Sermon Tone Analysis

Vision Moment

Since the beginning of this year the elders have met (with the exception of a couple of Sundays) to discuss the state of the church.

We have learned so much about each other, about the church, and about God’s mission for the church.

We have a few more weeks of work to do and then the deacons and elders will meet together to work on some steps that we can take to becoming a church that looks more like what Jesus had in mind.

Sermon Text

Prayer

Father, we are here this morning because we believe in You.

We have gathered to hear your Scriptures, to sing songs to you and about you, we have gathered to learn what you mean in this passage.

So I know that we all need your help.

We need your help to stay focused and not let our mind wander.

I pray that you would fill me with your Spirit to be faithful to what you are saying and that your people would be filled with your Spirit to understand what you are saying.

Please give us soft hearts to receive the Word and to be doers of it.

I pray for the unbeliever, the skeptic, and the apathetic to see your love for them this morning.

We thank you for Jesus.

To the Listener

This passage was preached to people who were just beginning to follow Jesus.

They were the common and in most cases the people who were pushed to the fringes of society.

It would be a mistake to assume that everyone in this crowd was “all in.”

There are at least three groups of people (as it pertains to a sermon) in any crowd, including today.

There are those who are all in.

They have a conversion story that they can point to as a major turning point in their life and they have made a committed to live as a Christian.

Then there are those who are on the fence.

Maybe they grew up in a home where their parents followed Christ, but they have more or less defaulted and are frankly not sure what they believe and have very little interest in following everything Christ has to say.

And finally there are those who are in the crowd because they’ve been dragged in or because they find some benefit from the relationships.

Whoever you are, Jesus is speaking .

A passage like the one we’re studying today serves as an invitation to be a part of the Kingdom (rule of Jesus) or as a portrayal of what the norm is to be for the people of the Kingdom.

And a teaching like the one we’re looking at today, there is a temptation to look in the world to judge and accuse.

Our job is not to take this message and expect for people who have no desire to follow Jesus to hear and respond to.

This is for us.

Your job is to listen with a receptive heart and a discerning mind.

The Task of the Preacher

And just for the sake of those who have never heard this before, the job that the preacher has is to understand what Jesus is saying to the people He is saying it to, and then translate that message in a way that we (living in a completely different culture, nation, and era) can understand and then reprove, rebuke, and exhort you to obey Jesus in the power of the Spirit.

Let’s explore what Jesus is saying to the crowds about the Kingdom and Sexual Desire

The Greater Righteousness

Remember that this is the second of six different topics that Jesus talks about to explain what he meant when he said that, “Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees...”

And just like I said last week, Jesus did not come as some were beginning to think to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law.

In other words, everything that the law and the prophets said the Messiah would accomplish, he was going to accomplish.

Several of the prophets spoke of a day when God would dwell among the people, that he would be their God and they would be his people.

They spoke of a day when God would rip the shepherding responsibilities back from the religious order that although he had established it, they had failed to do what God commanded them to do.

So here Jesus is, calling for people everywhere to repent because the Kingdom of Heaven (God’s rule and reign) was here.

Jesus is fulfilling what those prophets had said would happen.

And the way he is ripping the authority away from the religious leaders is by exposing the heart of the religious leaders themselves.

The point and wisdom behind the command is that God created man to live in harmony with each other, therefore

the Kingdom ethic is that the people of God (with the new heart that Jesus brings) are people who care about the sanctity of all human life (no more throwing people away);

the Kingdom people also care about the dignity of human life (not even a degrading word about another human);

and the Kingdom people care about rightness of relationships (so seriously that we realize our worship is effected by them.)

The people of the Kingdom are reconciliation people.

They work to make sure their relationships are reconciled and they help others reconcile to God and their fellowman.

In today’s passage Jesus exposes another condition; heart adultery

Adultery in the Heart

And just like the scribes and Pharisees (and all humanity) were guilty of murder in the heart, they were also guilty of adultery in the heart.

Jesus begins again by affirming the law, adultery is still sin.

