Jesus On Oaths
Part 7 in series Hearing Jesus Again
Wildwind Community Church
David Flowers
June 21, 2008
Tonight we move from the topic of casual divorce which we talked about last week into this week’s topic, which is from Matthew 5:33-37 where Jesus takes on the topic of oath-making. At first it seems like this might be a kind of boring thing to look into and stand in stark contrast to the controversy of last week’s topic. But let me tweak you by saying that I think there may be as much to make us truly uncomfortable in these five verses as there was in last week’s message. Divorce, rightly understood in proper context, is perhaps not as controversial as the church has made it out to be. But oath-making? Man, that’s an everyday thing. It gets down to where we live everyday because it’s about how we speak. Tonight’s text is from Matthew 5:33-37, and it’s on the making of oaths. I would be interested in knowing how often tonight’s passage even gets preached on in America’s churches. It’s not that any religious leader ever pronounced it irrelevant. The situation is worse, in that it is simply assumed to be, and overlooked. I’m afraid it is simply considered barely worthy of mention.
But I want you to consider something very heavy for a moment.
Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus ever once address the topic of homosexuality. But in these five verses, Jesus addresses the making of oaths – the way we talk to one another. [Hey this is fun to think about. What if the “Christian right” decided that they would only make issues out of the things Jesus actually talked about? Do you think we’d be looking at a constitutional amendment prohibiting the taking of oaths, instead of one that prohibits the marriage of gays? Instead of resisting those who would take “in God we trust” off our money, do you think the Christian right would be passing out literature aimed at helping us learn to turn the other cheek and promoting cheek-turning as the best way of relating to one another in public life?
I’m not saying homosexuality isn’t an issue and that God overlooks it, I’m just saying that we have a way of easily passing over our own sins and flaws and failures that Jesus clearly addressed and instead focusing on the struggles of others that maybe he didn’t even focus on nearly as much. Jesus even talked about this tendency we have:
Mark 7:9 (NCV)
9 Then Jesus said to them, "You cleverly ignore the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings.
Why have I said this? Not to minimize the importance of an issue like homosexuality or act like it’s irrelevant, but to maximize the importance of our text today, to show that it’s imperative that we not overlook what God has clearly said.
Do I have your attention? I hope so. I told you that in tonight’s text Jesus takes on the topic of oath-making. How many times a week would you say that you hear someone say to you, “For real, man – honest – I swear.” “Dude, I swear to God.” “Honestly – I kid you not.” We hear, and say, these things all the time. In fact I’ll bet most of you heard those examples I just gave and are already starting to think to yourself, “Are you going to tell me there’s something wrong with saying these things? What could possibly be wrong with saying these things?” For many/most of us, phrases like this are so everyday that it’s simply not in the realm of conceivability that there is any reason to give them a second look. But there is a reason – and the reason is that the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Jesus said it’s something we need to look at!
Isaiah 40:5 (AMP)
5 … the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
In fact let’s not lose sight of what we’re talking about. Remember, in the Sermon on the Mount that we’re looking at, Jesus tells us that the human heart is vital – in fact, the heart is the most important thing about a person. Remember, Jesus is giving us examples of the difference between an external kind of righteousness based on rules, and an internal, heart-righteousness based on a heart that is properly oriented toward God and our fellow man. So it’s good for a person not to kill, or commit adultery, but you can not do those things and still harbor rage and lust in your heart, and Jesus is concerned about the heart. Not killing and not committing adultery are a poor substitute for loving your brother and honoring the opposite sex. Divorcing your spouse casually is a poor substitute for truly working through a difficult process with them that could lead either to healing or separation. It’s all about the heart.
So we’ve looked at Jesus’ examples of anger and contempt vs. love, lust vs. respect, and casual divorce vs. true consideration for another. Today we look at oath-making.
Matthew 5:33-37 (NIV)
33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ’Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’
34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.
36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
37 Simply let your ’Yes’ be ’Yes,’ and your ’No,’ ’No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Probably none of you have ever sworn by heaven, or sworn by the earth. I’ll especially wager that no one has ever sworn by Jerusalem. Nor has anyone probably ever sworn by their own head. So is that it? Do we get to take a pass and declare that Jesus’ words here are irrelevant to us today? Not even close!
Why? Because it’s a heart thing! It’s not about whether we have ever made those particular oaths. Those were just examples Jesus was giving that fit his time. What about the same things that go on in our day? I gave a list of examples earlier and indeed we say and hear those things so often we don’t even understand what the issue is with them. So let me explain that to you.
