You Have Heard it Said

(NLT)

This is one of those passages that there is way too much to cover in one setting. I mean you name it this passage has it… Anger, Adultery, Divorce, Vows, if you go into the rest of the chapter (Which we will…) you also see revenge, and how you are to treat you enemies.

If I were to try and cover all of this in one sermon you would be here all day....I hope you packed your lunch....Just kidding.

Instead of covering each one of these things I want to work through the one theme that seems to stand out as we read it…Anyone want to take a stab at it?

You have heard it said....but I say to you. This phrase really stands out because what Jesus is saying here is that I know what you have heard but I am teaching a new standard. I am changing all the misconceptions, I am correcting your biases.

Question…Where did they hear it said? All of the things in this passage that Jesus is talking about were heard from the written scripture of the time. These passages were then taught from the cultural perspective of the time…

Jesus was saying I know what you have read and what you have been taught but I am going to point out the real meanings of these things.....In other words Jesus words trump what has been heard.

At first one might think that Jesus is say

He was saying some pretty revolutionary things in this passage…In the case of Anger, Adultery, Divorce, Vows, Jesus does not contradict but strengthen the language here.

These were controversial because Jesus is not making things easier here or changing what has long been taught in fact He is challenging us to take control of our minds.

However in the passage we have not read toward the end Jesus is correcting another misunderstood teaching. It is one that even we deal with today.

At first is seems to contradict scripture but doses not…Jesus is contradicting teaching or what “they have heard” Folk Theology

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Jesus flips the script. This is what was making the religious establishment worry.

Jesus was moving the image of God from punitive, to redemptive. We talked about his a couple of weeks ago.

Jesus the son of God was using His authority to bring sanity to the standards of Holiness.

This is why we should be careful how we use scripture…using eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth does not mean what we think it does when we use it…in fact Jesus calls us to turn the other cheek, love enemies, give people a chance…

I often hear people using scriptures like and eye for and eye, or the Psalm that seems to tell us to hate God’s enemies to strengthen wrong positions. When I point out the false nature of these teachings I am often met with not only defensiveness but at times anger.

Why? Because that is the Nature of God…this is what God does…

to strengthen their position He was not doing away with the expectation of God’s Holiness....He was telling us that the only way it would be possible was to make Love preeminent.

These were revolutionary ideas that got everyone so worked up…

This is the revolutionary idea that got everyone so worked up…this is the same idea that gets everyone worked up. Why? Because once we embrace this truth we have to change the way we see others and the world around us and to some extent the way we see God.

These are the same idea that gets everyone worked up.

Why? Because once we embrace this truth we have to change the way we see others and the world around us and to some extent the way we see God.

New Living Translation Chapter 12

let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:2

...let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Until what Jesus says is louder and more important than what we have heard it said...we will not be able to walk in the will of God.

I had a couple that opposed every change that I made for the first couple of years in one of my churches. I had made countless trips to their home to talk about their issues each time I thought we came to an understanding but each time I was wrong.

I began to hear they were saying a lot of things to others about what a terrible pastor I was, and how I was taking the church down the wrong road. To put it bluntly everything they were saying was simply not true.

Then finally one night it all came to a head…They had said some things that I needed to confront…I wanted to bring a board member to make sure that I had witnesses but they would not agree…so instead of me going to them I asked them to come to my office…3 hours of them raking me over the coals. Every time I answered an attack they went another direction…Finally I felt the Lord saying stop defending yourself…and even though I wanted to clear my name and call them on their misinformation God called me to do something else.

Apologize…I am sorry I can’t be the pastor you need…I am for whatever reason the person God has called at this time and I can only be who I am…I am stilly your pastor etc...That Sunday night…they wanted to testify…apologized and repented....

We both listened to what Jesus said instead of what we had heard it said and the result was beautiful.

It is a beautiful thing when God’s people accept the gift of Holy Spirit not so we can be better than other people or better people...but so we can be the example that world needs...

Our identity does not come from what others say about us…or what others say about how we are to respond to circumstance…Our Identity comes from who Jesus says we are this is where our victory in this world comes.

(NLT)

1 John 5:1–5 ESV

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

New Living Translation Chapter 5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:1-Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

When the way of Jesus is embodied by his people, the church is revolutionary.

38 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.

Teaching about Love for Enemies

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

When the way of Jesus is embodied by his people, the church is revolutionary.

Jesus says you and I are clean, we are loved, we are powerful, we are influential, we are empowered by the constant presence of Holy Spirit in our lives…everything else fails in comparison to that...

Today I am sure that there are some of us that have allowed what we heard said keep you from what Jesus is trying to say to you.

You are holding on to pain that he wants to free you from, You are holding on to an identity that Jesus never wanted you to embrace. Today what if you embraced the identity of Child of God?

One of the best ways to live as a Child of God is to allow God to manifest Himself to you in your everyday life…our faith is a practice based faith…On Wednesday Night March 4th I am going to lead a 9 Book Club on Biblical Practices that will help us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

The Name of the book is called Sacred Rhythms…by Ruth Haley Barton. You can buy it on Amazon, CBD, or most book outlets…Please sign up and at the Small Groups display…I believe this is a wonderful way to grow in your walk....

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