Christ Centered Student Community

Matthew 5:21-26

I once had a frustrating experience with plumbing in my house in Alabama. We noticed when we received our water bill one month that it was WAY higher than we had anticipated. The bill was for someone who was trying to recreate the Genesis 3 flood, and neither swimming nor vengeance was really my hobby so I knew there was a problem. It turned out that we had extremely old cast iron plumbing that was slowly eroding away underneath our house. We had no idea. Everything seemed fine (though I did notice our grass was growing unusually well in certain areas) above the surface, but underneath, there was a disastrous flooding nightmare attempting to eat up my meager salary! Sure, once we located the problem we attempted to patch up only the areas that were punctured, but then the pressure would form at another place, and then another, etc. Eventually we finally realized that only a complete overhaul by a professional would be sufficient. This is also when PVC piping became my best friend.

I think Jesus, in Matthew 5, is referring to the deceptive spiritual plumbing issues the teachers of the Law were facing. They looked at society and saw the problems, the sin, the brokenness. And to this fallen state of humanity they thought they could keep the old system of the Law and just add thousands of their own patches to solve the issue. The problem, as Jesus saw it, was that a million human patches applied to the problem would never truly fix anything. They needed a complete make-over from underneath the surface. A renovation that can’t be performed with human hands, but only by the hands of the Almighty. A real professional.

And to illustrate the problem, he uses anger. He first mentions a word we know all too well in our society- murder. He points out how everyone knows murder is wrong and brings with it heavy consequences. The revolutionary teaching Jesus offers, however, is he says murder isn’t really the problem- it’s anger! And He goes on to mention three different types of anger and the consequences associated with each one. You may notice that each example is a more intense level of anger, followed by a more harsh punishment.

The first example is a man that is angry (orgizesthai) with his brother. Barclay describes orgizesthai as “the long-lived anger; the anger of the man that nurses his wrath to keep it warm,” (Daily Study Bible Series). Murder, we may not all be able to empathize with- allowing anger to settle into our hearts and wishing for revenge, however, describes us all too well. And the consequence? The judgment of the local village council, usually consisting of a handful of men to settle disputes and impart justice. The difficulty, yet frequently ‘the key’ to solving murders, ( any CSI follower out there will tell you), is figuring out the motive behind the homicides. And quite often, it begins, seemingly harmless, with this grudging, orgizesthai, type anger.

But he carries on even further- whoever calls his brother “Raca” will be liable to the Sanhedrin. Barclay notes, “Its whole accent is the accent of contempt. To call a man Raca was to call him a brainless idiot, a silly fool…it is the word of one who despises another with an arrogant contempt,” (Daily Study Bible Series). This sin, the sin of contempt, carries with it an even higher level of consequence- the judgment of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme court. And if Jesus’ point was not clear enough yet for his audience, he mentions a third type of anger. It’s like He is saying, “Holding a grudge is bad, treating others as inferior is worse, and…

To call your brother “moros” (a moral fool) is the worst! “To call a man ‘moros’ was not to criticize his mental ability; it was to cast aspersions on his moral character; it was to take his name and reputation from him, and to brand him as a loose-living and immoral person,” (Daily Study Bible Series). And the punishment for trashing a man’s reputation and name? Gehenna, which most likely is a reference to the ‘Valley of Hinnom’- the dump/incinerating grounds of Jerusalem. Wow, that seems intense, you might say. That, I believe, was the reaction Jesus was aiming to receive. Yes- murder is wrong, but equally as destructive are the forces of anger welling up inside of us that we refuse to deal with! Grudges, contempt, and character destruction are the vicious poisons we all need medicine to cure. And the cure?

Jesus says it is so important that we not allow anger to abide within us, that we should allow reconciliation to take precedence even over worship itself. N.T. Wright mentions the absurdity of the example Jesus uses, “It takes about three days to get back to Galilee (from Jerusalem), where most of Jesus’ hearers lived. He cannot seriously have imagined an anxious worshipper leaving a live animal sitting there in the Temple courts for a week while they scurried back home, apologized to the offended person, and then returned to Jerusalem…he seems to be exaggerating to make a point,” (Matthew For Everyone, Part I). And what is the point? Simply that our relationships with each other directly affect our relationship with God. We cannot harbor ill-will towards others and be completely clean before our Father. He would repeat this teaching again shortly after this, “if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” (Matthew 6:15).

