Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say - Matthew 5:33-37

Preached feb 2002

Living Parables that must be heard (michael card song by worship team)

A powerful song…Thank you,
and a great introduction to our scripture text for today, Mathew 5:33-37

And Jesus began to speak and taught them saying
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

I had never considered the Sermon on the Mount to be a sermon full of parables
The Sermon on the Mount was, in my estimation, a sermon without imagination
Powerful yes, direct, most definitely
Imaginative, well, no, where were the stories that Jesus is so famous for?
The great object lessons and teachable moments
There are no parables

Parable: a story from which a moral message or religious truth is taught.

I confess that until this month I have always viewed the sermon on the mount as a most unimaginative piece of teaching,
I guessed that Matthew must have just eliminated the illustrations because there wasn’t enough room on his scroll

So let me add some imagination to this sermon by starting with a parable
A story that will help us see how we as disciples of Jesus
are parables making Jesus teaching come alive

A young couple built a house
Having a limited budget it had no front steps
So after they scraped together a bit of money they added some front steps
A few years latter they added a nice covered porch
where they could sit on nice summer evenings
The kind we dream about in February.
They would sit out front on the porch and enjoy their very comfortable home

Now in their retirement years the porch was rather old and dry root had made it a bit of a safety hazard
One evening sitting around the kitchen table paying the monthly bills
This fine woman comes to the end of her rope
The porch has got to go

With a sense of determination she opens up the conversation with her husband
Have you ever considered how much we spend on up keep of our porch?
For something that is usable for only four months of the year,
the cost benefit ratio is appalling
Between dry rot, peeling paint and liability insurance
its more trouble than its worth
Let’s tear it down and go back to the way we started,
no porch, no front steps, just one leap up into the house.

My parable of course is about the relationship between Jesus teaching and the stories that made his teaching come alive
The house is like good teaching
And the parables are where we prefer to spend our summer months and our sermons if we can
The parables provide a helpful entrance to Jesus’ teaching

And this isn’t a bad thing
Jesus told his fair share of stories where this stands for that, where this means that

Alas the Sermon on the Mount has no stories
No parables by which to enter

Then this last week I discovered a sermon full of parables.

Jesus teaching takes what we assume to be normal practice and turns it on its head

In particular I found that Jesus words for us today have the effect of taking what I assume to be normal practice and turning it on its head
Helping us see
the story that is our lives
Just a little more clearly.

Jesus teaching takes what we assume to be normal practice and turns it on its head
Our lives, changed by Jesus, become the front porch by which others enter his teaching
Our lives, changed by Jesus become a parable
This may have been obvious to you but it was quite fresh for me

So to help us understand Jesus teaching let’s go sit on the porch.
Listen to Jesus’ teaching
And tell some stories
And make the changes in our living
That make our lives a parable.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath”

Oh yes, the people of Israel knew this full well and the scriptures where full of stories where people certified that their words where true by swearing, by taking an oath.

Let me remind you of a fine example of oath taking

The people of Israel had made their narrow escape through the red sea and their Egyptian oppressors where 40 years behind them.

And under Joshua’s leadership they crossed the river and took possession of the land God promised them.
One city after another was conquered as they took control of the territory
They where unstoppable
One day a group of weary and somewhat raged travelers appeared at the edge of their camp
And made a plea for peace and an alliance
There was a little deception involved, but that is an aside

Joshua, in a rather hasty move swore an oath guaranteeing their lives and peace.
A few short days latter
they discovered that these travel weary ambassadors where in fact their neighbors

And it says

The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, but all the leaders answered, "We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them."… Joshua 9

This oath taking business is serious stuff
so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.
There is no escape clause when we invoke god as the garniture of our word

This was 10 commandments stuff on two counts
Read them with me will you

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Exodus 20

The fact is, I can hardly find a writer in the old testament that doesn’t talk about taking oaths

Swearing Oaths was normal business
The way things where done

The practice was so commonplace that they developed a hierarchy of oath taking
Jewish law permitted oaths,
interpretation resulted in a pattern where some oaths – some statements
were more binding than others.

The basic way an oath functioned was to certify you statement or commitment by appealing to a higher power
Essentially you where giving God the freedom to exact a punishment upon you if you lied or didn’t deliver what you promised.

