Francis
“Two-Gun” Crowley. Ever heard of him? He was put to death in the electric chair
at just 19 years of age and you may think that is a tragedy but his whole life
was one tragedy after another. He started very young with a life of violence,
robbery and then multiple murders, including at least one police officer.
In 1931, he
was finally caught after a two-hour gun battle with police in New York City.
When they found him, they discovered a blood-stained note in his shirt pocket
that said, “Under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one, one that would
do nobody any harm.” In other words, I may have done some bad things, but
I’m not a bad person.
What do you
think about that? Was he a bad person? Do you think he had a kind heart? Can
you have a kind heart and be a bad person? Are you a better person than he is?
It may sound absurd to read a note like that coming from such a hardened
criminal but that is exactly how a natural man thinks of himself. I may have
done some bad things but I’m not a bad person.
It goes back
to something we have talked about lots of times before. It goes back to having
the right perspective. If your perspective is comparing yourself to
somebody else, you might call yourself a good person. You’ve never murdered
anybody. You don’t even have a nickname, much less a cool one like “Two-Gun.”
Right? You must be a pretty good person. In fact, you don’t mind at all hearing
a sermon about murder. “Amen! Preach that, pastor! Too much murder in this
world!”
But, if your
perspective is focused on God…well, that changes things, doesn’t it? That sets
the bar a little higher. And I know what you’re thinking. We aren’t God. We can
never be perfect. As long as I don’t do the really bad stuff, I ought to be
okay. Especially if sometimes I do really good stuff. My average should be
pretty high. I hear ya because it makes sense to me, too. But, unfortunately,
God doesn’t grade like that. With God, it’s either pass or fail and to pass,
you have to be even more perfect than the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.
That’s what
Jesus said in the passage we looked at last week in the Sermon on the Mount
that we are going through. If you have your Bibles, turn to Matthew chapter
5. Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. This is our 4th
study of the great sermon that Jesus preached and we saw last week that Jesus
was, what we would call, thinking outside the box. Maybe it would be better to
say He was thinking outside the law – the Law of Moses and all the laws that
the Pharisees had added to it.
For some
reason, the Pharisees thought if you looked good outwardly then all was well.
If you looked righteous and acted like you were righteous, you must be
righteous. If you followed the letter of the law and outwardly did what you
were supposed to do and made sure everybody saw you do it, that’s what
mattered. That’s what I tell my beautiful, sweet angel dog Sara. I tell her all
the time that as long as you long good, baby. That’s all that matters. And that
may be true for a perfect and precious sweet muffin blue heeler but that is not
how we get right or stay right with Almighty God.
The
Pharisees should have known because scripture is replete with passages that
tell us that God looks at the inside. He looks at our hearts. Our actions are
judged by our hearts and our motives and in our passage today in Matthew
5:21-26, Jesus says we are guilty of murder and deserve a murderer’s
punishment, not just for murder but just for being angry at another person or
even calling them “stupid” or “a fool.” Whoo, better get your steel-toed boots
on for this one, folks. Let’s read Matthew 5:21-26.
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.' 22But 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. 23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there
remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your
gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come
and offer your gift. 25"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. 26Truly I tell you, you will
not get out until you have paid the last penny.
Anybody here like to drive fast? I know Morris
does and I like to ride with Morris in his car. That thing will set you back in
your seat and make your eyes roll back in your head if you aren’t prepared.
Now, imagine with me that you are about to drive a really fast sports car. It’s
beautiful to look at. You open the door and slide into the driver’s seat, turn
the key and the engine roars to life. You blip the throttle a couple of times
and the whole car just shakes like jello in an earthquake.
Then you
push in the clutch, put it in first gear, rev it up til the engine sounds like
a rock concert and then drop the clutch. Mm, mm, that feels good, doesn’t it?
Second gear, third gear, fourth gear and the engine is screaming and you are
screaming. What a rush! But then, as you let off the gas, you realize that the
brakes are gone. Nothing. No pedal. No emergency brake…and it’s too late. Crash
and burn.
I tell you
all that because that is a perfect description of anger. It’s so easy and it
feels like the right thing to do and it feels good when you are doing it. When
you get mad and just put somebody in their place with just the right amount of
sarcasm and harsh words, that’s a rush. Throw in some profanity and it
sometimes just feels right. They deserved it. You dispensed it. All is right
with the world. And then you realize that the brakes are gone. Nothing. No
pedal. No emergency brake…and it’s too late. Crash and burn.
You lose your
job, your marriage, your friends, your witness, and most certainly your right-standing
with God and was it worth it? Jesus says there is no difference in that and
murder. Let’s look at what He said a little closer because anger affects us, it
affects our relationship with God and it affects others.
