“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. (Matthew 5:21-37 NIV)
There is something I am really, really good at. Know what it is? Thinking I’m better than other people. I am so good at that! I read news about awful things that people do, and I think, “I am so much better than they are!” I hear the latest gossip about the messes in the lives of famous people, and I shake my head, “I am so much better than they are.” I drive to church on Sunday mornings and notice that no one else is driving to church. I think to myself, “I am so much better than most people.” I am talented! In my mind, I can make myself look better than everyone else.
I bet you can too. In fact, I bet you’re just as talented as I am. I bet even in this church service, you’ve looked around and thought, “At least I’m not like her. At least I look better than him. At least my life isn’t like theirs!” Isn’t that true? There’s a fancy word for this attitude: “Self-righteousness.” Have you heard of that? Self-righteousness means looking good in your own eyes. It often sounds like this, “At least I’m not…” “I’m not perfect, but at least I don’t….” I hope you can tell this isn’t really a talent. It’s a disease that comes from our sinful natures.
There were people in Jesus’ day who were experts in self-righteousness: The Pharisees. As they walked around in their flowing robes, they looked down their noses at everybody else. “I am more righteous than he is. I am more righteous than she is. At least I’m not like that tax collector or like that prostitute or like that poor person….” When you hear about the Pharisees, I bet you think, “I know somebody like that.” No! That’s the point! Stop thinking about somebody else. There’s a Pharisee inside every single one of us. As Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount, his words were meant to squash every single bit of self-righteousness that lives in our hearts.
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’” And every one of us says, “Amen! Murderers are bad people. Punish them!” Then Jesus continued, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” It’s not just killing someone. If you’re angry with someone, you deserve the fire of hell.
Oh. So who is it for you? Whom are you angry with? We can probably be even more specific. Forget about the people out there. Who is it right here at church whom you can’t stand? Whom you avoid at all costs? Jesus knows. Who is it when you hear their name, you think, “You fool!” I won’t tell you whom, but I’m afraid I’ve got some names. Sure, we can force a smile, but disgust lives inside. Except, “Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Jesus sees deep into our hearts. When Jesus preaches God’s law, there is no one left out.
And he keeps cutting: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” Maybe your heart is so pure or so proud that you can’t think of anyone you hate. So Jesus asks, “Who has something against you? Whom have you hurt? Whom have you left in the dust.” That thought fills me with shame. We pretend we don’t know what Jesus is talking about. But we do. With sin, there is no one left out.
Jesus could stop there, couldn’t he? One commandment is enough to convict us, isn’t it? But Jesus knows how stubborn our sinful natures are. So he goes deeper into our ugliness. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Some of us have committed adultery by having sex outside of marriage. But, according to Jesus, lust is the same thing. The same sin. We don’t like to think about that. Well, actually, we do like to think about that, we just don’t want anyone else to know that we think about that. But God knows.
I wonder if that lust in their hearts isn’t what led Jewish men to be so quick to divorce their wives. Jesus shut the door to that! Marriage is for life. Yet, how quick aren’t we to find fault in our spouses. “If he weren’t so stubborn, my life would be so much better.” “If I wasn’t tied down by her needs, I could accomplish so much more!” “If only he would look at life the way I do…” “If she would…” Marriage is meant to be a blessing from God. And yet, how often don’t our closest relationships show our sins most clearly. What God says about sin leaves no one left out!
I just want Jesus to stop. “Okay, Jesus I get it!” But he doesn’t. “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’But I tell you, do not swear at all…. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or “No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Do you keep your promises? The last time you promised a friend, “I’ll pray for you,” did you really pray for them? What about all the other things you promise? To your kids? To your wife? To God? Is your “Yes” really a “Yes”?
But no one knows, right? Is it really a big deal? Listen to how big a deal sin is to Jesus: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Jesus is not teaching us to hurt our bodies. If we would, what would be left of us? The point is that we should deal with sin as drastically as necessary.
