Today at TLC we’re beginning a new series called “Life Swap”. Whether you’ve seen the show or not, most of you have probably heard of the show “wife swap”. On the show, two moms swap families for two weeks. And they always make sure to choose two houses with totally different rules, and expectations. It’s always a big change for those who are involved, and it takes some getting used to. Many times what takes place is that they just try to survive in their environment, until it’s time to go back home to the way things used to be.
In our series “life swap” we’re going to be talking about some changes that take place when a person becomes a believer. When we accept Christ as our Savior, He expects us to live by some different rules and expectations than we were used to before. But what makes this different is that, there’s no going back. These changes are intended to be permanent.
The Bible talks a little about this in II Corinthians 5:14-17. Let’s read it together. “Whatever we do, it is because Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though He were merely a human being. How differently I think about Him now. What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!”
When a person accepts Christ, and begins a new relationship with Him, it brings about some permanent changes in their life. Or at least it should. When you become part of God’s family, the rules that we are expected to play by are different than they used to be when we were lost.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to be looking in Matthew chapter 5 at some things that Jesus taught regarding the expectations He had for His followers.
In this chapter, Jesus begins what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. He begins by telling those who are listening that God will bless those who do certain things and have certain attitudes. For example, He says that God will bless those who are gentle, and merciful. God will bless those whose hearts are pure, and He will bless those who are persecuted because they live for God.
He goes on to tell them that they are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. He is not speaking to large crowds of curious people here, He is teaching His disciples who have chosen to follow Him. And while His rules appear to be a little different from those that were commonly practiced or understood, Jesus assured His disciples that He had not come to abolish the laws, but rather to fulfill them.
As we will see in just a minute, God holds His followers to a higher standard. When we begin a relationship with Him, and become a part of His family, He raises the bar of how we are supposed to act and behave.
Let’s begin this morning by looking at Matthew 5:21-26.
“You have heard that the law of Moses says, “Do not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.” But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. “So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. Come to terms quickly with your enemy before it is too late and you are dragged into court, handed over to an officer, and thrown in jail. I assure you that you won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.”
Jesus begins in verse 21, by quoting Exodus 20:13, “do not murder”. It’s part of the ten commandments. The Lord had given these instructions to Moses and He passed them on to the people. But there are a lot of people who do everything possible to live within the letter of the law, while the whole time, they are really living against the very principle that is behind the law itself.
Joke: It’s kind of like the two attorneys who went into a diner and ordered two drinks. Then they took sandwiches from their briefcases and started to eat them. The owner came over and said, "You can’t eat your own sandwiches in here!" So the attorneys looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders ... and exchanged sandwiches!
The disciples knew the law itself, and they knew how to live by the letter of the law. The same is true for us. We know that killing someone else is wrong, and most of us would never do that. But sometimes we tend to push the limits and see just how much we can get away with, without breaking the law.
But the reality is that while others may judge us for our outward actions, God will judge us for what’s in our heart. The Bible is clear that while man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at our heart.
Jesus is explaining to the disciples here in Matthew chapter 5, that there’s really more behind this than just physically killing someone. While that might be the law that the world must follow, as followers of Christ, we are held to a higher standard.
Jesus says that it goes way beyond murder. He takes it a step further and says that even if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment also. You don’t even have to kill someone.
I want you to stop for a minute and consider something when it comes to murder. Hardly anyone kills another person, who wasn’t angry about something first. Sometimes it’s even stupid stuff.
You might recall earlier this year, the story of a 32 year old woman named Mary Winkler, who happened to be a pastor’s wife from Alabama. She shot her husband with a 12 gauge shotgun after an argument over money.
Just last week, there was a story from New Zealand, where a man was killed following an argument during a game a scrabble. His two friends disagreed over how he was spelling words and they ended up beating him at least 40 times with a baseball bat and stabbing him five times in the back.
According to the law, you can’t kill someone. And according to the standards that Jesus gives to us you can’t be angry with someone. But let me quickly point out that Jesus does not say never to be angry. In fact, listen to what Ephesians 4:26 says about anger. “Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry.” There are times that you might be angry about something, but you can’t let it gain control over you. You need to allow the Holy Spirit to be in control of your actions. And you need to deal with your anger in a Christ like way. The Bible warns here not to continue to be angry over an extended period of time.
In a 1994 article entitled, "Wars’ Lethal Leftovers Threaten Europeans," Associated Press reporter Christopher Burns wrote: "The bombs of World War II are still killing in Europe. They turn up--and sometimes blow up--at construction sites, in fishing nets, or on beaches fifty years after the guns fell silent. "Hundreds of tons of explosives are recovered every year in France alone. Thirteen old bombs exploded in France last year, killing twelve people and wounding eleven, the Interior Ministry said. "Unexploded bombs become more dangerous with time. ’With the corrosion inside, the weapon becomes more unstable, and the detonator can be exposed.’" May I suggest to you that what is true of lingering bombs is also true of lingering anger. If you bury anger, it will explode when you least expect it.
