Let your Yes be Yes

Open: Presidential debate Thursday night (6/27/24) Both candidates accused the other of being a liar. The truth is that both of them knowingly made false claims. It is interesting how the “fact-check” sites spin the candidate’s statements, depending upon the site’s world-view.

One site analysed Biden’s claim of receiving the Border Patrol’s endorsement of himself and his border policy as a Half Truth. The border patrol website responded with a statement: “to be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden.”

Transition: Sadly, most of us simply accept the reality that politicians lie. Think about the old joke: “how can you tell when a politician is lying?” Answer: “when his lips are moving.”

A similar analysis should NOT be made concerning the conversation of Kingdom Citizens. Jesus calls His followers to a higher standard and today’s passage highlights the need for truth-telling and integrity in the lives of those who name the Name of Christ as Lord and King.

Read the TEXT: Matthew 5:33-37.

KC’s are to Avoid the Hypocrisy of intentionally deceitful speech (Matt 5:33)

Explanation: Jesus continues to illustrate the need for the righteousness of KC’s to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. In this passage, Jesus focuses on the Pharisees’ deceitful practice of selective vow-making and reveals their twisting of the Scriptures.

A surface reading of v. 33 looks alright. The Pharisees were teaching the people not to swear falsely, or to put it in other words, ‘to do whatever you promised to do.’ This is a good thing, right? Yes it is:

Numbers 30:2 KJV 1900

If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 KJV 1900

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

Where is the problem? The twisting comes in the second part in which the Pharisees stated, “perform unto the Lord your oaths.” What they did in practice was to make vows without invoking the Divine Name , They did so in order that it wouldn’t be a sin when they broke their pledge. A promise was just “kind of a promise” as long as they left God out the promise.

Argument: Their practice was hypocritical and Jesus called them out for being deceitful. They were “word-splicing” to justify their behavior. When they broke their pledges and promises they remained (in their minds anyway) guilt free because they had not invoked the Divine Name in the broken promise.

Examples: Marriage vows: I promise to be there for you … as long as the good outweighs the bad

I am pro-life and have publically declared myself to be such … until my 15 year old daughter is pregnant

I promise to take you kids to the park next Saturday . . . unless my golf buddy calls with a tee time at that really nice course.

Application: Kingdom Citizens are called to lives free from hypocrisy. We are never to mislead others intentionally through promises / pledges we do not intend to keep.

Think it out before making a promise. Consider the consequences (Ecclesiastes 5:2)

Fulfill your word even if the circumstances change (Psalm 15:4b)

KC’s are called to be persons of integrity (Matt 5:37)

Explanation: In His corrective, Jesus tells us to refrain from oath-making. He instructs His followers NOT to make use of phrases that give the appearance of a greater degree of credibility. While they would not invoke the Divine Name in their vows, the Pharisees would swear by heaven, earth, and Jerusalem in an effort to make the vow sound more serious

Illustrate: conversation between two friends -

I will be there to help you move on Saturday.

“I don’t believe you.”

I swear by all that’s holy, I will be there on Saturday!

Argument: Just like the Pharisees, we sense the need to prop up or strengthen our word with various serious and solemn phrases. Jesus is showing us that the adding (or subtracting) of words should not make a difference for Kingdom Citizens. If a Christ-follower gives his or her word, it is his bond. End of discussion!

Question: Have you ever been involved in a fairly lengthy conversation when the person who is talking all of a sudden says, “hey, can I just be honest about something?” What does that mean? Have you been lying to me for the past 20 minutes?

A quote from William Barclay may be helpful:

The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 A Word Is a Pledge (Matthew 5:33–7)

Here is a great eternal truth. Life cannot be divided into compartments in some of which God is involved and in others of which he is not involved; there cannot be one kind of language in the church and another kind of language in the shipyard or the factory or the office; there cannot be one kind of standard of conduct in the church and another kind of standard in the business world. The fact is that God does not need to be invited into certain departments of life and kept out of others. He is everywhere, all through life and every activity of life. He hears not only the words which are spoken in his name; he hears all words; and there cannot be any such thing as a form of words which evades bringing God into a transaction. We will regard all promises as sacred, if we remember that all promises are made in the presence of God.

Application:

Jesus is NOT forbidding His followers to take an oath or make a vow. It is not unbiblical to be “sworn in” for jury duty, serving in the military, or getting married.

Jesus is declaring that His followers are not to add religious jargon and /or slogans in a feeble attempt to make us seem more believable. Our lives of integrity as Christians should be our public witness of trustworthiness.

Realize the power of our spoken word. Do not give your word lightly without considering what is involved. When you do give your word, keep it!

Teach the underlying reason for being Honest & Trustworthy. Honesty IS the best policy, but it is because God is the ESSENCE and SOURCE of truth and as His children we are to reflect Him in our word.

Share the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)

Reflect on this prayer in the Psalms: Psalm 19:14

Psalm 19:14 KJV 1900

Let the words of my mouth, And the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.