The King's Law, Part 3

Call to Worship: Psalm 19:14 // Prayer

Adoration: Lord God, you are our Rock and our Redeemer. It’s because you do not change, that we know that every promise of redemption you’ve made to us will come to pass. It’s because your power is absolute, that we trust you as our rock—you cannot not be moved. We trust you and we praise you.

Confession: And we know that you are the God who sees deep into the meditations of our hearts. And so, we confess what you have already seen: sins committed in secret; lustful thoughts; failures to love wholeheartedly; bitterness instead of mercy. You’ve seen it in our hearts, Father. We have sinned against you. Forgive us.

Thanksgiving: But you, O God, are mighty to save. You have removed our guilt through the death of your Son. And so, we rejoice and give you praise.

Supplication: And we ask, give us a pure love for one another that is like the love of Christ in patience, faithfulness, and gentleness; please give us a love which causes our neighbors to turn and give glory to you, the true source of our love // and we ask for Saving Grace Church, that their love might also overflow for your glory; and we praise you for your work among them, in the recent baptism of several children who have grown up and by the power of your Spirit taken hold of the faith they’ve been taught there // Father, in our churches + wider community, we pray against the lie that we can define our own sexuality, and should express it however we feel—we see the damage this has done to so many, and the high-handed, hateful rebellion it is against you… we ask, give us gentle hearts and courage to speak the gospel to those who are caught up in the LGBTQ+ movement; we ask, please take away the power of that movement, and rescue those caught up in it, for your name’s sake and in your mercy // And now, as we turn to Your Word…

Family Matters

Potluck + Meeting: potluck—everyone is warmly invited to stay and eat and enjoy fellowship

For the meeting—these congregational meetings are an important part of our life together as a body of believers. In this meeting, we’re going to receive a new member into the congregation, hearing an update about our sister church and its ministry in Uganda, and finally, talking about some family matters.

For the meeting, everyone is invited to attend the first part, members and non-members… the trip to Uganda and such, but the second part is only for the congregation. So part way through the meeting, we’ll take a break, and then the second part of the meeting will only be for members.

And if you are a member, and you’re not able to stay for the whole meeting: I’ll sent out notes about the meeting, highly encourage you to read those!

After we dismiss: able bodies to set up tables!

Benediction

2 Thessalonians 3:16 ESV

Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Sermon

Read: Matthew 5:33-48

Intro

How do you picture keeping God’s law?

In 2006, Anthony Gatto, a circus performer, set the record for 9-ball juggling: he kept 9 balls in the air for 55 seconds straight. And it wasn’t that Anthony thought, spur of the moment, “Why don’t I just try this, and see how long I keep 9 balls in the air.” Actually, he learned to juggle at age 3, and won a gold medal in juggling at age 9. He was 33 years old when he set the 9-ball record: 30 years of practice. 55 seconds of success.

When you think about living for God’s glory, is that how you picture it? The idea is, “There’s a bunch of separate commands here, that I need to keep. And keeping them is like keeping juggling balls up in the air—there’s so many and it’s extremely difficult. It’s like a check list that grows faster than I can complete it. I’m working on anger over here, but I drop bitterness over there. I’m working on kindness over there, but I drop lust over here.

Is that how real law-keeping works, in Christ’s kingdom?

I think many people see God’s commands like that—they are a discouragingly long list of things we need to complete. When we come to a verse like Psalm 19:10, which says that God’s Law is “sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb”—it seems so bizarre to us. In our experience, God’s law is burdensome, not sweet.

Friends, that’s because we’ve reduced God’s law to a list of boxes we can check. A list of balls we try to juggle. It’s a very difficult, for sure, trying to check all those boxes. It’s weary. But in some sense it’s manageable.

But when Jesus taught on the Law, he pointed to a very different understanding: the Law isn’t just a list of commands. Ultimately, the commands that we find in the Law point beyond themselves to God’s own worthiness and God’s own perfection. And so the point of the Law isn’t so much to give us a list of disconnected rules—but rather to show who God is, and how we should live in response to his glory.

But Jesus also taught that he himself is the fulfillment of the Law. This means that he has fulfilled it for us, as our example and our redeemer. Which means that law-keeping, for a believer, is less like a difficult juggling act, and more like sheep following a gentle shepherd toward glory—however rough the terrain might be.

And that’s what we are going to see in our passage this morning. Jesus’ Law requires nothing less than a whole-hearted response to God’s glory, but Jesus himself fulfills it. And Jesus is going to show us this with two examples:

First, true honesty in response to God’s worthiness

and Second, real love in imitation of God’s love

And so, let’s dig in, and see how real law-keeping is a whole-hearted response to God’s glory.

True Honesty

[Exegesis] So first, honesty. What is true honesty?

