Monday, February 10, 2014

“Living a True Righteousness” Matthew 5.13–20, Epiphany 5A, Feb. ‘14


1.          Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.  AmenIn our Gospel lesson from Matthew today Jesus warns us that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20), but He also calls His imperfect people “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14). That’s because Jesus came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets “but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17) in perfect faith and love. Since He does and teaches all of God’s commandments, He’s “called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19).  And through the cross and the empty tomb Jesus gives this perfect righteousness to us His people.  The message is entitled, “Living a True Righteousness,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.         Here in Matthew 5:18-20 Jesus demands a perfect righteousness for His people.  He wants us to live in a true righteousness.  Listen to what He says, 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
3.         Jesus upholds every letter of the Law.  These days, we’re getting W-2s, 1099s—or 1099-INTs or 1099-DIVs or1099-DIV SUBSTITUTES—1098s, in the mail. Which means we’ll soon start assembling deductions, exclusions, exemptions, seeing if we qualify for any credits. It’s complicated! A few years ago a billionaire businessman by the name of Steve Forbes was running for president, and he proposed a flat tax to replace the whole federal income tax structure: Here’s how much you made, now pay 17 %. Simple. The problem, critics say, is that it’s not that simple. It won’t work. At least not at a rate that low.
4.         In our text from Matthew 5 Jesus is trying to show that the law teachers and the Pharisees couldn’t be saved by what they did.  The law teachers were Israelites who interpreted and made laws and tried hard to live righteously according to them.  The Pharisees were an Israelite sect that zealously attempted to keep the law.  Both were proud of their own righteousness.  Their fellow Israelites considered them super-righteous.  But, their own righteousness was flawed with sin (Matthew 23) and far short of the perfection God requires.  Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, 48You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were zealous to establish their own righteousness, not knowing the righteousness that comes from God (Rom 10:2–3).  They didn’t submit to God’s righteousness, and were found lacking for salvation, deserving death.  If they couldn’t be saved, who can? No one is saved by his or her own righteousness.
5.         Some people would like to simplify what God has to say. Some just flat out deny the truth of certain teachings of Scripture: Creation didn’t happen in six days. The Red Sea didn’t really part. Jesus wasn’t really born of a virgin. Others deny that certain teachings of Scripture still apply today: God’s word that only men may be pastors was relevant in the first century but not in the twenty-first. More often, people simplify God’s Word by ignoring passages that seem a little too tough when temptation strikes: “Those words about adultery, sex before marriage, or divorce can’t really apply to me. Everybody else is doing it. We’re really in love; we’re going to get married. There’s no romance anymore; we shouldn’t stay married.”   The problem, Jesus says, is that it won’t work, hear Him say again in Matthew 5, “Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not [one jot or tittle] will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” (vv 18–19a)  Anything that lowers God’s standards won’t work.  17% of keeping of the Law won’t work. Neither will 97%.  But God doesn’t want any of us to be lost, but all to be saved (Ezek 18:23, 32; 1 Tim 2:4), and He has his own way to accomplish that.
5.         That’s why Jesus shows us here in Matthew 5 that to live in a true righteousness is to have it fulfilled in Him.  Jesus says in Matthew 5:17, 17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  As a true human being, Jesus put himself under his own law. To redeem us and all humankind, who were under the law (Gal 4:4–5; 1 Pet 3:18), Jesus, the righteous one, joined all of us who are unrighteous.  He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets perfectly, establishing a perfect righteousness (Rom 5:15–19).   Our own righteousness won’t do (Rom 3:10–12; Ezek 33:12). It falls short and is tainted with sin (Phil 3:4–8; Is 64:6), making us unable ever to enter the kingdom of heaven (1 Cor 6:9).  We need God’s perfect righteousness, which surpasses that of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. We obtain it as a gift through faith in Jesus (Rom 5:1, 2, 17; 10:4; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:4–9).


