Deuteronomy: Foundation for The Sermon on the Mount
(Deut. 15:7-11; Matt. 5:42; Deut. 18:13; Matt. 5:48, Deut. 4:5-8; Matt. 5:14-16)
1. In the trenches of life when decisions need to be made quickly, we often depend upon short principles that offer us immediate direction and give us spiritual instincts.
2. Example: C. Everett Koop is a great medical ethicist; when addressing end of life decision-making in a booklet he wrote for pastors--because people often ask our opinion in these sorts of situations -- he said something like, "you need to decide whether you are extending someone’s life or extending their death."
3. Other quick-reference sayings might include, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," "talk is cheap," "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," "more is not always better," and "you can’t believe everything you read."
4. For believers, the source for many of these "near at hand" principles is the Sermon on the Mount, such as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," "turn the other cheek," and "walk the extra mile."
6. The many succinct statements in the Sermon on the Mount hit us like the rapid fire of a machine gun. But I believe that many of these statements are conclusions, separated by perhaps 10 minutes of teaching before reaching those conclusions; yet the conclusions might make us wrongly conclude that nothing came before them. I believe that the starting point for each set of conclusions is the Old Testament, and, in many instances, Deuteronomy. Yet the way Jesus distilled the principles of the Torah is masterful.
Main Idea: When we more deeply understand the phrases that guide our lifestyle, we can become godlier followers of Jesus Christ.
I. Lending and POOR Friends (Deut. 15:7-11, Matt. 5:42)
A. Not INDISCRIMINATE But Responsible Financial Help
B. UNFORTUNATE people "in the land"
C. Despite the COMPLICATION of the Sabbath Year
Note a more literal translation of Deut. 15:9, "Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among you." (NKJV)
Matthew 6:21-23 continues the idea of this passage: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Contrast Jesus’ teaching with later rabbinic rulings:
Gittin 37b
If a man repays another money which he owes him in the seventh year, the other should say to him, I remit it.1 If the debtor then says, ’All the same [take it]’, he may take it from him. [This rule is based on] the text, Now this is the word2 of the release.3 Rabbah said: The creditor may tie him up4 till he says so. Abaye raised an objection [from the following]: When [the debtor] offers him the money he should not say, This is in payment of my debt, but, ’It is my [money] and I make you a present of it’? — Rabbah replied: Yes; he ties him up until he says so.
Hillel came up with a procedure to work around the Sabbath year called the Prosbul
Jesus is saying, in essence, "If you just trust God and do what He says, God promises to bless you if you honor the Sabbath year and the unsecured generosity it brings." Avoid the complications through simple obedience.
D. Jesus applies the underlying PRINCIPLE: Compassion
Compassion means helping people we know
• There is an ethic in Scripture about strangers, but that is not in view here
• We miss the boat when we think compassion means primarily helping the homeless and the addicted
• Example: Jeff worked with a homeless person…suit….job….eventually back to gutter; occasionally a success story here; but what is lacking is what we see in Deuteronomy: helping people we know who have fallen on hard times…
• Compassion needs to be a habit, not an event! Sometimes it means being patient and understanding; sometimes it means being generous; sometimes it means being friendly to someone who is alone and without friends; it always means concern.
• Compassion is not something you can always do in a controlled environment; it might take unscheduled time…an interruption in routine…
• There are people in this building today who might need special compassion
When we more deeply understand the phrases that guide our lifestyle, we can become godlier followers of Jesus Christ.
II. Aiming for God’s STANDARD (Deut. 18:13; Matt. 5:48)
A. BLAMELESS
B. PERFECT
The LXX of Deuteronomy 18:13 reads, "You shall be perfect before the Lord Your God."
The Hebrew word Shalom is derived from the root word shalem, which means wholeness and completion. It is bound up with the word shlemut, perfection – the goal towards which we can only aspire. It represents the hope we are promised will be fulfilled in Messiah at the end of days. [Karen Prior, A Taste of Torah]
So to be perfect is to be at complete peace with God and others, as much as possible. We should be people noted to pursue reconciliation.
C. God’s CHARACTER is the standard, not society
D. The Romans 3:23 factor: HELPLESS before God
• This is why we need to understand grace.
• We have legal peace with God now, but between our relationships with God and others, we do not always have peace; thus we have processes of confession and seeking reconciliation with those we have wronged.
• Illuustration: The concrete base of our church garage is a patch quilt of patches over patches, but it is usable and fairly solid; that is a picture of a great Christian life….
When we more deeply understand the phrases that guide our lifestyle, we can become godlier followers of Jesus Christ.
III. Let You Light Shine (Deut. 4:5-8, Matt. 5:14-16)
A. God’s Purpose for ISRAEL: To Glorify Him
B. God’s Purpose for the INDIVIDUAL: To Glorify Him
1. The nation, as a whole, failed to live up to God’s calling
2. But individuals within the nation could
3. And followers of Jesus, whether Jew or gentile, could live up to that calling
4. God is working in us to develop His character in our lives…we fail, but not always…as a matter of fact, we usually make progress
A king had twins. The older one was destined to the throne. However, the twins were mixed up at birth and no one knew for sure who was the eldest. To complicate matters, the king told each of his children not to worry, that in due time the rightful heir to the throne would be revealed. As the king got older and older, many—including his royal court—pressed him to make the selection. He would respond, "Be patient, time will tell." He told his wife that the real successor to the throne would become apparent to all. But his wife became frustrated, saying, "If you do not know the rightful heir, then how can others know?" The king refused to select one of his sons, instead saying, "Give it time."
Eventually, one child began to look more and more like his father, the king. That same son also began to act more and more like his father. Then everyone knew that this was the real prince, the successor to his father’s throne.
Many profess the name of God, and purport to be coheirs with Yeshua. However, the true heirs are the ones who look like their Father.
C. CONVERSION is not the only goal
Our Revivalistic Heritage has its good and bad points. Positively, it has encouraged evangelism and missions. But, negatively, it has made everything subservient to evangelism. This has blinded us to the Scriptures, sometimes.
The Scriptures not only emphasize evangelism, but they even more so emphasize glorifying God, and doing so in more than one way. Please note that God is glorified when lost people recognize Him and His majesty, even if they do not repent and turn to God. Now many of them will, but many will not.
King Nebuchadnezzar was a case in point. God humbled him for 7 years; he thought he was an animal -- and God announced He would do this to him in advance to humble him. Afterward, Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with God, wrote up a tractate about how glorious God is, but he still continued in his pagan worship.
That’s why we glorify God when we witness, whether the person we are sharing with receives Jesus or not. We are either a fragrance of life or death, yet we are still incense before God.
When we more deeply understand the phrases that guide our lifestyle, we can become godlier followers of Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
1. Yes, Jesus was the greatest of the Rabbis, and the Jews expected Messiah to be just that, as we will see in a future sermon.
2. But He was much more; He was the promised Messiah, God the Son, the Lamb.
