Rules and then More Rules? Matthew 5:21-37; (main text); 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Anoka, MN Growing in Christ. That is our theme these next several weeks. Normally when we think about growing in Christ we talk about growing in our faith, learning more about the Jesus Christ, accepting the forgiveness offered even though we know we are bad, doing some more studying and reading of Scripture kind of like you are doing with the Reading Through the Bible challenge. But as you can see from the title for this particular sermon in the Growing in Christ series, the focus is on rules, regulations, commands, and such. Yuck. Grace is so much better. Let s just sin and then get forgiven later rather than trying to be good all the time and not sin at all. Anyway, following the rules perfectly is just impossible. Lutherans love grace. In fact, Lutheran congregations and pastors have been accused of dispensing cheap grace. With the emphasis on grace alone, members of Lutheran churches have been accused of sinning without consequence since grace and forgiveness are just around the corner, just down the street, just a prayer away, just a Lord s Supper away. Despite that perception the teaching on grace which we preach and teach at Mount Olive is Scriptural: it is by grace alone that you are forgiven and granted eternal life. It is not because of what you do or don t do. We will continue to be clear about that. However, Paul is also clear about sin. He writes, What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?... For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been freed from sin (Romans 6:1,2,6). So there you go. Grace and shape up side by side. Interesting combination. We need to keep the teaching straight, however. So, let s get back to the rules. They are there. What do we do with them? Keep in mind what Jesus had said earlier, Let your light shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). And then Jesus says that the righteousness of the Pharisees, who were following the same rules Jesus is about to discuss, was not enough for them to even enter the kingdom of heaven. So the comments from Jesus on these rules serve at least a twofold purpose: 1) To let people know that Holy Spirit empowered living gives a clear witness of what it means to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, and ultimately, what we believe about God our heavenly Father. 2) To teach those who listened what true righteousness looked like, and it doesn t look like the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. 1 P a g e
So, let s start with the 2 nd one first since I have already talked about the first one quite a bit in past sermons. What does righteousness look like? Ultimately, it looks like this: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). That is the measuring stick. That is the life we are to lead. Nothing less than perfection is required and expected. And that perfection includes our actions or inactions, our words, and even our thoughts and emotions. There is no part of a human physical, spiritual, or emotional life that is excluded from the command, Be perfect. And that is what Jesus addresses in these next verses in His Sermon on the Mount. He talks about life, living with people, the day-to-day activities of people. And He brings people back to the intended meaning of the rules. Just not doing bad is not enough according to Jesus. Just following the letter of the law is not what was intended in the rules and regulations and laws the Jews had received from God. Notice that Jesus really focuses on the religious life of the Pharisees. Seems strange that Jesus would say what He did about the Pharisees since they were real sticklers about following the rules and regulations. Before Jesus puts a crimp in their style, the Pharisees and Scribes and Chief Priests and probably many others who listened to these pastors and leaders believed they were living pretty darn good lives in relationship to the laws and rules. They followed them, all of them. They didn t murder, steal, commit adultery, curse, worship idols. They were diligent in making certain they prayed when they should, attended temple services as required, tithed appropriately, stayed away from unclean things like dead animals, food offered to idols, people with diseases. Most of us could probably say the same thing! And they were even more diligent. The Pharisees, as did all Jews, had the 10 commandments, but they added hundreds more the 603 Pharisaical Codes and Rules. One Jewish scholar writes, Six hundred and thirteen commandments were transmitted to Moses on Mount Sinai. Three hundred and sixty five of them are negative commandments, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year. The remaining two hundred and forty eight are positive commandments, corresponding to the number of bones in the human body (Makkot 23, Judaism, Arthur Hertzberg, page 86). But though all these rules and regulations can be found in the OT, the interpretation and practice of them was devoid of righteous living. For example, one was not allowed to work on the Sabbath. Walking was work. But you were allowed to walk to the temple from anywhere in a city, and you were allowed to walk a Sabbath Day s distance about ½ mile. It was measured from your home to some spot ½ mile away. However, if someone wanted to travel farther on the Sabbath Day, he needed to do some logistical shenanigans. The day before, on Friday, the person would walk the Sabbath s Day Journey, spend the day in that destination, leave some food there, and then it could be called his home. That afternoon before the Sabbath Day began (it began on Friday evening and ended on Saturday evening), he would return to his first home. The next day, on the Sabbath, he would walk to that place again a Sabbath s Day Journey but since he was now at home (the place he established as his 2 P a g e
home the day before), he could now walk another Sabbath s Day journey since he was leaving from his home. Eventually, it was even agreed that one could return to the first home (make a round trip). Following the rules? I guess. But Jesus calls them out. He said to them, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin. They were following the rules and doing exactly what they were told to do. And then Jesus continues, But you have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These are the things you should have done without neglecting the others (Matthew 23:23). God was not in the rules for them. They followed them for their own benefit, their own righteousness, and they even manipulated the rules so that it would fit their own lifestyle. So the Pharisees and their lifestyles were immediately called into question by Jesus. And of course, the people listening probably began to question the righteousness of the Pharisees as well! And when Jesus pointed the finger that directly at them, the wheels of treachery started to turn. They were not going to stand for this and you know the end of their story. They arrested Jesus and nailed Him to a cross where Jesus died. They got rid of Him. Good riddance. Now no one would be questioning their righteousness and get a hearing. They could go back to following the letter of the Law, ignoring and neglecting the true meaning and intent of the law. And