Epiphany 7

March 1, 2017 in Sermon by Scott Landrum

Matthew 5:38-48
38 “You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 40 and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 42 Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

“Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end,” the Psalmist sang. We talk much in Lutheran circles about the law. There’s good reason for that, God talks much about the law. The first reading for this morning is a taste of the law’s importance to God. Jesus never shied away from the law either. You just heard him amplify God’s expectations of his people. Nevertheless, there are efforts among some of our family to redefine or ignore the law. Just about anything a person wants to do is acceptable it seems. Just the other day I read a blog about a couple of Lutheran pastors encouraging Christian kids in college to engage in premarital sex with their sweethearts if that’s what they wanted to do. After all there’s nothing in the Bible that prohibits it they claim. Except Paul’s writings about sexual immorality and Jesus’ words about the only legitimate sex being between a man and woman in the context of marriage. Do away with Jesus and Paul and then all that is left is the Old Testament, the place God defined the context for sexual intimacy! What was that Jesus said about wolves in sheep’s clothing?! Of course you can fall off the horse the other way and many do. We call them legalists and just about everything is forbidden for these folks. I heard one of these guys explain that Jesus really didn’t turn water into wine because his mother was present and wine had the potential to make her drunk and drunkenness is a sin so Jesus would never set his mother up to sin. Well food had the potential to make her fat and gluttony is sinful so Jesus must not have ever given her anything to eat either. Come on, really!
There’s a third group who view the law as a guide for Christian living. The law is rather nice if you just get to know it they say and it provides a model for you to live. Ok but cozying up to the law is a lot like wrapping a rattlesnake around your neck. It’s simply a matter of time until you get bit. No law, too much law, a tamed law. Ugh, what’s a disciple of Christ to do? With the psalmist we truly need the Lord to teach us the law. I don’t think it is any coincidence that Jesus started his ministry doing just that. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us about the law by letting the law do its work. The first thing we see is those denying the law and its demands, like those two pastors, are fools. God is holy and he expects his followers to be holy, that is, like him and there is no excuse. Don’t steal, lie, cheat and a whole host of other things and yes that includes what you do in the bedroom. The legalist will find plenty to do in Jesus’ sermon also. Them turning the other cheek, giving away their clothes to thieves, and loving other Christians that drink and cuss among other rather unsavory behaviors is a full time job and we’ll let them confess about their success rate. And then those folks who’ve defanged the law have plenty of work here also. So rather than resist the evildoer, they trust God will take care of the matter, and instead focus their attention and energies on what he has called them to do. Rather than demand their rights, they turn the cheek and give away their cloak trusting in God’s providence for them.
They willingly give of themselves to go the second mile and share freely of their resources giving to all who beg, acting in faith that they will continue to be provided with all they need. They don’t hate their enemies, but instead share with them the love, grace and forgiveness they have received from Christ, praying not for their enemies’ destruction but for their wellbeing and salvation. Sounds good and is absolutely true but I’d like to meet the guy who is doing all that because here’s the thing about the law. Trying isn’t good enough. Doing the best you can doesn’t cut it. Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect is the demand Jesus made. So those denying the law are condemned by the law. Those living by the law are condemned. Those using the law are condemned. Sense a pattern here? Just as Paul tells us the law was given and we died, not because the law is sinful, we are. The law simply revealed who we are, lawbreakers. No wonder Paul cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Paul also said that his only hope was Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who took on the law and endured the entirety of its condemnation. The law said perfection or death so Jesus took death. Yet, it pleased the Father to raise him from the dead minus the law’s condemnation so now he lives and he has a word for you. That is why I say to you that you are forgiven unconditionally, that is apart from law, for Christ’s sake. He took your sin so now your condemnation is gone. You belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. Sounds perfect to me! Amen.