Mission Objectives: Matthew 5: 17-48
After placing the mission right in front of us, Jesus moves to a point of explanation for all the religious thinkers in his audience. It seems like he has just rewritten the how to manual for getting into Heaven. The rule book did not call for the Beautiful Attitudes followed by a deep acceptance of Christ to save and then a call to reach others with the same message. The rule book had a lot of traditional ways to connect with God and get your sins forgiven. A you-must-do-this list was not what God intended, Christ tries to explain in Matthew 5:17-20 the real intent of His message. Christ is emphatically saying He did not come to rewrite Jewish religion. Christ is saying He believes in and follows the Old Testament law; however, he understands it better than the teachers of the law...so listen up. The key verses are in 19-20 Once believers we are believers...we are secured into the Kingdom of Heaven because of Christ….great and least...these are not salvation oriented phrases rather they are inclusionary to the Kingdom. Follow the commandments but the commandments are not what secures your place in Heaven. Our actions can not get us there...verse 20… Michael J Wilkins in a commentary on Matthew says that Jesus is pushing for an inside out transformation rather than an external transformation by actions only. Looking toward those who are not in the Kingdom (unbelievers), to get to Heaven your righteousness must be greater than the greatest examples on earth. Say what? (very high inflection) This was an impossible task. Or so it seems….Wilkins suggests that Christ is not calling for a greater quantity of righteousness rather a different kind and quality of righteousness. D.A.Carson...the righteousness demanded by Jesus surpasses anything imagined by the Pharisee. Christ’s way is more challenging and more demanding than any legal system can ever be. The change must be an inner change. A justification, sanctification and regeneration by grace through faith in the work of Christ not the works of man. Being a good person will not get you to Heaven. You see more law will not make us more moral. So the mission has been assigned to us...to be witnesses of the Kingdom through word and deed...to be witness to this extreme challenge of obedience and righteousness….What Is the Mission Objective? The mission objective is to have a change of heart...to love others because Christ loves not because of another's actions. The next section is called the antithesis (section 21-47) First the HEART OF THE MATTER Jesus juxtaposes murder with anger, calling another “empty-headed”, and calling another a fool. In doing so, according to Carson, Jesus by his own authority insists that the judgement thought to be reserved for the actual murderer in reality hangs over the wrathful, the spiteful, the the contemptuous. Radical counter cultural thought...what is usually conducted inside our heads can actually condemn us. Our thoughts are as devastating as our actions…”for out of the mouth comes the desires of the heart.” How do we fix this? Rush to get it right...rush to seek forgiveness, rush to mend relationships. Rush to be the one that says I am sorry. Christ continues his explanation of the importance of motive as well as action with adultery…It is not enough to maintain physical purity we must also maintain spiritual purity. His words are very harsh and violent. But he is not suggesting to seriously pluck out an eye...he is calling for those in the Kingdom to hate sin with a deep intensity resulting in the death of sin in our lives. Col 3:5 put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature….sexual Immorality...lust...etc… The heart is what matters. If our heart is right, if our heart is focused on God then we can achieve the mission, we can be the salt and light of the world. The first mission objective is to get our heart right. To get our heart less focused on selfish ambition and more focused on connecting with God. Second is commitment. While the details of a biblical perspective concerning divorce does not soley reside in this passage, we will not go into full detail of the ins and outs of divorce here. However, let me begin by saying that in Jesus' day divorce was becoming more and more acceptable. The Pharisees had written some adjustments to Jewish law to allow for more divorces. And people began to get divorces in unprecedented numbers….sound familiar? The root of the matter is, back to the character of the Kingdom, salt and light in this world. God designed for the union to be between one man and one woman...let no man separate...there is no time frame…
The third mission objective is Honesty This is almost self explanatory but it must be stated.. Some people try every avenue possible to get out of a problem….my dog ate my homework...I didn't do what you asked because I couldn't hear you...I forgot our anniversary because I am so madly in love with you I get sidetracked with anticipation of seeing you today. But we end our explanation with I promise or I swear. If we have to say I promise, we have gone wrong somewhere. We Christians claim to have the truth and to follow him who is the truth, thus truth must be in us all. We cannot stoop to story telling nor embellishment. Light permeates the darkness only when it is seeded in truth. The third mission objective cannot be put on a shelf nor diminished in anyway. How can we be the messengers of the gospel and yet be untrustworthy?
The world is filled with selfish, pleasure seeking, ambitious people who desire nothing more than to please themselves. Christ’s call is to go above and beyond the norm of acceptable behavior when helping others.This simply cannot be the case….let some one hit you? Take clothes from you? Take money from you? Force you to walk a mile?...you are to let them? Wilkins suggests that this saltiness is centered around the example of Christ giving all that he had even himself on the cross. Carson suggests that this passage is about personal self-sacrifice not right and wrongs. Christ personal sacrificed so to should the believer. Servant-hood displays the love of the Kingdom like no other light! Giving when it is at a cost to you, rising above the required job description, failing to retaliate when someone has offended you….what better way to shed light in the darkness than to display personal self sacrifice just as Jesus did on the cross...the way of the cross is filled with Character… The final mission objective is love. Character of the Kingdom is found in no greater place than here...love. Love your neighbor and hate your enemy was the rule of the day. Outsiders beware. Permeating our culture today is hatred and anger toward anyone that is different from us. Hatred toward those that look different, talk differently, have different interests/hobbies/talents. Yes we can be nice people who have good relationships with those around us...but are we challenging ourselves to become better people if we are always around those that are like us? Is it really that difficult to be a good person around those with whom we are most comfortable? Loving those that are different from, those that treat us harshly, those that belittle and defame us...asks us to rely on Christ’s love in us I order that we love others….. Christ died for us while we claimed we didn't believe, while we mocked and jeered and defamed his character. Character of e Kingdom is to love despite what is done to us...to love despite the cost…. Character of the Kingdom is to love….. Meeting the final objective will help us meet all of our objectives….we can have focused heart...focus on the things that matter...we can be committed because our love is not resting on the actions of another but in the already accomplished actions of Christ...we be honest because true love never lies...we can be servants because a true servant loves his master and obeys his master's commands. Stay tuned...tomorrow we will discuss Mission Accomplished (verse 48) - Perfection! Yesterday we discussed the norms of the Kingdom, the characteristics of a believer not in practice per say rather character in the moments before the realization of God’s redemption for our sin filled life. And in doing so we are gifted with the Kingdom Of Heaven. Today we go a step further.….what happens when we become believers. What does our life look like? Our life has a mission/purpose! |