Where's the Real Problem?

How many of you have ever been to an Escape Room before? To those of you who have no idea what that is, an Escape Room is a place where you go and you try to solve a mystery of sorts and escape from the situation that you are thrust into. I’ve gone with family and friends to about a half dozen escape rooms and the situation that you find yourself in varies from room to room. In some situations you are in a relatively straightforward room where you try to find clues around you to eventually punch a code in and escape. I’ve also been in a situation where I was locked in handcuffs and blindfolded with 6 childhood friends and we were forced to figure out how to get free and escape the situation room in under an hour. Escape Rooms are kind of like Crime Dramas that we see on TV at times that make our minds think outside the box as we try to problem solve. In an Escape Room you’re trying to solve a puzzle of sorts by uncovering clues and following directions. Maybe this sounds simple, but whenever you add distractions, other voices, obstacles, and a 1 hour time limit the situation can get awfully stressful to the point that many groups fail to escape the room.

The problem in the escape room is that you can get focused on internal things instead of working as a team to solve the problem and escape. This is a fundamental problem that we have as humans - we focus on things that aren’t necessarily the most important thing or the most pressing problem. We can get a little bit confused or we listen to the voice of popular opinion instead of the voice of reason and wisdom. We think that we have more time than we really have. Next thing you know you’re left arguing with your friends/family and you don’t escape the room. What is the true problem that we have to deal with each and every day? Our sinfulness. Whenever you wake up each morning you are going to war whether you realize it or not as Paul talks about in Ephesians 6 as he encourages his listeners to put on the armor of God. Whenever you look in the mirror each morning you are faced with a choice - will you live for yourself or will you die to self and live for Christ?

Whenever we’re by ourselves or having our quiet time maybe this is an easy decision - but what about whenever our stress levels begin to rise? What about when our situations change? What about when things don’t go our way? Why are we tempted to turn inward in those moments? Because as humans we are wired to either do what we’ve been told by others in similar situations or we do what makes the most sense in our eyes. What gets us in trouble is our old way of thinking and the condition of our heart. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

Jesus, in this next scene of Christian discipleship illustrates to His followers what it looks like to follow Him. It doesn’t mean to obey the voices that you’ve heard in the past, it means to live as a son/daughter of the cross and do so with your new heart. See, God not only changes your actions but He changes your thoughts and even your heart. Has Jesus addressed your greatest problem today? Let’s continue in the Sermon on the Mount to see how exactly Jesus does this in our lives:

Matthew 5:21–26 CSB

21 “You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Whoever insults his brother or sister, will be subject to the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to hellfire. 23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you’re on the way with him to the court, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny.

In Matthew 5:21-48 we see 6 illustrations of what Jesus commands of His followers. Jesus is establishing His new covenant and shows how God’s law not only changes our actions but our thoughts and our heart. The first illustration is that of anger.

Anger (21-26)

Jesus structures this part of His sermon with a back and forth dialogue. He sets the Old Testament law on one side and He explains its heart/intention on the other side. Examine verses 21-22, “You have heard… But I tell you...” What is Jesus doing? Jesus is acting as the rightful interpreter of the law - something that He is more than qualified to do! Again, just as Moses gave the law to the Israelites in the Old Testament on Mt. Sinai, Jesus is giving the heart of God’s law to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount - He is telling His followers that God demands internal obedience.

Murder is a heavy topic for Jesus to open up with! He begins to go through the 10 commandments and explains that murder is more than simply what we think of as murder. Think of what He is saying here: How many of you have ever murdered someone? No one. How many of you have ever been angry with someone? Every hand goes up, right? We’ve all been angry before and Jesus is saying that anger is a serious problem because it makes us subject to judgment. Consider what James shares about anger

James 1:19–20 CSB

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

Where does anger come from? While it might lead to an external action like yelling or punching in some instances, it comes from the heart. External actions like murder and anger begin where? In the heart. Jesus’ message to people who are angry is to stop what you’re doing and seek reconciliation. If you’re in the middle of a worship service, Jesus says to stop what you’re doing and be reconciled to your brother or sister and then come back to worship! Yet, we live in a world where grudges not only live but they survive for decades and decades. We often allow anger and bitterness to swell up in our hearts for years and years and we allow the magma of anger to build like lava does in a volcano and eventually it all comes out in a massive eruption.

