01.09.2011 Sermon on The Mount 2 - The HEART of the Matter

01.09.2011 Grace Summit Sermon - Sermon on the Mount p2, The HEART of the Matter from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

01.09.2011 Grace Summit - Alan and Annette talk about going to Honduras from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

01.09.2011 Grace Summit Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

Lord, we do thank You – for Annette and Alan and their willingness and commitment to do this – and their heart for You and how You have changed us. Your grace, gospel, love and words have changed us. We desire to be faithful and pleasing to you. Help me to speak Your word clearly – You are the God who knows our needs and is able to meet them. It might not happen how we think, but You are alt to touch us. We ask You to speak. In Your name we pray.
We are going through the Sermon on the Mount:
Matt. 5:17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. 19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches [them,] he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses [that] of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
What is that all about? What is He saying? Usually these verses are used to argue about whether we need to keep the Sabbath or whether we need to keep tithing or upholding other aspects of the Law. I say, it probably does not have to do with that. His main point is that HE is the fulfillment of it all. The Scriptures need to be interpreted. In Jesus’ day, the rabbis were interpreting how to understand God’s word and the Law. In context, He is also saying – He is about to – go through the Law and to interpret the Law for His disciples – and He will interpret it differently than what they are thinking. The leaders were misunderstanding how it was to be applied. Jesus is going to give a definitive definition of applying the Law. And Jesus’ interpretation of how to apply the Scriptures is as valid as the Scriptures themselves. The Rabbis were focusing on the letter of the Law – but Jesus is taking it to the heart – to the core of the commands of the Old Testament. The problem that they had – and we too – in interpreting Scripture, we interpret it in such a way so that it fits into our belief system and lifestyle. We read a verse and interpret it to mean what we would like it to mean – what we want it to say rather than what it is actually saying.
To quote those two famous theologians, Simon and Garfunkel - All lies in jest – still a man will hear what he wants to hear and disregard the rest. Lai Lai Lai…
What Jesus is doing – is interpreting the Old Testament – it is an interpretation of what has already been said – and He is saying this: The Sermon on the Mount indicates that the Kingdom transforms our understanding of the Law. When we go to verse 21, there are five of these paragraphs that Jesus will talk about – and He begins – You have heard… - and in each of these, He repeats one of the commands – You have heard…
21 "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'
He is opening their minds to their understanding – this is what you think – here is how you interpret it …BUT I say to you… - Your thinking is incorrect, let me give you the correct way of looking at the passage. He is going from the common interpretation to how it should actually be interpreted.
22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty [enough to go] into the fiery hell.
Our tendency, like the Jews’, we see do not murder – and we move on. But Jesus takes it to the core. If you are a person who has a tendency toward anger, it is no different – and the disciples had to step back and say, WHAT? Because they all struggled with anger. And Jesus is saying – it is no different. Jesus explains anger – that which starts in the heart – from some wound that has taken place – stuff inside of us that we all have – that comes out – and you know how it comes out in your own life – for one reason or another. And He is saying – THAT – whether it is aggressive or passive, is the core of this commandment. That is at the heart of it. Kingdom discipleship requires transformation at the core – at the center of our being. It is not just avoiding the final activity of the sin – but addressing the root that we are no longer angry people. IT is the process we must move forward with. That is what He is calling them to. Then what He does –in verse 23 – there is a lot of hyperbole – He exaggerates things. After He talks about these actions of anger…
23 "If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
We just did communion – we came to the table – we are practicing our worship and if you came up to the table and realized that you had a relational issue, I shouldn’t do this – that is a fine interpretation of this – but that is not what THEY heard! This was given in Galilee – for them to take their offering to Jerusalem – it probably took a LONG time – and for festivals, there would be mobs there – think of the lines! What altar in the temple – like Black Friday – I know it is a sport to some of you. You line up days ahead of time – and you buy a TV for 13 dollars! And you go through the three hours of lines – and you get to the front – and realize that your brother has something against you – you leave it there and make it right! You MUST understand the priority of right relationships and dealing with your anger – it is something you have to get serious about. He uses anger because we can all relate to it really easily. This new kingdom has new values – and they are revolutionary and radical – totally unlike anything we have seen in the world – it is all new to them. They can’t believe what He is telling them – how will we do this?
