Matthew 5:21-26

We are going to pick things up this morning in verse 21 of Matthew 5. If you can have that open, that would be great.

! I asked Paul to read the whole chapter, though, so that we could be reminded that we're landing into a sermon.

This is a sermon that Jesus has preached, and we're jumping in, as it were, and we'll do the same with the next section this evening.

Do come back for that if you can, but it gives us context and it helps us to remember that we're not just having this

sort of separate sermon on a topic. Well, I think you'll agree, life is noisy.

There's traffic all around us. We put earphones in a lot of the time. There's background music in shops,

in lifts, wherever you go there's always noise, and many of us have busy homes that are noisy.

And we're surrounded by distractions wherever we turn. Advertising boards, I noticed in the warm-up games for the Rugby World Cup.

It may have been happening before, but I only noticed it yesterday that not only do they now have advertising hoardings around the edge,

but they move while the game is going on. And there's distractions even if you're trying to play an international rugby match.

Television, lots of us, we walk into the living room and the first thing we do is put the TV on,

regardless of what is on. It's on in the background. It's there. It's distracting all the time.

We've got, of course, then, our phones.

It seems like we can't put them down. Do you ever think, I say this maybe particularly, well, this is true for all of us,

but teenagers, why is it when we're sitting with our family or we're travelling on a bus or we have any down time at all,

we lift our phone. We check, we check, we check all the time.

I'll tell you why, because they're designed to make us do that.

The little hit that you get when you hear the ping in your head, that little hit of dopamine,

that's addictive, and that's why you do it.

We're distracted. Life is distracting.

So, being present is difficult.

So many of us, so much of the time, are trying to do many different things at once.

We're on our phone. We're talking to people.

Who among us isn't when we're on a phone, put it on speaker, respond to emails?

You know you do it.

And so on and so on.

If being present is difficult, taking time to have a good, hard look at ourselves is almost impossible.

Do you, I wonder, ever take time to examine why you think and act the way you do?

Why you want the stuff that you want?

Where those desires come from?

Why those activities, those actions are a pattern in your life?

Do you stop to consider what kind of person you actually really are?

I'm not talking about the self-obsession that our culture wants us to have.

I'm talking about what the 16th century French novelist, Michel de Montaigne,

cut short a successful career in order to devote himself to.

That is, he felt that his struggle for internal depth and personal mastery,

that is, becoming a substantial person and being in control of his appetites and desires,

he gave up his lucrative career in order to devote himself to that,

put everything else aside in order to give himself to that pursuit.

He said this,

Everyone can play his part in the farce.

The farce was what he described life as.

Everyone can play his part in the farce and act an honest role on the stage.

But to be disciplined within, in one's own breast,

where all is permissible and all is concealed.

Isn't that an interesting way to put it?

In our hearts, it's as if everything is possible, but it's hidden.

We can put on a front on the outside.

We can play our part in the farce.

And what we really think in there, well, we can think whatever we like, but it's hidden.

He said that's the point.

Montaigne knew that the inner self was the true self.

That is, the real you on the inside.

Not the person that you put on a front to show outside, the outside world,

but the inner self is the true self.

And so it was that person that he wanted to discipline and to change.

And to do that, he had to face up to things that were uncomfortable to admit.

He said this,

If others examine themselves attentively, as I do,

they would find themselves, as I do, so full of inanity and nonsense.

Boys and girls, inanity is just daftness.

Daftness and nonsense.

When we think about the inner life, we think daft things, don't we?

We feel nonsensical things.

That's true for all of us.

Boys and girls, that's true for you.

It's true for grownups.

Inanity and nonsense.

Well, as we come back to the Sermon on the Mount this morning,

Jesus is forcing us to look inside,

to consider our inner person.

And in doing this, he is making us face up to things that are going to make us uncomfortable.

We heard him say last time, very plainly, that the life of blessing,

the life of flourishing that he has come to bring in his kingdom,

doesn't rest on him abolishing the law and the prophets.

He has not come to abolish the Old Testament, but to fulfill it.

And in these examples from the Torah and from the life of Israel,

you have heard it said.

He's talking about what they've been told in the context of the life of Israel.

He explains what this actually means,

what it means to live out the law in the context of the Christian life.

He's not contradicting the law.

It's not a case that the law said this, but I tell you this.

You heard it said this in the law, but I tell you something different.

No.

It's like he's reaching back into the law

and drawing out the deepest significance of what is there.