Now, before
we see what Jesus said, I’m going to say that there are three different types
of people that are hearing this right now. The first type of person is
the one who knows they have anger issues but are not really interested in
changing. You believe that God made you this way and if people don’t want you
getting mad at them then they shouldn’t do stupid stuff.
A lady once
came to Billy Sunday and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. "There's
nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up,
and then it's all over." "So does a shotgun,"
Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!"
The second
kind of person thinks that since they never really blow up at somebody in
anger that they don’t have a problem. But maybe your anger issues manifest
themselves differently. Maybe you have unforgiveness in your heart toward
someone or maybe you have bitterness or discouragement or trust issues. Anger
can manifest itself in all kinds of ways.
But I hope
you are the third kind of person. The third person may or may not have
an anger issue but knows that it can be a huge problem in anybody’s life
including their own and so they will listen prayerfully with a heart open to
change. Because it is a heart issue. That’s the point Jesus was trying to make
in this whole section. Every religion, in fact, every culture, regardless of
religion has laws against murder but being a disciple of Jesus means not even
getting angry…or does it?
When you go
back and look at the life of Jesus, there was more than once that Jesus got
angry and I think some of us need to get angrier at what angers God. You have
heard it said that God hates sin but loves the sinner. He also gets angry. Romans
1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress
the truth.”
Do you know
what ought to make us angry? Look, I’m not going to tell you who to vote for
and I’m not going to make this political but the Democrat debates this past
week are perfect examples. There are 20 Democrats running for president and
every one of them is all for abortion and gay marriage. Think however you want
to about the border crisis and what we should do with North Korea and whether
the women’s soccer team should be invited to the White House. God will give our
president wisdom about such things IF he is right with God and no president can
be right with God who advocates for abortion and gay marriage. Those are
biblical issues and it should make you mad that those things are even being
debated. If you have a problem with me saying that, then please meet me in the
office after the service and bring your Bible.
So, God gets
angry at the wickedness in people, and He opposes that wickedness in an effort
to turn them from evil, that they may find true life and freedom in Him. But even
in His anger, God’s motivation is love for people; to restore the relationship
that sin destroyed. That might be a good litmus test to decide if your anger is
justified or not. Are you angry at the sin and wish to bring the person into a
right relationship with God…or are you just mad at the person?
Anger at a
person affects us and our relationship with God. Anger at a person puts a
barrier between us and God, not to mention that person. Jesus said just calling
them names is the same as murder. That word “raca” in verse 22
can’t really be translated perfectly into English but basically it means
something like “empty-headed” or “stupid” and it is slandering a person made in
God’s image and therefore like slandering God Himself.
Even worse
is to call someone a “fool” as it says at the end of verse 22. It
means to be stupid and godless. It’s bad to be angry, worse to give vent to
that anger and call them names. It is even worse to condemn a person’s
character by calling him a fool. All those things make anger affect us and our
relationship with God.
In verse
23, Jesus changes the emphasis from our anger to someone else’s anger and
we see how that affects our worship. Did you know that your relationship to
other people affects your worship? The Pharisees were all about doing worship
right. They spent a lot of time offering sacrifices, saying big, loud, long
prayers and making sure everybody saw when they tithed but it was all
heartless, external ceremony.
They knew
that sin put a barrier between them and God so they would offer a sacrifice of
some kind of animal on the altar and walk off feeling clean as a daisy without
ever having repented and they thought they were very righteous by doing it.
They sure didn’t care if they offended somebody. What’s that have to do with
worship?
You may have
noticed, like several of us have, that there has just been something different,
better and more powerful in our worship times lately and I have some guesses as
to why that seems to be. It could be that I’m such an awesome speaker. It could
be. But since it has more to do than just with the sermon, I don’t think that’s
it. Which also leaves out how handsome I am or just how humble I am. I think we
can rule all that out as well. In fact, imagine that, I don’t think it has
anything to do with me at all.
My serious
theory is that we have started to spend a little more time together and we are
getting closer to each other and God has given us great unity and when people
that love each other get together to worship the God they love, it’s just an
amazing time. Just like when a married couple start to get closer to God, they
get closer to each other. So, just be ready. Be expecting Satan to try to do
something to put a wedge between us because he knows that when people are angry
with each other, true worship is almost impossible.
We tithe and
we sacrifice our time and energy in our worship times together and we should.