In a world of anger, what should we do? Seek reconciliation with others. We heed the advice of Paul in Ephesians as he shares to not allow the sun to go down on your anger. In God’s world, unrepentant anger doesn’t go away unpunished. We see that those who are angry are subject to judgment… Whose judgment? God’s! Whoever says you fool will be subject to hellfire. How many of you have ever called someone a fool or said something that you shouldn’t have said concerning someone’s faith in God? Many of us have been there! Jesus’ warning for those is that if you’re angry enough to say something along those lines then you’re guilty enough to go into the fire of hell.

Anger isn’t something to mess around with - Ask yourself, “Am I slow to anger or quick to anger?” This doesn’t mean that there are things that shouldn’t make us mad, Jesus got angry at certain things! But 2 things to remember: 1) We’re not Jesus and, 2) We often get angry at the wrong things. Jesus got angry at religious leaders who are exploiting others and that is justifiable anger! But we often get angry at personal inconveniences more so than injustice towards others.

Jesus’ opening point is simply this: Anger is serious. Don’t let it fester. Deal with it and seek reconciliation immediately because the heart is at stake.

Matthew 5:27–30 CSB

27 “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. 28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Lust (27-30)

In this second illustration, Jesus once again looks at one of the 10 commandments and digs into its meaning… Adultery is more than simply the physical act - it too is about the heart. We read in Scripture that marriage is a serious commitment because it is not just between 2 parties, it’s between a husband/wife and God. Marriage, as we’ll see in verses 31-32, is a lifelong commitment with no room for another passenger. Yet, in our society, lust is seen as something that isn’t a big deal at all. Paul Shelton served as the Illinois state wildlife director from 1993-2018 and shared that more than 17,000 deer die every year after being struck by a car on state highways. A reporter asked him why the number is that high to which he replied, “Peak season for deer casualties is the fall and in the fall bucks are concentrating almost exclusively on reproducing… As a result, they’re a lot less aware than they normally would be.” Bucks are concentrating on does and it gets them in trouble because their focus isn’t on the danger about to crash into them! Bucks aren’t the only ones destroyed by lust.

Adultery in the Old Testament was considered one of the worst things because it not only broke the relationship, but it also broke the relationship one had with God. Look at what David said after his affair with Bathsheba

Psalm 51:4 CSB

4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.

Adultery is serious stuff and it is sin in the eyes of God - but it’s not isolated to physical action. Jesus highlights that the meaning of this command is to maintain a pure marriage and relationship and this is where the mind comes into play. Where does lust originate? Just with murder, it’s not with the action, it’s with the heart. How, then, should Christians vow to deal with this temptation? Like Job did

Job 31:1 NIV

1 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

This is where Jesus arrives in verses 29-30. He shares that lust is serious! If your eye causes you to sin - gouge it out. If your hand causes you to sin - cut it off. Why deal with sin in this capacity? Because it’s better to have one eye and one hand and be devoted to your spouse than to have two of both and be half and half. Jesus is saying that if you’re struggling with lust, it’s better to cut your eye ball out than it is to keep it in and continue using it to lust.

DA Carson shares this, “Cutting off or gouging out the offending part is a way of saying that Jesus’ disciples must deal radically with sin.” Am I willing to do what it takes to deal with my sin or will you allow your fleshly desires to continue to get you in trouble with others and with your God? The options are simply this according to Jesus: Do nothing to fight against sin and go to hell, or fight with God’s power and be delivered.

Again, the problem lies beneath! We need deliverance. We need a new heart.

Matthew 5:31–32 CSB

31 “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce. 32 But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Unfaithfulness (31-32)

The 3rd illustration Jesus gives comes from Deuteronomy 24:1 as Moses gives the people marriage and divorce laws. What is God’s ideal picture for marriage? We see Jesus talk about this later on in Matthew

Matthew 19:6 CSB

6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

We believe that marriage is a sacred covenant meant for one man and one woman for life - this isn’t to shame anyone this morning, this is simply what we find in Scripture… Yet, we also read in Scripture that sin is real and sin causes real problems. Abuse and adultery are real things that happen and they constitute grounds for divorce in the New Testament… But we have to be true to Scripture at the same time, “Divorce is never commanded in Scripture but it is permitted in certain situations.” We live in a world that is largely unfaithful to others and a world where nearly half of marriages end in divorce! While divorce might be the norm in our culture, is must not become the norm in the church because we see that the marriage union is a picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride (Ephesians 5) and there are only a couple of New Testament clauses that permit divorce. Even though our world might say that divorce isn’t a big deal, psychologists share otherwise, especially with children. While a parent might be able to start over with a new spouse or partner, but the world of the child is forever split, fractured, and complicated.