Well, it's also challenging how the religious leaders of the day had misrepresented it.

You have heard it said by this group of religious leaders.

They missed the point.

I'm going to take you to the heart of the issue, but I tell you.

And this searches our hearts.

Indeed, God's law has always functioned in that way.

The point of the Ten Commandments was never just do these things outwardly.

Don't worry about your heart.

Quite the opposite.

We could say when he talks about the law and the prophets,

that phrase that encapsulates the whole Old Testament,

we could say that the law was always about the heart,

but also when the prophets came and proclaimed to the people of God,

calling them back to obedience,

the obedience that he was calling them back to,

that they were calling them back to, the people back to,

was a heart obedience.

Not a merely external religious performative thing,

but a wholehearted devotion to the Lord.

God has always cared about the inner person.

It is the truest expression of who you are.

And as Jesus takes this up in this next section of the sermon,

the first thing that he addresses as we shift uncomfortably in our seats,

we don't like having to go and focus on these things,

is anger.

Verse 21.

You have heard that it was said to those of old,

you shall not murder,

and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council,

and whoever says,

you fool,

will be liable to the hell of fire.

Strong words.

Here's our first point.

Anger is a capital crime.

Anger is a capital crime.

Everyone would have agreed that God's law clearly prohibits murder,

and that there was a penalty for doing it.

But Jesus explains that it isn't enough simply to not physically murder someone,

but the anger that expresses itself in insults and vindictive name-calling,

verse 22,

are part and parcel of that same spiritual sickness.

There is more than one way to murder someone.

Now, clearly, Jesus doesn't mean that there's absolutely no difference

between insulting someone and stabbing them.

Obviously, there's a big difference.

Not all sins are equally serious in one sense.

He simply means that angry insults share the same DNA as murder,

because both activities are rooted in the same hatred of other people.

And we need to talk about anger.

Whether it's social media,

ranting,

or road rage,

or people going on the rampage with guns,

or just the general,

under the surface,

bubbling away that we have in our culture.

There is a lot of anger upon.

Now, sometimes it can be amusing

when you see Basil Fawlty losing it

and whacking his car with the branch of a tree.

That clip on YouTube hasn't been watched millions of times

because it isn't funny.

It is.

It's very funny.

Some comedians,

their whole shtick is angry ranting.

The Welsh comedian Rod Gilbert,

he's hilarious.

And it's all,

the way he does his thing is he starts a story

and he gets more and more angry as he goes through.

And at the end,

there's saliva flying out of his mouth as he rants.

And it is very funny.

But it's important that we don't think that that's okay

when it's placed into the context of everyday life.

What are we prone to do with anger?

Well, lots of cases we play it down.

So there's an outburst of some kind,

maybe at home.

Perhaps we've yelled or we've thrown something

or we've had a fight with somebody

and that's got all of the,

it's kind of blown it out of our system.

And we look around at the people that are cowering,

whether it's our siblings or our spouse,

and we say,

what's wrong with you?

Wasn't that bad?

Very sensitive.

We play it down.

Wasn't that bad?

Well, we try and justify it.

We're good at that.

Often we feel sheepish

because of something we've said or done.

We realize that in that explosion,

we did the wrong thing.

And we say,

listen, I only reacted like that

because you dot, dot, dot.

We justify it.

We also just deny it outright, don't we?

Someone says something cheeky or smart,

and you're just not in the mood,

and you just think,

I am.

Or your expectation goes unmet.

That's where it normally happens.

You're tired.

You want some peace.

And someone cuts across that expectation

of peace and relaxation,

and you don't show it outwardly.

You don't do this with your mouth, maybe?

But inwardly,

you're simmering with resentment.

Are you cross?

No.

Everything's fine.

I'm all right.

Everything's okay.

We just deny it.

Sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

The Romans,

the ancient Romans,

had a saying that described anger

as a brief madness.

Doesn't it feel like that sometimes?

We think to ourselves,

I don't know what came over me.

When the red mist has gone

and we've settled down,

we think to ourselves,

where did that come from?

I came into the room

in a perfectly good mood.

Where did that come from?

It was a brief madness.

The truth is,

we probably know people,

we might be those people ourselves

for whom this madness

actually isn't that brief.

Their lives always seem

to find the way to conflict.

So, whether we're laughing at it,

playing it down,

justifying it,

or suppressing it,

the truth is that we know

that anger is a problem.

