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6th Sunday after the Epiphany , 02/12/2017
Sermon on Matthew 5:21-37, by Evan McClanahan
Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 119:1-8, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Matthew 5:21-37
Are you a man of your word, or a woman of your word? Is your word your bond? Or do you feel you have the freedom to say one thing and do another? I can’t imagine there is a single person who would ever believe that their character is removed from their speech, even though we often make that accusation about others. Heck, even the salesman with the smoothest manner who plays fast and loose with the facts still believes they are honest deep down. It is a rare person who would ever admit that the valuation of their own character did not line up with their speech, for we all strive to be people of our word, people who honor commitments, who follow through, and who do not tell lies.
And yet, while we believe that about ourselves, we live amidst a plague of loose speech. We see it quite easily in politicians and other public figures who become masters of spin, who use slippery language so they can never be pinned down. Accounts are fabricated or exaggerated. Sentences are constructed in a way that they’re not true or false, but something in between. Even in this age of relativism, we still must care about the Truth because we call our political candidates liars all the time, and such a charge isn’t possible if we still don’t deep down still believe absolute Truth exists.
What about in our own lives? How well do we do at honoring commitments? If we say we will be somewhere, do we really intend to be there no matter what? Or do we just say it to get the other person off our back knowing full well that we either won’t make it or its way down on the priority list. How easily do we make pledges of support and not follow through? How often do we make vows that we don’t keep? My own observation is that talk is cheap, and it seems to be on sale during this generation. It is easy to make a commitment, but honoring that commitment is less and less of a priority.
I say all of this because of Jesus teaching to “Let your word be ‘Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Notice that he doesn’t say the answer always has to be “Yes!” It can be “No.” You don’t have to be a constant people pleaser. Indeed, saying “No” at times is the only way to honor commitments you have already made. But if you say “Yes”, then your actions need to follow suit. And the same is true if you say “No”.
This is on the heels of some very difficult preaching from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount wherein Jesus extols the virtues of the Law, and even expands upon it, or at least makes it clearer. He has already said that adultery and murder are not limited to the mere actions of those sins, but include our thoughts and speech as well. Those who hoped to defend themselves by their outward works and obedience to Jesus would find no sure assurance from him. Indeed, he is pointing out all of the uncomfortable and common ways we justify ourselves, essentially by snuggling up to the fire of the law to enjoy its heat but never getting burned.
That is what the hypocrites were so good at, you see? They were masters of following the letter of the Law but not truly repenting before God and embracing the spirit of the Law. This is what Jesus is highlighting throughout the sermon. “You believe you have achieved peace by outward observance, but I tell you that you stand under condemnation more than you can imagine. You believe you are safe from God’s wrath by covering yourself in the Law, by avoiding the really judgmental strands of it. But you are being burned by its heat and you’re not even aware of it.”
The business of taking oaths was another example. It’s a bit of a strange habit that some of the Israelites were in to make promises, but try to remove God from the process. So they would swear by Jerusalem or by the earth or by the gold in the Temple or by heaven, but they would not swear by God. Jesus allows no such distinction. I suppose a similar example would be when we swear on “our mother’s grave”, but we regard “swearing to God” as blasphemy. I believe Jesus would say they’re both blasphemy. For our “Yes” should be “Yes” and our “No” should be “no”. Anything else is a lie.
Yes, there can be a variety of extenuating circumstances, unexpected events, and even complexities when providing certain answers. There should be allowances for nuance when necessary. The worst of religious fundamentalism boils down complex questions to too-simple answers.
But there are times when a simple “Yes” or “No” will suffice, and that is what should be offered. In short, we should be people of our word. We should be able to be relied upon. Others should know that we always seek to tell the truth. We should seek to eliminate from our speech tall tales, exaggerations, stories in which we are always the hero, or promises we have no intention of keeping. If it is behavior we hate to see in the ruling classes, then we should demand it of ourselves and each other all the more. Perhaps with such a commitment, the future ruling class will be more wedded to telling the truth than the current crop.
You see, anything less is an offense against God. For we are all made in God’s image, and God is not a liar. God honors all of his commitments, and Jesus said “No” to every temptation. God is a perfect savior, saving all of those who hear his voice. God’s “Yes” is always “Yes”. It is never a half-hearted maybe or a yes that becomes a no. God’s Word is always perfect.
Indeed, when it comes to us having surety in our salvation, we can be certain of it precisely because God’s “Yes” is actually “Yes”! For God’s “Yes” is rooted in history, and it is rooted in his real work of death on a cross and resurrection from the dead. God doesn’t merely say, “Trust me.” He dies for us and rises for us. He puts his own Son in place to demonstrate to us that when he says “Yes,” we can take it to the grave.
As Christ-bearers to the world, we should absolutely be people of our word. But when our actions and our words do not perfectly align, we should recall the perfect union of word and deed in Jesus Christ. Towards those he has saved, his “Yes” is always “Yes.” Amen.