Category Archives: Sermon on the Mount

Nobody’s Perfect, But…

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Kim Jong-un cannot qualify for Heaven. But then, neither could Mother Teresa – not on her own steam. Nobody can live up to Heaven’s standard for entry. The bar is set way too high. Jesus made that clear:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

If golf was how you got into Heaven, Tiger wouldn’t. You must be perfect. How perfect? As perfect as the Heavenly Father. Sounds harsh, but when you think it over, if any imperfection was allowed in Heaven, pretty soon it wouldn’t be Heaven. In time, it would become Detroit. That is why Jesus told the people that their righteousness would have to be much better than the Pharisees, whose sole focus in life was to obey all the commands of Scripture. You have to be perfect.

Reflect for a moment on the fact that we live with standards for perfection all the time. If you dial even one wrong number out of ten, your call cannot be connected to the right phone. If you mess up just one letter or number of a password, you cannot get on to a secure WiFi. You must be perfect, or you cannot get in. Same thing with Heaven. Jesus said so.

But Paul Harvey had something to say, too: “You need to know the rest of the story.” The “rest of the story” about the word, perfect, is that, in the original language of Matthew, it also meant “complete.” Jesus came to “complete” us by giving us His Spirit. We were created by God and designed by Him to have the Spirit within us, guiding us. Without that Spirit, there is no way for any human to be perfect. Jesus was saying, in order to enter Heaven, you must have the Spirit of God living in you. How does one get the Spirit? Jesus said, “Trust Me, … and I will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, The Spirit of Truth.”

Maybe you are thinking, “But I have already trusted Jesus, and already have His Spirit, but still I am imperfect. What now?” Don’t panic, perfection is coming. Not here, not now, but guaranteed. Jesus said:

“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40)

Enemy Whisperer

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The hounds of Hell live just around the corner from my house in Colorado, two German Shepherds with slathering fangs and burning hot coals for eyes. The chain link fence that stops them from eviscerating me has my deepest respect and gratitude. But I am convinced that the “Dog Whisperer” could nonchalantly walk into their yard and gentle them in short order.

It takes a lot of courage to be a “whisperer.” The “Dog Whisperer” and these guys who get into corrals with wild horses have great courage. But they also have something the average person does not. Somehow, they have the capacity to show they pose no threat, that they understand that the animal’s aggression is based in fear. The one who “whispers” really wants the very best for those animals.

Jesus says, “Be an enemy whisperer:”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:43-44)

The love that Jesus refers to here is genuine concern for the wellbeing of your potential adversary, at the risk of your own wellbeing. Jesus would have us get in the corral with our enemy, posing no threat and acting with the understanding his aggression is rooted in fear. Jesus would have us communicate by what we do that we are truly there to bless. Clearly, that takes a lot of courage. But it takes something else, too, something the average person does not have.

That previous quote from Jesus is incomplete. He ended the sentence by saying,

“…that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:45a)

To “be a son” of someone is an idiom for being so full of his character and spirit that you thoroughly resemble him. Jesus says, love your enemies, showing that you are full of God’s Spirit and in step with His character. The Spirit of God is something the average person does not have. But Jesus came to “whisper” us, to show us He posed no threat but was out for our genuine good. He said He didn’t come to condemn the world but to save us (John 3:17). Jesus knew that without God’s Spirit we were stuck in fear. But He came, at the risk of His own life, to bless us. For those who will truly trust Him, Jesus connects them to and fills them with God’s Spirit in a living way.

And says, “Whisper your enemies…”

Revenge (or Not)

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You would never have heard of the Hatfields and McCoys if either of those families believed Jesus. Lots of folks say they believe in Jesus; they just don’t believe Him, especially when He says things like this:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’** But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:38-39)

It’s understandable for people to doubt that teaching. The urge to get revenge is so deeply seated in us and feels so satisfying, that Jesus’ teaching seems preposterous. I would guess that no other theme has been more predominant in movies than the one in which the good guy finally gets tasty revenge over the bad guy. And yet Jesus says, don’t do it. Instead, make a decision to not resist.

Jesus isn’t talking about cowering in fear. He means for us to turn the tables on our adversary, by responding generously to his hurt or his need. He continued with this:

“And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:40-42)

These teachings go together; the same Spirit that governs and enables the second part, also informs and directs the first. Without that Spirit, they seem ridiculous and are impossible to sustain. With God’s Spirit, they fit together with beauty and grace. The best illustration I know of how powerful and healing such actions can be is in another movie: Les Miserables. If you have seen it, think about the gift of candlesticks to the thief, and all that ensued. In you have not seen it, there’s your homework! Do it today!

When a person recognizes Jesus as God, understands the depth and sincerity of the love He poured out on the cross, and fully trusts Him, God’s Spirit begins to live in his or her soul. As He begins to transform our minds, things like not taking revenge but responding to an evil person with grace and understanding, that made no sense before, now seem not only beautiful, but also possible.

