Passive acceptance of unreconciled  relationships is not an option for a follower of Jesus.  That’s the message that is at the heart of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount we will look at today.

       A few weeks ago, I was riding early one morning on the Washington, DC Metro system and two men got on the train.  They were very angry at one another.  The older one was yelling at the younger and asking how he could make such a stupid decision, and how did he ever make it through Georgetown University, and how could he ever trust him again…  It was loud and everyone in the car could hear it.  The younger man tried to defend himself and even blamed the older saying he was just doing what he’d seen this man do…  This only made the older one angrier.  Finally, after three train stops of swearing and insulting, they got off, still yelling at one another.  They both were red in the face.  The older man was sweating and struggling with his breathing.  The young man seemed to want to run.

       I couldn’t help but think, “Those men probably just lost 3 months off each of their lives.”  And, I doubt that they really were at peace within themselves – much less with one another.  Very few people wake up in the morning hoping to show people how angry and hate-filled they can be.  I’ve said it often before:  When our relationships are good, life is good.  But when we’re angry with people or they with us, we are not at peace.  And the Bible tells us that when God’s kingdom is in force, people don’t destroy one another – with thoughts, words or actions.  God made us to have joy when we are at peace with God and with one another.

       We have been made for relationships that are honest and peace-filled. And, Jesus promises that when the kingdom of heaven comes in its fullness, all relationships will be what God originally intended them to be.  As the prophet Isaiah had seen it: when the kingdom of God comes in its fullness,

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat…

The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together…
The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (from Isa. 11:6-9).

       It is a beautiful picture, isn’t it?  Don’t you long for it?  And that’s what the sermon is about today.

       When Jesus came, he said he had come to bring in the beginning of that kingdom of God.  And, shock of shocks, people like you and me can already enter into that relationship with God in which his rule takes root in us.   It all begins when we place our trust in Jesus and surrender to his lordship.  And, not only is our life made right with God, but we are also given the privilege of being those God uses to bring his peace to others. And we’re going to see today what Jesus says about how we are to live to bring his blessing of peace.

       To make that clear to us, Jesus takes us to the 6^th command:  “You shall not murder.” 

Reading Jesus’ commentary on his Father’s commands

       Beginning in Mt. 5:21, Jesus teaches about 6 specific issues describing how we are to live when God is in charge.  He simply goes back to what God had already said in his 10 Commandments, i.e., this is how I made human beings to live well.  Do you remember? Those commands were given that “it would go well with us” according to Deuteronomy 5.

       Six times in his sermon Jesus says, "You have heard it said ..., but I say to you ..."  In doing so Jesus is not contradicting the Ten Commandments.  He’s not saying, “God the Father was too soft on us so I’m going to make the commandment tougher than he did.” To the contrary, Jesus said in Mt. 5:17-20 that he had not come to abolish his Father’s Law but to live according to it – to fill it out or embody it.  No one had ever lived fully the way God had made people to live until Jesus – and Jesus’ life and work was to make that kind of life available to fallen and imperfect people like we all are.

       What Jesus was correcting was how the religious leaders of his day were distorting God’s commands.  They tried to find ways to say that they had never broken any of them and that they didn’t need God’s grace.  Throughout the Bible, when Jesus teaches his Father’s Word he says, “It is written.”  When he corrects the religious leaders’ teaching he says, “You have heard it said.” 

       So Jesus is clarifying the real meaning of the commandments.  You see, the problem with the Scribes and Pharisees is that they pretended to be the "holier than thou" keepers of the law who could tell others how to live.  In reality, they didn't keep the heart of God's Law themselves.  They had found ways to get around the real standards of God. They did this in several ways including:

1.  Any permission they could find was sometimes interpreted as widely as possible.  If they could find any permission at all for divorce in the OT, for example, that opened the door for divorce in any and every situation.

2.  Any prohibition that bothered them was interpreted as narrowly as possible.  For example, the 7^th command’s prohibition against adultery was applied to only the most specific act of having intercourse with the wife of a married man.  Anything else was acceptable.  (Does it sound like our day?)

       What Jesus does in His sermon is get us how our Maker created us to think, speak, and live.  And, as Matt. 18 shows, the essentials for real life, according to Jesus, can be boiled down to lives filled with 1) love for God and 2) love for people.  Let me put this another way.  Jesus said the first 5 commandments can be summarized with one command, i.e., “Love God.”  The second five commands can also be summarized with one command, i.e., “Love people.”  And, the first way to love people, according to the 10 commands is to do nothing to harm human life.  Let’s see what he says.

