Sermon Tone Analysis

VISION: Paint

The loophole

There is something about the human condition that loves a good loophole.

Have you ever heard of the people who traveled all over the world for free on credit card points...

The Credit card companies are wise to this now so don’t go trying this.

What people would do is get a travel credit card, they would go to a gold broker and buy gold, they would max out their credit cards then sell the gold and pay off their cards.

They would do this every day and amass millions of miles of credit card points…Once the credit card companies figured this out they closed the loophole

Here’s another one:

A few years back popular radio station held a contest…if you could guess the next song then you could win all kinds of concert tickets

There was a random woman that would call in and win all the time and they just couldn’t figure out how this woman with no connection to the station kept winning.

When they finally stopped the contest they asked the woman what her secret was...

She said, its easy, on your website you show the current song and what’s coming up next...

She found a loophole...

We find loopholes automatically and really without thinking too much about it.

We look for how we can follow the rules but work around them just enough to get by...

Why?

This is just what we do as humans…Its human nature...

So in leading in the church for nearly twenty years now, I have seen enough times where we get to a section on the sermon on the mount or another tough scripture and the tendency is to find a loophole and to not sit with the difficulty and the tension of the word of God

There is a quote that is attributed to an unknown Jewish Rabbi that says this

“The history of Christianity is the history of christians trying to evade living out the sermon on the mount and avoid its plain meaning”

So all of this to say...

The text that we are looking at today is tough

Try to avoid giving yourself a pass and saying…oh thats not me…Because this scripture today hits all of us

Because God wants to do work in your soul today…And if you look for a loophole and say…well thats not me, then you will utterly miss the plain meaning of what God is trying to do in you...

So before we get into the sermon on the mount…Flip with me over to Genesis 4...

Angry Brothers

Now most of you are thinking…Isn’t the sermon on the mount in the New Testament…Yes it is…But as it turns out this is a really impotrant text to understanding what Jesus is talking about in the sermon on the mount...

So maybe your not super familiar with the Bible…Let me set this story up for you...

God created humans and he took them and put them in this Garden…Called Eden…Eden means Delight...

In the Garden, Adam and Eve’s responsibility was to rule over all of creation and

God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil...

Adam and eve were deceived to believe that God had a loophole and they ate from the tree

Because of this they were banished from the garden

And their kids would live out the same mistakes that their parents made...

Angry Brothers

Genesis 4:1-9

Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.

She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.

The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.

So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?

Why is your face downcast?

7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?

But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”

While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

There is so much here that we could spend an entire sermon just on this but there are a few things that I want you to get about this interaction...

1.

These were brothers bringing an offering to God...

Verse 3 says: in the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil

Verse 4 says: Able brought fat portions from the firstborn of the flock

The conflict between these brothers happens surrounding making an offering to God...

Now Able’s was more of a sacrifice because giving up some of the firstborn of your flock was a risk

While Cain just brought some of the food he had grown…The text doesn't say that he brought the first fruit...

See Able brings the firstborn because God has first position in his life and Cain brought what was left over because that is where Cain puts God in his life

So its no wonder that God looked at Able’s offering with favor...

The Core emotion that God identifies in Cain is the emotion of Anger.

And he never tells him that his anger is wrong...

He says that you have to rule over it

So God gives Cain this choice...

It is the same choice that he gives to his parents

Choose Good....Don’t choose Evil

Do the right thing…Don’t eat off of the wrong tree Cain...

And God warns Cain that Sin is crouching at his door…You have to rule over it...

You must rule over your anger or it will rule over you

See in the Garden God told Adam and eve to rule over the animals right...

But what happened…An animal..a Snake…ended up ruling over Adam and Eve

Sin inverted the ruling relationship....

So now Cain is left to contemplate his anger…and God reminds him..

You have to rule over your anger…Because your anger is like an animal that is crouching over your door…Don’t forget …Your mom and dad were ruled by a snake…You don’t get ruled by the beast of sin too...

Instead Cain gives into his anger and Anger ends up ruling Cain...

This story was living in the minds of the people who Jesus was talking to...

This would have been among the CORE stories of faith in 1st century Israel...

So now Jesus has been teaching the sermon on the mount...

And now he gets to his first really difficult part

Jesus’ Plan to Master Anger

SO lets look at the Text Matthew 5:21-26

The New International Version (Chapter 5)

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,  and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’

22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment.

Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court.

And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar.

First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.25 “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court.

Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Now…Did you see how The scenario that Jesus gives here is more than don’t commit homicide?

The Scenario that Jesus talks is that Anger is the catalyst for all kinds of sin...

Even talking trash is so sinful that Jesus says..your in danger of the fires of Hell..

Jesus never explicitly mentions Cain and Able but everything that he says parallels the cain and able story...

It is clear that Jesus is saying…when your masters by anger…Your anger will rule you

You will not experience the rule and reign of God because you are already being ruled by anger...

If only Jesus just said…Don’t commit Homeside right?

Then we could probably all walk away as happy campers .

We can pretty much all live within the fence of that rule...

But the problem…and the even disturbing thing about this is that Jesus goes much further than just don’t murder…