Honesty

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It is okay to lie, as long as you have your fingers crossed. At least that was the rule we had as kids. Now the rule is: you can lie, as long as you explain it in the fine print. That’s what they told you when you filed that insurance claim, right? In Jesus’ day they had rules about lying, too. Everyone assumed you were shading the truth, unless you took an oath. The extent to which you could lie under oath (government officials, listen up!) was determined by what you were swearing by. If it was something sacred or highly valuable, then you had to mostly tell the truth. If not… well, then the rules loosened up a bit.

Jesus blasted through all this insanity by saying;

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
 (Matthew 5:33-37)

Say what you mean and mean what you say. God’s design is for people to tell the truth. Imagine that! Sounds easy, until you consider all of our unwritten rules for “white lies.” But imagine a world in which “Do I look fat in this?” was a real request for honest input, and there was no implied compulsion for a reply that was anything other than the truth. Much easier, much more relaxed, I think. I have lived in cities where everyone assumed you were likely to lie (two forms of id, please…). I’ve lived in small towns where everyone assumed you were telling the truth. I’ll take the latter, any day.

The startling thing here is Jesus’ assertion that anything less comes from Satan, the evil one. Next time you lie (statistics say adults do so on average about 3 times an hour!) think deeply about the root of your motives. See if “the evil one” isn’t peeking out from behind them…

Tell the truth.

Divorce

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You can’t take a marriage apart; you can only break it apart. It’s not like a clock, where you can disassemble the gears and levers. It is more like epoxy, in that once it has been mixed together and made, it is no longer possible to “unmix” it. That is why divorce hurts – hurts everybody involved and even some who aren’t involved. That’s why God said He “hates divorce” (Malachi 2:16), because he hates it when we hurt ourselves. If you don’t believe those blunt statements, I would invite you to talk with thildren, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, co-workers and bosses who have shared with me their gaping wounds from divorce. Divorce is not how God designed it to be.

In Jesus’ day, divorce was considered to be okay, provided the husband gave his wife a certificate, which would allow her to remarry. In the conditions of that culture, a divorcee almost had to remarry – it was either that, move in with her parents or starve. Jesus challenged that understanding with this:

“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)

If you define “adultery” as the act of sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse, these teachings don’t make sense. But if you define “adultery” as breaking the covenant of oneness that God established in marriage, then they do. A divorced woman is (in that culture) forced to remarry, which forces her to do something that violates her covenant of oneness with her (former) husband. Once again, Jesus teaches that righteousness is not achieved by drawing a line and then not stepping over it. Righteousness is found in wholeheartedly pursuing the rhythm and flow of how God designed life to be lived.

It is ironic that many have used this teaching to justify divorce, saying “Since my spouse was unfaithful, if I divorce him or her I haven’t stepped over the line and sinned.” Jesus meant “Don’t force your wife to break her covenant of oneness – that is, unless she has already done so.”

Adultery

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“I did not have sex with that woman!”  Bill Clinton’s approach to morality was the ordinary one: Draw a line that defines what is going too far, and then you can tiptoe up to the line, as long as you do not step over it.  Sex, in his mind, was defined by the act of intercourse; as long as he did not cross that line, in his mind, he was not guilty.

Jesus’ view of morality is extraordinary.  Doing the right thing is not about staying on the good side of some arbitrary line; it’s about pursuing the heartbeat of God with all your heart.  It’s. about devoting oneself to the greater purpose behind a line or a law.

Jesus knew that a central component in God’s design for humanity was a covenant marriage relationship between a man and woman, established and maintained by faithfulness.  Not faithfulness as defined by Bill Clinton but faithfulness of the heart.  So He 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.”. (Matthew 5:27-28)

Jesus taught that God’s intent was not to prevent adultery, as narrowly defined by a sexual act, but to foster marriage, as defined by a heart oneness between the husband and wife.  Any act that breaks that oneness, even an unfulfilled lustful longing of the heart, is an act of adultery, since it damages the oneness of marriage.  If that seems extreme to you, think about how damaging even the suspicion of unfaithfulness is to the harmony of a marriage. 

That teaching was so radically different from the commonly held Bill Clinton approach, that Jesus shook them up with this:

“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”  (Matthew 5:29 – Jesus continues this thought in verse 30)

Jesus was not advocating self-mutilation.  As you know, the eye only follows instructions from the heart…   Jesus was startling people with hyperbole in order to underlline how seriously flawed their understanding of morality in marriage was. 

2000 years later, human attitudes toward faithfulness and marriage have not improved.  But Jesus wasn’t joking and God’s design for how things work hasn’t changed. 

Murder

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“You gob of spit!”  Ever call someone that?  They did in Jesus’ day – the Hebrew word for it was “Raca,” which, if you pronounced it with a sloppy, wet “hhhhchhhr” sound at the front end, sounded about like hawking up a Louie (is that how you spell Louie?  Lewie?  Don’t know…).