Treating People as God Treats People:  Explaining the 6th Command (5:21-22)

       As Jesus takes up the 6^th command, he points out that the religious teachers had mixed together two laws found in the OT both relating to dealing with people: 1) the 6th command and 2) some civil legislation that had been added onto it.  As I see it, these religious leaders wanted did this to be sure that no one would think they had ever engaged in murder.   They did so with two slick tricks:

1.  They restricted the application of the 6th command to the mere physical act of murder.  They could therefore say, "Hey, I've never broken the sixth command.  I'm no Hitler, no Bin Laden, no John Wayne Gacy. I’ve never put a knife in anyone’s heart. I’m OK!”  So, by minimizing God’s commands in that way, they could contend they were righteous on their own. 

2.  They restricted the punishment of this command to the kind of external acts that the law courts could address and then they would say,  "If it's not strictly illegal, then it's OK with God too.”

       Do you see how this affected their lives?  They could (and did) say, "I can hate Gentiles, insult women, tear down others' self‑esteem, be verbally abusive, rip someone's character and reputation, but I can still OK on my own before God.  I haven't broken His command."  Angela Lo Moser spoke about this when she was baptized recently.  She said, “I finally understood that we're all sinful.  And that it was only pride and an illusion that my own personal goodness relinquishes the need for Jesus' salvation."  Well, many of the religious leaders had not come to understand what Angela understands.

       Jesus wants us to know that God had something much better and more beautiful in mind with this command than simply prohibiting murder as we think of it. God wants there to be positive relationships among people because all people are made in his own image.  And then, Jesus tells us something that deep in our souls we already know, i.e., that there is more than one way to destroy a human being:

 

#1:  Poisonous Inner Thoughts – nursing anger.  In v. 22, Jesus begins, as always, with our inner beings.  He tells us not to be angry with a brother of sister.  Jesus is not saying that feeling anger is always wrong.  If we're human (and not vegetable or mineral), we will be angry at times.  God tells us throughout Scripture that he is personally angry at sin ant those who destroy themselves and this world through sin.  Jesus became angry at his friend Lazaraus’ tomb because of the devastating affect of death in this world.  So anger is a part of the emotional make‑up both of God and of those made in His image.  But anger against sin or things that are wrong and an anger that wants to hurt people are two very different things.

       The word Jesus uses and is translated “anger” speaks of what brews in our inner beings.  It has to do with plotting poison against a person   -- not just a flare up of temper. What Jesus is calling for is a refusal to give in to that ongoing, sulking, brooding, negative way of thinking in which we plot against others.  That kind of anger eats at our souls and psyches just as cancer eats at the body. 

       Jesus is concerned about what we do with our anger.  He is saying that just as an entire tree is wrapped up in an acorn, so murder is wrapped up in this kind of anger.  And this seed of wanting to hurt others is in us all.  This is why we can never be self-righteous.  We will need forgiveness for the poison we so often have in our hearts and we will need God’s power to be different.  I’ll come back to that at the end of the message.

       Then Jesus moves from an examination of our hearts to our mouths.

 

#2:  Treating People as Non-Persons – saying “raca”

       When Jesus speaks of saying “raca”, he means dealing with people as being nobodies.  He’s dealing with us having people in our vicinity and simply being indifferent toward them – often because of ethnicity, or social status, or educational level.  The religious leaders often did this to the Gentiles in their midst – almost always to children or to the disabled and even to women.  They treated them as nothings. Jesus is saying that indifference toward people whom God loves is the seed of mistreatment.  After all, if they are “race” –nobodies - then what does it matter how we treat them?

       I think Jesus would want you and me to ask, “Whom are we inclined to ignore?”  An intern at work?  A particular kind of disablement?  Let’s search our hearts in the light of Jesus’ words.

#3:  Going on the attack with words or deeds – saying “you fool”

       The word Jesus uses here is our word for moron.  It is a verbal attack against a person’s worth.  It’s not simply indifference about a person but an attempt to murder someone’s self-esteem.  It happens when we gossip.  It happens when we rip a person in front of others.  We call it verbal abuse – and Jesus does as well.  Children may chant, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”  But, we don’t have to live long to know that emotional scars destructive words often live on long after the healing of flesh wounds have healed.  Solomon would say in Prov. 18:21, “The power of life and death in in the tongue.”

       I think Jesus would stop here and say, “You know this is true. It’s happened to you – so, don’t let it happens through you!  So, use your own words to bring healing and blessing. Words from the same person can lead people to faith or away from it -- turn people from sin or drive them into it – give them hope or lead them to despair.  Knowing this, we should pray with David in Ps 141:3, Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.

       Do you see why Jesus takes destructive thoughts and words so seriously?  He is saying that angry attitudes and abusive words destroy people.  Bottom line:  Lovelessness destroys human lives.

       The angry accusation, or gossip, or look may not be punishable in a law court, but when Christians decide how we will conduct ourselves, it's not the law court we fear anyway, is it.  There is a greater Judge we will have to stand before and give account for our words and actions -- the One who inspired this book.

