“But I Say to You”

Matthew 5: 21-37 - 6th Sunday after Epiphany

February 12, 2023 - BRCC - Pastor Deb

Grace to you and peace as we wrestle this morning with this challenging sermon on the mount text of Jesus’ teachings. When I read these texts I get that same sinking feeling that I get when I hear the evening news. Story after story seems to be a reminder of all the awful things that take place in our world day after day: shootings; threats; disasters; dishonest and unjust power and oppression; cruelty and war. I want to cover my ears and not listen to all the ways that we as humans hurt one another…and yet, I know that I NEED to know. I can’t turn away and pretend it’s not there…NOR can I let it destroy hope. Because everytime we face the reality of human sin and brokenness, it demands that we honestly acknowledge that we need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus. To know the sweetness and freedom of grace….we must see the sword of the law. That is why preaching the word must always lift up BOTH Law and Gospel! That is just what Jesus is doing here…lifting up the law…expanding its breadth, and preparing the hearers to receive the good news…The gospel that only He can bring. So…I’d like to take a little time this morning to help us understand the context so we can understand what Jesus is saying.

Did you notice in the reading of the text, that Jesus said 4 times: “You have heard it said…BUT, I say to you…” These repetitive phrases are significant and help us understand more clearly these challenging words about murder, adultery, divorce and integrity. To fully understand them, we have to put ourselves in the mindset of a Jew living in Jesus’ day hearing this blunt and honest teaching for the first time. So let me try to shape the context for you.

First of all, we all know that Matthew’s gospel is written specifically to the people of Israel, the descendants of Moses, Abraham, and Jacob’s 12 tribes. The Old Testament is their story and they told it over and over again so that their children would know how God came to be at the center of their lives and identity and Jews. They had no way of writing these truths down, so they memorized the words of the prophets; lived by the letter of the law as defined for them by their religious leaders and kept the religious holidays and festivals in fear of angering their Holy God. Imagine if the Old Testament was your only window into understanding the living God. The words of the prophets and the stories and emotions of the Israelites in their journey to live out their identity and respond to this deep call to be God’s chosen people don’t have the same depth of meaning for those of us who live on this side of the New Testament’s fulfillment in Christ. And because of that, we can’t fully understand the power and significance of the LAW that governed the lives of a devout Jew. But Matthew did, and so he wrote his Gospel with one thing in mind…to show Israel that in Jesus…all their dreams of freedom, all their laws and prophetic promises, visions and longings were now fulfilled. The Law…as John later explained, became flesh and came to them in Jesus. Jesus is the Christ of God…EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.

This was difficult for a Jew to understand. For centuries, the Law was their only tangible way of being in relationship with the living God. Moses had led them out of slavery into a wilderness journey with the promise of a home of their own as God’s chosen people. But 40 years had taught them that to live in the promised land beside their Lord God, they needed to follow God’s law…to the letter. Their law giver was MOSES, and they couldn’t imagine a NEW LAW GIVER. Oh, they expected and awaited the coming Messiah, but NOT as a law giver or a law fulfiller. It was clear that the Jews longed for a warrior to fight their enemies and restore them to the glory days when King David and King Solomon brought them world identity. NOT to tangle with their hearts and wrestle with their human sin.

But, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ first official teaching in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus claims authority and the NEW MOSES…The NEW LAW Giver…THE one who has the VISION of what the Kingdom of God is meant to be. And it won’t be what they thought.

Jesus’ sermon starts with the beatitudes: blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who mourn; the meek and those who hunger for righteousness; the merciful; pure of heart who seek to make peace…Theirs is the Kingdom of God, declares Jesus…the new Law giver. And then, Jesus continues with these words: “You have heard it said..” [In other words…you have lived under the law of Moses and it has given you a child’s version of God’s Kingdom] …BUT, I SAY TO YOU…. THERE IS MORE…MUCH MORE. Wow! Can you imagine the power of those words as Jesus then goes to the heart of human relationships and rips them wide open for all to see? Jesus does this to prepare them to understand their need for healing grace that only he can bring as the Son of God.

Now, it’s not hard for us to understand the human need to be awakened to our own tendencies to hurt ourselves and one another. Any parent can tell you that the day their precious little baby becomes a toddler that learns to word “NO” and begins to stretch his independence, is a rude awakening. Suddenly you realize that your child needs limits, and it’s your responsibility to give it to them. So, as parents, you taught them baby steps and rejoiced in each new discovery. You warned them not to touch a hot stove, or cross a busy road without looking both ways; you guided them with clear messages of right and wrong with the authority of a parent that loves them and knows what is best for them. You did your best…year after year. And then came the day when they graduated from High School and you sent them off into the world, praying that the roots and wings you nourished and strengthened over their years under your daily care would lead them to make life giving choices.

