{"id":200,"date":"2014-02-23T16:21:31","date_gmt":"2014-02-23T16:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=200"},"modified":"2020-12-02T11:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T11:27:25","slug":"behind-the-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/behind-the-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matthew 5:21-37<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 23, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you remember, 3 Sundays ago, I preached on the Beatitudes. Two Sundays ago, I told you that you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Pastor Visal filled in for me last Sunday when I was in North Carolina babysitting grandchildren while their parents celebrated their 15th<\/sup> wedding anniversary in Rome. Today I want to continue with Jesus\u2019 Sermon on the Mount found in the passage we just read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are looking at how Jesus is describing the character of the people whose lives reflect God\u2019s new world known as the kingdom of God. But how will the people of God\u2019s world know they\u2019re doing it all right? What does the life of God\u2019s world look like in practical terms? What are the ethical implications of living the life of God\u2019s new world in the present? How might we conduct ourselves when we follow Jesus? These are the questions we want to address today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all familiar with rules. You can\u2019t eat or drink in the sanctuary. Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Put your trash in the right containers\u2014green for green waste, blue for recycling and black for garbage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting when we were just toddlers, one of the first words we learned is \u201cno.\u201d Your mother said it when you were coloring on the walls or about to drop food from your high chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo\u201d is a word that establishes boundaries. When a child goes to elementary school and learns how to read, the rules get more extensive and are usually posted on the classroom wall. Sometimes when I pick up our grandkids from school, I can\u2019t believe all of the rules that they have! They are posted everywhere in the hallways and especially in the cafeteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the child soon learns that there are also exceptions and loopholes in the rules, and various interpretations. Let me give you an example. Remember the rule: \u201cNo chewing gum?\u201d One of my teachers used to say to us: \u201cOnly cows chew,\u201d thinking that we would not want to be associated with a cow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a fifth grader, \u201cNo chewing gum\u201d can be legally interpreted to mean \u201cI can have gum in my mouth as long as I don\u2019t chew it.\u201d By the time children get to high school, they have the legal ability of lawyers who know the rules and all the ways to get around them. They might say, \u201cThe packaging of the gum doesn\u2019t say, \u2018chewing\u2019\u201d! After graduation when the young adult goes into the workforce, there will be rules or codes of conduct that need to be followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not saying that rules are not important. It\u2019s just that rules alone are not enough. An ethical person not only understands and obeys the rules, he or she knows\u2014and embraces\u2014the purpose behind the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jesus wanted to lay down the ethical agenda for God\u2019s world, he didn\u2019t do away with the rules that were written down by God on tablets of stone and handed to Moses. Instead, Jesus fulfilled those rules by embodying them and teaching them with authority. Remember in Matthew 5:17<\/a>, Jesus said, \u201cDo not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Jesus, the rules were still important, but the principles behind the rules were even more important. It wasn\u2019t just about what was written in stone; it was about the character and law of God written on the hearts of God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scribes and Pharisees knew the law backward and forward, and as the self-appointed legal conscience of Israel, they were bound and determined to make sure everyone obeyed the law to the letter. The scribes acted as lawyers for the law of Moses, and the Pharisees believed that God\u2019s kingdom would come only when the people of Israel all obeyed that law perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem with that approach, however, is that focusing on the law alone imposes limits on obedience since one only has to comply with the law and nothing more. A Pharisee evaluated himself and others based on compliance to the rules, not on the basis of compassion toward others or the needs of the community. It\u2019s like with our rule about \u201cDo not eat or drink in the sanctuary.\u201d What if there was a time when our sanctuary was converted into a feeding station in a natural disaster\u2014would we still say, \u201cYou can\u2019t eat here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the reason why Jesus drops the bombshell of a statement in verse 20, \u201cFor I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d If the people thought the scribes and Pharisees had it all together because they obeyed the law to the letter, then they were missing the point. The law points to something bigger, Jesus says. It points to the way or the conduct of living as the community of God\u2019s new world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Jesus establishes a pattern in the Sermon on the Mount that points to the stated law of Moses, \u201cYou have heard that it was said\u2026\u201d and the compassionate, community-building intention behind it, \u201c\u2026but I say to you\u2026\u201d The law of Moses was designed to show Israel how to live together in a world of human authority but Jesus wants to teach us what it means to live in a world of divine authority\u2014God\u2019s new world, the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus takes the old law of Moses and radicalizes it. The root word for \u201cradical\u201d means \u201cshaking it down to the roots\u201d of what the law real intent is. Jesus is rooted in the law, but he calls his disciples to live a life with much deeper rootedness than the legalism of scribes and Pharisees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pharisees were concerned with what people did or did not do with their hands. Jesus was more concerned about what people had in their hearts and how that would translate into their relationships with people as a sign of God\u2019s new world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our lesson for this morning, there are 4 rules mentioned. Let\u2019s look at each of them to understand what lies behind the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus said, \u201cYou have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, \u2018You shall not murder\u2019; and \u2018whoever murders shall be liable to judgment\u2019\u201d(v. 21). \u201cDo not murder\u201d was one of the original Ten Commandments; a law set in stone. Murder destroys the humanness of another, thus the law of Moses minces no words. Murder is something to be avoided, which most of us are able to do. That\u2019s why you hear people say many times, \u201cWell, what I did was bad, but at least I didn\u2019t kill anyone!