that is what makes the command, Be Perfect even more difficult. At least in the Pharisees limited interpretation, there was a possibility that you and I could do what was necessary. Once Jesus explained to them the original intent of the laws and rules included their heart and thoughts and emotions, they were immediately eliminated from a righteousness based on the rules. They couldn t be righteous. And neither can we. Remember what Jesus said in this sermon?: Murder? I hope not. But don t hate or despise another person either. There is no difference between the two. Don t commit adultery? Please don t. But don t even look at someone with lust in your heart or you have been there, done that. Want a divorce simply by saying so and signing some document? No way. Don t even think about it unless your spouse is unfaithful. Break an oath? What oath? Just be truthful at all times no matter what the question or concern. Though the act of murder, adultery, divorce, and oath breaking is condemned, the heart is where it begins and is where the sin lies. Jesus said, Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile you. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile you" (Matthew 15:17). Perfection is not possible in that conversation if you are a human. Can you imagine what the response from those listening to that sermon would be, especially if you had been taught the way of the Pharisees? There is no way I can follow those rules! How 3 P a g e
can anyone enter the kingdom of heaven if the rules are expanded in such a way? Where is the hope for us? But when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law (Matthew 7:28-29). Jesus is crystal clear about the rules and laws. He isn t some wishy-washy teacher who varied the lesson based on cultural norms or accepted behavior today. He didn t take the laws and then add another 600 to them followed by manipulating them to fit His Sabbath Day walk around the park! He didn t change His instruction based on political correctness. In fact, He seemed to create a bigger wall between God and humans, a higher hurdle to jump in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. It was so much easier to be perfect when the rules were simply what we do or don t do please, leave the heart and emotions and thoughts out of it! And I would guess He was quite aware that the gap between God and humans grew as He spoke those words. But I am also certain He knew how to solve the widening gap. He knew the solution couldn t rest in the hands or feet or activities of people. Humans could not solve the problem of perfection. So, it had to rest in the hands of God. The disciples asked, Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, With humans this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). And the impossible is sin. We are sinners. It is not too hard to recognize that fact. And we cannot by our own reason or strength be perfect, or even come close to perfection. We sin daily in thought, word, and deed. As we teach in our church, rather than the law and rules and regulations showing us how wonderful we are, the law has done its work it clearly shows us that we are sinners, not able to comply with the law. That is a very different perspective than the Pharisees who saw the law as a way to show others how wonderful they were. Remember the two who prayed in the temple? The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men: robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner (Luke 18:11-13). The law was used for show for the Pharisees. It helped them show others how good and righteous they were. The law for Christians is about show as well but it shows us how sinful and unrighteousness we are. And that drives us straight to the cross. We need a Savior from our sin. For since we cannot be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, we need something, someone who can be perfect for us or at least buy us our perfection. Jesus Christ is the one. He purchased us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and innocent suffering and death. And then He freely offers that receipt to us which we show to God so He sees our debt has been paid. Simply by accepting that payment through faith, it is ours, for eternity. The second point that Jesus makes related to these teachings on the mount relates to our witness. If people know we are Christian, what we do, how we live, people s interpretations of our intent gives a clear witness of who we are in Christ and an impression of the God we follow 4 P a g e
to others. As Jesus said previously, our actions and our words are our witness to those who watch. I have told this story before, but just to reinforce the point tell story about Bob Holst and kid in the classroom. Believe me, people are watching you and even if they don t know you are Christian, are wondering why you do and say what you do. They may not be able to make the connection between your life and actions and kind words and Jesus Christ, but someday you will have an opportunity to say something to them when they come and ask why. At the beginning of this sermon I asked how these rules and regulations and grace fit together. We have been freely given the gift of grace in Jesus Christ. Our lives are not what Jesus uses to determine whether or not He grants us His forgiveness. He gives it to all people everyone is a possible recipient. Seems strange that people would not take Jesus up on the offer. But when someone does and then realizes the enormousness of the gift the rules we talked about today no longer look like rules. They become a guide for Christians to use in order to thank God for His gracious gift. I use this analogy not too perfect, but helpful. When Valentine s Day rolls around oh, how about that? It is tomorrow! I ask my wife what she wants for that romantic little something. Sometimes I don t ask and surprise her, but to be safe, knowing is much easier than guessing! And it seems I am much more successful when I know what she wants. Anyway, I furiously write things down in my head which she has mentioned and then I go buy her what she wants. Now I don't do this because I have to do it. I do it because I want to do it. I want to make her happy. I want to please her. Why? Well, look at me. She married me. Now look at her. Have you seen her? That is love! And I love her back. What wouldn t I do to make her happy for what she has done for me? Though the list looks like a bunch of rules to follow, it really becomes a freeing thing for me since I now know exactly what I can do to please her. The same is true with the rules and regulations given to us by God. Though they look like rules, they really become a list which frees up all who believe in Jesus as their Savior from trying to guess what we might do to make Him happy for all He has done for us. For His great love given to us, we simply wish to give Him thanks in return. And what better way than fulfilling His Valentine s Day wish list. It is exactly what He would like from us in order to please Him. That is how grace and rules fit together. Hand in glove. Bread and butter. Grace and rules. Today, receive the free gift of grace through faith. Praise and thank your God who offers it to you by becoming a living witness in your thoughts, words, and deeds. Make this your prayer. Amen. 5 P a g e