May 28, 2006 · Matthew 5:37

Matthew 5:33-37

“I pray that we'll stand apart from society. I pray that we won't make frivolous oaths and promises. I pray that we'll simply let our yes be yes and our no be no. I pray God will help us take responsibility for our tongues. I pray that we'll see the damage that we cause ourselves, our community, the holy name of God. When we are not people who are known for keeping the word. When we're just like everyone else, when our word means nothing. Finally, this is probably my last point, and the probably the point that drove home the hardest into my own life when I was reading through this passage. I started thinking about oath making and God, and how my life of oaths works in relationship to God. I think I've learned something really important about our relationships to God in this passage. See, if we follow Jesus' teaching, it opens up a whole new way of relating to God. In the past, the only way of relating to God was make it oath to Him and then either keep it or break it. Oh, follow the law of Moses. Keep an oath. People would swear to God to do or not to do something. But keep the laws and that was the relationship with God. Unfortunately, I still think many of us here, including myself, are often stuck in that position. We continue on that same path of relationship with God. It's all about oaths. How many times in my life have I looked to Heavens and said something God, if you would just give me a wife, for example, I swear to you I will live right, and then boom, beautiful, red-haired wife. Then too much time and joy, forget about God.”