Because we know,

when we're honest with ourselves,

as David Powlison says,

quote,

in real life,

anger is the reaction

that incinerates marriages

and disintegrates families.

It energizes gossip

and guns down classmates.

It divides churches.

It turns friendship to enmity

and erupts in rude rage.

It is the stuff of every form

of grievance and bitterness.

And then on top of all that,

Jesus tells us,

verse 22,

that unchecked,

it will incur the same judgment

as murder.

Anger is way more serious

than most of us assume.

So, we must allow Jesus

to get under our skin here

and to confront us

on this matter.

Now, I'm sure

that part of this,

part of the problem,

is living in an angry city.

Car horns,

angry hand-waving,

and signals,

shouting,

yelling,

those things are going on

around us in a city

like London all the time.

The busyness

and the intensity

of a place like London

draws impatience

out of people.

It draws anger

to the surface.

And what that means

is that for us,

we're existing

in this context

all the time,

and it means then

that it's more normal.

We just think

that's how things are.

And when you think

that's just how things are,

you become immune to them.

You go,

ah, that's just how it is.

It also means,

it's not just that it's normal

and we tolerate it,

but it also means

that there are plenty

of worse examples

for us to compare ourselves to.

So we say,

well, I might have exploded there.

I might have just blown up

about that situation,

but at least I'm not like that.

I haven't ventured

into knife crime yet.

So,

we're in a particularly

difficult context

to address this issue.

We need to work hard

to look within.

We need to call

what we see in there

what it is.

So our first instinct

is always to try

and explain it away,

to do those things,

to play it down,

to deny it,

to blame shift,

whatever it might be.

But Jesus says here,

nothing about fault.

Did you notice that?

He is interested in the heart.

So let's admit our anger

when we see it

and let's root it out

in repentance.

And because of what we've said

about it being normal

and because we've other examples

that we can pass away

and kind of justify

our anger with,

and because we are

so easily self-deceived,

it's true, isn't it,

that we can see

other people's sins

much more clearly

than we can see our own.

We need each other.

We need each other

in the context of the church

to help us.

Even suppressed anger

is obvious to those

who know us well.

So we need to welcome

the clear sight of others

to remind us

how perilous it is

to harbor bitterness,

to cultivate animosity,

to let resentment

grow towards others,

even those who have wronged us.

Because the stakes are too high

to just ignore it.

Everyone,

Jesus says,

who is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment.

Now,

in the interest of health and safety,

a word on process.

I am not suggesting

that you try and confront

the person

when the red mist has fallen.

It doesn't matter

how right or well-meaning you are.

When that person

is all steamed up

in the moment,

it's best probably

to get out of the way

rather than to open

Matthew 5

and point at this passage.

But do choose

a suitable time

and do have a word.

They need you to.

We need you to.

Because

unchecked anger

is a capital crime.

Jesus doesn't just leave it there.

In the verses that follow,

he moves from the negative

to the positive.

The two are bound together.

They're linked.

If we aren't

to engage

in physical

or verbal murder,

we are

to be committed

to reconciliation.

That's our second point.

If murder

is a capital crime,

point number two,

reconciliation

is a Christian characteristic.

Reconciliation

is a Christian characteristic.

The examples

that Jesus uses here

illustrate the point

in two ways.

We are to pursue

reconciliation,

first of all,

actively.

So,

verse 23,

if you are offering

your gift at the altar

and there remember

that your brother

has something against you,

leave your gift there

before the altar

and go.

First be reconciled

to your brother

and then come

and offer your gift.

Jesus pictures

the man or woman

in church.

They're about to take

their seat for worship

or they're about,

as the church has

understood this for centuries,

they're about to come

to the Lord's table,

that most profound

expression

and picture

of our unity.

but they know

that they have not

been enjoying fellowship

with their brother

or sister.

There's animosity

or awkwardness

between them

and Jesus says

that they should stop

and they should seek

out that brother

and be reconciled

before returning

to worship God

with a clear conscience

and an undivided heart.

Now, notice there

that Jesus expects

the person

who knows

that there is

a relational problem

to take the initiative.

The statement,

your brother

has something against you,

again,

it doesn't apportion fault.

It doesn't say anything

about who's right

or who's wrong.

That person could have

something against you

because you actually

wronged them

or it could be

that they have taken

offense inappropriately.

The reason for enmity

isn't actually the point.

