Title: “Honesty, Kindness & Love” Script: Matthew 5:33ff
Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 3-8-26
Intro: *A man was still playing competitive league softball in his late 40's. His team had a lot of younger guys. During one game, this man was playing third base when a line drive was hit right over his head. He jumped as high as he could, but couldn't quite get a glove on it. At the end of the inning, when everyone was heading to the dugout, the left fielder caught up with him. The outfielder held up his thumb and first finger a couple of inches apart. And he said, "That much." The older third-baseman replied: "I know, I almost had it!" But his younger friend laughed and shot back, "No, I mean that's how far you got off the ground." (1) When it came to softball, the veteran player needed to go higher. And when it comes to our spiritual lives, WE need to go higher. Here Jesus continues to call us up to God's highest standards in life. In today’s passage we will notice three areas where Christ wants us to live at a higher standard.
Prop: Let’s examine three practical areas where Christ wants us to live differently from the world.
BG: 1. Continuing SOM, teaching on what Kingdom people should look like.
2. Jesus calls us to a higher standard. I believe people rise to a higher standard.
3. Three specific areas Jesus addresses today.
Prop: Matthew 5:33ff we’ll see 3 practical ways to live differently as followers of Christ.
I. Kingdom People are to be Honest. Vv.33-37
A. Christ’s followers are to be honest and forthright individuals.
1. The OT Law forbade false witness.
a. Illust: Swear falsely, specifically meant to commit perjury, lying under oath in an official court case. Now, the Jews at that time believed that ONLY taking an oath in God’s Name was a binding oath. So, the recourse was to have substitutes so as to be able to “get out” of keeping one’s word. Substitutes included: Swearing by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, etc. Was a system to allow lying NOT encourage truthfulness.
b. So the whole purpose of the “substitute” oaths was so they could break their word to one another! Matthew 5 contains six comparisons between this “external performance” and the “internal obedience” that God desires. Jesus talks about anger, sexual desire, divorce, lying, revenge, and hatred. In each case, he calls us, his followers, to commit ourselves not just to obeying the external requirements of the law, but also to allowing the Kingdom Code to govern our thoughts, our motives and our attitudes.
2. Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees’ thinking and sets a new standard for behavior.
a. v.37 – taking an oath was reserved for special situation. It was to be grave or important matters, yet, had become quite commonplace. Illust: Who remembers why President Clinton was impeached? Affair and sexual scandal? Workplace harassment? Abuse of power? No, perjury! Lied under oath. Illust: An oath is a solemn promise someone makes to indicate that they’re being truthful. The story of the Old Testament is full of examples—oaths are mentioned almost 200 times! This practice didn’t begin with the law. It already existed in Abraham’s day, over 500 years before Moses.
b.Illust: Now, think about the reason for oaths: Man is prone to lying due to his sin nature. Again, at the time of the Law, life was chaotic. “Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (9th Commandment). Why? People lie. Promises are cheap. For basic economic development to take place trustworthy agreements and documents must be honored. Property rights must be defended. Honesty and integrity essential. Courts of law only function if basic levels of honesty.
B. Christ called His Followers to be Truthful.
1. Truthfulness should be a distinguishing mark of the Christian.
a. Again, the Pharisees had broken this law down to essentially “one should not commit perjury”. However, Christ says, “No!” If you are a follower of mine, let your “Yes be yes and no be no.” Be honest and be characterized by being honest. Christ’s teaching here includes 3 important points: a. Christ wants us to never use God’s sacred Name in cursing or in any other demeaning way (No OMG!). b. Christ forbids swearing by any creature or thing because He is Lord of all. Not by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the temple or the gold of the temple etc…. Why? Relationship with Jesus means you are related to one over everything! C. He forbids oaths in ordinary conversation. Simply give a yes or a no. Then, keep your word.
b. Illust: Church I attended in college had a small C&C Sunday School class, taught by the Mayor of the City, Mayor Pete Chalos. Chalos was the son of Greek immigrants and he looked like could’ve been a mob boss. Mayor Chalos once asked us in class: “What is the most valuable asset you have?” All sorts of answers were given…all incorrect. Nope. “A good name.” (Proverbs 22:1 – “A good name is more desirable than great riches.”) Honest people who are committed to integrity have a good name.
2. Christ wants His followers to be Trustworthy.
a. Christians are to not only NOT perjure themselves. Rather, they are to be known as people of honesty and integrity. Is your word your bond? An oath is the promise someone makes when he swears. Interestingly enough, swearing and cursing have come to mean, “using profane or vulgar language”. But both swearing and cursing were originally meant to validate: 1. The truth of a statement. 2. The certainty of a promise. Swearing and cursing, were two different methods of validation. Illust: Peter basically broke all three in one instance: When Peter denies Jesus three times, the first time he denies it. The second time, he denies it with an oath. The third time, he calls down curses on himself and swears to them.
b. Illust: The OT teaches that a person following God, an honest person, will fulfill his/her promises. You’ll be able to rely on him to do what he says he will do.
