Message, January 1, 2012 – Matthew 5:1, 2, 17-20
5:1 Seeing the crowds, [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”________________________________________
Today we resume a series of meditations which are taking us through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. A number of people – including total strangers who worship with us online or who follow the sermons at my web site – have shared with me how much they have been helped by the sermons on the Beatitudes which began this series.
Of course the Beatitudes are only the first part of Jesus’ introduction to the sermon itself. Verses 1-12 of chapter 5 describe some of the character traits of a true disciple. A true disciple is a person in whom the Holy Spirit is at work. First, the Spirit awakens a person to his need of a Savior, and then to faith in Jesus as that Savior. Then over a lifetime. the Spirit works to restore the image of God by enabling us to bring our character and behavior more and more into conformity with the character and behavior of God’s dear Son, Jesus.
The character traits that Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes – poverty of spirit, mourning for the fact of our sinfulness, meekness and humility before God and other people, the hunger and thirst for righteousness, and all the others – are not natural to us,. They are not a human potential that everyone possesses and can develop by reading a book and applying a few basic rules or by exercising self-discipline.
To the extent that these traits are coming to life within us, rearranging our character and the behavior which flows from it, they are evidence that the Holy Spirit is actively present, shaping us into the image of Christ. So then, the eight Beatitudes describe men and women who have been adopted into the family of God, and are now being fashioned into twin brothers and sisters of Jesus.
In the second part of the introduction to his sermon, verses 13-16, Jesus shows us that this work of the Holy Spirit has practical implications. Jesus does not intend for people who believe in him to simply sit back and go on about their lives as they did before they came to faith, only now content in the knowledge that they will go to heaven when they die. Jesus intends for his brothers and sisters to act out their faith in him in their small corner of the world where their decisions and choices can make a real difference. That’s what he meant when he said: “You are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world.” If you are a true Christian, Jesus wants you to function as “salt” and “light” in that particular place where God has called you to live and work and play.
Private, personal faith is no faith at all. However sincere it may be, unless belief changes behavior it is nothing more than empty words or warm sentimentality: “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) The great Protestant Reformer Martin Luther said: “We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith.” A student of Luther says: “if no works follow it is certain that true faith in Christ does not live in the heart but is a dead, imagined, and self-fabricated faith.” So then, If you are a true Christian, if your faith in Jesus is sincere, you must remember that Jesus wants you to function as “salt” and “light” in that particular place where God has called you to live and work and play.
In the body of the sermon, which runs from verse 21 of this chapter through verse 14 of chapter 7, Jesus gives many specific, practical examples of what acted out faith looks like. Next Sunday we will start to look at those examples of lived faith. As we do I guarantee that many of you will find yourselves stretched and challenged and perhaps offended by what Jesus says. Some of you may even become discouraged because the standard that Jesus sets for us seems far higher than anything we can ever achieve, and you may think: “If Jesus is serious and this is what it means to be a Christian, then I will never measure up, so why bother?”
Jesus knew that some of his disciples would react to his sermon by becoming discouraged, so before he begins listing concrete examples of lived faith he takes a moment to clarify what he is about to say. In our verses today he makes it as clear as he can that he has no intention of teaching his disciples either of the two great errors of religion: legalism or lawlessness.
Legalism says that we are brought into fellowship with the divine – however you want to define it – by doing certain things such as obeying moral rules and regulations, or by participating in religious rites and rituals such as sacrifices or sacraments or meditation, or by agreeing statements of doctrine written down in confessions and creeds. All legalistic religions have in common the belief that salvation – or union with the divine – depends to some extent on human effort. We are either saved by our own efforts, or we are saved by our efforts plus the grace of God. Either way, salvation depends on something we do.
Unfortunately this is true even within the Christian religion. Legalism may not be as common today as it was a generation ago, but some of us have probably been exposed to churches where the preaching is all about being moral, defined as following rules such as “don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t dance, don’t go to movies, don’t gamble, don’t wear your skirt more than one inch above your knees” (I never had a problem with that one).
In the more progressive churches legalism takes the form of social gospel works righteousness: “I know I am okay with God because I go on mission trips, or contribute to food pantries, or support the most socially conscious candidates in elections.”
Whatever form it takes, legalism is dangerous because we cannot do anything to save ourselves. The path of self-salvation inevitably leads to either despair or hypocrisy.