It doesn't say,

it doesn't even say,

look,

you're the more mature

Christian in this situation,

it's down to you

to sort it out.

It doesn't say that.

It's just very straightforward.

If there is an issue

between you

and someone else

in the church,

don't wait.

Take the initiative.

You go and pursue reconciliation.

Jesus is highlighting

the point

that in the context

of the church,

we never relate to Him

as mere individuals.

We do relate to Him

individually

in our walk with Him,

but we don't relate

merely in that way.

We always come to God

as those who are

related to others.

When we are called to Christ,

when we are brought to Christ,

as it were,

from all over the world

in all different contexts,

we are brought

to the one Christ,

well,

we are brought together

with other people as well.

When we are united to Christ,

we are united to others.

And so,

the way that we relate to God

is connected to how

we relate to others.

So,

if there is enmity

between us,

between you

and a brother

or a sister

in the church,

how can we come

into God's presence

with a pure heart?

We can't.

He knows

when we are being hypocritical.

He knows

when there is anger

in our hearts

towards those other people,

or vice versa.

Put simply,

being at odds

with another Christian

is detrimental

to your relationship

with God.

Not just your relationship

with them,

but with God.

Right relationships

with others

are part of the meaning

of the commandment

not to murder.

Paul mentioned that

earlier on.

They are a vital element,

a vital element

of our righteousness

exceeding that

of the scribes

and Pharisees,

the command in verse 20.

Unless your righteousness

exceeds that

of the scribes

and Pharisees,

you will never

enter the kingdom

of heaven.

That verse 20

is the kind of doorway

to what follows.

He's saying,

you have heard it said.

There was this kind of thing

that people adopted

externally.

I want your righteousness

to exceed that

of the scribes

and Pharisees,

so I want you

to do the inner work.

I want this to come

from the heart.

That is what religion,

righteousness,

that exceeds that

of the scribes

and Pharisees means.

It is that it comes

from the heart

and is genuine.

Well,

if the first illustration

is taken from the church community

and it's calling us

to pursue reconciliation actively,

the second calls us

to do it urgently.

Urgently.

Here,

Jesus takes us

out of the church context

and into the middle

of an argument

on the way

to the courthouse.

Verse 25,

come to terms quickly

with your accuser

while you're going

with him to court,

lest your accuser

hand you over

to the judge

and the judge

to the guard

and you be put

in prison.

Truly,

I say to you,

you'll never get out

until you have paid

the last penny.

Jesus' point is

that the two men

should settle the matter now.

Don't wait to get to court.

Settle the matter now

before they stand

before the judge.

It might be costly

to settle now

and it will likely

be humbling.

There may be a climbing down

that's required

but you want to do

whatever you can

to avoid experiencing judgment.

Anger and enmity

are so serious

he's saying

do whatever you can

to sort it out

and to do it now

and do not delay.

One author says this,

animosity is a time bomb.

We do not know

when it will go off.

We must deal with it quickly

before the consequences

of our bitterness

get completely

out of control.

Now look,

we know the wisdom

of this from our own experience,

don't we?

Whether we've been

part of it ourselves

or we've seen it

up close with others,

the destruction

of relationships

that could have been preserved

if one or both

of those parties

had sought to reconcile quickly.

If the problem

had been addressed here,

it would have been small

and resolvable

as it is.

It's now over here

and it's just vast.

We've seen the cancer

of bitterness

consume people.

We've seen the joy

in people's lives

evaporate

because of simmering anger

and the effects

of that played out

through their families

and their friendship circles

if only the two parties

had sought to reconcile

when the grievance occurred.

Their lives,

their friendships,

they would not have suffered

the way that they did.

But we can also see

the wisdom of it

in Jesus' words

because of the contrast

that He draws.

Do you notice?

He's just shown us

how anger is a capital crime

and then He uses the word

so.

Do you see that?

Verse 23,

so if you are offering.

He's saying there,

therefore,

that is in light

of the fact

that anger

is a capital crime,

we just talked about that,

we must do all we can

to eliminate the outworking

of that anger

from our relationships.

Reconciliation should be sought

lest we fall into judgment.

It's a serious warning.

And yet,

much as I might want

to take heed,

whether to avoid judgment

or because I really desire

to do the right thing,

when you're in the midst of it,

it's far easier said than done,

is it not?

When your blood begins to rise,

you're rarely thinking,

huh,

reconciliation will be best here,

especially when the person

who is the cause

of your blood rising

is the person

with whom you need

to reconcile.