Untamed anger, like the water pressure under my Alabama house, is going to come out somewhere. And the sad part is that too many of us try to handle it all on our own willpower. But in reality, our willpower is as reliable as that old cast iron was beneath the surface. “Plato likened the soul to a charioteer whose task it was to drive two horses. The one horse was gentle and biddable…the other horse was wild and untamed…the first horse was named reason; the name of the other was passion… Life is always a conflict between the demands of the passions and the control of the reason,” (Daily Study Bible Series). Surely we can never exhibit this perfectly on our own accord. We must completely submit ourselves to the One who, as He was being tortured and crucified between two criminals prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” (Luke 23:34).

                  Matthew 5:17-20

In “The Christian Atheist,” Craig Groeschel writes a humble, yet convicting book dedicated to the alarming amount of people wearing the title ‘Christian’ but living their personal lives as if He doesn’t exist. He openly admits many of his own struggles throughout the book, and considers himself to be a “recovering Christian Atheist”. In the first chapter entitled, “When You Believe In God But Don’t Really Know Him,” he writes these words- “Just because we do good, doesn’t mean that we know the One who is good” (page 36). I think Jesus would agree. In Matthew 19 a rich young ruler comes to him wanting to know what “good deed” he could do to inherit eternal life. Jesus, realizing the fallacy of the request, replies, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only ONE who is good.” After the young man realizes that following God must be more than obeying external commands, he walks away disappointed. Why? He wanted his rightness to be based on his actions, not God’s. Jesus was more interested in knowing his heart, not his ability to exercise will power. His disciples were blown away by the conversation and would ask, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ reply? “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (v. 26). Once again, it’s more about knowing God and trusting Him to help us, than it is our abilities to manage our own sin.

In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus encouraged his disciples to develop a different way of knowing God, and this, He mentions, requires exceeding the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. This must have seemed impossible to the hearers of this message, just like with the rich young ruler, because no one in the Jewish community was more devout than these two groups. They were so entranced by the Law that they developed oral laws that applied the written law to every aspect of life. The Ten Commandments were apparently not straightforward enough. Remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy became to these groups a day of restriction where one was not allowed to “carry food equal in weight to a dried fig, write two letters of the alphabet with different inks or in different languages, or apply ointment to a wound- only bandages” (Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series).

Jesus would declare that He came to “fulfill the ‘written’ law and the prophets,” not these oral traditions. And His expectation was for His disciples version of following God to be more than painfully obeying external interpretations, and to radically allow God to change their internal being. This is what the Ten Commandments was really about, right? Barclay suggests that the Ten Commandments can be summed up in the word respect. “Respect for God, respect for our fellow man, and respect for ourselves; without them there can be no such thing as law. On them all law is based. That reverence and that respect Jesus came to fulfill…The Jew aimed to satisfy the law of God; and to the demands of law there is always a limit. The Christian aims to show his gratitude for the love of God; and to the claims of love there is no limit in time or in eternity…when we realize how God has loved us, the one desire of life is to answer to that love, and that is the greatest task in all the world” (Barclay DSBS). Jesus would later put it this way, “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

I think it is safe to say that the Scribes and Pharisees believed in God very much, but that many of them were lost when it came to knowing God. Knowing God, however, does not excuse us from obedience, as Barclay reminds us, but rather requires an even deeper obligation to dedicate our entire lives to Jesus. I think this is why He brings this up before discussing the practical day to day stuff of our interior lives- anger, lust, retaliation, giving, prayer… you name it. He holds nothing back, realizing that our loyalty to developing a relationship with God demands a surrender of ourselves to Him- even the ugly parts.

Later on in his chapter on knowing God, Groeschel would write his own interpretation of what Paul is saying in Galatians 4:8-9… “Paul is essentially saying, ‘you know God, but not well enough to avoid your old habits- the attitudes that hurt you and your closeness to God.’ In the twenty-first century, we would be wise to ask ourselves, ‘Is this us too?’ ” (page 38).  I think what Groeschel is pointing to is the reality that just believing in God will not guarantee a close relationship with God, much less solicit His help in overcoming the struggles of life. This requires time, humility, and a dependence on God that readily admits our inadequacy to handle life without Him. Maybe this is why it all roots back to Matthew 5:3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule” (The Message).

