Return to Sermon Index	Promises, Promises

Isaiah 49:8-13, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23, Matthew 5:27-37

I was in the grocery store the other day doing some shopping and as I was walking down the cereal aisle I met a mother with two little kids. And the mother looked like she was worn out because of the whining her two kids were doing. Her little boy, of about five years, seemed to be the greater offender of the two, for as his mother was trying to pick out her groceries, he was taking down various sugar coated cereals and bringing these to his mother, whining that he wanted that particular cereal. And each time he did it, his mother told him to go put it back and quit taking things off the shelf because the next time he did it she was going to give him a spanking. Well, needless to say, her threat of a spanking was never carried out. And, what's more, after the little boy brought about the fifth package of cereal to his mother, whining for her to buy it, she actually took it from him and put it into the grocery cart.

Now, my friends, parents teach their children some very important lessons in some very mundane ways. And the lesson this mother was teaching her five year old son was this: "You don't have to take your mother seriously. If she threatens to punish you for doing something she doesn't want you to do, do it anyway, because your mother will not follow through. You'll get what you want by wearing your mother down."

The fact of the matter is that parents should never make a threat that they do not plan to carry out. They should never offer a reward to their children that they do not plan to give if the conditions for the reward are met. And they should never make a promise to their children unless they are reasonably sure that they can and will follow through. Indeed, this is very important in any relation between parents and children. For this is the foundation for trust. And trust, being able to depend upon certain persons to act faithfully, is one of the most critical lessons a child can learn. I believe in my heart that it is much more difficult for a child to grow up to be dependable and faithful if he or she has not had parents who were dependable and faithful, themselves.

Likewise, the scriptures are full of promises that God made to his people. They are promises of punishments and promises of reward. They are promises of friendship and promises of love and help in times of need. And God is faithful. God is dependable. God doesn't make a threat that he doesn't plan to carry out. God doesn't offer a reward that he doesn't intend to give if the conditions are met. God doesn't make a promise that he will not keep. And God's people throughout history have known this to be true. God has proved himself, over and over again, to be faithful to his word. And, what's more is that God expects the same from us. That's right. God expects the same from us.

I was watching television the other night and a comedian was on, going through his routine. And he was describing the five stages of alcohol abuse. And what I found interesting is that while what he was saying was funny, what he was saying was also true. And as he described the five stages of alcohol abuse, the comedian showed how much worse each stage was than the previous stage, and how much later into an evening each successive stage seemed to end. And at the end of the fifth stage of alcohol abuse, which was when a person came out of the bar at 6 a.m., knowing that he had to be at work within two hours, the alcoholic would say, "God, I'll never do that again. And this time I mean it!" But, the problem at this point is that the alcoholic has been so deviously unfaithful, and so irresponsible that the comedian's mere mention of such a promise to God is enough to bring down the house with a storm of laughter.

Indeed, have the promises we have made to God been laughable? Would the promises we have made to God bring down the house? Take this poem, for example:

If Jesus came to your house to spend a

day or two . . . .

If He came unexpectedly, I wonder

what you'd do.

Oh, I know you'd give your nicest

room to such an honored guest

And all the food you'd serve to Him

would be the very best.

And you would keep assuring Him

you're glad to have Him there . . . .

But . . . . when you saw Him coming,

would you meet Him at the door

With arms outstretched in welcome to

our heav'nly visitor?

Or would you maybe change your

clothes before you let Him in,

Or hide some magazines and put the

Bible where they'd been?

Would you turn off the radio and hope

He hadn't heard,

And wish you hadn't uttered that last,

loud and hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music

and put some hymn books out?

Could you let Jesus walk right in, or

would you rush about?

And I wonder . . . . if the Savior spent a

day or two with you,

Would you go right on doing the things

you always do?

Would you go right on saying the

things you always say?

Would life for you continue as it does

from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep

up its usual pace?

And would you find it hard each meal

to say a table grace?

Would you sing the songs you always

sing and read the books you read?

And let Him know the things on

which your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take Jesus with you every-

where you'd planned to go,

Or would you, maybe, change your plans

for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet

your very closest friends,

Or would you hope they'd stay away

until his visit ends?

Would you be glad to have Him stay

for-ever on and on,

Or would you sigh with great relief

when He at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know the

things that you would do,

If Jesus came in person to spend some

time with you.

There are some weighty implications in our gospel lesson for today in which Jesus was teaching his disciples the meaning of faithful living. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus was telling his disciples that faithful living was far more righteous than a life of living the precepts of the Law of Moses. If anything, the Law of Moses was only a beginning, it was only an example to follow. But Jesus showed how a life guided by faith and love went even farther than the Law. For example, Jesus described how those who followed only the Law believed in the commandment: "Do not commit adultery," but then went on to say that if a person looked at another person lustfully then that person had committed adultery in his or her heart." For Jesus, the Law didn't go deep enough. For Jesus, sin wasn't simply something that someone did. Rather, it was something that a person thought. And this may be one of the reasons why many Christians are against pornography. For while readers of such literature may never actually commit adultery, they have done it in their heart many times, indeed.

God wants us to live faithful lives. For God is faithful to us. God keeps His promises. And God wants us to keep ours.

In our Gospel lesson for today Jesus talked about swearing. Most people today don't really know what swearing is. They think that swearing is using God's name in vain, or they think that swearing is using a four letter word in an emotional outburst. But, the use of foul or profane language is quite different from the biblical concept of swearing. For in Jesus' day swearing was when someone wanted to convince someone else that he or she was telling the truth. If a person thought that someone didn't believe him or her then it was common for a person to swear an oath. The person might say, "I swear by the throne of God that such and such is true." Or a person might swear by the temple in Jerusalem, or even by the hair on his or her head.

But Jesus knew the underlying reason for swearing. It was because people had a lack of faith in each other. Swearing was the result of people not being able to trust, of not being dependable, or not being reliable, of not telling the truth. Swearing was a sign that community, itself, was broken. And this brokenness of community strained the relationship between God and his people. And it was this brokenness that Jesus had come to heal.

And, so, Jesus told his followers not to swear, at all, but to simply say whatever they were going to say as though there was never any doubt that what they were saying was nothing but the truth. As far as Jesus was concerned, God's people could be counted upon to tell the truth. There could never be any doubt, and, therefore, no reason to swear, at all.

Our society is just as broken as it was in Jesus' day. And people still swear on their mother's grave, and on the Bible, and on all sorts of things, even when they're lying. But what God wants from us is faithful living that goes beyond the structure of Law and into the realm of love. And it is Christ who offers us a means by which we can begin to live this way. Amen.