In some ways, this is exactly what Jesus is doing in expanding the definition of sin to include an awareness of how sin destroys the very life God intends for us to have. Also, In each of our texts this morning…this kind of scenario is represented. Moses, who God has told will NOT accompany the Israelites into the promised land, gives his final sermon and tells these children who he has parented for 40 years that they must now CHOOSE LIFE, because there will be both blessings and curses ahead. The Apostle Paul similarly preaches to his church in Corinth and reminds them that he has fed them as infants needing milk, not ready for the full food of the gospel…and that they are to be united as God’s field, allowing the gospel to plant seeds in their hearts that God will grow into his Kingdom.

So let’s revisit what Jesus says, and try to understand it more clearly:

Jesus said: “You have heard it said: YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, ...But I say to you..” LOOK DEEPER INTO YOUR HEART AND LET GOD BRING REDEMPTION, RESTORATION, PEACE! “ The message? “I am HE!” I am the one coming into the world to give LIFE… and LIFE will mean change!

Jesus also said: “You have heard it said: YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,...but I say to you…SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE, HOW YOUR NARCISSISTIC ACTS HURT NOT ONLY THE OTHER, BUT LITERALLY DESTROY YOUR LIFE.” The message? “I came to heal the world…to save the world…to lift up the oppressed and restore “right” relationships.”

A third time Jesus spoke: “You have heard it said: DIVORCE IS AN EASY OUT, EVEN MOSES GREW WEARY AND SAID JUST GET A CERTIFICATE, but I say to you: THINK OF THE BROKENNESS, THE INJUSTICES THAT TEAR APART THE FABRIC OF HUMAN SECURITY AND DIGNITY WHEN WOMEN GET THROWN UNDER THE BUS IN A PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY.” The message? ALL relationships are subject to brokenness, but I came to show you a new way to love one another as God loves you…EVEN and ESPECIALLY when life breaks your heart.

And lastly, Jesus says, “Let your words be YES..or NO…LIVE WITH INTEGRITY…CHOOSE LIFE!” In other words…GROW UP my children. Recognize that in Jesus the Kingdom of God has COME to be grasped! Follow ME into the full heart of God’s grace and Kingdom.

For the Jews hearing this sermon…there was a sharp contrast to the wording of the LAW as they had heard it for centuries. Finally, this man could see past the rules and regulations to the human component of brokenness and loss. This sermon was earth shaking and awakening to Jesus’ audience. But NOT because they felt condemned and burdened…BUT BECAUSE JESUS SAW THEM….REALLY SAW THEM, in all their human foibles. Could this be God’s promised Messiah? He Knows us better than we know ourselves.

In that moment of hearing, something changed. They began to understand their need for a savior that was MORE than a letter of the law…and that savior is now in their midst. EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.

In our day…we hear lots of condemnations, lots of listing of our sins and the laws we break day in and day out. But do we truly hear the good news that we need a Savior….and we HAVE a Savior? That in Christ Jesus, we have the means to be changed…to be new…to be fully who we are called to be?

There is a TV show that illustrates this quite well. Dale and I have become fans of the show called “THE GOOD DOCTOR.” The series revolves around the story of a boy with autism named Shawn, whose childhood experience of loss and abandonment lead him to a relationship with a medical surgeon. The surgeon becomes a surrogate father and mentor to Shawn and their story unfolds over several seasons as Shawn finds his calling to be a Dr and Surgeon and uses his extraordinary intelligence as a gift to help many. Yet Shawn has many foibles. His autism causes him to see the world as black and white, and he doesn’t understand how to negotiate the nuances of human relationships…bedside manner…and collegial challenges. BUT…what makes this show so wonderful, is the way we are allowed to watch Shawn grow emotionally, spiritually and with a depth of integrity and grace as he opens his heart and life to love. He discovers that others may see life differently than he does, but that’s ok…he can grow and live in the midst of incredible differences. We watch as Shawn learns to ask for forgiveness for his insensitivities. We angst with him when he is overwhelmed and broken. We rejoice with him when he falls in love and learns to respect and honor his wife’s feelings. And now as they await the birth of a child that will propel him into being a father, we anticipate the growth he will have to make to embrace this new adventure. Each episode, we find ourselves cheering Shawn on….”you can do it Shawn!” You can find joy and meaning and choose life despite the handicap that dominates your understanding.”

And so can WE! We live with the reality that as humans in relationship with one another and the living God, we ARE going to mess up again and again and again. BUT JESUS SAYS TO US…give your heart and your life to me…and let us together build the true vision of the Kingdom of God, a kingdom where the law is written on our hearts and lived out for the sake of the other. AND, where we can join the psalmist for today proclaiming:

“Happy are they who follow the teaching of the Lord…who observe your decrees and seek you with all their hearts.” (Psalm 119: 1-2) Amen.