Matters of the Heart | Ps. Keith Pittman

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Alright, alright, alright.

Church family, how you guys doing?

You guys doing good?

Come on.

We've been doing this long enough.

Don't give me that nine o'clock service energy.

Celebration church, are you guys doing good?

There we go.

There we go.

It is so good to see every single one of you.

Um and I do want to just offer one quick um adjustment and correction to something that um that Cassie has shared earlier.

She said that, hey, we don't have a dog in a fight.

That's a lie.

Um we absolutely um have a dog in this fight because we're a community, we're a family, and and and because you guys love your pastor, I think we've already made it pretty abundantly clear what kind of church we are.

So let me say this.

Let me say this.

I I feel like we have a good bond going.

Um, and I think we have good communion.

You guys know that every summer um typically is a time of rest and refreshment for Megan and I.

We call it like our sabbatical.

Every summer we do this.

Here's my here's my commitment to you.

Um, if the Philadelphia Eagles do not win today, my sabbatical starts now.

And I don't know when I'm gonna be back.

So if you love your pastors, I think your allegiance needs to be in a certain direction.

All right, let's um let's let's jump into um today's word.

I'm excited about it.

Um so if you have your Bibles, let's uh turn together uh to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter number five.

If you've been with us over the past couple of weeks, you know that we've been in um this series on the Sermon Um on the Mount, where we're really going to just spend the next several weeks, all the way up into Easter almost, just examining and exploring um this profound sermon from Jesus.

And and right now we're only we're still in the first chapter, so we're taking our time um and going through it.

Last week we took a pause from it for our vision Sunday.

And it was an incredible Sunday where we had an opportunity to gather as a church.

Um we were able to introduce you to our church council, which is um our elders, our our pastoral staff, our our board of trustees, and we were all able to pray together so that you can recognize um the council that's before us, that we're accountable to one another, we're accountable to you, and we can all support one another.

So if you didn't get a chance to check out um Vision Sunday um last week, I want to encourage you to do it.

But I also want to encourage you to check out um the Sermon on the Mount so far because even though each message is its own theme that we're able to extract, there is a little bit of continuity that has been developed.

Today we're gonna spend some time looking at what I would say are probably some of the more challenging things that Jesus says in this sermon.

Um we're gonna we're gonna talk on some topics that may even step on our toes and even kind of come to our front doors a little bit, but but it's all done through the lens of love and grace.

Before we jump into it, I want to give you some context as to what's going on.

We've been on this journey um so far, and Jesus has hit on several things as it relates to being a kingdom citizen.

And and most recently, right before we get into the passage we're gonna read, Jesus begins to talk about how he didn't come to do away with the law, that he's actually the fulfillment of it.

The law being the Old Testament way in which they function, the Ten Commandments and the continued oral commandments that they all had grown to live by in that society.

Jesus said, I'm not here to undo that, I'm not here to wipe that clean, I'm here to fulfill it and then show you another dimension to it.

So after Jesus makes that statement, he then leads us into what it says here, starting at verse number 21.

It says, This you have heard it said to our ancestors, do not murder.

And whoever murders is subject to judgment.

But I tell you, anyone who is angry with his brother or sister is subject to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother or sister will be subject to the court.

Whoever says you fool will be subject to hellfire.

So if you're offering your gift at the altar and you remember that you have something with your brother or sister, leave your gift at the altar first and go be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you're on your way with him to the court, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge and the judge, the judge officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

Truly, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you've paid the last penny.

You've also heard it said, do not commit adultery.

But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it out.

Before it's better to lose one part than to enter into hell whole.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, for it is better for you to lose one part of your body than it is for your whole body to go into hell.

Verse 31.

It has also been said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce.

But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for in the case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery.

And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus hits on these themes and topics that no matter what our current life situation is, this either has direct implications on us, it has implications on people around us.

It's it's hard to read this segment of scripture and not have people come to mind.

So today, as we examine the words of Jesus and the heart of Jesus, my my hope is that as we lean into this, that we will we will do so with a curiosity and hopes of us being conformed into his image.

So if you're taking notes, and of course I hope that you are, I want you to write down this message title, Matters of the Heart.

Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us today.

Lord, we we thank you so much for your word.