Not everyone tells is truthful. And more particularly, people tend to make what Mary Poppins calls “pie crust promises”—easily made and easily broken. Causes us to lose faith in individuals. But if they swear that they will do it, that usually means something more to us. “I will do it” vs. “I swear I will do it.” It seems more reliable, more believable. At least they seem to know that they are making a promise. “Cross my heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye.” That’s the function of oaths. They are intended to demonstrate honesty and integrity.
C. Applic; One New York Times article reported that 91% of people regularly don't tell the truth. Twenty percent said they can't get through a single day without premeditated white lies. (2)In Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus tells His followers: “Be honest!”
II. Kingdom People are to be Kind. Vv38-42
A. Christ wants kindness where the world wants retaliation.
1. In this section Christ addresses the Law of Retaliation.
a. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth…” was state 3x in the OT (Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Dt. 19:21). Primitive forms of justice that had the intention of deterring men and women from excessive revenge and retribution. I talked about this last week. The point was to limit the amount of carnage one was allowed to cause in the event he/she had been injured. Illust: During the occupation of France during WWII, it was not uncommon for the Germans to kill 10-20 French prisoners for every one soldier killed by the underground as reprisals. These verses from the OT, was actually designed to prevent personal vendettas from inflicting a harsher punishment than the criminal deserved. If somebody blinded someone, they shouldn’t be killed for it. They should be held accountable for only an eye. Many times these debts were paid with a cash settlement—whatever amount an eye or a tooth was worth. The Bible supports measured justice.
b. Illust: Even in relatively “Christian” countries, there were examples of extreme and excess in punishing behavior. By 1815 there were at least 200 offenses one could commit whereby he/she would be hanged in England! 200! Some very strange ones included: Stealing from a shipwreck, darkening your face at night, writing threatening letters, being in the company of Gypsies for more than a month, unlawful return from transportation. damaging Westminster Bridge, Impersonating a Chelsea Pensioner! (Actually means a retired soldier receiving a pension.) These were excessive an extreme! Not tied to Biblical law. Now the UK could probably do well to re-institute for certain capital crimes.
2. Christ wanted His followers to apply the Spirit of the Law & not simply the letter of the Law.
a. The Spirit of Law promotes a principle of justice. Justice is never excessive in its demands. We are not to be people who seek revenge. As we return to this passage in Matthew 5:38, we find that the next few verses are about justice and revenge. God has given us some legitimate avenues for justice here on earth, but Jesus warns us that personal revenge is something completely different. Revenge may taste sweet, but it’s wrong. As John Milton wrote in Paradise Lost: Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.
b. Jesus calls us to respond counter-intuitively. Instead of meeting evil with equal or greater force, he urges us to meet evil with a completely different force: with good. Instead of paying back in kind, we are called to pay back with kindness. There’s a parallel passage in Romans 12 that explains how this works. Romans 12:17-21 (NIV) Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. Don’t do evil just because someone did evil to you. They did the wrong thing. You do the right thing.
B. Kindness is to be a Calling Card of the Christian.
1.Illust: Around 120 A.D., a Roman satirist named Juvenal wrote these words:
Indeed, it's always a paltry, feeble, tiny mind that takes pleasure in revenge. You can deduce it without further evidence than this, that no one delights more in vengeance than a woman. Ladies, how do you feel about that? Don’t you just want to kill the man that said that? I’ve got good news for you. He’s already been dead for almost 2000 years! I’ve always wondered what Juvenal’s wife must have been like! The truth is that it’s not just women who are interested in revenge. We all are. It’s something that we find sweet and satisfying—to know that the other person got what was coming to them. We love to get even. Illust: Last week: Aaron Spencer, 37, accused of killing his daughter's alleged rapist, won the primary election for county sheriff in Arkansas on Tuesday, March 3
In October 2024, Spencer allegedly shot and killed Michael Fosler, 67, after allegedly finding Fosler with his teen daughter Fosler was facing 43 criminal charges in connection with the teen. Spencer believed he had the right to take revenge because the judicial system failed his daughter.
2. Jesus gives several illust to demonstrate His point of not retaliating due to various areas of offense:
a. Examine the areas Jesus covers in this passage: Insult – v39, Lawsuit – v.40, Forced service – v.41, Demands for gifts/loans, etc. I think we can probably understand all of these today with the possible exception of “forced service” in v.41. This was a unique issue. Jesus was clearly referring to a particular Roman law that allowed any Roman soldier to stop a Jew on the road and compel him or her to drop what they were carrying in order to assist the Roman soldier in bearing his load. The soldier could simply make the Jew carry his load out of laziness or a power trip. However, the law only required the Jews to walk one mile for the soldiers. Not two. Only one. So Jesus tells his listeners to go beyond obligation. Illust: The only way for good to win over evil is to go beyond obligation. Going the 2nd mile in our lives makes the world ask why we would go the extra distance under such a heavy burden. The second mile opens up conversations that would never happen in the first mile. The second mile makes us better humans and better Christians. It builds muscle we need to carry the gospel and the endurance we need to remain faithful through the hardest seasons of life. The second mile makes us feel weak, but it's really making us stronger. It's our greatest witness to the world.
b. Now, instead of getting caught up with the exact issues outlined in this passage, I want us to consider the heart of what Jesus was talking about: All of these illustrations point to our self! Jesus is uncovering and exposing how powerful of a motive “self” is and how we will do whatever so as not to lose face, reputation, pride, etc. As a Christian, self is always to take second place to Savior! Put Christ first, others second, and self third!