Well as it turns out, Jesus’ teaching on honesty is just like his teachings on anger and lust which we’ve already seen. Jesus starts by giving a common false belief from his day, and then goes on to correct it. So what was their false belief about honesty? Look at vs. 33:

Matthew 5:33 ESV

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

So what was their false belief? That if you swear by God’s name, you’d better keep that promise. But if you didn’t technically swear by God’s name, dishonesty wasn’t as big a deal. Now, they had started with God’s law—for example, Lev. 19:12 says:

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

So they read that, and said, “Well, if you swear by God’s name, you had better keep your vow.” So far, so good. But they they added, “And if you swear by the gold of the temple, that’s kind of close to God, so you should probably also keep your vow in that case. But if you only swore by the temple itself, then that’s less serious”—and so on. And you can see some of this in 23:16-22, where Jesus explains the problem in more detail. They had this cascading idea of of honesty, where there were some things you could swear on—if they seemed far enough away from God’s name—where dishonesty wasn’t so bad.

How does Jesus correct this idea? Vss. 34-36:

Matthew 5:34–36 ESV

But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

What’s Jesus saying?

He’s telling them, “You don’t even understand who God is. Heaven is his throne, and earth is his footstool. That’s a poetic way of saying, all of creation, visible and invisible, is the royal throne room of God—the temple where God is to be worshiped. You can’t even fathom the magnitude of his glory and beauty. So what are you going to swear by? Jerusalem? That’s the city of the Divine King. The hairs on your head? You can’t even make them black or white—all these things are under the exact sovereign control of God, and they exist for his glory.”

Here’s what Jesus is implying: If you contemplate the worthiness of God, you’ll realize there is no corner of the universe where your sin is acceptable, or where it can hide. There is not one thing in all creation that you can swear on, intending to break your oath, and that’s OK with God.

But what does someone do, when he or she understands the infinite majesty of God? Vs. 37 explains, that person won’t even need to swear an oath. That person will be trustworthy simply by saying “Yes” or “No.” That person is good for his word, whether he takes an oath on it or not.

[Application]

Now, there’s a sense, here, in which Jesus’ logic is universal. If you’re listening to this and you’re not a believer, I invite you to grapple with what Jesus is saying: If the whole universe is a temple for the glory of God, then lies are not acceptable in any corner of it. It is an incredibly sacred place: every truthful word, spoken in love, honors the God of infinite beauty. Every false or selfish word is a desecration of the temple.

Now, you might try to come up with some other reason that folks should be honest—but every other reason will fail at some point, and will permit you to lie, and others to lie to you. Every other reason can be made to fold when it becomes inconvenient. Only the worthiness of our Creator-God can require true integrity from our hearts.

And so if you think honesty matters, you’re half a step from realizing that God exists.

But then, what are the practical implications of this? What are disciples supposed to do with this? Well, on the face of it, Jesus is teaching us to be people who speak with integrity—whose word can be trusted, whether there is an oath involved, or not.

But there’s something deeper also. What is true law-keeping? Following a mere check-list? No. Rather, it is recognizing the worthiness of God, understanding that all of life is for his glory—and living accordingly. It is seeing the glory of God, and compelled by what you see, living for him. Anything else, as Jesus says at the end of verse 37, comes from evil.

True Goodwill/Love

[Exegesis] So that’s the first example—honesty. Let’s look at the second example: Love. There are two full sections dealing with love. The first one, running from vs. 38 to 42, gives us the picture of what real love looks like.

Again, Jesus sets out to changed their understanding of the Law. Vs. 38—

Matthew 5:38 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

This OT law existed for the purpose of restraining evil. If someone destroyed your eye in a fight, this law restrained the escalation of the violence: you would be given justice—but you could not have more than justice. The violent man would be punished as fit his crime, but you could not escalate against him—you couldn’t take his life as vengeance for your eye.

What’s the purpose of a law like that? To restrain evil in a world full of evil. And that is certainly wise!

But here’s the thing: the law has now been fulfilled in Christ. And the law of Christ’s Kingdom goes beyond just restraining evil. It teaches a more perfect righteousness. And what does that righteousness look like? Jesus gives four examples:

Vs. 39, “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Vs. 40, “And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

Vs. 41, “And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”

Vs. 42, “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.”

These are shocking examples! Now, there are limits to these things—for example, Jesus isn’t telling us we have to be foolish in ways that support evil people, or that put our families or others in danger. And we don’t have time this morning to discuss each of these examples in depth… but the general point here is that Jesus is teaching a very high level of kindness—even toward your enemies! That’s the more perfect righteousness. That’s real love.

And you can imagine the thoughts his disciples might have had, at this point in his sermon. “Did he just say that if a Roman Soldier forces me to carry his pack for 1 mile, I should carry it for 2 miles?!?!” WHY!?

But Jesus is ready for this—here’s what he says, in vs. 43:

Matthew 5:43 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

And that’s the comfortable posture—when someone hurts us, maybe harms or kills those dear to us—to harbor hatred in our hearts toward them. To become bitter toward them. But Jesus disrupts this idea. Here’s what he says:

Matthew 5:44–45 ESV

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

What’s Jesus saying here? If you harbor hatred toward your enemies, you’ve forgotten who God is. God’s power over creation is absolute. He guides every drop of rain. He directs every photon of light. His power is total. He sovereignly controls every sub-atomic particle in the universe. But how does he use that power? With amazing love toward his enemies! He make the sun rise, and pours its light and warmth on them. He brings rain clouds, and waters their crops. They live in open rebellion against him, and he responds by giving them life and breath and sun and rain. They don’t deserve it. We don’t deserve it. But he delights to give it.

