February 15, 2014

Take a Deeper Look!

6th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/16/14
Matthew 5:21-37


Take a Deeper Look!
I. At what God demands
II. At what Jesus gives


It’s always a good idea to read thoroughly the words of a contract before you sign it. If you don’t, how do you know what you are agreeing to do? How do you know what the other party is responsible for? You may find out too late that you’re not receiving what you thought you would with little or no recourse. On the other extreme, you might find out too late that you are under legal obligation to do or pay far more than you expected. The wise thing to do is to take the time to read the entire contract and make sure you understand it.

In fact, if the wording is confusing or beyond your complete comprehension, it’s a good idea to have your attorney examine the contract before you sign anything. Your attorney is trained to understand such legal documents or to get an expert opinion if they have any questions. It’s critical for you to know exactly what you’re getting into.

There are far too many people in our world that look upon the 10 Commandments as a type of contract with God. They’re under the impression that their responsibility is to obey the commandments and it’s God’s responsibility to reward them with heaven or with blessings in the here and now.

But they’re wrong. Dead wrong. On two counts. First, God never gave his commandments so that we could obey them to earn eternal life. Second, we’re dead wrong if we think we can obey them.

But that doesn’t stop people from trying. If only they would take to heart what an expert in the 10 Commandments tells them in this portion of Matthew’s Gospel before us this morning. Then they’d understand what God demands.

But Jesus didn’t only speak these words for other people. He spoke them for us. For me. For you. And that’s a good thing because there are times in our lives when we’re fairly pleased with the job we’re doing of following God’s commands. In these words Jesus peels the covers off of several commandments and shows us what’s at their core. So let’s take this opportunity to see. Take a deeper look. May our Lord bless our efforts at doing that this morning!

Part I.

Any parent knows that one of the lessons they must teach their child is that a superficial job isn’t good enough. Cleaning your bedroom isn’t limited to putting yesterday’s socks into the dirty clothes hamper. Mowing the lawn means all of it, including using the grass trimmer and blowing the cut grass off of sidewalks and the driveway. Cleaning off the dinner table includes putting every dirty dish in the dishwasher and wiping the table with a damp cloth. Studying for a test doesn’t mean thoughtlessly reading over the chapter with little comprehension or retention. Those things are too superficial.

Children aren’t the only ones plagued with this propensity, however. So are adults. And that’s what Jesus was addressing in this portion of his Sermon on the Mount. The Jews of his day had a superficial view of what God required in the 10 Commandments. He chose three of them on this day and exposed their superficial view of them.

First, he spoke about the 5th Commandment, “You shall not murder.” The Jews of his day had changed it simply into a civil law. They ranked violations of the commandment and assigned them to one of their three levels of courts. As long as you stayed out of court, you were obeying the commandment.

Next, he exposed their superficial view of the 6th Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” As long as they didn’t have an affair, they kept the commandment. And if a husband decided for any reason he no longer wanted to be married to his wife, he simply had to state it to her in writing. That was keeping the commandment.

Finally, Jesus took up their sham obedience of the 2nd Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” The Jews had devised a graded system of the reliability of an oath. He mentions how they took oaths in the name of heaven, earth and the city of Jerusalem. It sounds ridiculous, but they used this system as a way of making the oath less binding and, therefore, easier to break and yet keep the commandment.

Jesus demanded that they take a deeper look. Just because you haven’t murdered someone doesn’t mean you’ve kept the 5th Commandment. Jesus correctly states that the commandment also forbids speaking words that are intended to hurt someone. Elsewhere in the Bible it states that hatred is murder in our hearts. The 5th Commandment even forbids thinking about hurting someone. It demands that we help our neighbor in every bodily need.

And look how deep the 6th Commandment digs! A lustful look. A lustful thought. A lustful desire. All these are adultery in God’s eyes. In fact, any impure word, thought or desire counts as a sin.

Finally, in regard to God-pleasing oaths, Jesus demands that we are the type of people who always tell the truth, that we are people who give our word and then keep it. If that’s the type of people we are and others know it, then we’ll have no need of taking oaths.

Take a deeper look. Take a deeper look at what God demands.

It would be easy to sit here today inside our beloved church sanctuary and tell ourselves that we’ve done what God requires. After all, we’re the ones sitting here on a Sunday morning. But that’s a superficial view of what God demands. If I stated, “My God, it’s been a cold, snowy winter,” you might agree with me, but I’d hope you’d point out to me that I’ve just used God’s name to take a needless oath. If I am not concerned about the bodily need of someone I know or a complete stranger, I hope you’d tell me to take a deeper look at what God demands of me in the 5th Commandment. And sinful lust? It’s a way of life in our world. It’s portrayed as entertainment. Rather than indulge it, we should be ashamed and confess it. And those are just three of the Commandments. We’ve got seven more to go. But I won’t go there, because by now we know how deep they all go. They all cut right to our hearts—our sinful hearts. We haven’t kept a single one. Take a deeper look at what God demands!

Part II.

It’s been said that God never demands of us something that he already hasn’t given us. That’s true regarding your abilities. As a student, he doesn’t demand that you get A’s if you only have the ability to get B’s. He simply calls for you to use your gifts faithfully to get B’s. For me as a pastor and for you as a layperson, he doesn’t demand that we do or give him more than he has already given us.

We’ve just looked deeply into God’s law and have been forced to admit that we don’t give God what he demands. Not even close! Not even one day of our lives! And yet God doesn’t back down on his demands. A couple verses after this section of God’s word, Jesus states, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). He doesn’t give us a break. He doesn’t cut us any spiritual slack. God demands perfection.

But remember what I said. God doesn’t demand of us something that he hasn’t already given us.

Just what does that mean when it comes to God’s demand of holiness before his law? It means he has already given it to you. Take a deeper look. Look at what Jesus did for you. Jesus met all the demands he makes here in these words. He never spoke a harmful or hate-filled word. He never even had the thought or the desire to do so. Instead, he always spoke and acted in perfect love toward others. His holy and pure heart showed in the fact that his life was free from lust and impurity. What’s more, every word he spoke was the truth of God from the lips of God himself. He always honored the name of the Lord. And the wonder of it all is that he did all those things for us. He came to live a holy life because we don’t. And he gives it to us by faith in him.

But that’s not all. He also dealt fully with our sins. He didn’t simply sweep them under a heavenly rug or decide to look the other way. Nor did he change his mind about sin and tell us, “That’s OK.” No, he took our sins, yours, mine and the whole world’s—and went to the cross with them. There he suffered the hell that our sins deserve. And when he stated, “It is finished,” the payment for all the sins of the world had been made. How do we know that he covered them all? He rose again on Sunday just as he said he would. He had met all of God’s demands.

Take a deeper look not only at what God demands, but also at what Jesus gives.

Jesus gives us what God demands. Do you know what that means? It means eternal life is yours. But it also means you’re free. You’re free right now to serve him in love. It means you get to show how much Jesus means to you by living according to the commands of God. It means you’re free to serve your neighbor out of love for your Savior. In fact, it means God has placed you here so that you can serve him in his kingdom by working with your fellow Christians to bring others into that kingdom. There’s no higher calling in life. There’s no more important, rewarding work than that. That’s what happens when we take a deeper look.

Take a deeper look at God’s love for you in Jesus! Amen.