I am not much of movie watcher
But one of the most riveting courtroom scenes I know occurs in the movie a few good men
Tom cruise, playing a young navy lawyer is examining a witness in a military tribunal
The wizened and hardened old general is being held to account for a murder at gauntanamo bay
Cruise begins with the usual and somewhat un-dramatic
Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God

Working himself into a rage
The general explodes
You can’t handle the truth

On any given night of the week television offers up enough legal court room fare for you to see at least a couple of people formally taking an oath

It’s common practice
Routine
And while it might be a powerful ritual
Do you think for a minute that the people placing their hand on a bible and swearing an oath
Really think that they are placing themselves voluntarily under God’s judgment

Do you think that they have thought of the dangers of dragging god into vouch for them
Do they even believe in Jehovah, the living and holy God,
whose standard for truth and truthfulness is a lot stiffer than the courts,
To they recognize in Yhwh, a god who discerns the motives and attitudes of the heart and mind when adjudicating truth.

With thoughtless ceremony they offer a response I solemnly swear

You can’t handle the truth

At least the general understood the gravity of taking an oath.

The use of an oath was originally a way of cursing yourself
if the statement was false or if the commitment was not acted upon

Jesus says this is how it works

Do not swear at all:
by heaven, --- for it is God's throne;
by the earth, --- for it is his footstool;
by Jerusalem, --- for it is the city of the Great King.
by your head, --- for you cannot make even one hair white or black

Every oath of truthfulness you make implicates God
Don’t go there

Well, then you say I have a problem
How will people know that I am telling the truth?
What am I to do when I am a witness in court?
What about those legal documents that sometimes need to “be sworn”

Jesus answer was not all that complicated.

Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37

How novel, let you yes be yes and your no, no.
Say what you mean and mean what you say

Jesus saw through the common practice of certifying ones truthfulness by appeal to the power of God
He saw that it was filled with problems

The first was obvious
It to often was a careless treatment of God
It didn’t take God seriously
Essentially it misused the name of God
It truly became swearing
A careless use of gods name
Or more truthfully a disrespect for Jehovah, The living God

The second part of taking an oath is not as obvious until pointed out
Then it is shockingly clear.

If you have to swear an oath to certify your truthfulness it implies that at other times your word is suspect.

In other words
Swearing an oath raises suspicion concerning the depth of your commitment to the truth and to promise keeping

Jesus said

Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No';

James the disciple who reminds us of the power of the tongue also reminds us

Above all brothers and sisters, do not swear--not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned. James 5:12

Sound familiar?

Now, an oath in court may have a certain amount of gravity, but what about all the other ways we use “oaths”
Both careless and intentional

The scribes and the Pharisee where a professional association of religious lawyers
They held God’s law in high esteem
Even if they sometimes forgot to hold god in high esteem

Over time they developed quite hierarchy of vouching for their words
Some oaths where quite serious
Others where casual
And eventually swearing became a flippant and careless part of conversation

Oaths, had the effect of punctuation a coma or exclamation mark
A meaningless contribution to conversation

Please read the commandment with me

You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

And Jesus said

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all:

Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

Now you might ask
How can I make the point that I am telling the truth

Its not that difficult really
Just say I affirm that as a follower of Jesus I am always truthful
My words are not careless and I do not need to drag God into this to defend the honor of my words
I am truthful

Some of us have had to testify in court
Or “swear” a document
Or be “sworn” into office

There is gravity to these events
We take seriously the commitments we are about to make.
And are careful about the words we say

But how about the rest of the time?
What about our casual speech?

As a kid, my dad made it very clear to me
No one and nothing is holy except God and God alone
No cow, no smoke, and not Toledo

And the exclamations we make that are based on the name of Jesus; he did a pretty good job of eradicating them from my vocabulary.

If swearing an oath is out because it calls into question my everyday truthfulness as a follower of Jesus
Then the careless use of God’s name, and character is also out of the question,
Let’s call it what it is – profanity.

If you want a story about the danger of oath taking and the seriousness of invoking God as your witness

Remember Peter… the disciple
As Jesus was being interrogated before his crucifixion
Peter was accused of being a follower, or even accomplice to the work of Jesus
Three times denying his association with Jesus
Peter falls back into the trap of cultural habit

It says “he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know the man”
At that moment the cock crowed

Peter remembered what Jesus said and he went out and wept bitterly.