What is an oath? Basically an oath is a way of reinforcing your words – giving them more weight than what they might have on their own. You say something to someone and then say, “Dude, honestly – I swear.” You have done that because you want to convince him/her that you are sincere. As I said, we do this so often we don’t even see what the problem is. But here’s the problem. The problem is that the only reason oaths seem necessary is because we live in a world where words are often used to deceive and coax and manipulate and threaten. Words are used to help the speaker appear to be trustworthy, truthful, credible, knowledgeable, authoritative, and legitimate, whether he is or not. In such a world, we often do not know if a person is “serious” or not; “for real” or not. People are duplicitous. We are all presenting a certain face to the world, but experience ourselves to be someone quite different than the person we present. And so we take our place in a world that is often inauthentic at best and manipulative and deceitful at worst, and words are the frontline tools we use to do our bidding. But instead of dealing honestly with the root problem (the devaluing of words due to the deceit and duplicity of the human heart), we keep piling on more words, trying to sound more and more “honest,” and “authentic” and “genuine” and “sincere.”
Let me illustrate how words build up to the point where they mean nothing. Have you bought new furniture recently? Does it bother you that Art Van had its once-in-a-lifetime overstock sale last week and you missed it? They said last week they had the lowest prices – EVER. What a bummer if you missed that one, because according to the nice man on television, it will NEVER happen again. Wow, that’s harsh. Millions of people are going to have to pay more for their furniture now. If you go down to Miller Rd. here, chances are pretty good nearly every store on that strip recently finished up its biggest sale ever, with the deepest markdowns ever, and the longest same-as-cash period ever.
I know. I’m with you. “Whatever.” We know we’re being lied to. Words are devalued. They are used to get us to buy something. We roll our eyes and live our lives. Not only are we expected to not really believe these words, but we would be taken for a fool if we DID believe them.
How about the stores that absolutely, positively (more embellishment) will not be undersold? Hey, that sounds awesome! That is, if you can find a lower price anywhere else. Those from big-box stores don’t apply. Unless you get it in writing and not even then. Bring all estimates into the store with the salesman who quoted it to you and a notarized copy of the original estimate within 30 days – walk-ins welcome, appointments required, store may or may not be open when you get here, may cause flatulence, bad breath, nausea, vomiting, heart attack, impotence, lack of self-confidence, poor vision, loss of sense of humor, baldness, nightsweats, indigestion, paralysis, stupidity, postnasal drip, see your local congressman for details or if you have an erection lasting more than 4 hours.
Whatever. Too many words. No meaning! Words that are meant to communicate are used to obfuscate, to create confusion instead of clarity!
How about the car shops where absolutely everybody will get financing? Ever tried that before with bad credit?
Whatever.
Girls, how about at the end of that first date when he says, “I’ll call you.”
Whatever.
Guys, how about when you’re out to eat and she says, “Oh, I don’t want anything – I’ll just have a few bites of yours.”
Whatever!
How about that TV ad for the latest episode of ER? “You will not believe your eyes. Join ER for a special once-in-a-lifetime presentation. You’ll never see anything like this again.” So you tune in and the big moment comes. And it’s a life and death struggle – this time with both life and death hanging tenuously in the balance. Someone might die. Or someone might live. We don’t really know, but the two hang in the balance on this once-in-a-lifetime television event. When it finally happens, it will be the moment of a lifetime, as you find out whether life or death prevails in this struggle where it will definitely be either one or the other or both. Your friends will talk about it around the water cooler for minutes tomorrow. Then the moment comes and it’s John Stamos with his shirt off. Ladies, maybe a good time, but probably not a once in a lifetime television event.
Whatever!
And forget about the political ads and election season. Whatever.
How about when Christians sometimes say (or act like), “Since I met Jesus everything in life is just great. I don’t have any worries or concerns and I just have joy every moment of the day.”
Whatever!
In every arena of life – from commerce to personal relationships to media to news to religion, on and on it goes. Words are inflated, overblown, used to sell us things, convince us of things the speaker already knows aren’t true, or aren’t technically true.
And we know that most words we hear are empty, and designed to be that way. In a world like this, we are conditioned to respond with “Whatever!” It seems our only recourse is to resort to the cynicism and skepticism that the word “whatever” communicates. But can we go through life with these attitudes and have kingdom hearts? Are kingdom hearts hearts of exaggeration and manipulation or skepticism and cynicism? Of course not! This is why Jesus stands opposed to inflating our words, why he insists that a yes is yes and a no is no and we leave it at that.