Anyhow, if you did that, Jesus says,  you are just as far out of bounds with the Law of God as you would be if you murdered him!  It wasn’t the word, spit, that was so bad. He said,

“Anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.”. (Matthew 5:22b).

Well, He certainly had the Pharisees attention, because they badmouthed people all the time.  He’s got my attention, too.  There have been times…   probably for you, too.  Can Jesus be serious?

Jesus had just 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.”  (Matthew 5:20).  Jesus is serious, but He is also radically redefining what it means to be righteous.
Here is the deal.  The common religious idea is that righteousness is a matter of not doing bad things.  What are bad things?  The religion makes a rule, draws a line, and says, “Anyone who steps over that line is unrighteous.”  Jesus, however, says righteousness is more about what you do than what you do not do.  It’s not about not stepping over the line but rather, turning around and going as far as you can in the opposite direction.

In the case of murder, it’s not about stopping short of shooting someone, but turning around and repairing anything that has caused separation between the two of you.  Even your own caustic mutterings.
Jesus says,  (No matter what seems more important – even taking a gift to church) …” go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew First 5:24 – with my paraphrase of 23)

See the idea of this?  the righteous person does not stay angry with his brother, but does whatever is necessary to repair the broken relationship. 

Good Enough?

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How good do you have to be to get to heaven?  For most people, the answer is, “As good as me…  I hope…”. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees thought the bar was set very high and literally spent their every waking hour trying to follow God’s commands.  Then along comes Jesus, teaching that it isn’t the self-righteous who get to heaven, but the people who know they are unrighteous, the spiritually bankrupt.  (See the previous posts .).

Imagine being one of those Pharisees, working hard to be good enough for God, and then hearing some guy from Nazareth suggest that the spiritual losers were doing better than they were! 

Then Jesus made 4 radically confusing statements:
1 – He said He wasn’t abolishing the scriptures, but fulfilling them. (Matthew 5:17)
2 – He said all of scripture would remain intact, even down to the tiniest punctuation marks, until “all things are accomplished.”
3 – He said “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…’ (and vice versa – Matthew 5:19)

And then, when he had them really scratching their heads, He really made them furious:
4 – “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)

Huh?  All the commands are essential, right down to the tiniest marks, but in order to get into heaven, you have to do much, much better than the guys who specialized in strict obedience to the laws?   If you are confused, good, because that is what Jesus was trying to do.  He knew that righteousness had very little to do with strict obedience and more to do with what was going on inside our hearts. 

In the next section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains true righteousness, giving several challenging examples.

Stay tuned…

By the Book

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Maybe it seems that because the Bible was written so long ago, and since we understand so much more today, that we should rewrite it, to bring it in line with modern customs and attitudes.  But not according to Jesus – and He knew what He was talking about when He said:

“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”. (Matthew 5:18)

Jesus wasn’t being vague.  Even the tiniest mark was important and would not be changed until the end of the age.  You’ve heard how a comma can save lives: “Let’s eat, Grandma” is a lot different than “Let’s eat Grandma!” 

By Jesus’ clear meaning, it is dangerous for us to assume we can overhaul the Bible’s teachings.  When we changed the rules for sex, the consequences in divorce and children born to a single mother have been much greater than anyone would have predicted.  Now the definition of marriage has been rewritten.  Buckle up; get ready for a bumpy ride…

But, you may wonder, if Jesus meant what He said, why did He proclaim all foods okay to eat, why did He break the rules for the Sabbath and develop a reputation as a drunkard and glutton?

The answer has to do with what righteousness is.  The religious leaders defined righteousness as a list of rules (over 600!) that one must not break.  Jesus had a very different understanding of what righteousness is. 

We’ll chew on that next time.

Breaking the Rules

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Why was Jesus such a threat to  religious people?  A lot of it was because He seemed to be breaking the rules of their religion.  God said,  “Don’t do any work on the Sabbath.” Religious people were very strict in deciding what actions constituted work, so they could be sure they didn’t break that rule. 

They still are, today!  In Jerusalem,  Orthodox Jewish leaders have decreed that pushing elevator buttons is work.  Consequently, the hotel elevators are programmed to stop at every floor on the Sabbath.  But Jesus didn’t seem to care about or obey their rules about the Sabbath.  There were no elevators, but Jesus sure pushed a lot of buttons, especially on the Sabbath – healing people, walking too far, and picking grain to eat. 

When religious people are threatened by people who don’t obey their rules.  If they can’t make them conform, they throw them out and badmouth them so others won’t be corrupted.  That’s what they did to Jesus (and much worse). 

You can see why they got the idea  Jesus didn’t respect the Scriptures.  But they were wrong – wrong about the rules and wrong about Jesus’ attitude toward the Scriptures (in those days called “The Law and the Prophets). 

That’s why there was much scratching of heads when Jesus said:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

How could this teaching fit with Jesus’ apparent disregard for the rules of the religious?   Chew on that and try to figure it out.  Next time we’ll try to unpack what it means to “fulfill” the Law.