6.         As we live in a true righteousness, that is in Jesus Christ our Lord, Jesus says that we have righteousness to share with those around us.  In Matthew 5 He says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (vv 13–14, 16)  That’s not optional; it’s a command. We must be salt to season the world around us. We may not start tasting like the rest of the world. We must let our light shine—live like Christ, speak of Christ. We may not blend in. We must obey every letter of the Law. Jesus doesn’t give us the slightest leeway.  If it weren’t Jesus speaking, we’d probably think this was the worst kind of legalism. Pay attention to every tiny detail of the Law.
7.         On the other hand, Paul knows nothing except Christ crucified in 1 Cor. 2:1-2 he says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  Paul says the cross is the whole message. Sounds as if Paul would have done great children’s messages—nothing fancy, always simple, and the answer to every question would be “Jesus died on the cross for our sins.” We say it every Sunday: Jesus died on the cross to save sinners. Jesus died for you. Jesus’ death saves me. Is that really all we’re supposed to preach every Sunday? Is it possible that says it all?  Know that Jesus was crucified for you, really know it in faith, and you’re in. That’s what Paul says, right?
8.         Yeah, but is that what Jesus said? “Until heaven and earth pass away, not [one jot or tittle] will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Sounds as if Paul is guilty of reducing God’s Word to a few simple things, maybe one thing, like the cross of Christ, and then anything else goes: do whatever you want, live however you want, deny any other part of the Bible, especially that the Law is binding on Christians today.  It sure sounds as if Paul is contradicting Jesus, doesn’t it? How can the two be reconciled? The answer: . . . Christ crucified is the fulfillment of every letter of the Law.
9.         Proclaiming Christ crucified proclaims the whole Law. The cross shows how binding the Law is. That’s the Son of God hanging up there! That’s God the Father turning his own Son over to hell and damnation over one piece of fruit eaten in a garden long ago. Over one thoughtless word spoken yesterday. Over one word that should be spoken tomorrow to tell someone about Jesus, but won’t be. The cross shows that God’s standard can never be lowered. One 100% compliance—that’s it! No excuses. In Christ crucified we see that every transgression of every letter of the Law must and will be punished—and to the full extent of the Law.  This is why living in a true righteousness has to come through faith in our Lord Jesus who died on the cross for us.
10.       Knowing Jesus and Him crucified is knowing that the whole Law has been fulfilled: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (v 17). The full extent of the Law has been executed! Christ has been crucified! The demands of every jot and tittle have been met. Every letter has been fulfilled. Not by us, but for us.  Jesus is no legalist. He’s not driving us to keep the Law. He’s promising to do it for us. Paul was no Gospel reductionist. He wasn’t dismissing the importance of every other word of Scripture, including every demand of the Law. He was proclaiming them all when he said “Christ crucified.”  This is why we have our Lutheran schools.  We want to teach the whole counsel of God in our Lutheran grade schools and at our own Christ our Savior Lutheran High School so that our young people know what it means that Jesus is their righteousness.  That to be a Christian isn’t simply to follow a set of rules day by day and so earn God’s favor, that’s religion.  No, to be a Christian is to live in the righteousness of Jesus.  It’s knowing that we can’t achieve God’s favor on our own, that’s why Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  But, now that Jesus dwells within us and has given us His righteousness, we can be salt and light to the world to show others Jesus in our lives through our words and actions.  This is what our Lutheran schools are teaching our children and why they are so important. 
11.       Jesus teaches us that we don’t, mustn’t, can’t diminish the demands to let our lights shine, to be salt of the earth. It’s just that when we’re knowing Christ and him crucified, really knowing him, we will be fulfilling the Law too and living in a true righteousness that comes through Jesus. The more we know the one thing Paul knew, the more we’ll love doing everything the Law demands.  Paul was neither a poor student nor a bad teacher. Quite the contrary. So beautifully did he learn the whole message of God that he was able to teach it all in one phrase: Jesus Christ and him crucified.  Amen.




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