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is clear that we should avoid murder of another, Jesus radicalizes the old commandment and goes down to the root. He says, \u201cBut I say to you, that if you are angry with a brother or sister you will be liable to judgment.\u201d Jesus understood that the dehumanizing act of murder has its roots in the dehumanizing of another person through our anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And not only does anger dehumanizes the other, it dehumanizes us, too. Every time we decide to allow anger to smolder inside of us, we become less than fully human, less that the people God created us to be. Instead of merely avoiding murder, we should embrace reconciliation, which leads to community. Jesus says that when you bring an offering and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go first to your brother or sister and be reconciled\u2014be community again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the difference between following the rule and engaging in relationship\u2014the difference between avoiding doing something with the hands and doing something with the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second statement, Jesus says, \u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall not commit adultery.\u2019 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart\u201d (vv. 27-28). Lust dehumanizes people into objects that we use for our own pleasure. We might be able to avoid the physical act of adultery and thus obey the law, but we forget that the emotional or psychological attachment of lust is just as destructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of the invasive nature of lust and its consequences in our open society, Jesus prescribes drastic surgery. \u201cIf your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell\u201d (v. 29).  We know that the problem doesn\u2019t reside with a person\u2019s eyeball or limb, but with the heart. Since murder and adultery are conceived in the heart, this is the \u201corgan\u201d that requires radical treatment of redemption and conversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus calls us to not merely avoid breaking the law but to avoid breaking fidelity of marriage that supports community, trust and love\u2014the kind of fidelity that Christ himself has with his bride, the church. God\u2019s new world is characterized by faithfulness, and when we embrace fidelity in our hearts and in our relationships, we will learn how to embrace it forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third statement Jesus couples adultery with divorce. The law said that a man could simply give his wife a certificate of divorce and that was that. In some way, this is not unlike the \u201cno-fault divorce\u201d laws that we have in our society today. With the exception of infidelity, however, Jesus says that divorce should be off the table since the root of marriage is faithfulness, community and love (vv. 31-32). If our hearts are focused on maintaining the relationship, then our hands will be less apt to sign the divorce papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While scholars agree that it\u2019s difficult to interpret Jesus\u2019 teaching about divorce, the consensus is unless there is love in one\u2019s heart, any marital relationship would be fraught with infidelity and adultery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth statement speaks about the law of making vows. Under Jewish law like it is in our laws today, swearing something under oath by sealing with something like the phrase, \u201cso help me God\u201d is common. Just watch Judge Judy on TV. If you swear an oath in court, then what you say has to be true or you are violating the law. The implication, then, is that when one is not under oath, one may not have to be as truthful in what one says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus says, \u201cYou have heard \u2018You shall not swear falsely,\u201d but I say to you, \u2018Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great King\u201d (vv.33-35). Jesus takes the law and goes to its root. We shouldn\u2019t just be truthful under oath, we should be truthful all the time. Jesus says, \u201cLet you word be \u2018Yes, Yes\u2019 or \u2018No, No\u2019; anything more than this comes from the evil one.\u201d Your \u201cYes\u201d means \u201cYes\u201d and your \u201cNo\u201d means \u201cNo.\u201d Telling the truth is the basis of community. Lies and falsehoods tear a community apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the Law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus teaches us how to live an ethical life as people in God\u2019s new world. Our conduct goes beyond the letter of the law to the spirit of the law. It goes beyond what we do with our hands to who we are in our hearts. It recognizes that external behavior often emerges from our internal temperament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s new world respects and emerges out of the old Israelite society. Murder is still forbidden, adultery is still forbidden, divorce is still discouraged, telling lies under oath is still illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jesus establishes here that his followers are more than people who refrain from these unethical behaviors. The people of God\u2019s new world follow an ethical lifestyle that requires a purity of intention beyond anything people had been taught before. Our deeds must come from clean hands and a pure heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teresa of Avila in Interior Castle wrote, \u201cOur Lord asks but two things of us: Love for God and for our neighbor. We cannot know whether we love God but there can be no doubt about whether we love our neighbor or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next Sunday, we\u2019ll continue understanding Jesus\u2019 Sermon on the Mount by looking at Matthew 5:38-48<\/a> on the topic of \u201cDo No Harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We thank you God, for the challenge to live a moral life, and for the example of goodness we see in Jesus. In our weakness, may we discover our dependency upon your grace. We thank you that you gift us with the Holy Spirit so that we can discern the nature of true freedom in Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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