Adultery is a very specific sexual sin.

Adultery is not just when two people have sex, it’s when at least one of those two people is in a covenant relationship and makes the choice to violate that covenant relationship by having sex with another person.

The word covenant has roots that go all the way back to the beginning.

Covenants are greater than contracts.

Contracts only have a two way relationship; covenants have a three way relationship.

A couple that is covenanting together is also covenanting with God.

Meaning they’re welcoming the accountability of God.

The word covenant has roots that go all the way back to the beginning.

Covenants are greater than contracts.

Contracts only have a two way relationship; covenants have a three way relationship.

A couple that is covenanting together is also covenanting with God.

Meaning they’re welcoming the accountability of God.

Jesus immediately speaks to anyone who might believe that they’ve attained some sort of righteousness before God simply because they have never physically committed the act of adultery.

Jesus is speaking about those who believe they’ve found a loophole in God’s law.

They have believed the lie that just because they were sleeping with a person outside of their covenant partner that they could lust and covet after another man’s wife/woman’s husband.

That word “with lustful intent” is also translated “Desire” in other places of Greek literature.

It’s that longing in the eye because you’ve seen something that your brain is saying, “I must have.”

This is different than seeing a person from the opposite sex as a beautiful or even attractive person.

This goes beyond seeing the beauty of another person and creating a video in your mind of you and this other person being sexually intimate.

The people of Kingdom of God — those who are salt and light in the world — are people who have an inner righteousness or an inner transformation of character where they’re not only NOT sleeping with other people’s covenant partners, but they’re not starring and fantasizing about sleeping with them either.

The Seriousness of Sexual Sin

Now, in the last section Jesus illustrates the seriousness of human sanctity and dignity and right relationships with two parables, but Jesus doesn’t use parables in this section, what does Jesus use as a way of describing the seriousness of the people of the Kingdom of God having purity of heart?

Jesus uses a different literary technique to grab the attention of the people.

Remember this is wisdom literature and Jesus is employing hyperbole to send a little jolt...

So, just what is Jesus saying here?

That self-mutilation will prevent me from lusting another person?

That lust is the unpardonable sin?

This is very uncomfortable again.

Jesus uses this method of making a point in another section in Matthew.

The disciples of Jesus ask him who the greatest in the Kingdom is (you know, really critical stuff.)

And Jesus, in very typical fashion looks around to teach a point that they would remember and he called a kid over and said, “come here, stand up here with me” and then to the crowd he says, “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

So you will need to humble yourself (ding, ding, ding, pride was the stumbling block) this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.

But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me (target on scribes and Pharisees) it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

So, if your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away… and if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away.”

Jesus used this type of teaching on several occasions in order to bring a sense of shock.

And it still works 2,000 years later because everyone who comes across that passage goes, “Wait, did I just read that right?

Jesus told people to cut body parts off in order to come under the rule and reign of God?”

If Jesus were here today and we could have a Q and A, I’m almost positive someone would ask him that question and he’d probably ask like four return questions.

It would be missing the point to think that Jesus was promoting self-mutilation in order to cure the problem of lust — if he was promoting that, he’s missing other body parts that are involved.

The point is (as it was in ) that sexual sin (as well as pride) is very serious.

And if something tangible is causing a continual downfall, (even if it is the dominant or highest priority in life — right eye, hand, or foot) it would be better to take swift and severe action to prevent it and be under the reign of Christ, than to continually be defeated and under the rule and reign of lust.

Behavior Modification can’t Cure a Heart Condition

It’s important to note that Jesus isn’t teaching behavior modification.

Just as cutting off limbs or eyeballs isn’t going to transform the heart, SO cutting off the internet, purchasing a dumb phone, or throwing away your TV isn’t going to prevent a person from lusting.

But every person should be willing to get rid of all of that stuff if lust is enslaving.

And I think we’re at a stage where the “I can manage it” crowd has nestled in to a little comfort zone.

It might not be a bad idea to listen to the please of Jesus.