Unhappiness inside can lead to unfaithfulness inside and outside. It must be dealt with and part of dealing with that involves having Jesus change our heart! I’ve been blessed to have 2 of the godliest parents anyone could have asked for and I’ve seen a husband and wife come together to glorify God rather than go their own way. Marriage is hard - there’s no way around it. 2 Sinners living under 1 roof naturally leads to some problems… We have to ask, “Am I looking for a way out or am I looking to work hard? These problems magnify themselves if we allow our sinful heart to dominate what we say and what we do. The problem of unfaithfulness lies beneath - we need a new heart, a heart that seeks the good of the other person and the glory of God. A heart of reconciliation!

Matthew 5:33–37 CSB

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord. 34 But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, because it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. 36 Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ Anything more than this is from the evil one.

Lying (33-37)

Jesus continues explaining the law by touching on lying as the Old Testament talks about this in places like Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, and Deuteronomy 23:21.

How many of you have heard someone say, “Cross my heart and hope to die” or something along those lines? We chuckle at times, but the motivation behind such a statement is that we feel the need to add something to our words/promises. Some people feel compelled to swear on something else. I swear by the Bible that I’ll do this or I’ll do that. Why do we feel the need to swear on top of something else? Because as humans our words are not likely to be trusted. People lie and deceive others, and as a result, there is skepticism whenever someone promises you something.

Lying is a serious problem because it, like all of these other scenes, starts with the heart. Jesus says in John 14:6 that He is the truth

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 1:14 tells us that Jesus is full of both grace and truth. We read last week how Jesus calls us to shine our light in the darkness because it’s His light in us. He calls us to be like Him - one of the ways that we can be like Jesus is by telling the truth. Yet, we are often tempted to give a half truth or a full out lie…Jesus shares in these verses to not swear by ourselves or anything else - we simply should be truthful! Ask yourself, “Do I mean what I say?” Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Rather than adding something to the truth or subtracting something from it. As Christ followers, we must tell the truth and settle it in our hearts to do this because if we don’t our heart will fill in the blanks with a lie.

Matthew 5:38–42 CSB

38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Getting Even (38-42)

Who likes being wrong? No one. Whenever we feel challenged we like to assert our rightness. We like to make sure that other people know how right we are and how wrong they are. We live in a world where people live to get even at all costs. There are some times in life where we want to get even over something relatively insignificant like buying someone else food and other times where we want to settle the score over something serious such as getting punched in the face. Our world preaches that we must even the score and do to others what they do to us. Yet we see in these final 10 verses that Jesus offers another way to respond. We are to be loving, not hateful. Kind, not harsh. We don’t repay anyone evil for evil as Romans 12:17 reminds us. While the world says, “Don’t get mad, get even” the Bible tells us “Don’t get even, glorify God.” Even when it’s difficult, Jesus tells His followers to turn the other cheek, run the extra mile, and give to those in need without keeping a ledger to hold over their head for years and years down the road.

Why do we desire to get even? Because in our heart we like being in charge and we crave control. We don’t like the idea of someone taking advantage of us and we especially don’t like the idea of not evening the score when we have the power to do so. In Jesus’ day people longed to even the score too. Yet He doesn’t tell them to go that route - even though they wanted to. He says to be generous and go above and beyond what is expected of you. In His day, Romans could demand Jewish citizens to do things for them and for many Jews they longed for revenge. There was great resistance from many Jews to their Roman overlords in the 1st century world as the Romans could make Jews do things like carry things for 1 mile. Jesus doesn’t say to be a pushover, but He does say to have a heart not bent toward evening the score but a heart bent toward generosity and righteousness.

Our default mindset might be to even the score but if we really played that out consider the world we would live in: If you insist on an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, you’ll live in a world that is blind and toothless! God desires to spare us from that pain so He offers another option: Submit to one another in the fear or Christ and treating others as more highly than yourself. You won’t play to even the scoreboard whenever your focus is Gospel humility… But you won’t be focused on Gospel humility if Jesus hasn’t changed your heart.