 Matthew 5:13-14

A few nights ago I was watching an “Antique Road Show” from 1998- I was bored, leave me alone. This show always amazes me. People will bring in something worth thousands of dollars that has merely been collecting dust in their attic for fifty years. And so this guy comes in with an old oil painting of the Titanic. The collector tells the man that’s its hardly worth $100.00. “But”, he slowly turns around the painting for the camera to focus in on it, “what interests me is what’s on the back of this painting.” On the flip side, was an original menu from the Titanic. It was worth $100,000.00, and at this point-1998- it was the first one to ever be recovered. (Since then, many more have been brought in for appraisal). Wow! This guy brought in an interesting old painting worth $100.00, only to find out that the most valuable asset was one he knew nothing about!

Jesus uses an interesting term to describe what his disciples should be in the world- Salt. In ancient times, salt was much more valued than it is in our modern culture. Today we have refrigerators, and a ridiculous amount of spices at our disposal (of which salt is simply one of many). In Jesus’ day, salt was the main preservative for meats. Barclay writes this about salt, “The Greeks called salt divine (theion). The Romans said, ‘There is nothing more useful than sun and salt.’ (Nil utilius sole et sale.) (Daily Study Bible Series). Salt also, then and today, gives bland food a punch of flavor. What would MdDonald’s fries be without a gut wrenching amount of sodium bites attached to each fried stick of potato goodness? Needless to say, think about how much we love salt, and quadruple it. Enter Jesus’ saying.

So what is he telling his disciples in this teaching? I think it’s something like don’t forget that the Christian life is thrilling. Where our culture is mundane and obsessed with so many shallow routines and addictions, Jesus followers should offer a life story rich with deep relationships and meaningful conversations. We should be the salt on Mickey D’s french fries. Not only are we supposed to insert a much needed flavor into our world, but I feel Jesus is calling us to preservation. And no, I didn’t just suggest for you to become like formaldehyde. My point is that Jesus is saying we have the great opportunity to preserve that which is good and beautiful in our world. As N.T. Wright would put it, “How could God keep the world from going bad- the main function of salt in the ancient world- if Israel, his chosen ‘salt’, had lost its distinctive taste?” (For Everyone Series). The truth is anyone can point out what’s wrong with the world. Stand up comedians make a living off of it. Christians are called to be more than that. We have the tough job, which is moving past only being critical, and actually infusing medicine into the wounds of our society. I think too often Christians are known more for what we don’t do, rather than what we do. Jesus didn’t say “don’t be…” He said, “You are salt”.

And maybe like the guy at the Antique Road Show, we have underestimated what we have- Christ- and who we are- his ambassadors (salt). Or maybe we have simply been focused on unimportant things that are bland and worthless. Here’s our chance to make a difference. Jesus is turning the painting around for the camera to show us what a real antique looks like. And for this well preserved document, the world would pay anything for it!

I often have students come into my office with “news”. Sometimes it’s horrible news- “I failed a test because (insert excuse here)”, “My financial aid didn’t go through”, “I have a friend from high school that died in a car accident”, “I don’t know what to major in”, “I’m addicted again”. It is an honor to be entrusted with the growing pains and tough questions and situations of their lives. It is also a privilege to hear them bust into the office with great news- “I passed my exam!”, “I’m engaged!”, “I scored an internship!”, “my car works today!”, “I dedicated my life to Christ!”. Hearing this leads me to ponder what is good news for myself and the rest of our community here in Clarksville- “I got a raise”, “We’re going on vacation”, “My husband came back safely from deployment”, “The river didn’t flood this year”.

Many times we consider ourselves blessed, or happy, based on our circumstances. A raise at work- I’m happy. A relative passes- I’m depressed. A new relationship kindles- I’m blessed. My car breaks down- I’m cursed. I lose 10 lbs.- sunshine. I sprain my ankle- darkness. It’s interesting to note Jesus’ beginning of the “Sermon on the Mount”, often referred to as His “Magna Carta” of sorts. Actually most scholars believe this was not even an individual lesson given in one sitting, but rather a collection of his teachings throughout His ministry, a summation of whole. For me, this doesn’t lessen the impact, but rather heightens my focus on it, knowing that this is the foundation. If you don’t have time to meditate on each gospel account, here is the bottom line.

