This Sermon was based on Matthew 5:33-37 where Jesus encourages people not to make oaths. The Pentatuchal provisions for oaths (Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, and Deuteronomy 23:22) have a pretty clear meaning: keep your word. It is to this spirit of that letter that Jesus speaks. Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no”, “no”.
I addressed this very plain meaning of the text by looking at our first scripture reading concerning Ananias and Sapphira. The issue with them wasn’t that they didn’t give 100% of the proceeds from the sale of their property to the church in Jerusalem; it was that they said they gave 100% when in fact they had given less. They told a lie so that they wouldn’t look bad as compared to a guy like Barnabas who had given the full proceeds from a similar transaction to the apostles.
There is a clear admonition here to live in the light. Don’t hide in the shadows of falsehood or half-truths. If we live in the light of the truth then there will be no need to promise, vow, make oaths, or swear to what we are saying. That is the plain meaning of this text.
The greater focus of this sermon was to encourage us to live in our “yes” to Christ. What does it mean that we have said “yes” to him? I highlighted three things that this meant.
1. A “yes” to Jesus is a “no” to the world.
When Christ calls one to follow him it requires a patent denial of self. If any one would become Jesus’ disciple they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow.
2. A “yes” to Jesus is a “yes” to his church and a “no” to isolation.
In our post-modern culture of individualism and independence we place a premium on the experience and idea of the individual. We relish the uniqueness of our own experience and the validity it has to define a private truth. The Christian version of that sounds this way, “I believe in Jesus. I’m just not into the whole church/ organized religion thing.”
That’s hogwash. The church is the body of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ. And we cannot live in the “yes” of Christ’s call on our lives while at the same time rejecting the community through which we experience him. Jesus has called us as individuals to become a part of the whole. To be faithful in our discipleship is to be faithfully committed to the church. And yes, that means a local community of believers; a particular church. And yes, that means identifying in real ways with the church universal.
3. A “yes” to Jesus is an acknowledgement of his “yes” to you.
We must understand that our commitment to Christ is not based on how well we can hold onto him but rather the assurance of knowing that we love because he first loved us; we follow because he first called us; we know because we were fully known.
I invited those who had never said “yes” to Jesus to not wait another minute. I also invited those who were not living their “yes” to renounce the world, embrace the church, and rest easy in Christ’s “yes” to them.
I addressed this very plain meaning of the text by looking at our first scripture reading concerning Ananias and Sapphira. The issue with them wasn’t that they didn’t give 100% of the proceeds from the sale of their property to the church in Jerusalem; it was that they said they gave 100% when in fact they had given less. They told a lie so that they wouldn’t look bad as compared to a guy like Barnabas who had given the full proceeds from a similar transaction to the apostles.
There is a clear admonition here to live in the light. Don’t hide in the shadows of falsehood or half-truths. If we live in the light of the truth then there will be no need to promise, vow, make oaths, or swear to what we are saying. That is the plain meaning of this text.
The greater focus of this sermon was to encourage us to live in our “yes” to Christ. What does it mean that we have said “yes” to him? I highlighted three things that this meant.
1. A “yes” to Jesus is a “no” to the world.
When Christ calls one to follow him it requires a patent denial of self. If any one would become Jesus’ disciple they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow.
2. A “yes” to Jesus is a “yes” to his church and a “no” to isolation.
In our post-modern culture of individualism and independence we place a premium on the experience and idea of the individual. We relish the uniqueness of our own experience and the validity it has to define a private truth. The Christian version of that sounds this way, “I believe in Jesus. I’m just not into the whole church/ organized religion thing.”
That’s hogwash. The church is the body of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ. And we cannot live in the “yes” of Christ’s call on our lives while at the same time rejecting the community through which we experience him. Jesus has called us as individuals to become a part of the whole. To be faithful in our discipleship is to be faithfully committed to the church. And yes, that means a local community of believers; a particular church. And yes, that means identifying in real ways with the church universal.
3. A “yes” to Jesus is an acknowledgement of his “yes” to you.
We must understand that our commitment to Christ is not based on how well we can hold onto him but rather the assurance of knowing that we love because he first loved us; we follow because he first called us; we know because we were fully known.
I invited those who had never said “yes” to Jesus to not wait another minute. I also invited those who were not living their “yes” to renounce the world, embrace the church, and rest easy in Christ’s “yes” to them.
Pastor Scott
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