Transparent & Consequential Living

Scripture

Today’s teaching from the Sermon on the Mount looks at really divisive, close-to-home, content. And it invites us to be honest, transparent, and purposeful about how we order our lives. It’s not always easy to hear and can make us uncomfortable. But the intention that Jesus has for us is that we understand the way of life that we find in him and we move beyond lesser or distorted ways of being.

Matthew 5:21–37 NRSV

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.

What do we do with our anger?

What do we do with our lustful impulses? Is desire bad?

How do we handle divorce?

Nobody gets married, honestly, with the intention of that relationship dissolving.

Divorce is not God’s intention for human relationships. And divorce is sometimes necessary. But again, who desires such a thing to go through?

For myself, this teaching and prohibition around divorce resonates very much like how many talk about abortion. Abortion is, on the whole, not something anyone wants to have to go through. It can be a very traumatic ordeal for the pregnant mother and those around her. It can mean great loss, emotionally, even if it is the right decision.

So, can say that incredibly difficult things, like divorce or abortion, they are not what is best for us, they are beyond what we would ask for ourselves, in most cases? And can we also say they are necessary, for health, for safety, for security, and for people, especially women, to have authority over their own lives?

What are we to do with oaths, agreements, contracts, and commitments?

Again, we have an issue of what is best, what is good for us, and what is reality and materially significant to living.

Living a transparent life means being honest with the words we say. We don’t make agreements and then abandon them, to the best of our abilities. We say, “yes” and “no” when we mean it. And we check ourselves at any other time we are not truly committing or honestly speaking. We tell the truth.

One of the ways I’ve found this to most simply apply in my life is finding the ability to say, “no.” I like to say “yes” to so many things. I like to be the guy who comes through, who helps, who is available. But I’ve realized that by doing the “yes” thing too much, I can’t honor my word. Right now, I am juggling so many plates — pastoring, doctoral work, parenthood, and the normal responsibilities of being a functioning adult. I need to learn to say “no” so that I can say “yes” with confidence to the things that really are important.

I’ve titled this sermon “Transparent & Consequential Living”. When we live that life of God’s blesseds, as we are working through here in the Sermon on the mount, they lead us towards what we call the good life — the life God intends for us. To be formed in the way of Jesus is to become participants in “the good life.”

Each of these sections from today’s teaching, anger, adultery, divorce, and truth-telling: these are all places where the transparency and consequence of our lives comes into question.

Sure, I’m guessing not many of us woke up in a murderous rage today (I really hope not and if you did…we want to get you help!) But don’t we wrestle with our anger and contempt towards others? If you say you don’t, I’d venture to say you’re not being transparent or honest. Maybe we’ve grown numb to our anger and just don’t feel it much any more. But if that’s the case, as I know it has been with me at times, the feelings of unresolved pain will surface somewhere else. So I need to be honest about my anger and work through it.

Again, let’s also circle back to adultery: This teaching leads many of us into frustration — how are we supposed to be humans who feel attraction and affection if we are not to look at one another, really at all? And I don’t see among us very many missing eyes or fingers, hands, or other limbs. So we’re not really honoring this one, are we?

Here’s where we get at lives of consequence and transparency again. There is nothing wrong with the God-given desires we feel. We appreciate beauty, we acknowledge the goodness of God in each other. AND, this gets perverted when we start to primarily see those objects of desire and attraction as simple that: objects. Objects to be used for our own pleasure.

Love is the mutual giving and receiving of pleasure. This may be physical, but it also may be the pleasure of a dear friendship.

Lust is objectifying and using. Think of the #metoo movement, for an example. Too often, men in particular, have fed their desires by touching and even overpowering others, most often women, to serve their physical desires. Personal space is disrupted. Unsolicited hugs or touches linger too long.

If that’s how we’re working with our desires, then yeah, get it out of here. There’s sort of an anarchic, punk rock vibe to Jesus here. Go straight edge, refuse those advances with a strong denial. Maybe we don’t gouge out our eyes — let’s not do that. But let’s hold ourselves to a standard of respect and dignity for all people. Let’s direct our desires into the right places, the intimate, close places and people in our lives. And let’s acknowledge that intimacy is much bigger than sex — it’s about that transparency — I will be drawn to the ones I love and I will offer myself to them with all I can. And I won’t give into making them or anyone else an object.

Do you see how this section of the Sermon on the Mount really drives home the ethical ordering of our lives that Jesus is announcing? The Kingdom of God is a place of transparency and consequence. We don’t just mess around, it’s not that everything goes. Rather, our lives are ordered unto the good life, the life that does not hide or lie or deny our struggles, but a life that honestly lives in communion with God and other.

I grew up in an era of Christian culture that was saturated with teaching about how to be pure. Purity culture was and still is, in some places, a dominant device the church has used to teach and, ultimately, hold power, over people.

And this section of the Sermon on the Mount is one of the key places that purity culture gets its backing. See, Jesus says not to lust. Jesus says to stay in your marriage.

While this culture may have good intentions, purity culture actually distorts and hampers our vision of the good life God has for us. It also diminishes the richness and complexity of our human relationships. Anger — yeah, that’s a real thing and we can’t just NOT be angry — we need to figure out what to do when we experience anger.

Lust or Adultery — yeah, these are distortions of real, good, healthy desire. And we need to find ways, in community, to have our hearts formed by Christ so we can exercise all the goodness of our sexuality and desires — they are meant for good things, right?!

Divorce — yeah, this is a distortion of what we believe to be the true goodness of a faithful, committed partnership. AND, sometimes it needs to happen. But we can agree that we are meant to be in relationship and connection with each other and we can mourn at the realities of abuse, neglect, and hardship that lead us to not always be able to do that. The Good Life of Jesus says we are made to be in connection with one another. And, we need to protect divorce to guard the well-being of each other, knowing that harm in a relationship is NEVER how it is meant to be.

Finally, we must tell the truth.

This one is about as simple as it gets. Don’t hide. Tell the truth. Be honest. Not honest like, “I’m just going to say whatever comes to mind” but honest in your intentions, honest with yourself, honest about your feelings. Be true to who you say you will be and true to who God has made you to be.

Maybe you don’t know how you fit in with all these teachings. Maybe they feel like too much or unattainable.

In part, they are.

But what they all encapsulate is a life of transparency: we’re gonna be real about what we are experiencing, desiring, hoping for, etc. We’re not going to hide it. And we’re going to make choices about our lives that are consequential. We’re going to recognize that our decisions and the way we exist in the world impacts others, and we’re going to pay attention to that.

These teachings may seem intense or maybe even a bit dated. But at their core, they are about finding that Good Life in Christ and honoring it with how we go about our days and engage in human relationship.

How are you being challenged by this text? How are you being invited into a life of greater transparency and consequence? What frustrates you in this and why? I invite each of us to wonder at this teaching and hold it, looking for what Christ is calling us to, what that Good Life might hold for us.

Amen.