Sermon on the Mount: Oaths
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Why do we lie?
-pride
-fear
-easier
-
Sermon on the mount; you’ve heard it said that THIS is the standard...but Jesus over and over raises the standard; 2 reasons
1. He wants his people set apart; different than the world.
He wants us to understand our own sinfulness; the reality that we all fall short.
He wants us to understand our own sinfulness; the reality that we all fall short.
2. He wants us to understand our own sinfulness; the reality that we all fall short.
He wants that understanding to point us to a solution outside of ourselves; to himself.
He wants that understanding to point us to a solution outside of ourselves; to himself.
One specific problem that the religious culture at this time had was people trying to get away with the bare minimum.
They had expanded the laws of God, originally “just to be safe.”
They had expanded the laws of God, originally “just to be safe.”
-this then led to the heart and meaning of the laws to be lost, along with original intent, and somewhere in all the fog was what God actually wanted; and people began to try to do as little as possible, always looking for wiggle room.
this then led to the heart and meaning of the laws to be lost, along with original intent, and somewhere in all the fog was what God actually wanted; and people began to try to do as little as possible, always looking for wiggle room.
-What’s the least I can do to satisfy God?
What’s the least I can do to satisfy God?
-I’ve definitely had times where I felt like that before. Jesus wants to free us from that mindset; there is so much more joy and peace in pursuing the righteousness described here than there will ever be in trying to just live this life of following rules and checking boxes.
…stop trying to see what the bare minimum is
Today, we will see Jesus doing this again. God had given instructions to his people, but they had been so distorted that God’s original plan was completely lost.
I’ve definitely had times where I felt like that before. Jesus wants to free us from that mindset; there is so much more joy and peace in pursuing the righteousness described here than there will ever be in trying to just live this life of following rules and checking boxes.
What we will see today is Jesus declaring a pretty simple truth to his followers.
Sometimes for a sermon, I come up with some really deep and profound main point that people are like, “wow, I’ve never thought of that before.” Today isn’t one of those;
Today Jesus is going to declare a pretty simple truth to his followers. Sometimes for a sermon, I come up with some really deep and profound main point that people are like, “wow, I’ve never thought of that before.” Today isn’t one of those;
Followers of Jesus should tell the truth.
Followers of Jesus should tell the truth.
Thoughts like this are always interesting to preach on, because it’s something that everyone not only knows, but agrees with. Nobody is like, “yeah, I think society would be be better if everyone just lied. It’s just how I was raised.”
Want to read the passage, then answer a couple questions that help us be better truth-tellers.
But as simple as this sounds, it’s actually become a pretty radical position.
In fact, placing a high value on truth and truth-telling has become one of the most prominent ways we can differentiate ourselves from the rest of the world.
In politics (fake news, alternative facts), truth has become a weapon. Is something true doesn’t depend on what it is, it depends on if whoever said it is in the same party as me.
In sociology and science, truth isn’t about objective or measurable things anymore, it’s about what makes the most people happy.
Think of this upcoming political season; Truth has become a weapon. truth is whatever is most convenient for me to believe. Is something right or wrong? Well depends, what party are they in?
In sociological and even scientific spheres, commitment to truth has been tossed out the window in favor of bending to cultural pressures.
But Jesus calls his people to have a high view of truth, and to be a people who are committed to telling the truth in their own lives.
We agree it’s the right thing to do...
As we talk about this concept of telling the truth, there’s a few questions that will help us understand this better;
but we still struggle. So, if we can agree that followers of Jesus should tell the truth, what I want to spend today focusing on is this;
Even knowing this, we still struggle. So, if we can agree that followers of Jesus should tell the truth, what I want to spend today focusing on is this;
Why do we lie?
Why do we lie?
You’ve heard me talk about this before, and we’re going to talk about it again today; the world has a vastly different view of truth than what we see in God’s word, and what I think we will see is that God’s view isn’t just more logical and practical, it leads to a lot more joy in our lives as well.
Why do we lie?
Why do we lie?
We clearly KNOW we shouldn’t, and what we’ll see today is that being truth-tellers is actually better for us too; yet, we still lie. And I want us to take time today to take a moment and think about what’s going on in our hearts to allow this sin to continue to live there.
What does a church of truth-tellers look like?
What does a church of truth-tellers look like?
What would it look like if we as a body of believers commited to be truth-tellers? What if we stopped taking the truth for granted, and pursued it together?
Our words matter. What we say matters. Today we are going to see Jesus get to the heart of the matter, and hopefully bring our attention to an area of our lives we might often overlook.
Why do we lie? We know we shouldn’t, but we do...
Why do we lie? We know we shouldn’t, but we do...
I know why I lie; it’s usually two things.
I know why I lie; it’s usually two things.
I want whoever I’m lying to to think better of me
-I want whoever I’m lying to to think better of me
If i admit I couldn’t do that, what will they think? If I tell the truth that I tried and failed, what will they think?
-If i admit I couldn’t do that, what will they think? If I tell the truth that I tried and failed, what will they think?
