to become like God, we will demonstrate love, not hate, toward others.

Adultery, lust and divorce can probably be addressed together. The Old Testament often used adultery as a metaphor for Israel’s idolatry. Whenever Israel chased the after false gods of their neighbors, the prophets often described their actions as adultery. God was the faithful marriage partner. Israel was unfaithful. Adultery, lust and divorce represent the opposite of God’s character—faithfulness. If our relationships are to reflect the character of God, we will be faithful in marriage and all other relationships.

I have been using this model for interpreting Jesus’ words for almost fifteen years now, after reading Josh McDowell’s book Right from Wrong (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994). In the book, McDowell describes the results of a 1990 survey by the George Barna Group.

In 1990, the Barna Group conducted a national survey of “churched” high school seniors. Now, I need to stress that these teenagers were “churched.” For all practical purposes, Barna defined this group by those high school seniors that attended church at least twice a week: that is any two of Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night or any other church activity. And the astonishing thing is that 65% of these “churched” high school seniors did NOT believe there was such a thing as absolute right and wrong. Instead they believed that it was possible for something to be wrong for one person but OK for someone else.

So, Josh McDowell wrote Right from Wrong as a way for parents and churches to teach their youth absolute truth.

For some of us absolute truth has never been something we questioned. I have seen a bumper sticker that sums up our beliefs, “The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it.” But that does not reflect the world we live in. The world says something like, “The Bible says it. Why does the Bible say that? What is the Bible?”

Josh McDowell teaches a three-part model for determining absolute truth. He’s obviously a preacher, because all three parts start with the letter P: Precept, Principle, Person.

The model works like this. Every biblical Precept (another word for precept is commandment) teaches a universal Principle that applies to every human being. These Principles are universal and thereby absolute truth, because they are grounded in the Person of God himself. Precept: “Do not murder.” Principle: Respect all human life. This applies to everyone. Person: All life is a gift from God the creator…God is a life giver and calls us to reflect his character by giving life to others.

Now, let’s look at Jesus’ fourth interpretation in the Sermon on the Mount…

Read Matthew 5: 33 – 37.

We could build a case that Jesus is here referring to one of the Ten Commandments. It’s possible this is a reference to the Ninth Commandment: “Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.” This commandment gave specific instructions on how God’s people should behave in a court of law. Or, Jesus could be referring to the Third Commandment: “Do not take the LORD’s name in vain.”

It was common practice in the ancient world for people to take oaths. It was even acceptable for a person to “swear” in the name of the LORD that they were telling the truth. It was not a sin to “swear” in the name of LORD. It was a sin to “swear” in the LORD’s name while knowing that you were telling a lie.

Eventually, the Pharisees developed a hierarchy of oaths. In addition to the name of the LORD, people could take an oath by swearing on the Temple, the king of Israel, the altar, or even the gold of the altar. An oath in the name of the LORD was binding, but an oath in the name of the Temple was not as binding. This created a kind of loophole, allowing people to “swear” falsely without being guilty of breaking the Third Commandment. Taking the Temple in vain was not a sin.

Jesus did to this Old Testament teaching the same thing he did with the teaching on divorce. He didn’t move the boundary. He obliterated the boundary. Jesus said, “Do not swear at all.” Do not take any kind of oath. Let your “yes” mean yes and your “no” mean no.

If you think about what Jesus is teaching, it makes sense. A person who has to be “under oath” to tell the truth is not a truthful person. If you have to swear in the name of the LORD in order for me to believe what you are saying, then there is a trust problem between us. Cut out the oaths, and always tell the truth.

Ultimately, Jesus’ words to us today are a challenge to tell the truth in all areas of life. Precept: Tell the truth without taking an oath. Principle: It is wrong to lie. Person: God is Truth. Compare Jesus’ own words in John 14: 6, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”

God has called us to be men and women who conform to his image and likeness…That we would allow the Holy Spirit to mold us and to make us like Jesus. And if we are to become men and women like Jesus, then we will become men and women of the Truth. In Jesus’ own words to his disciples, “Let your Yes be Yes and your No be No.” In all that we do, in all that we say, we are to rest on the Truth. Because the Truth should not be Compromised.

If we compromise the Truth, then there are consequences…


II. Compromised Relationships.

To compromise the Truth is to compromise all your relationships…Truth is the foundation of every human relationship…Women, you don’t want to be married to a man who is comfortable lying to his parents or lying to his employer…If he lies to others, what makes you think you can trust him?…There can be no other foundation for a relationship…


III. Compromised Character.

To compromise the Truth is to compromise your character…As Christians, we are called to be conformed into the character of Christ…And how can we have the character of the one who is the Truth without making a personal commitment to truthfulness?…





IV. Compromised Witness.

To compromise the Truth is to compromise your witness…Ultimately God is concerned about the truthfulness of his people, because it is a reflection on himself…In Acts 1: 8, Jesus told his disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my WITNESSES in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”…

How could the lost in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth believe the witness of men and women who compromise the Truth?

How can we reach the lost of Angelina County with the truth of the Gospel if our neighbors cannot believe what we say?