And Jesus’ point is this: if our Father in heaven loves his enemies in this way, how can we think that we have any right to treat our enemies with less love?

[Application]

Jesus is confronting our self-serving goodwill. “If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice back to you.” We do that, and then think that it means something. But Jesus explains, in vs. 36-37—almost everyone does that. The love that counts is love you give to people who can’t pay you back, or even to those who’ve hurt you. Why, because that’s the kind of love God has shown you simply by giving you life and breath when you live as his enemy.

And maybe this idea of loving your enemies seems distant to you—you think of Christians persecuted in tough parts of the world today, or of ancient martyrs like Polycarp or Ignatius. And that is one application of this.

But this applies just as much to the life of any believer—people that have hurt you in small ways or big ways; people who need much from you and can’t pay you back; friends who have ignored you or wronged you somehow—the opportunities for bitterness or anger will be many in anyone’s life. But if you belong to Jesus, he has command you to follow this higher way of real love—love that is prepared to embrace even an enemy.

So now, let’s take a step back and see what Jesus has taught us about law-keeping in his Kingdom. What is it like? Is it a long check-list that we must try to complete? Is it a great number of balls that we must juggle, ever fearful that we’ll drop too many?

Friends, it’s none of those things!

Jesus’ approach to the law was to see it in relation to God’s glory and God’s love. And so, what does the Law fulfilled by Jesus require of us? Nothing less than a whole-hearted response to who God is.

Do you see the difference? In vs. 48, Jesus says that we must be perfect, just like our Father in heaven is perfect. But what kind of perfection? Just managing to keep all those balls in the air? Just somehow managing to check off all the rules on the list?

No, but something much deeper: Jesus’ law points to a heart which is filled with perfect reverence for God and with a perfect copy of God’s own perfect love—so that all of a person’s attitudes and words and action flow from that kind of heart.

So true law-keeping is a heart that looks to God, and lives in response to who God is. And if you’re even slightly honest with yourself on this, you know that you’ve failed this law badly.

Lord’s Table: The Perfection of the True Son

So what do we do?

Look back at vs. 44-45. What does Jesus say there? If you love your enemies, you are sons of your Father in heaven.

That language is not accidental. Matthew’s already been teaching us about who the true Son of God is—Jesus. Back at the end of chapter 3, the Father said about Jesus, “This is my beloved Son.”

Jesus is the true Son of God—the one who would love his enemies, and pray for those who crucified him—the ultimate display of God’s love for his enemies—for us!

Jesus taught, “if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”—and here’s how Matthew describes the treatment of Jesus, leading up to the crucifixion:

Matthew 26:67–68 ESV

Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

And how did Jesus react to this? By turning the other cheek—that is, by going quietly to the cross, there to die for our sake.

So, Jesus’ Law requires nothing less than a perfect, whole-hearted response to God’s glory—this perfect love. But Jesus himself has fulfilled it!

What does this mean for us? Our hearts are by nature twisted and evil—we do not have eyes to see God’s glory and God’s love, and therefore, in our natural state, our hearts remain opposed to him, even if we make some kind of effort to juggle a few of his laws, trying to keep them in the air.

We are, in our natural state, captive to the power of sin, and loaded up with the guilt of our twisted hearts.

But Christ came to redeem us from that—in his love, he died to cancel our guilt and bring us to God. Romans 5:10 says:

Romans 5:10 ESV

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Friend, if you have never turned from sin to Christ, we urge you to do that. Turn to him, and know the forgiving love of God for all your sin.

And believer, where does that leave us?

How do we relate to God’s law? By looking to the Son of God, and seeking to imitate his perfection. Not so much as a mere list of rules, but as cultivating hearts that see the glory and love of God, and living our lives in response to that vision.

In Jesus, the true Son of God, as God’s children, we have the perfect example. But we also have something more: we have a Savior, who gave himself up for us in perfect love, to save us. Who gave his body to be broken for us, and his blood to be poured out for us. And we re going to celebrate that this morning in the Lord’s Table.

[invite Sam… others musicians forward]

At the Lord’s table, a local congregation symbolizes their union with Christ and with each other—they remember that they have received God’s mercy and been made into a new people. And so, if you are a believer who has already symbolized the beginning of your faith through baptism, and are in good standing with your local congregation, we welcome you to participate in the bread and the cup with us. But if you are not a baptized believer, we ask that you don’t participate, but instead watch as we partake of the bread and the cup, and think about what it means: that Jesus gave himself up to death, so that if you come to him, you also will find true life and be added to the fellowship of his people.

[invite congregation to come forward]

‌‌Passing out bread + Cup

‌‌‌1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.””

1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

‌1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”