Root of that is pride. Pride is the source of the vast majority of our lies.
Root of that is pride. Pride is the source of the vast majority of our lies.
-I convince myself it’s really not that big a deal
Next reason, I convince myself it’s really not that big a deal
-pride
We come up with all sorts of cute names for lying
white lies, bending the truth, fibbing, telling tales.
pride, fear, it’s easier…it’s not a big deal
-fear
-easier
-it’s not that big a deal
We lie for lots of reasons. And the temptation when we face that reality is to then justify the lies, rather than call it what it is, and realize it’s a sin that needs to be put to death, and given no quarter within our lives.
Our words matter. What we say matters. Today we are going to see Jesus get to the heart of the matter, and hopefully bring our attention to an area of our lives we might often overlook.
Today, we are going to read about what Jesus has to say about our words, and specifically the truthfulness of them.
-what we’re talking about
Two things we will see;
Again, Jesus is going to wipe the window clean so we can see past the dirt clearly to the heart of the matter.
Followers of Jesus should tell the truth. We should be different than the world. We should not justify or rationalize our sins, but should instead pursue righteousness with our words, and represent the God of Truth well to those around us.
We’ve built up a tolerance for lies
-why this matters
It’s not a big deal
Fear of man
Caring more about what those around us think than God.
We want to impress
hide inadequacies
flatter
pursue selfish gains
What we will see today is that being truth-tellers isn’t just right, it’s better.
-what culture says
-why God’s answer is better
33 “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.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath 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 take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
One specific problem that the religious culture at this time had was people trying to get away with the bare minimum.
They had expanded the laws of God, originally “just to be safe.”
this then led to the heart and meaning of the laws to be lost, along with original intent, and somewhere in all the fog was what God actually wanted; and people began to try to do as little as possible, always looking for wiggle room.
Nothing like religous culture today, right??
What’s the least I can do to satisfy God?
I’ve definitely had times where I felt like that before. Jesus wants to free us from that mindset; there is so much more joy and peace in pursuing the righteousness described here than there will ever be in trying to just live this life of following rules and checking boxes.
Let’s talk about oaths; what they meant in this context. “you’ve heard it said,” in OT.
is helpful in understanding what it meant to them.
21 “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. 22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. 23 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.
Oaths were not required
22 But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin.
“optional, above and beyond promise of an offering to God.”
“optional, above and beyond promise of an offering to God.”
But, once made, they were required to be kept.
Jesus point is pretty straightforward; we shouldn’t need to make oaths, propping up our claims as more likely to be true; we should just be constant truth tellers.
-As I said, the religious culture Jesus is existing in was much like today’s, in that people were often much more concerned with checking a box than they were with actually trying to obey God.
But the pharisees at the time instead made oaths a matter of technicalities.
Jesus gives us examples in this passage:
taking oaths by “heaven, earth, jerusalem, your own head,” were all seen as lower tier oaths than making an oath to God. These “levels of truth” began to emerge.
Jesus tells them that what they swear by doesn’t really matter, because it’s all God’s anyways.
But they would make an oath, and swear to do something by Jerusalem, and then when they didn’t do it, would say, “well, it wasn’t an oath to God, so it doesn’t really matter that I didn’t keep my word.”
It’s essentially the pharisee version of the thing we used to do when we were kids, saying “my fingers were crossed so it didn’t count!”
This brings us to the first reason why we lie.
We have built up a tolerance for lies
We have built up a tolerance for lies
We are DESIGNED to build up tolerances to things
This is a blessing and a curse.
physically
do pushups
do drugs
mentally
think about what entertained you as a kid; I’m old enough to talk about how good kids these days have it now right?
We now constantly seek new entertainment literally by the minute.
Emotionally
First date (butterflies, real life disappears) vs. years into marriage (date night is when you give the kids melatonin and fall asleep watching tv)
spiritually
When you pursue God, you’ll find yourself wanting MORE of him…when you rebel, the things we never thought we would say or do become commonplace…our hearts grow hard.
Do you remember
We build up tolerances in our life constantly.
If we let ourselves, we will grow tolerant of sin.
We convince our
We convince ourselves that it really isn’t that big of a deal.
We come up with all sorts of cute names for lying
white lies, bending the truth, fibbing, telling tales.
pride, fear, it’s easier…it’s not a big deal
Jesus gives us a better way. Instead of carelessly taking oaths, trying to convince ourselves and others that what we are saying is actually true this time, we should live our lives in a way that the truth is expected of us.
And we grow tolerant. It’s not hurting anyone, it’s not a big deal if I’m not truthful all the time.
This could not be a more different understanding of ‘truth’ than what’s presented in God’s Word.
One of the fundamental differences between God, and the enemy, Satan, is that God loves truth, while Satan loves lies.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Now look at what is said of God.
2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
Jesus says that he is truth itself.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
We often underestimate how valuable TRUTH is to God.
When we avoid the truth simply because we don’t think it really matters that much, we are revealing a distance from God that can only close when we embrace the truth in all aspects of our lives.