And how does he start? With this word “blessed”. And while we immediately perceive that word in connection with circumstantial happiness, Jesus blows our mind with a “backward blessedness”. These are not statements of “how to be blessed” but rather proclamations on “who is already blessed”. This is an announcement of good news! N.T. Wright put it this way- “It is gospel: good news, not good advice” (Matthew for Everyone). And those who are blessed are not necessarily who we would think of as circumstantially abundant… the poor in spirit, meek, starving justice seekers, peacemakers, persecuted. Again, it’s not about circumstances, but rather about our relationship to God and others. Those who currently realize their great need for God (the poor in spirit), those who are lamenting over the brokenness in their lives and in their world (those who mourn), those who offer forgiveness because of God’s unconditional love (the peacemakers)… these guys are blessed.

The great New Testament scholar William Barclay writes this about the word “makarios” in Greek, translated as “blessed” in Matthew 5. “The meaning of makarios can best be seen from one particular usage of it. The Greeks always called Cyprus ‘he makaria’ which means ‘The Happy Isle’, and they did so because they believed that Cyprus was so lovely, so rich, and so fertile an island that a man would never need to go beyond its coastline to find the perfectly happy life. It had such a climate of minerals and natural resources that it contained within itself all the materials for perfect happiness… Makarios then describes that joy which has its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, completely independent of all the chances and changes of life… ‘No one,’ said Jesus, ‘will take your joy from you’ (John 16:22)” (Daily Study Bible).

In essence Jesus is proclaiming what His kingdom, established in the flesh with His presence, looks like; and it may seem a little backwards to us. In our fast-paced, consumeristic, and shallow spirited societies, I think putting our obsession with ‘forward thinking’ in reverse and starting over sounds kind of nice. If you are like me, you’ve been chasing after circumstantial happiness for too long at the expense of Christ-like joy. But don’t sulk in the hot tub of guilt! Bring the brokenness before God and let Him do His work- remember how this thing starts? Blessed are those who have come to terms with their inadequacy in providing lasting joy, and has given that job to God- i.e. (the poor in spirit)- for this is the first, and most obvious description of those living as God intended- (i.e. the kingdom of heaven). Let us never underestimate the simplistic beauty of the words penned by James, the brother of King Jesus- “humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10). Sometimes the only way to go forward in the right direction is to stop spinning our tires, admit that we’re stuck, reverse, and then proceed.

God never guarantees us circumstantial happiness (prosperity gospel), but He does promise to be with us through anything. And He guarantees us a tranquility of comfort, mercy, and vision that surpasses any temporal thrill our culture has to offer.

  I took a long nap yesterday afternoon in between church events, which usually, for me, means being up late during the night. Sooooo I had nothing better to do at 2:00 in the morning besides to watch “Hook”, a movie I cherished as a child and sadly had not viewed in a number of years. It always amuses me at what caught my attention as a child, and what impresses me as an adult watching the same movie years later. I love the entire plot, but especially the overarching theme of never growing old in our heart. Peter Pan has grown up, is a successful lawyer, rapidly climbing the corporate ladder, but completely absent and annoyed by his own family. He constantly makes promises he simply can’t keep. “Fun” is merely a lost ideal that is completely foreign and childish to him. So when his children are kidnapped by the infamous Captain James Hook, Peter has to learn to become Pan again, which means entering a world of childlikeness that he had repressed for quite a long time. He eventually remembers who he used to be, embraces the freedom of enjoying life and relationships again, and finds the strength to get his children back from the evil Hook. What caught my attention last night, or early this morning rather, is the very end of the movie when Wendy glances at Peter with a tear in her eye and whispers- “So…your adventures are over?” And Peter’s response is, “Oh, no. To live… to live would be an awfully big adventure.” One of my favorite, overarching themes in the Bible is how God continually produces life out of nothingness. From the creation, during the garden exile, after the flood, in Israel’s slavery and captivity, with Jesus, through the church, etc… God is telling creation the simple words echoed by Robin Williams in Hook- “Live! To live would be an awfully big adventure!” I wonder how often I choose worry, finances, busyness or even recreation over truly “living”? This is the primary reason Christ came to earth- “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly!” (John 10:10). Today I will not choose fear. I will not bow to other gods promising to provide relief for my soul. I will trust in God. I will choose the “awfully big adventure” of living and loving in abundance!