You might recall the story in Matthew chapter 21 where Jesus went into the Temple and turned over the tables and drove the merchants who were cheating people away. Was Jesus angry? I think He was. But He was angry at what was happening. People were coming to the Temple to offer sacrifices and they were being cheated. And it’s important to remember that this was happening in the Temple. It was God’s house. Jesus said that it was to be a house of prayer, not a den of thieves. If someone does something that you don’t approve of, that’s one thing. But if they do it in your house, that’s a whole different story. You have every right to do something about that.
But you need to realize that there’s a big difference between being angry at someone and being angry at something. There’s no question that Jesus hated sin, but He also clearly loved those who committed the sin. You might be angry over the fact that millions of babies are killed every year by abortion, but you don’t go out and kill the person who runs the clinic. You might be upset by lots of different things, but you must be careful not to direct your anger towards a specific person.
After spending 3-1/2 hours enduring the long lines, grumpy clerks and insane regulations at the Department of Motor Vehicles, a man stopped by a toy store to pick up a gift for his son. He brought his selection - a baseball bat - to the cash register. "Cash or charge?" the clerk asked. "Cash," he snapped, and then quickly apologized for his rudeness. He explained his afternoon at the bureau of motor vehicles, following which the clerk asked him, “Shall I gift-wrap the bat, or are you on your way back there?”
We often feel like getting angry or getting even with people, but Jesus teaches that it is clearly unacceptable by His standards.
This certainly seems hard enough, in and of itself, but now Jesus goes a little further. He raises the bar a little higher. He says in verse 22 that you shouldn’t call someone an idiot, or curse someone. If that’s true, most of you will probably have to give up driving altogether. It doesn’t take you long to notice that people do some pretty stupid stuff. So do I, and so do you. But Jesus teaches that as a follower of His, we can’t take those things out on other people. It is wrong to be angry with them. It is wrong to call them names, or to curse them.
We’ll be talking more about what Jesus does want us to do over the next few weeks. He deals specifically with some of these things later on in the chapter. But He does give us one insight, here in the verses that follow. He gives us one application to our lives in verses 23-24.
Jesus told His disciples that if they were standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and suddenly remembered that someone had something against them, they were to leave immediately, do not pass go, do not collect $200, and go be reconciled to that person.
He says in verse 25 that we should “come to terms quickly with our enemy.” A true story is told of a man who was fighting rush-hour traffic from suburban Maryland to Washington D.C one morning when a young lady darted her compact car from a side street into the stream of traffic immediately in front of the man, forcing him to brake sharply. He avoided hitting her by inches and was obviously furious. Within seconds, traffic stopped at a red light, and he pulled up behind the offender, leaped from his car, and started angrily toward her car, to give her a piece of his mind. Seeing him coming, the very attractive young lady jumped from her car and ran to meet him--a big smile on her face! Before he could say a word, she threw her arms around him, hugged him tightly, and planted a passionate kiss on his lips! Immediately she went back to her car and drove away, leaving her antagonist standing in the middle of the street speechless, confused and embarrassed--but no longer angry!
I do not endorse this method, but clearly she knew how to come to terms quickly with her enemy.
As Jesus is talking about the Temple, and offering sacrifices at the altar, what He is talking about, is worship. We worship a little differently today, but the principle still applies. If we come to worship God and there is something wrong between us and another person, we can’t worship God. The songs that we sing, the prayers that we pray, the offering that we put in the basket, will not be honoring to God, because our relationships with others are not right, and therefore our relationship with God is affected. If we are angry, or have caused someone else to be angry with us, we can clearly not worship God as He intended.
The Bible says in Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Forgiveness is not possible by our own strength. Forgiveness was made possible through the cross. That’s why we are supposed to forgive others, as Christ has forgiven us.
It’s clear that Jesus wants our hearts to be pure as well as our actions. He desires worship, not just outward religion.
Sometimes we tend to look at things and react to things only on the surface, but over the next several weeks, we’re going to continue dealing with some other issues that Jesus goes a little deeper on.
If you have chosen to be a follower of Christ, than you have chosen to give up your life and follow Christ. It’s a life swap. You are not free to act and behave and think as you choose anymore, because you have chosen to let Christ be in control.
Please take a few minutes now and reflect this morning on how things are in your life in these areas we have discussed. Chances are, you’ll find that you’re still in control a lot more than you should be. Why not give Christ control today? Why not surrender everything to Him and live the life that He intended for you?
Time of reflection
