Matthew 5:21-37; Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8
We are taking the month of February to look at the first of the three chapters which make up the section of Matthew’s gospel traditionally called “The Sermon on the Mount.” The opening chapter is essentially Jesus’ vision for the faithful community, the church.
Two weeks ago we looked at the opening verses, the “Beatitudes,” which define the character of the faithful of community. The first four beatitudes focused the nature of God’s rule as it happens for people who experience no honor. The second four beatitudes promise ultimate rewards for the people who live their lives in such ways as to benefit the those mentioned in the first four. Jesus changed the focus of the final beatitude from others to his hearers when they commit themselves to the righteousness and justice of those who lack them.
Last week we talked about Christ’s followers being particularly salt, and how the subtle ways of the world will rob believers of their saltiness, as desalination processes remove salt from sea water. Jesus called his hearers to a greater righteousness which we defined as fulfilling the Law and not just obeying it. Fulfilling the Law requires a relationship with the Law-giver, to know God’s intentions through the Law and what actions are right for each situation. That is the way in which God’s people in relationship with Christ, engage the world to flavor, challenge, and preserve so that God’s Law may be fulfilled.
So, God’s people have the character of righteousness and justice, and they are engaged with the world to flavor and challenge it. The way that they do that is that they play fair. You perhaps have heard it said about someone that they “play well with others.” That’s a great definition for Christians, for playing well with others is what showing mercy, having pure hearts, and making peace is all about.
The greater righteousness of Jesus centers on relationships. It is more than outward acts. Inner attitudes are also involved. When there is inner anger at another person, even if there are no outward actions, the relationship is destroyed. When there is inner lust in the heart, even if there are no outward actions, the relationship is cheapened. When there are acts of revenge or even feelings of wanting to get even, nothing is done to help build or re-establish the relationship. Playing fair is not a white-washed facade. Playing fair is more than skin deep. It goes to the very core of a believer’s being.
Righteousness can be defined in several ways. One way is to say that righteousness is doing everything rightly. Perhaps it’s having a clear job description and doing everything on the list, or having 10 commandments or 300 commandments and obeying every one of them, or never driving over the speed limit, or having a personal code of ethics and living one’s life within those rules. This way of defining righteousness means doing what is right, obeying the law, acting according to the rules.
Righteousness can be defined also as a right relationship – a relationship not based on what you do, but who you are. It is loving and caring for others. It is being loved and cared for by others. It is trusting that the other will be faithful to the relationship. In biblical terms, this is righteousness by faith – or righteousness by trust. It has little relationship to the righteousness by law.
One way of describing righteousness by relationship is to look at the bond between parents and children. There is a promise and a commitment given. In the beginning, it is a promise only expressed by the parents to the children. “We will be your parents and you will be our child. We will love and care and sacrifice for you throughout your life.” An infant doesn’t know what’s going on, but without these promises from the parents and the parents carrying through on those promises, children would not survive. Parents care for children. Children grow up to love their parents. Children learn to get along with each other. These are models for the right relationship that God earnestly desires to have with us and that God in Christ invites believers to participate in.
Unrighteousness is all those acts, words, thoughts, and feelings that cheapen the relationship between people. Righteousness is all those acts, words, thoughts and feelings that maintain, establish, or re-establish good relationships between people.
The remainder of chapter five, the first third of the Sermon, is driven by Jesus saying, “You have heard that it was said..., but I say to you....” If we aren’t paying close attention, we will likely say that the original quotation must be from God. The original kernel of the thought might have come from God, but it has gone through interpretation between the original thought and the current understanding.
- “Don’t commit murder” is part of the law (Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17), but “all who commit murder will be in danger of judgment” is not scriptural.
- “Don’t commit adultery” is part of the law (Ex. 20:14; Deut. 5:18).
- “Don’t make a false solemn pledge, but you should follow through on what you have pledged to the Lord” has similarities to commands found in the Hebrew scriptures: “You shall not swear falsely by my name, desecrating your God’s name in doing so” (Lev. 19:12); “When a man makes a solemn promise to the Lord... he cannot break his word” (Num. 30:2); “When you make a promise to the Lord your God, don’t put off making good on it” (Deut. 23:21).
Jesus does not seem to be presenting a new law which opposes that Law that God had given to Moses. It seems more likely that Jesus is interpreting the Law in opposition to popular interpretations in his day. Jesus is filling up or fulfilling the law with his interpretation.
Fulfilling the law with true interpretation is a heavy task. Any preacher who seeks to be truly salt and light for the Christ community and the world is exceedingly conscious of the gravity of the work to which she or he is called. Preachers stand in a position of authority. We are on a raised dais high above. That’s for sight and hearing. But people raise us even higher. If a preacher says it, it must be true. I pray that I do correctly interpret Christ to you, and I pray just as earnestly that the Spirit enables you to hear what Christ says, even if I get it wrong.
We cannot manufacture righteousness. It is a gifts we receive through being in relationship with our Lord. Jesus simply rejects the question of how one can become righteous in God’s eyes. It all depends on the human heart. The heart can be totally devoted to God and to righteousness only when it is genuinely devoted to others.
Jesus changes the location of authority. It is no longer in the written text or with those who interpret it. It is now located in Jesus. Remember, Jesus’ post-resurrection parting words, “I have received all authority in heaven and on earth.” If in the evangelist John’s terms, Jesus is the “Word” made flesh, then Jesus is his own interpreter.
God’s people are to play fair in the ways we relate to each other in public and private, in relationships with individuals of the other gender, with intimate relationships, and with the fulfilling of solemn promises. While God’s people occasionally get caught with the first three, often very visible, forms of fracturing of relationships, the last is often unnoticed and expected. The lack of keeping one’s word slowly eats up a congregation’s vitality. The first three kinds of breaking relationships are not related to the “evil one” (v. 37). This one destroys the trust and community relationship that should be the visible witness of God’s people. If one can’t trust the word of God’s people, can the lack of trust in God’s word be far behind? Failure to keep our word conflicts with the certainty of God’s Word.
Jesus offers these as examples of the greater righteousness and of living under God’s rule. They are models to help us discover the ways we are to act under God’s rule, not hard and fast rules written in stone. The power of the Law can be so intense that it burrows deep into our lives to expose our sin and lead us to repentance and the forgiveness that Jesus came to bring us. Forgiven and freed from rote obedience, we can fulfill the law – live as Christ calls us to live – in relationship played fairly through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Unless noted otherwise, all scripture references are from The Common English Bible, © 2011 www.commonenglishbible.com
Copyright 2014 First Presbyterian Church of Waverly, Ohio. Reprinted by permission.
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