25 "Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, in order that your opponent may not deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 "Truly I say to you, you shall not come out of there, until you have paid up the last cent.
Matt. 5: 27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; 28 but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
So He goes to the next issue – He is hitting all the big ones, isn’t He?! In their day, adultery was like the ultimate sin – because it destroyed community – it was illegal even for the Romans – because it destroyed community. Now there were prostitutes and sexual immorality – they were focusing on the final sin – adultery – but Jesus says, anyone who lusts has already committed adultery . That is hard to imagine and take!
It says that we need to be serious about our thought life – the heart of the sin.
29 "And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
It is hyperbole, or we would all be blind! He is saying, DEAL WITH IT – get serious about this issue. For the area of lust, it is the whole thing – it is rampant today – I have pastor friends who are iStuff people – they have all these apps and guards for their apps – they have all this software protecting them from going to sites they shouldn’t. Someone might say, “That software makes it hard to get where I need to go” – SO WHAT! Put the software on! That is simply it – putting software on to make it hard to get to a site is not nearly extreme as pulling your eyes out!
31 "And it was said, 'Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce'; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for [the] cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery
This is interesting to tie it to adultery – in their day, there were two Rabbis – Shimei and Hillel – and they were before Christ – and they said that Moses said a man could give his wife a certificate of divorce – and one rabbi said if she doesn’t please him – you could get divorced for almost anything – and it was rampant – and they thought it kept them from committing adultery! When we look at this – we think – what are the reasons you can’t get divorced – when is it allowed – when is it not allowed – we are like the Jews – not getting to the heart of it – Matthew 19 – God’s intent was that it would last until death. When people get married, that is their intent – and Jesus is saying that is what we need to push for – try to live that way in life.
That doesn’t mean we judge someone who has been through a divorce – and that there aren’t reasons for it – but God is saying – do everything you can to make it work – as far as it depends on you – be the kind of person you need to be – get the help you need to get – don’t be afraid! Get the help! I challenge you – marriages CAN BE PUT BACK TOGETHER. But they have to be caught before they are completely destroyed – but people let things go. But I challenge you – in your marriage – get help! We all have struggles! Cindy and I get counseling every once in a while! It may be just talking with friends. We have a couple in the church with whom we sit down to talk about our marriages.
I’m skipping the one on oaths here – because I didn’t know what to say! (Laughter)
Matt. 5: 38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 "But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 "And if anyone wants to sue you, and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 "And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two." In the context of a world of personal revenge – when God gave this command through Moses – think of gang warfare – or organized crime that is how the world functioned. You do something wrong, and we will wipe out your family – your whole city! Moses is giving controls to the excess of a culture of personal revenge. Jesus teaches the complete abandonment of a culture of personal revenge. This is not about defending yourself! Study the passage out! The slapping on the face was much more of a way of shaming a person – a simple retaliation that shamed someone. You will see – if someone comes into your house, it doesn’t mean you can’t defend yourself. But understand what is going on.
. 42 "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
Christianity Today – asked the question of 3 pastors – should you give to street beggars? All 3 lived their lives creating ministries to street people and homeless people. The three of them said –
1)yes, all the time,
2)sometimes, and
3)never. The one who said never has been doing it the longest – and his point was – will you be getting involved in their lives? How should we deal with this?
This is an issue of personal conscience – you can’t use this verse against someone else. Understand what this is saying. There needs to be a balance of generosity and wisdom. We need to be wise in our generosity! The Good Samaritan – the guy asking the question is trying to justify himself. DO I only need to help those like me? No.
When you exit – and there is a person with a sign – will work for food – that is a different scenario than the Good Samaritan. Sometimes God will lay it on your heart to help someone. There have been some homeless people we have been helping – one for many years – and there are those we realize that it is a hoax. We need to be wise in our generosity.
In conclusion – we need to understand what will transform a person – in reality – their condition will never change until they come to Christ – the Gospel – and that is not an excuse to not help – people need to come to Christ – their lives need to be transformed by God’s spirit inside them. It is important that both things are going on – as a church, we work toward that – and we know we could do better – but there must be a commitment to presenting this gospel message – so their lives can be transformed.