Because if we don’t address the sin in our lives now, we will suffer for it forever in hell. Did you notice how often Jesus mentions hell? Three times in this one lesson. Jesus talked about hell more than anyone else. Because hell is a real place where real people will suffer for their sins. When you hear Jesus preach today, the real question isn’t, “How could God send anyone to hell?” It’s, “How could God not send everyone to hell?” There is nobody left out! Jesus leads each of us to say, “I’m the one God should hate. I’m the one God should divorce. I’m the one God should lie too. I am the one who should burn in hell. You are too. There is no one left out!”
Remember the disease that we’re all infected with from birth? Self-righteousness? Jesus squashes our self-righteousness. We’re all different. I bet some of you don’t struggle with sexual sins. I bet some of you don’t struggle with anger. I bet some of you don’t struggle with lying. But I know that all of you struggle with sin. That means that no person in God’s eyes is better than any other person. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount, he made one thing very clear: There is no person so good that they don’t need Jesus’ forgiveness. God’s Word convicts all of us. There is no one left out!
Why does Jesus make us hear this? Why does Jesus cut our hearts? Because it sends us back to what we heard two weeks ago. Remember how the Sermon on the Mount starts? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). There is no blessing for pride and self-righteousness. But there is tremendous blessing for all who realize how poor they are. Know why? Because Jesus paid it all. Jesus paid every last penny. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid for your sin. And my sin. There is no person so good that they don’t need Jesus’ forgiveness every day. But there is also no person so sinful that Jesus didn’t die for them.
Why does Jesus point out our sins? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Jesus wants you to hunger and thirst for his righteousness, not self-righteousness. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22). True righteousness doesn’t come from you. It comes by faith in Jesus. When you were baptized, Jesus clothed you with his righteousness. Do you see what Jesus is teaching? No one is left out when it comes to sin. And no one is left out when it comes to grace.
This is why God shows us all of our lies, so that we put our hope in his promises. I love the phrase that you and I can’t make even one hair white or black. Isn’t that the truth? We can’t even change the color of one hair! So what should we hope in? The promises of God. “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). That’s true. That’s Jesus! “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). That’s true! God isn’t lusting for someone else. God isn’t about to trade you in. God is faithful to you forever. The only thing greater than our sinfulness is God’s love and forgiveness in Jesus.
To be a Christian means to leave your self-righteousness at the door. To stop the show. To take off the costume. To put on Christ. That means that a Christian lives with humility toward God and others. I deserve the fire of hell, but Jesus paid every last penny with his blood on the cross. I deserve to have God divorce me and send me away, but instead in baptism he has committed himself to me forever as his bride. If it’s all grace, it’s not me! A Christian lives with humility.
Do you know what humility leads us to do? Forgive. Whoever it is in your heart, whomever that anger burns against, look to Jesus for the power to forgive. Do you know what humility leads us to do? Repent. Whomever you have sinned against, whomever you have hurt, look to Jesus for the power to go to them and confess, “I’m sorry.” Do you know what humility leads us to do? Flee from sexual immorality. That’s how the Bible speaks about sexual sin. Flee from it like from a burning building. Do you know what humility leads us to do? Love without an exit strategy. Marriage is hard. It’s hard to love someone who doesn’t always deserve it. But Jesus loves you. Look to Jesus for the power to work on your marriage and show your spouse grace.
An anonymous article once showed up in a small-town newspaper. It had the title, “I am a Christian.” It said, “When I say that ‘I am a Christian,’ I am not shouting that ‘I live a clean life.’ I’m whispering, ‘I was lost, but now I’m found and forgiven.’ When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I don’t speak of this with pride. I’m confessing that I sin and need Christ. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not trying to be strong. I’m professing that I’m weak and need His strength to carry on. When I say ‘I am a Christian,’ I’m not holier than thou. I’m just a simple sinner who received God’s good grace.” Amen! When you enter God’s presence, check your self-righteousness at the door. Sin leaves no one left out. Grace leaves no one left out. Including you.
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