C. Applic: God will take care of justice. It may not be when we want it. It may not be how we want it. But He will make sure that justice is done. This policy is not a lack of justice. It is a call not to take personal revenge in order to get justice. Leave justice and revenge to God. Some of that justice we won’t see until we get to heaven. But some of that is going to happen here on earth. Romans 13: 4 (NIV) [Government] is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
III. Kingdom People are to be Loving. Vv43-48
A. Christ wants His followers to be loving.
1.The beginning of this phrase is a quote from the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18). But there is nothing in the law that told the Jews to hate their enemies. That is something that just came naturally and still comes naturally to us. Those that are close to us, those that are like us, they are the ones we love. But the opposition—those that are different and strange—our natural response is to hate them. The word enemy means an unfriendly opponent.3 An enemy can be somebody who hates us and seeks to harm us or cause us trouble. An enemy can be someone who has wronged us. Or an enemy can just be somebody on the opposing side, an “unfriendly” in the sense that they are hostile to the values or beliefs that are important to us.
2. There are lots of areas where we can find enemies. And if we can’t find them, we can always make enemies. It’s easy. All we need are some strong differences. The meaning of enemy that most quickly comes to mind are enemy nations—those who oppose our values or those who infringe on our interests. How very easy it is to bring up old hostilities in order to start a war. History is replete with examples. We also find enemies here at home. There are political enemies and religious enemies—those who do not value what we value or believe what we believe. Sometimes we identify individual enemies just by their nationality. Maybe you have an enemy in your business, an evil competitor. Perhaps you have a rival for another’s affections. And perhaps the word seems too strong, but we have all discovered personal enemies, people who have wronged us or hurt us. The natural thing for the world to do is to hate.
B. Jesus Requires a Love for Hate Relationship.
1.By human standards, there are some people who are just not worthy of our love. They don’t deserve it, and so they don’t get it. It’s either a love or hate relationship. I love him. I love him not. That’s the way it works. But Jesus has a different approach. Instead of a love OR hate relationship, he demands a Love for Hate Relationship! (v.44)
-. God’s standard is different from human standards. Instead of asking, “Who is not worthy of your love?” God asks, “Who do you love who’s not worthy?” An enemy does not deserve your love, but God says to love him anyway. It’s a love FOR hate relationship. Just what does it mean to love your enemy? These days love often gets defined as just an emotion, a feeling. But love in the Bible goes well beyond how you feel about something. It is a decision, sometimes a decision to do something opposite to what you feel like doing. Illust: When kids were small more than 1x 3am come into our room: “Mommy, I threw up.” What do you do? (Pretend to be asleep until your spouse wakes up!) You get out of bed and comfort him and clean him up and change his sheets and soothe him back to sleep. Is that what you FEEL like doing? No way. But you do it because you love him. We understand that because it’s natural to love your own child. It’s not natural to love our enemy, but “love” is the same thing. It means having enough concern for another’s well being that you overcome your personal desires or prejudices to invest good into him or her. Wouldn’t it be amazing if that’s how we practiced foreign policy?
2. Whereas Man’s Love is Based on Merit, God’s Love is Based on Grace. Vv.46-47
a. Unlike God, human beings love on the basis of reciprocal relationships. Our love is given in return for something else. In other words, I’ll love you because you’ve earned my love or because you’re entitled to my love. You love me. So I’ll love you back. Jesus says, anyone can do that. But you can do better. Illust: In Jesus’ day, a tax collector was a low-life, despised human being. For one thing, nobody likes to pay taxes. And these tax collectors were considered traitors: Jewish agents of the occupying Roman government. That also meant they spent time with Romans which made them “unclean”. But in addition to all that, these tax collectors routinely overcharged people for their taxes and kept the margin for themselves. They were crooks! And yet however slimy these characters were, you know what? They liked each other. There’s nothing special about loving someone who loves you. Even a low-life, traitorous, unclean, cheating thief can do that! But as a Christian, we can do better.
b. God’s love is one sided even when it is not reciprocated. You and I don’t do anything to earn God’s love, to deserve God’s love. John 3:16 says “for God so loved the world” the good, the bad and the ugly. 1 John 2:2 says Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, even those who hate him, even those who do not believe in him.
C. Applic: In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor during the American Revolution, Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort who did all he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. “No, Peter,” General Washington said. “I cannot grant you the life of your friend.” “My friend!” exclaimed the old preacher. “He’s the bitterest enemy I have.” “What?” cried Washington. “You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I’ll grant your pardon.” And he did. Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata—no longer an enemy but a friend. Christ tells us that the way the world will know we are Christians is by our love (John 13:35).