Life is pretty much the same 2000 years after Jesus said let your yes be yes, and your no no

People still speak out of both sides of their mouth
Deceit, be it a little white lie
Or a with holding of the truth
Or a bald faced deception

Deceit is as common to you and me
as it has been to all of humanity at all times

And regarding cursing
a profound carelessness with the holy
has filled our vocabulary with profanity
cursing uses the name and character of god in a way that brings judgment and with judgment a just sentence

in this matter I would prefer God’s grace rather than by my speech invoke his judgment

Jesus was fed up with it then
And I am convinced that Jesus is fed up with it now

And so he suggests a different way

Let your yes be yes and you no, no
Say what you mean and mean what you say

This is the way we have applied it as a church
This is what we have agree to in our confession of faith

Because Christ forbids the swearing of oaths, we simply affirm the truth in legal transactions. Believers do not participate in secret societies which demand the swearing of oaths or which otherwise conflict with a Christian’s allegiance to Christ and the church. At all times believers are called to live as faithful witnesses in the world, rejecting pressures which threaten to compromise Christian integrity.
Article 12, Confession of Faith
Imagine this kind of life

Jesus teaching has the effect of changing the life of every believer into a parable for use by God
Holy living is notable for how different it is

It isn’t odd, it isn’t prudish, it isn’t weird
But it is unusual enough that it turns your life and mine into a parable
It takes “normal” practice and turns it on its head.

In essence our lives become parables
Stories that grab peoples attention
Not by shock value, or offence
But rather by the power of unquestionable truthfulness
Not an appeal to God by swearing on his name
But rather an affiliation with the God of truth
who establishes our truthfulness
as a mark that his kingdom is coming on earth as it is in heaven.

Why is this so extraordinary?

Quite simply because our human relationships are built on the lie

Ever since Adam and eve and the serpent
We have abandon free speech
We have abandon complete candor with each other and with God

The sign of death in our day is the curse
And our careless disrespect for God

The sign of death in our day to day living is the lie
Sometimes we call it advertising other times disinformation
Either way its pretense

The extent we have accepted this as commonplace is sad
Sadder still we do not even hold ourselves as disciples to a higher standard
Our speech has been corrupted by the lie, the power of darkness

Jesus on the other hand said, let your yes be yes and your no no
As a child of God, truthfulness is you character and identity
Don’t play the old game
Jesus changed the rules

And the Holy Spirit has filled us and empowered us to live lives free of
Free of the curse
And free of cursing

Free of the lie
And free of lying

On my own
On your own
Its not possible
But with God empowering us
It is the new normal

Christians do not need a warranty on their words.

Lets end with a couple of stories about words
A parables for our times

Laura worked in the same office as her brother-in-law Rick

Rick was a Christian, and Laura was not

The power of Rick’s words made a difference in the way Laura saw Jesus

Those of you in sales know that there are clients you dread

One day a call comes to the office for Laura and Rick answers the phone
He knew that this would not make her day
And as he covered the receiver she said “Tell him I’m not here”

Rick passed on the message and lied for Laura.

Latter he came back to her and told her how badly he felt for lying and that he wouldn’t cover for her by lying again

Somewhat surprised and rather impressed
Laura latter told her sister
That’s what did it
That’s when I knew his faith made a difference
Rick’s honesty and truthfulness pointed her towards Jesus
A living parable in the hands of Jesus
The way the truth and the life

Pastor Doug told me about someone who went to court to debate a speeding ticket
He said he wasn’t going as fast as the ticket suggested
The prosecuting attorney asked
That may be, but where you exceeding the speeding limit at all

Yes said the man, I was going a few km over the speed limit

Latter the attorney approached him
I knew I had you the moment you “solemnly affirmed’
Because I knew you would answer me honestly
People who swear on the bible to tell the truth are not as trustworthy


Jesus taught that swearing is unnecessary, irreverent, and ineffective in that it does not really change anything. The critical issue is truthful speech.

When we live out Jesus teaching your life and my life becomes a parable for use in God’s hands

As followers of Jesus
We have a fine house
Teaching constructed thoughtfully
A Weather tight dwelling of faith
And comfortably furnished to, don’t you think?

Our lives are the front porch our neighbors get to see.
Is your paint peeling?
Am I looking a little shabby?
Has dry rot made us a hazard?

Would Jesus, if he where to look up from the bills
Say with some determination – the porch has got to go

Or would Jesus find himself sitting comfortably on the porch
Inviting the neighbors to come over and take a look at his workmanship
A comfortable and attractive entry to his teaching

The front porch to this (raise bible) teaching
The living parables attached to Matthew 5:33-37
Are your lives and mine
When we say what we mean and mean what we say