Think with me for a moment. Why does a person say something like, “Really – I swear to God!”? Swear to God or not, both the person who says this and the person who it is said to live in a world where words simply cannot be taken at face value. In truth we often do not know if we’re being lied to, misled, joked with, conned, or honestly dealt with.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV)
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
The existence of deceit in the human heart causes our words to often be deceitful. So we add “extra sincere” words to our sentences, like “promise,” “swear,” “guarantee,” etc., but those words in the mouths of deceitful people end up being what? Even more deceitful. Thus the environment of suspicion and skepticism about words grows. As that environment grows, we get more and more emphatic about our honesty and insist on it with more and more sincere-sounding words. This cycle is something we could expect, as out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Matthew 12:34 (NIV)
34 … out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Words are of dubious quality because we who speak them are of dubious character! Just as you know that your words do not always convey the truth exactly, so you know the words of those who speak to you do not always convey it exactly. Therefore everyone is a hair suspicious, everyone suspects the wool maybe is being pulled over their eyes. And often it is, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Even when we try to be truthful, after all, we are still often mistaken, right?
Words lose their meaning when we are always unsure whether they can be trusted. And so we come up with ways of giving more force and more meaning to them. “Dude, I swear…” “Honestly..” “Believe me, man…” “Would I lie to you?” And on and on it goes. No, we don’t swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or our heads, but we swear. We promise. We cajole. We urge. We lean. Sometimes we even manipulate or lie.
Giving extra weight or force to our words seems necessary in a world where the character of those who speak can never fully be trusted. And this gets to why Jesus brought this up. Knowing God and living in his kingdom is all about having a kingdom heart. In God’s kingdom, words have power and force and meaning, because they flow from the heart of God. We don’t need to try to add more power to them because God’s words flow from God’s character which is never corrupt, never duplicitous, never manipulative.
Isaiah 40:5 (AMP)
5 … the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
In God’s kingdom, GOD has spoken and that’s enough. You can be sure God doesn’t need to say, “Honestly – dude, promise.” The mouth of the Lord speaks and what God speaks will surely come to pass. God says:
Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
This is one of the biggest differences between us and God. Often when I say something, whether or not what I say can actually happen depends on things other than me. Maybe on whether Christy is on board, or the weather, or other circumstances. But when God speaks, God has the power in himself to assure that every word that comes out of his mouth is accomplished. Amen?
John 8:13-18 (NIV)
13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."
14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid…”
God’s words are trustworthy and true and dependable, because just as our words reflect our character, the words of God reflect God’s character.
And so what Jesus tells us is to avoid embellishing our language with all kinds of extra things that are supposed to give it extra weight, extra credibility, extra force or power. We’re to learn to use words the way God uses words. Deliberately. Carefully, with the conviction that we will do all we can to deliver on our promises and do not need to take any extra measures to persuade anyone of anything.
Matthew 5:36-37 (NIV)
36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
37 Simply let your ’Yes’ be ’Yes,’ and your ’No,’ ’No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Jesus is saying, “No matter how many words you use, there are many things you simply cannot control. You are at the mercy of circumstances no matter how honest you may be.” God speaks honestly and forthrightly and truthfully. The one with the kingdom heart will do the same – speak the truth to the best of our ability, and then let it lie. It is evil, it is ungodly, Jesus says, to be taken in by a system that tries to give words more power than they could actually have. It springs from a world system that does not trust God, does not depend on God who is the source of all truth, and therefore cannot find its way to speaking truthfully, or even to recognizing truth from falsehood when it’s most important. If you are honest, your words will be honest and people will come to know that and you won’t have to add all kinds of guarantees to what you say and make all kinds of promises. If you are not honest, people will also come to know that and then every extra word you say will simply add to your dishonesty.
Matthew 12:36-37 (NIV)
36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
Some might hear this and say, “But that’s not the world we live in. We DO live in a deceitful world, so we DO have to say extra things to get people to believe us.” No you don’t. That’s exactly the same as saying, “But we live in a violent world, therefore we MUST use violence.” To that Jesus simply says, “Turn the other cheek.” We never HAVE to use violence, but are free to choose the response that is appropriate based on God’s love in the kingdom heart.
The one with the kingdom heart chooses not to embellish his/her words. We focus on cultivating godly character. When our words spring from godly character, our character will give truth and credibility to what we say and we do not have to manipulate. We do not have to figure out ways of swaying people onto our side. We simply let our yes be yes and our no be no and allow God to sort it all out. We do not have to control the responses of others. In fact refusing to do this is absolutely essential in developing the kingdom heart and I will spend a whole message talking about this when I preach to you about Jesus words on ASKING.
Now again, these are not commands, but examples. If you are in court and are asked to put your hand on the Bible, I’d suggest you do it. If you are asked to sign a contract to buy a home, I’d suggest you do it. These are not commands meant to restrain you. In some cases it may be appropriate to take an oath or make a vow (wedding vows?!). But watch your heart, that you are not trying to lend extra gravity to your words and get others to feel in ways they might not be inclined to feel. God never pushes us, never violates the free will he has given us, always respects our right to make decisions, even when they are decisions to ignore or reject what he says. We must do the same.