 

II.  Applying the Command

       Throughout his sermon, we'll see that Jesus doesn't offer just good theology but practical application as well.  He doesn't deal with every situation because that's impossible.  We have to learn to prayerfully consider our own situations in the light of the teaching.  But he applies His teaching to two situations:

1.  Obedience to God is central to worshiping God ‑‑ (5:23‑24)

       Worship simply means putting nothing in God’s place.  1^st command:  God first.  When we worship, we see who we are in the light of who God is.  And, God is a reconciling God.  Jesus envisions us worshipping as we are today and saying in our worship, “Lord, my life is yours.  How would you have me live?”  And what have we heard?  Jesus insists on us being people reconciled to him and one another.  So, today, don't pretend to worship God as if all is fine with Him if you know of an unreconciled relationship.  Go and try to make it right.  And do it immediately!  Passive acceptance of an unreconciled relationship is not an option for a Jesus-follower.

       Some people won't let you be reconciled ‑‑ but Jesus tells us to take the first step.  In 5:23, Jesus speaks of a brother having something against you and in 18:15ff he speaks of you feeling a brother has sinned against you.  But, his mandate is the same, i.e., go and seek peace as soon as possible.  And there is urgency in Jesus’ words.  He says, “Go and seek peace now as far as it depends on you!”  Jesus is saying, "You be the peace-maker.  You take the initiative." 

2.  A way of life that always seeks peace will be a healthier life  (5:25‑26)

       In his second application, Jesus is showing us how wise this peace-making way of life is.  He’s giving advice that Christian and non-Christian should be able to see is good sound counsel. The advice is straightforward, "Keep short accounts.  Make things right quickly and you might not even have to go to court.” 

Peter applies Jesus’ teaching in 1 Peter 2-3, "Give people no reason to be offended at you."  Pay your bills on time.  Keep your word.  Don't be one who by your own laziness or tardiness makes others angry.

       Several years ago, John Starks of the NY Knicks injured Kenny Anderson with a flagrant foul. Rick Mahorn, a commentator often accused of dirty play himself, said, "I learned a long time ago that that kind of dirty play comes back to you many times over.  In the end, you'll get it much worse."

      Jesus is simply telling us to defuse any potential anger against us as Christians by our exemplary lifestyles.  How many of us here, I wonder, if we were to stand at heaven's court, might be embarrassed by bills unpaid, people misled, services delayed, words carelessly spoken.  Jesus is calling his followers to be alert to our own actions, which might lead someone to break the 6th command by becoming angry with us.

III.  Some Pastoral Advice

#1:  The foundational issue is one of our inner lives.  This teaching of Jesus goes back to 5:3‑12. Though Christians, I think too many of us are influenced by the world's pattern of thinking ‑‑ of caring mostly when my rights are offended, of using my words and actions for my own benefit. Jesus points us to a better way.  I urge us throughout this series to come back to vv. 3-9 and the inner lives that flow into good deeds.

# 2:  The key to our inner lives is the way we allow ourselves to think.  Romans 12:1-2 says we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Philippians 4:8‑9 gives specifics for us:

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

                                                                                    Philippians 4:8-9

Often, we sin in our anger because we allow ourselves to brood on the negative.  That turns us into negative people.  Have you known people that anytime they write or call, you know it's going to be a downer?  They're always critical, always negative, always pessimistic.  Never encouraging.  Rarely deeply grateful.  Some get angry every time the children make a loud noise; every time the service goes a minute too long...  Jesus warns us not to let that be said of us.  I would urge you in particular to take those verses in Philippians to heart and life.  God’s work in us is shaped by what we do with our minds.

# 3:  This beautiful life is only possible “in Christ”.  This beautiful life in Christ is not a self-help program.  We cannot live this wonderful way on our own.  What is our hope?  Jesus.  Mt. 5:17 points out that Jesus came to live in accordance with God’s commands.  And, his life was beautiful.  Jesus tells us in Mt. 5:17-10 that all God speaks will remain true.  A part of God’s promise Jesus refers to is that a day would come when a servant would come to this world would die in our place for our sins (Is. 53) and make possible a new life.  Jesus is that servant.  God’s will forgive your past – and will remake your future.  But, that abundant life can only begin when you surrender in faith to God’s rule by making Jesus your savior.

       Then and only then will you and I make our goal the same goal that we find in the heart and actions of God, i.e., reconciliation with all who come to him.  Passive acceptance of unreconciled relationships is not an option when we follow Jesus.  He came on a mission of reconciliation.  And, he calls us into a ministry of reconciliation.

       Jesus knows of only one way to destroy our enemies:  by thinking, speaking and acting to make them our friends.