Martin Luther grew up in a legalistic church. His struggles to please God through legalistic obedience have been described this way: “Young Brother Martin fully dedicated himself to monastic life, the effort to do good works to please God and to serve others through prayer for their souls. Yet peace with God escaped him. He devoted himself to fasts, flagellations, long hours in prayer and pilgrimages, and constant confession. The more he tried to do for God, it seemed, the more aware he became of his sinfulness.” Looking back on his life, Luther himself said: “I tormented myself to death to procure peace with God for my troubled heart and my agitated conscience; but I was surrounded by horrible darkness, and could find peace nowhere.”
If you have a tender conscience, legalism can lead to despair because no matter how hard you try you know that you cannot make yourself good enough to please God.
On the other hand, legalism can also lead to hypocrisy. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were much like Martin Luther, only they lacked Luther’s humility and tender conscience. They tried to please God by obeying a multitude of rules and regulations that went far beyond anything that God had laid down in His Law. Many of them actually convinced themselves that they were pleasing God by doing religious stuff, even though their hearts were far from God. Going through the motions with heart disengaged is called hypocrisy. That is why twelve times in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus calls the Pharisees and their colleagues “hypocrites.”
Everything that Jesus said and did in his ministry showed that he rejected legalism as a way to God. But this does not mean that he taught the opposite error. Jesus did not intend to abolish the requirements of God’s Law, so that we can do whatever we like.
Lawlessness is an attitude which says that since I am saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not matter how I live as long as I believe in Jesus in my heart and try to love others. Since Jesus has done everything by perfectly fulfilling the Law, I have nothing to do. I can live and act as I see fit, and still enjoy the assurance that I will go to heaven when I die. It pains me to say it, but I am sure that many church-goers who sincerely profess faith in Jesus say exactly that sort of thing to justify ungodly, unchristian behavior.
So I have a foul mouth? Well I believe in Jesus in my heart. I play fast and loose with my marriage vows, either for real or in the virtual world online? I believe in Jesus in my heart. I am chronically angry at the world and other people, and make my family and co-workers miserable by my demands and my never-ending grumbling? I believe in Jesus in my heart. I am over my head in debt because I will not restrain myself from running up my credit card balance buying stuff that I don’t need? I believe in Jesus in my heart. I enjoy malicious gossip and character assassination? I believe in Jesus in my heart.
Friends, this is not the way that our Lord Jesus intends for us to live. True faith will result in Christ-like behavior. In a sermon on this passage, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said: “Our Lord Jesus is teaching that the proof of our having truly received the grace of God in Jesus Christ is that we are living a righteous life [. . .] it is faith showing itself by works which is the mark of a true Christian.”
Jesus saves us in the first place so that we might be conformed to his image both in our character and the behavior which flows from it. If your character and behavior are not being conformed to his – even in small increments over time – then you need to ask whether your faith is genuine, or are you kidding yourself?
In other places Jesus makes this very clear: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
Jesus did not intend to negate or abolish the Law of God, so that we who claim to believe in him can rewrite good and evil, right and wrong, to suit us and make us acceptable to the world: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
If we read the Sermon on the Mount as a law which we must follow so that we can be united to God by obeying it we will miss the point. Those with a tender conscience like Martin Luther will despair when they fail to measure up. Those who lack a tender conscience, like the Pharisees, will become hypocrites like them and assume that their obedience to this new law is good enough.
Jesus would have us remember that we are saved on the basis of his perfect obedience to the Law of God. When we believe in Jesus, God accepts us as if we ourselves perfectly fulfilled the Law, and though His Spirit He gives us a new life and a new nature. The old things have passed away and all things have become new. Through the Holy Spirit dwelling us, the character of Christ Jesus takes root and begins growing to maturity, and part of that means that we find ourselves longing to become more and more like Jesus.
I invite you to look into your heart. Do you “hunger and thirst after righteousness”? Do you long to be a better person, more Christ-like in your heart and your behavior? If so, then Jesus’ instructions in the Sermon on the Mount Law which we will begin next week, can guide you as you work your way toward that goal.
Does this mean that you will achieve perfection in this life? No. Does this mean that you will once and for all escape temptations and trials of your faith? No. Does this mean that you will never fail? No. It simply means that Jesus has shown us how to live as men and women and young people and children who know that we are saved by grace alone. And he has given us his Spirit to empower us and to comfort us when we fail.