When your anger comes

from having been wronged,

legitimately wronged,

it gets even more complicated.

And then there are harder questions

to do with forgiveness

in specific difficult cases.

There are a whole lot

of potential situations

where there is more to say

than these verses say.

That is true.

But there are steps

that we can take

that will help us

to deal with our anger

towards someone,

help us to be reconcilers,

help us to be,

5 verse 9,

peacemakers.

Do you remember them?

Then,

blessed are the peacemakers

for they shall be called

sons of God.

The first step

to reconciliation then,

it must be

to acknowledge

the person's humanity.

That person

with whom your blood

is beginning to rise,

that person

that you are angry with,

whatever they have done,

that person

is a divine image bearer.

The connection

between anger and murder

that Jesus draws here

is often easiest to see

in the way

that we think about

and speak about

those that we're angry with.

We use words,

don't we,

that dehumanize them.

In really bad cases,

they're monsters

or they're dreadful people,

horrendous,

and yet their humanity

carries an inherent dignity.

A well-known quote

from C.S. Lewis

in The Weight of Glory,

there are no ordinary people.

You've never talked

to a mere mortal.

It is immortals

whom we joke with,

work with,

marry, snub,

and exploit.

When your anger

begins to rise,

never forget

that the person

that you want to destroy,

whether verbally

or physically,

is someone

who bears the image

of God

and their destruction

is not something

that you are at liberty

to pursue.

Of course,

alongside that,

we must turn again

to Christ.

In every case,

the one thing

that will ultimately

transform your angry heart

is to see afresh

the Lord Jesus

and in particular

to consider the cross.

When we look at the cross,

we see there

the Son of God

wronged more deeply

than you or I

will ever be.

He was misrepresented.

He was betrayed.

He was flogged.

And He was killed

unjustly

all the way down.

And yet,

and this is the profound reality

at the heart

of the Christian faith,

He endured all of this

for us.

He endured all of this

injustice,

all of this being wronged,

all of these things

for which anger

in His heart

would have been legitimate.

He did that

so that you could be forgiven

and reconciled

to your Father in heaven.

See,

whatever way

you've been wronged,

whatever that person

has done

to cause the anger

in your soul,

it doesn't get close

to the offense

that our sin

caused to God.

And yet,

in His great mercy,

He took the initiative

to actively pursue us.

While we were still sinners,

we weren't giving Him

so much

as a second thought.

He sent His Son.

He was active

in coming for us.

He sent His Son,

this Jesus,

not just to teach us

how to live,

but to die in our place

so that we could know

the gracious gift

of reconciliation

that His death brings

for all who put

their faith in Him.

And the truth of the matter

is it is as we meditate

on that reality,

as we spend time

bringing that reality

into our inner life,

as those truths

grip our hearts,

we are enabled

to show patience

and mercy

and grace

to others.

when there is enmity

between you

and someone else,

particularly in the church,

and you opt to actively

and urgently

pursue reconciliation

with them,

you are treating

those people

the way Jesus treated you.

That is why I'm saying

that reconciliation

is a Christian characteristic,

because it embodies

what you have been shown

in the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Christ.

And the truth is,

I'm thinking about this

and I'm thinking to myself,

it's all well and good

saying this,

but this is impossible.

Well, however impossible

you might think

reconciliation would be

in your situation,

think about what we confessed

earlier in our confession

of sin.

We said this,

our transgressions are many

and often seem

to overwhelm us,

but you have given us

your Son,

Jesus Christ,

who is much stronger.

That's true.

The power of the Holy Spirit

is at work in you.

The same power

that raised Christ

from the dead

can make it happen.

He can make you

someone who actively

and urgently

pursues reconciliation

and eradicates this anger

from your soul.

Why?

Because he who is in you

is greater than he

who is in the world.

I'm saying to you

that anger and enmity

are not inevitable.

And in the gospel

of Jesus Christ,

through the Holy Spirit

of Christ,

you have the resources

that you need

to put off anger

and to embrace

reconciliation.

This is the key.

This message,

this reality

is the key

to the healthy inner life

and to our righteousness

exceeds that of the

scribes and Pharisees.

Opening our hearts

to the finished work

of Christ

again and again

and again

so that by his Spirit

he might change us

and renew us

and give us

the strength

and the grace

that we need

to pursue reconciliation

and put off anger.

Amen.