Where is your focus today, friend? Do you play for the scoreboard or for the Kingdom?

Matthew 5:43–47 CSB

43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell 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 causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?

Hating People (43-47)

The final illustration from Jesus is arguably the hardest for us to figure out. Not only do we love our neighbor as verses 38-42 command, now we have to love our enemy and pray for those who persecute us. How can we do this? How can we genuinely love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us? This is only possible whenever we emulate Jesus in our lives.

Hebrews 12:2 CSB

2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What did Jesus do on the cross? Did He curse the people who put Him there? Did He lash out with anger toward Judas and the Jewish leaders? Did He call down fire from heaven on the Roman soldiers standing nearby? No to all of the above. In fact, Jesus didn’t just not do something to get even, He prayed that God would forgive them because they didn’t know what they had done. Jesus had every right to be hateful for what was happening to Him, yet He loved the people who hammered nails into His wrist and He prayed for the ones who were responsible for killing Him. So friend, I ask you, if Jesus could love His enemies and pray for those who persecuted Him, what’s our excuse?

Our heart says to hate others and to speak poorly of those who persecute us but the Bible says that we as Christ-followers are to be like Christ in this regard and give grace to even those who wrong us for our faith. It’s easy to love those who are like us and to be nice to people who are nice to us… But what about to those who are jerks? Pastor Erik Reed often says this, “How you act when things don’t go your way speaks far more to your character than how you act when things work out well for you.”

How do you act whenever things don’t go your way or whenever people act negatively toward you? Do you love them or do you hate them. Our heart screams to hate often times and our heart is where the problem lies. The only way that we can live our Matthew 5:44-45 is to be a child of God and the only way to be a child of God is for God to change your heart of stone into a heart of flesh.

Matthew 5:48 CSB

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

What Do We Need? (48)

We need to be mature and to grow to be more like Jesus! We need a new heart that longs after Jesus and thirst after His righteousness above all else.

Examine this idea with what Paul talks about in Philippians 3:15

Philippians 3:15 CSB

15 Therefore, let all of us who are mature think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.

The overall idea is not one of selfish perfection - that’s impossible and a contradiction from the rest of the Sermon! Instead it is the idea of being whole or complete. It’s about surrendering completely to Jesus Christ and reflecting Him in all that you do. We’ll never reach perfection - but we can be conformed to the image of Jesus by acknowledging our shortcomings as we studied in Matthew 5:3 2 weeks ago

Matthew 5:3 CSB

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

But at the same time we progressively grow to be like Christ and to live out His teachings and instruction in our life. The goal of the law and the goal of the New Covenant is to change everything in our lives from head to heart, from inside to outside! In the Greek, this is a future verb meaning that this isn’t a present command that if you’re not perfect then you’re a colossal failure - instead it’s a future goal and a future promise. The problem today is that we are sinners and that, even as Christians, we fall short. The hope for us is that our God is perfect and that He is at work in us by creating in us a new heart and helping us progressively become more like Him.

As Christians, instead of allowing our sinful heart to lead us to anger, lust, unfaithfulness, lying, getting even, and hating others - we have another option, we have a command to not go that route. Instead of getting angry with others, we seek reconciliation with others. Instead of lusting after others, we seek a pure heart that longs for the Lord. Instead of unfaithfulness in relationships, we seek faithfulness in relationships. Instead of lying to others, we keep our word. Instead of getting even with others, we seek to serve others and treat them as higher than ourselves. Instead of hating people who don’t like us, we pray for them and love them because God loves them.

In doing these things, we reflect the love of our Father to those around us and we demonstrate His resurrection power to them as we have been raised from death to life! Instead of letting our external actions get us in trouble, Jesus reminds us to focus on the real problem - our heart… Just as is true in the escape room, time is ticking and there are distractions every where we look. Pause this morning and consider what the Bible says about our main problem: Has Jesus changed my heart today? If not, friend, trust in His power and experience the peace and hope that He can bring by being born again. If He has, continue to walk in a manner worthy of your calling and don’t strive to get even - strive to be like Christ in all aspects of life and bring glory to your Father.

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