But do you know what God wants more than sacrifice? He wants us to have healthy
relationships with Him and other people. There is no place for anger in the
church even if it’s not your fault. Jesus is saying in verses 23 and 24
that even if it’s not your fault and you didn’t do anything wrong but you
remember that somebody has something against you, then you should solve that
the best that you can immediately.
Romans
12:18 says, “If
it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
You can’t change some peoples’ minds about you, but you can do your best to
reconcile that relationship and if you can, then you have brought glory to God.
Now go worship and thank Him. Because anger affects us and our relationship
with God and it affects others, as well.
Jesus goes
on in verses 25 and 26 to talk about a similar circumstance. Somebody
has a grievance against us and it is important to do our best to reconcile
immediately. One situation was in church and the other is in court but the
basic lesson is the same. If somebody has something against you, you need to fix
it NOW!
In the very
act of worship, if we remember the grievance, we are to break off our worship
and make it right. Also, in the very act of going to court, if there is a
grievance, we need to settle it right away. Don’t let that disagreement, even
if it’s not your fault, remain because it will do nothing but get bigger. That
person will be all over town, “Did you hear what that sorry dog did to me?
And he calls himself a Christian!”
So, what has
happened? Your good name is ruined. Your witness, which is God’s good name, is
ruined. And that person can’t worship or witness either and they are telling
everybody they know about it. How many people have to suffer because you have
something against somebody or somebody has something against you? Jesus is saying
that it doesn’t matter whose fault it is. Fix it! And if you don’t then it is
sin.
Now, when I
say that, it brings up something that needs to be addressed. This is going to
come up several more times as we go through the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus is telling us, as His disciples, how to live in a way that is blessed by
God. You want to be blessed by God, right? The opposite is to be punished by
God and we obviously don’t want that. So, here’s what we need to know as it
pertains to this passage in Jesus’ sermon and quite a few others as well. When
Jesus says something is sin, think about this: (pick up glass marked “Arsenic
XXX”)
Anybody want
a sip? Oh, come on. Just a little sip. It tastes like lemon-aid. I know the
label says arsenic but just a little won’t hurt you. C’mon. Why not? I’ll tell
you what. Just a little will be fun but before it starts to do any real damage,
I promise to take you to the emergency room. Fair enough? What’s wrong? You
don’t want any poison in your body, do you? Just a little bit is too much. Then
why would you allow any sin in your life?
Do you know
what arsenic does? As soon as arsenic goes into your body, it starts to eat
away at the tissue. It starts to do damage right away. The good news is that if
you get to the emergency room right away, you’ll probably survive. But the
damage has been done and it is usually irreversible.
Sin is very
similar. Every sin – every “little sin” or “big sin” causes damage. Proverbs
11:21 says that the wicked will not go unpunished and some of you are
thinking that you aren’t wicked. It’s just a little sin. This whole Sermon on
the Mount was preached by Jesus to refute that kind of thinking. All sin is
wicked, even what we consider to be small sins. We know we can ask God for
forgiveness and we fall back on 1 John 1:9 that says if we confess our
sins that He is faithful to forgive them. And that’s true but there is damage
that has been done.
There is
damage to our relationship with God, first and foremost. Every sin is a nail
holding Jesus to the cross driven through flesh and bone and into wood by our
hard hearts. Do you expect the Father to just say, “Well, boys will be boys”?
Or “It’s not that bad. It’s not that big of a nail.”
Every sin. Whether
Jesus is talking about anger or calling someone a name or using coarse language
or disrespect as He does in this passage or, as He says in upcoming passages,
when He talks about lust or divorce, all sin causes damage. It damages us, it
damages our relationship with God and with other people. It damages our worship
and our witness. Yes, thank you, Lord, for your forgiveness but I pray right
now, God, that you will give us the strength to overcome in Your name.
God, I ask
for that forgiveness right now for myself and this church. Forgive us for
allowing what we consider to be little sins to continue in our lives. Lord,
search us and try us and see if there are any wicked ways in us and then convict
us of those sins so we don’t ever do them again. God, we appreciate the way
that you have given us unity and have blessed us with your Spirit in this
place. We want more of that. Please continue to show us your will and give us
the strength to follow it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you would
like to know for sure that you will go to Heaven when you die then you need to
decide right now to ask Jesus to be Lord of your life and to come into your
life to change it and be in control. Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and
then repent or turn away from those sins and He will forgive you. This allows
you to have a relationship with our risen Lord, King Jesus, and that brings
peace and joy in this life even in the difficult times. We are all sinners
(Rom. 3:23) and what we deserve for that sin is eternal death in Hell (Rom.
6:23) but God the Father sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the
price for that sin (John 3:16) and all we have to do is believe. Do that right
now.
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