Matthew 5:21–37
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.
25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Conversation: Conditional “IF and THEN”
• When playing sports I find myself using if and then statements. If I would have hit three broom then…if the broom was in the right place then…if I would have shot the right weight then…
• What happens if the IF is wrong (Miss the shot)
• Parents use if and then statements with their children… some are negative… some are positive… Tell me some IF and Then.
• When happens if the children don’t do the IF
• God uses if and then statement like sports players. Have you ever heard any?
• What are the consequences of being on the wrong side of if in sports? (Losing the game.)
• What are the consequences in family situation? (Tougher rules)
• What are the consequences with God? (Punishment)
• Why IF and Then?
Sermon: ‘Liable for Judgement’
1. We love playing the IF and THEN game. When in positions of authority we use it to increase the performance of the people below. IF and THEN can be used in positive ways for encouraging positive responses. For instance; “IF you work hard for the company we will give you a raise.” But IF and THEN can be used in threatening or harsh ways also; “IF you don’t sell this much product you will be fired.”
In family situations IF and THEN is used very often…more than we think. Parents use it for; encouraging, sometimes for warning, and sometime for a threat. Children use it for trying to manipulate; IF I do my chore then can we… for questioning their parents; IF you were not going to take us then you should not have promised…
When we think carefully about it “IF and THEN” is used often… it is used for excuses… It is used for encouragement … We all use it and for many reasons.
Using IF and THEN is a condition statement. If you do this then I will do that… sort of statement. It is used for positive or good promises… But it is also used for negative or promises of bad outcomes.
2. Sometimes we may not know but IF and THEN is also used frequently in the Bible. In today’s lesson from Isaiah God gives Israel two choices. They can choose life and prosperity… or they can choose death and adversity. IF they choose to obey God and follow God’s command…then they will prosper and be blessed. But IF they turn away from God THEN they will not live long in the land and will perish.
Jesus also uses IF and THEN when he is teaching today. He uses IF and THEN to help teach about two of the Ten Commandments … You shall not murder and You shall not commit adultery. Now most of us can say with confidence that we have not killed anyone. And many of us can say that we have not committed adultery. But for both commandments Jesus challenges us; “IF we think that we have kept these commandments THEN maybe we should think again.” He asks us; “IF you are angry with a sibling or neighbor… or if we insult them…or if we hold something against them…then are we not also liable to be judged guilty?”
Similarly Jesus teaches about adultery asking; “IF you lust, if you divorce your husband or wife…then are you not liable to be judged guilty?” Jesus, by his IF and THEN, teaching tells us about the commandments which are not so much about specific acts… Instead the commandments are about attitude…toward other people.
The general commandment is; ‘Love your neighbor.’ And if we do or think anything other than love for family, friends, or neighbors then we are judged guilty by God.
3. We don’t much like Jesus’ teaching on these two commandments. We don’t like being judged guilty IF we are just thinking but not doing. If that is what God expects then there is no way that we could ever keep these two commandments. When we consider this truthfully there is no IF about it at all… Rather because we know that we are unable to control our anger and the angry thoughts we think about other people…rather than IF the word is WHEN. WHEN our thoughts are angry and mean… WHEN we insult each other… When we speak unkind words… When we lust after people… WHEN we do anything that degrades or humiliates anyone…it is as if we murdered them or committed adultery…and are therefore liable for judgement. This means that all of us are guilty and liable for judgement.
IF everyone is liable for judgement … what can we do able it? The whole point of Jesus’ teaching for today…is just that…we are all judged guilt…and we cannot do anything to change that judgement. IF we cannot change our judgement…then our situation seems hopeless.
4. Once again this is the whole point for Jesus’ teaching. Jesus knows that we could never keep even the least of God’s laws. He knows as we know…deep in our hearts…we are unable to love God or our neighbor with our whole heart. Believe it or not this is good news.
The good news is that we don’t have to keep every little law… because God’s love for us is everything ours is not. God loves us when we are loving… but in addition God continues loving us when we are spiteful and insulting to our neighbors. God loves us when we hurt the one to whom we have promised to be faithful. God even loves us when we don’t love God in return. God’s love for us is amazing and complete
5. God shows this amazing and complete love…by what God does for us. God sends his son Jesus…who lives among teaching us about true love. Jesus shows us that true complete love is a sacrificing love. This sacrificing love is shown when he willing without hesitation goes to the cross and dies for us. Lovingly Jesus gives his life…taking our guilt and our judgement away. His sacrificing love means that we are judged innocent of all our sins both great and small. Yes, God’s love is all of ours… plus it is much more that we could ever imagine love could be.
Jesus shows us how limited our love is…but by his loving sacrifice also shows us how much more it could be. Jesus calls us to see… He calls on us to respond and be thankful…for being judged innocent. He calls on us to live differently. He challenges us to live the ‘positive’ IF and THEN. IF our love is true love… THEN we will be changed. IF our love for each other is genuine …THEN people will see it. IF we love with a sacrificing love… THEN we will be blessed.
Let us thankful and live for God’s Blessing. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Out of the Wilderness 