Loyal, OK

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

Fifth in a Series on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew

Personal Integrity

Matthew 5:33-48

       Dr. Bill Bouknight tells the following story: A pastor was out taking a walk one evening. He looked up and saw a little boy barreling downhill on his wagon. The wagon slammed into a tree, and all four wheels fell off. The boy said, "I'll be darned." The pastor said, "Son, couldn't you think of something better to say than that?" As the two of them put the wheels back on, the boy asked, "What should I have said?" The pastor thought a moment and said, "Well, you could have said 'Praise the Lord.'" With tongue in cheek, the pastor added, "If you say something like that, who knows, the wagon might fix itself." The boy took his wagon back to the top of the hill. He came racing down again, slammed into that same tree. All four wheels flipped off. The boy said, "Praise the Lord," and suddenly all four wheels locked back into place, and the pastor said, "I'll be darned."

 No matter how hard we try to hide who or what we really are, the truth often comes out at unexpected times. Jesus explains it well in Matthew 12.  "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."  Matthew 12:33-37

       If God is going to judge us for our words – and if we speak from the overflow of our hearts (our inward man) –  then we better take note of what we are on the inside! This morning we will be taking another look at Christ’s guidelines for our lives.

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:33-37

In the First century, most people did not sign contracts. Instead, they took oaths to insure their honesty. People have not changed, and this process was abused like many contracts are today. One of the frivolous oaths was using sacred language as meaningless slang. For example, a First-Century Jew might say to a friend, "I swear by the Temple of Jerusalem that I won't take any more abuse from these Roman soldiers." The Temple of Jerusalem was a holy place, but he was talking about it in an empty, casual way. You can hear something similar today. One student will say to another, "I swear to God I didn't study for that exam at all." Jesus condemned the irreverent use of holy names.

All of us like to add adjectives to make our sentences more excited. It seems too simple that something thrilled us. We have to be “thrilled to death.” Of course we also get “scared to death.” It sort of sounds like our focus is death! I guess we could say that we were “thrilled to happiness!”

 I know a lady that will not serve on a jury because we are not supposed to take an oath. However, that is not what Jesus was referring to here. As Matthew Henry notes, “There is no reason to consider that solemn oaths in a court of justice, or on other proper occasions, are wrong, provided they are taken with due reverence.”

 For someone to say, “I will get even with that so-and-so, so help me God” is a dangerous oath. And in our day of litigation, oaths do not mean much any way – so we should stick with telling and acting out truth in all we do and say.

What should we do with someone that treats us unfairly? Jesus touched on that as well:

"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'  (Exodus 21:22, the ‘Law of retaliation’ was meant to limit the punishment to fit the crime.)  But I tell you ‘Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.’”  Matthew 5:38-42

This teaching certainly goes against human nature! The simple truth is that we are being taught to act as Jesus did when people insulted Him.  For the sake of peace we are to commit our lives and concerns to the Lord. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” (Romans 12:19)

We all have a human nature, right! This is also described as “flesh and blood.” 1 Corinthians 15:50 tells us that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” The secret of success as a Christian is to for us to allow our spirit-man to have power over our human nature – our “flesh and blood.”

 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.  Matthew 5:43-48

             I often think of the high school freshman that liked to carry his Bible to school. Unfortunately it irritated the school bully – a fellow that loved to pick on others – especially Christians.

            Then came the day he confronted the kid with the Bible one time too often. He was berating him for being a sissy and needing religion for a crutch. Then he stuck his foot in his mouth.

            He said, “Any sissy can carry a Bible!” The boy handed him his Bible and said, “If it’s so easy, you carry it for me today!”

            That ended the torment!

            Jesus talked and practiced love in a totally different level than the people of His time had ever seen. The Jewish teachers taught that "neighbor" referred only those who were of their own country, nation, and religion; people that they chose to consider their friends.

Jesus, on the other hand, teaches that we must do all the real kindness we can to all, especially to win their souls. We must pray for them. We must treat with kindness those who do us evil!

            Today we honored those that are serving us as members of our military services around the world. We pray for them for their safety; we pray for them that they will be strong in times of crisis. We pray for their families.

            We should also pray that they will represent our nation well – and most are – fortunately we punish those that do not!

            Foreigners judge the USA by many factors: Our TV programs; our tourists; our military and our missionaries, to name a few ways.

            By the same token, the unsaved judge Christ by each person that claims to be a Christian. You and I make a very little impact on the people in New York City, but we can bless and inspire the people we see frequently. May that be our goal and purpose!

Charles L. Tivol was a Kansas City, Missouri jeweler who enjoyed the highest reputation for integrity. That is very important in the jewelry business because most customers don't know a great deal about precious stones. One of Charles Tivol's customers had purchased an expensive pair of pearl earrings and insured them. Not long thereafter she reported to her insurance agent that one of the large pearls was missing. He instructed her to return the earring to Tivol's for its replacement and to send the bill to him.

When Charles Tivol examined the earring, he grabbed the telephone and called the insurance agent. "Don't turn in that claim report," he said, "I can tell by looking at the prongs of this earring that they were not made strong enough. It is my fault the pearl was lost, and I'll pay for its replacement." To have done otherwise, he explained later, would have been to steal from the insurance company.

Sunday, November 11, 2007