Murderous Intentions

[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/sermon-murderous.mp3[/podcast]   Last week I left you with this thought: Faith comes from not just pretending to do, but actually doing faith. I want your life to be transformed by the power of God that establishes the kingdom of heaven right here right now and do something amazing with the power of God residing within you. When you think you can’t, I want you think about this passage in the Book of Philippians that Paul writes about when he is finding himself between rocks and hard places, when he knows the kingdom of God is here and he can’t see it or experience it: Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith… – Philippians 3:8-9. Today, I want to jump where we left off in Matthew 5. Let’s go to verse 21, right now. ²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. ²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there 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 to them; then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. (Matthew 5:21-26) Does anybody know somebody, when that person gets angry, it feels like death? I mean, just, you’re afraid that the person who got angry might come out and kill somebody? Does anybody know somebody like that? I am talking about like super irrational anger. Like, you spill a cup of water on the kitchen floor and you get punched in the face type of anger. Angry Birds anybody? Like have you ever watched the intro for angry birds? Pigs steal their eggs and they go commit suicide trying to kill the pigs instead of trying to get their eggs back? How irrational is that? I was at the supermarket the other day, and first of all, it’s rare that I go there. But when I do, I’m there for the experience. Sometimes when I want to witness the goodness of God and the fallenness of humanity, I go there and just watch the people live out their humanity in a glorified refrigerator. Anyways, I was at the supermarket the other day and you know those shopping carts, when you get too close, you can roll the back side of the ankle with the bar that holds the front two wheels together. Well, there was this old lady pushing this cart and I don’t know if it was an accident or on purpose, but she love taps this gargantuan beast of a human being. You know when I’m saying that, the dude was huge, he had to have been because I’m saying he was gargantuan. It’s one thing if Amy, Sarah and Esther say the person was gargantuan because they’re tiny, but if I’m saying, the guy must have been at least in the range of Andre the Giant. And if it were me, I would have turned around and waited for an apology and moved on with my life. But this guy, this guy, just lit into this old lady with his mouth. OMG, it’s like he doesn’t have his own mom. The things that came out of his mouth, it was just simply embarrassing and filthy. Just thinking about it makes me feel bad. There were mixes of curses in there that I’ve never heard of in any language and in those combinations. It was nuts. Of course I didn’t say anything, I’m just watching it (which makes me a worse human being, but that’s a story for another day). It was like WOW! Finally some employees of the store come over to see the commotion and try to break it up because nobody wants to shop with all that negativity in the air. But the point is clear: wanting to kill somebody and actually killing somebody are worlds apart, but the intention is all the same. Let’s look at verse 22. Look at what Jesus says exactly, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” If you don’t know what “Raca” it means, “worthless.”  Jesus says, let’s forget about murdering somebody because not a lot of people will go as far as murder somebody. He says, that’s not how you apply this law. You apply this law by thinking of somebody who you never wanted in your life because of what they do or don’t do and wishing it upon them. Jesus tells them that rash anger is heart-murder. For example, have you ever wished your sibling to just disappear? That’s the example Jesus is giving. Maybe you’re sitting out there wishing other people would just disappear from your life. You call them, “raca” or “worthless.” That’s exactly what they are to you. Jesus says, that’s the same as murder. You murdered them in your heart. Write this down: You will be judged on both intentions and actions. Let’s look at verse 23 now: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” It’s interesting isn’t it? It’s almost like Jesus is saying, well we’re all going to do this because we’re all going to get mad one day and wish the worst thing for people. It’s true and if you disagree you’re a liar because we’ve all done it. I bet some of us even said it to our parents—“I wish you were dead.” Yeah, I know it’s true. But just says, in that moment, go and fix the relationship.  A lot of us will never fix that relationship. We’ll be mad at somebody and wish them to die and live that way the rest of our lives not knowing why. Ask people who got divorced, or broke up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, why they broke up or got divorced, and they’ll tell you that there are just things that can’t be fixed in a relationship. It has everything to do with wishing somebody out of another person’s life as it does with making mistakes or making horrible decisions. You’ll understand that later. Verse 23 also teaches us another thing: Our relationship with God is reflected by how we treat others. It’s absolutely true. You think God wants you to wish death and murder on everybody you meet this week and be angry, then come to church on a Sunday and pretend everything is okay? You think God is going to hear that prayer? You think God even cares about that fakeness? Of course not. Jesus indicates that when we damage our relationships with others, we damage our relationship with God, leading to eternal punishment. A man who beats his wife, a woman who continually ridicules her husband, and a thousand other concrete examples could illustrate the principle. We must profess our faith with our lives as well as with our lips. We judge by what we can see of a person’s actions; God evaluates the heart’s motivation. Some can act more moral by society’s standards because it is to their advantage to do so, but this behavior does not necessarily imply that their hearts are purer than those with less social incentive to behave morally. I want to go to our memory verse for this week coming from Romans 13:9. It says, “The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Here’s what this means and maybe you got the point. Loving your neighbor is not just faking good to him or her on the outside, it means living with that love on the inside. Are you loving your neighbors on the inside or just giving lip service on the outside?