Kingdom Authenticity
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Halloween stores have opened. Decorations and candy and pumpkins are now available.
[Costume image]
When a ghost or pirate or superhero knocks on your door, you’ll know that’s not really Casper or Jack Sparrow or Ironman.
We have a healthy level of skepticism on days like that.
Unfortunately, our broken world has forced us to stay skeptical.
From social media to news sources to our politicians, it seems a competition as to who can lie the most.
It has become a game of how many lies can I get away with while calling out the lies of the other side.
Dishonesty has gone from expected to appreciated.
Meanwhile, Jesus has called us to a better way.
Torah / True Intention / Transformation
Torah - Keep Oaths
Torah - Keep Oaths
v. 33
Again, as we move forward, we find Jesus addressing the interpretations of the day.
Many verses in the OT about this topic:
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin.
You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.
This collection of teachings laid the foundation for the importance of an oath.
And then it became a game of manipulation using an outward authority.
We have forgotten…
Words have consequences.
This has two applications:
Intend what you say.
Stop covering your lies.
People will say what they have no intention to do. Obligation to say something. “I’ll pray for you…”
Or… people who always say, “I swear! I promise!” There’s a reason they always have to use those covering phrases.
[Fox Image]
Jesus gave us a higher way:
True Intention - Make Oaths Unnecessary
True Intention - Make Oaths Unnecessary
vv. 34-36
Jesus calls out multiple ways people make oaths.
One - Making a promise based upon things you can’t control.
These things aren’t yours to control.
“Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.”
Two - Using technical arguments
Equivalence of crossing fingers.
By / Towards Jerusalem - Not binding / binding
Jesus’s teachings on these things in Matthew 23:16-22
Honesty can’t be complicated.
When you try, it becomes a lie.
Stop searching for integrity loopholes.
These are ways people seek to be dishonest but not technically lie.
A simple character issue.
Transformation - Live Radical Honesty
Transformation - Live Radical Honesty
Why does someone need an oath?
Life creates doubt.
We remember the story of the boy who cried wolf.
“Oath taking often degenerates into a thin veneer of technical honesty that masks deception.” Charles Quarles
[A golden facade]
Live with such integrity that oaths are unnecessary.
Have a reputation for honesty.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What’s in the heart?
You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
[Heart with hidden danger]
The heart is the source of the overflow.
If you’ve ever had a sewage backup, it’s a lot like that.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?