Being a truth-teller matters. But, it can be hard. And even if we understand how important it is to keep our word, only speak truth, it can still be hard. And that brings us to the next reason that we lie.
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
The bigger picture here is that we should be viewing truth the way God views it, not the way the world around us does.
You’ve heard me get up here many times and lament the state of ‘truth’ in our world. The word itself has completely lost it’s meaning. In a world that somehow simultaneously denies that truth even exists at the same time it props up lies as absolutely true, it can be easy to think that the little white lies here and there, the times that we bend the truth, really isn’t THAT big a deal.
I want to invite you today to put your concept of truth on the table today; a view that might have been influenced by the world and culture around you, and instead embrace what God says about truth, it’s value, and the commitment to it we should have if we follow him.
Fear of Man
Fear of Man
But, we still do; all of us still do. And realizing that got me to the point where I wanted to ask this question today;
Why do we lie?
Why do we lie?
25 The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
Fear of man is a TRAP! It looks good, but it’s a trap. It leads to so much damage and harm
gives us a good definition of the fear of man.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Where am I seeking approval from?
I know why I lie; it’s usually two things.
Why do we take oaths? Sometimes just to try to strengthen our argument, convince someone (Haven, I didn’t break the door: I Promise!!”
Usually when I lie, it’s because I want whoever I’m lying to to think better of me
what will they think if they know I can’t do this, can’t afford that, haven’t been there, haven’t done this…?
Root of that is pride. Pride is the source of the vast majority of our lies.
It will help me if I flatter them, try to endear myself to them…That’s just another way of lying!
Even when we lie to just help ourselves; either by getting out of some type of trouble, or getting some perceived benefit, the root of this is the fear of man.
We REALLY think that this person can help me more than God can. Or that it’s worse for this person to disapprove of me than for God to.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Jesus advice on that was, “why would you fear the ones who can only kill you?”
Fear of Man creeps into every part of our life. Each day, we have to answer the question, who will I fear today? Man, or God? Who gets to influence my decisions today?
We come up with all sorts of cute names for lying
There are days where I’ve let the fear of man dictate my decisions.
white lies, bending the truth, fibbing, telling tales.
And it’s on those days I find myself doing all those little not-so-big-a-deal things like fibbing, bending the truth…LYING
pride, fear, it’s easier…it’s not a big deal
Behaving like somebody still lost in his sin, and NOT as a child of the God who HATES lies, never lies, and sent his Son to die on the cross and defeat sin and the Father of Lies.
That’s what happens when I fear man. When I worry more about what you think about me, then what God thinks about me.
We lie for lots of reasons. And the temptation when we face that reality is to then justify the lies, rather than call it what it is, and realize it’s a sin that needs to be put to death, and given no quarter within our lives.
We are called to more.
Conclusion
Conclusion
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Followers of Jesus should tell the truth. We have put away that old self. We aren’t liars anymore, we are a new creation that can go to the source of truth for renewed strength to be truth-tellers every single day.
-pride
Conclusion
Conclusion
-fear
One verse echoed in my brain the entire time I wrote this sermon.
The one verse that keeps me up at night maybe more than any other.
-easier
36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
-
EVERY IDLE WORD! Every single fib, white lie, bent truth, every flattery you didn’t mean, every ear you’ve tickled for your own gain, you will stand before God and give an explanation for.
On that day, when I’m left standing there with my palms turned up, regretting every single time I let the fear of man creep in and cause me to stumble, to speak lies instead of telling truth… I will have no other answer than to say that i have nothing to offer other than the faith I have in the one who is called Truth itself, Jesus Christ, and praise God that will be enough.
Wouldn’t it be better to stand before God, looking back on a life that was committed to speaking truth, presenting it as an offering to our King?
This is why we are told to Fear God, and not Man.
You know who I’m NOT gonna be worried about on that day?
ANY OF YOU!! I won’t care one bit if you liked me, or if I impressed you.
It’s not YOU I’m standing before, it’s GOD! Who cares what you think? I’m not accountable to you. I’m accountable to God. And you’re accountable to God.
If we choose to remember that, we will become truth tellers. It’s only when we care more about God’s opinion of our actions than other people’s opinion that we can really start to flourish here.
Not only will THAT day be better, when we have a lifetime of committed truth telling to revel in, but it will make TODAY so much better as well.
The fear of man is a trap.
No matter what you think you’ll gain by avoiding the truth, I promise you it will ultimately lead to nothing but heartache.
Jesus wants better for you. You’ve heard it said by the world around you that truth doesn’t matter any more. But Jesus says different. He is calling you to more. To be different. Not just for your own good, but so that others around you will see it.
Imagine how much opportunity there is for the church right now; if we were absolutely COMMITTED to being truth tellers. We would shine like a city on a hill. And the world around us would see our good works, and glorify the Father. That’s why we’re here.
So let’s do it. start today, committing to being a follower of Jesus that represents him well, and is a truth-teller.