Scripture text: Matthew 5:21-37
Every month when I was serving my first call in WV, the local Lutheran pastors would gather together for conversation and study. We plan our upcoming sermons, share our life experiences, and give each other support as best we could.
Many of those colleagues are still there and in this photo. I miss WV-WMD Synod, even though I love being in LSS.
One of my colleagues, Pr. Nielsen, once told a tale of his childhood. His father did not attend church and he and his dad once got into an argument over the fact. His father bellowed loudly, “I’m not going. That place is full of nothing but hypocrites.” To which young Nielsen replied, “That’s okay, Dad. We’ve got room for one more.”
Suffice to say, that didn’t end well for the young Pr. Nielsen.
But we’ve all heard that complaint, haven’t we? “Church is full of hypocrites.” It’s hard to refute because it’s true. We all carry our various hypocrisies with us, both inside and outside this building. We often blind to them and, if we are not, we are reluctant to admit to them. But they are there nonetheless.
Probably the biggest one is the idea that somehow being in this building makes us better than those outside. All too often, we gain a sense of religious superiority over those unwashed masses outside these walls. We’re simply better people than those folks.
Well, if any of us here gathered have come to believe that about ourselves, Jesus has just burst your bubble. As we continue through the Sermon on the Mount, we get today to the portion where Jesus talks about sin. And he leaves us very little room to maneuver on the subject.
Religious arrogance is not a new phenomenon. There were certainly many in Jesus’ day among the ancient Jews who believed that their religious devotion and doctrinal dedication made them better than everyone else. The scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and many others had taken the idea that they were the Chosen people and twisted it into something it was never meant to be. As I pointed out in weeks prior, being Chosen means God’s given us a job to do, not that we’re somehow superior to others.
So it was to those who believed such then and to those who believe such now that Jesus dedicates these words.
I’m not like those swindlers. Those thieves. Those murderers. Those scum over there. I’ve never stolen, or murdered, or cheated on my spouse. Or any of those things. Have you really?
Yeah, I’m not a thief but boy, that Aston Martin DB11 is such a beauty. What I wouldn’t give to have a car like that? To have the money to buy one of those. Oops.
But we’ve all heard that complaint, haven’t we? “Church is full of hypocrites.” It’s hard to refute because it’s true. We all carry our various hypocrisies with us, both inside and outside this building. We often blind to them and, if we are not, we are reluctant to admit to them. But they are there nonetheless.
Probably the biggest one is the idea that somehow being in this building makes us better than those outside. All too often, we gain a sense of religious superiority over those unwashed masses outside these walls. We’re simply better people than those folks.
Well, if any of us here gathered have come to believe that about ourselves, Jesus has just burst your bubble. As we continue through the Sermon on the Mount, we get today to the portion where Jesus talks about sin. And he leaves us very little room to maneuver on the subject.
Religious arrogance is not a new phenomenon. There were certainly many in Jesus’ day among the ancient Jews who believed that their religious devotion and doctrinal dedication made them better than everyone else. The scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and many others had taken the idea that they were the Chosen people and twisted it into something it was never meant to be. As I pointed out in weeks prior, being Chosen means God’s given us a job to do, not that we’re somehow superior to others.
So it was to those who believed such then and to those who believe such now that Jesus dedicates these words.
- You have heard it said ‘You shall not murder’...But I say, ‘if you are angry, you have already murdered.’
- You have heard it said ‘Do not commit adultery’...But I say, ‘if you’ve looked lustfully at another, you have already betrayed your spouse.’
I’m not like those swindlers. Those thieves. Those murderers. Those scum over there. I’ve never stolen, or murdered, or cheated on my spouse. Or any of those things. Have you really?
Yeah, I’m not a thief but boy, that Aston Martin DB11 is such a beauty. What I wouldn’t give to have a car like that? To have the money to buy one of those. Oops.
It so pretty!!!
Yeah, I’m not an adulterer, but man, those ladies on those internet sites are just...and some of those Hollywood celebrities. Wow. What I wouldn’t give for a night with one of them! Oops.
Confession time! My celebrity crush for the last 25 years or so: Winona Ryder.
Yeah, I’m not a murderer, but that President Trump and his administration and all his supporters....Arrgh!!! Oops.
Those kids, those millennials have no sense of right and wrong. No respect for anyone. Yet we forget that our parent’s generation said that about us. Oops.
Time and again, we find ourselves caught in the trap Jesus has laid for us. There’s no escaping it. No escaping our hypocrisies. No escaping our sin.
And that’s the point.
We keep trying to fool ourselves by believing that if we’re just sinless then God will love us enough to save us. Problem is, we’re not sinless. None of us are. We can hide our secret sins from others, but God sees all. He knows that darkest part of your heart and mind better than we do.
And he loves us anyway.
And there’s the other problem. We are theologically trying to “reinvent the wheel,” creating something that already exists. We keep trying to earn what we already have. We keep trying to make God love us when he already does. It’s never been about how superior we are to others. It’s never been about how much more moral and righteous we are than others. It’s never been about how good we’ve been. It’s never been about us at all. It’s been about God’s love all along.
And yet that love is all about us. God’s overwhelming undeniable hunger for our companionship. We are his deepest desire. He wants us more than anything else in all of creation. So much so that he put into action a plan to save us from sin and death. A plan that centered on Jesus, his son, incarnate here on Earth, dying on a cross, and rising on the third day.
And yet that love is all about us. God’s overwhelming undeniable hunger for our companionship. We are his deepest desire. He wants us more than anything else in all of creation. So much so that he put into action a plan to save us from sin and death. A plan that centered on Jesus, his son, incarnate here on Earth, dying on a cross, and rising on the third day.
That’s what it’s really about. God doing everything to demonstrate his infinite love for you and me and everyone. It’s not really about our sin at all. It’s always about God’s love.
To close, I want to share with you a quote from a great Lutheran of generations past: Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He writes, “God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive..., what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”
Indeed it is. Amen.
Indeed it is. Amen.
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