We thank you for your spirit.

For your your scripture reveals to us that they shall know the truth, and the truth shall make them free.

Wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, there is freedom.

That every moment that we uh engage your word, that the desire is always to build us up and bring us to a place of freedom, never to tear us down.

So, God, as we examine the truth that's found in your word, I pray that it sets us free.

God, I just pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to recognize you.

I pray that you give us open ears to hear your truth, and I pray that you give us open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen and amen.

You know, growing up, I I remember watching my my grandmother sew quilts.

It was it was a regular routine that whenever you happened to show up over my grand's house, that she would be working on a quilt of some sort.

And I remember specifically when um my uncle, her youngest child, had gotten married and he was about to become a father for the first time.

And and so my grandmother was excited because now her baby boy was about to have a have a child of his own.

So she had gathered together all of the varying baby clothes from him when he was coming up, from some of her other children, and she began to work on this quilt that was going to be like her gift for her grandchild that was on its way.

And I remember watching the progress that she was making over time.

And even though I was young, I was probably in my young teens.

I I still remember this moment when she had been working on it for weeks and weeks it turned into months, and and and then I got over there in hopes of seeing the finished product, and she didn't make as much progress as I thought she was gonna make.

Now, I I was raised in a black household, so I wasn't gonna ask my grandma why she didn't get more work done.

So I was just like, okay, cool.

But in the back of my mind, I was very curious as to why is she not making more progress on this quilt.

And then on this one particular day, as I was observing her, I would see that she would be knitting some things together, and then she would stop and then unravel like an entire section.

I I didn't ask her why then, but in my maturity, I've come to recognize what it was that she was doing.

What she was doing is she would recognize that there may be an area where maybe it wasn't stitched correctly, that maybe there was an overlap that wasn't quite there, maybe there was a gap or a glitch in the fabric, and instead of her just patching it, instead of her just passing on from it, she would unravel the entire section to ensure that it was as close to perfection as humanly possible.

The reason why this was so important is because it's possible that when you have a finished product that has these glitches, that it's possible for it to get snagged on something.

And all it takes is for that snag to then continue to grow and expand, and before you know it, the entire integrity of the thing falls completely apart.

My grandmother wanted to deal with the small little things that can sometimes become a snag, knowing that the end result can cause it to completely unravel.

These small tears can compromise the entire design.

This is exactly what Jesus is addressing with his community.

He's saying, let's not just patch up these external issues, but let's deal with the fabric of the heart.

Because in that culture, you were dealing with Pharisees primarily who believed that their righteousness, that their holiness was all based on how they presented themselves.

It was everything was connected to what you see, how I pray, how far do I walk on Sabbath, what foods can I eat, what do I judge other people for?

It was all about being pious and presenting the best version of your faith when inside there was corrosion and corruption.

So Jesus was addressing this head on.

He's like, we're not going to be a community that that says the right things and that projects the right things, but inside of us there is something missing.

Jesus says, let's let's look at the fabric of our hearts, because our hearts begin to be the indicators of our faith, and our faith is a reflection of our beliefs.

And our beliefs begin to be a part of our behavior.

Jesus is saying a correlation between what's in you will eventually come out of you.

So Jesus is addressing this by talking about the heart.

Now, now when we say heart, we're not talking literally about the organ that's inside of our chest right now that is supplying blood so that we can breathe and function.

He's actually talking about something so much more deep.

In fact, in the Bible, the Bible shows us that the heart is not just this organ, but it's the essence of who we are.

Scripture defines the heart as being the part of us that represents who we are.

It's the place where we make our decisions, it's the place where our loyalties are formed.

It's the part of us that God is seeking out for.

Many of us are familiar where it says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God is looking for what's going on inside of our heart.

Jesus focuses on the heart because our behaviors flow from our beliefs.

Another scripture would say it this way: it's from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

What's in you will eventually come out of you.

If you want to question that theory, stub your toe and let's see what comes out of you.

What's in you will eventually come out of you.

So Jesus is trying to address what's really going on on the inside of us.

But when he starts off this statement, he starts it off in a way that I think is so, so significant.

He starts off by saying this.

He says, Hey, you have heard it said, blank, and I say unto you this.

He says that three times throughout the course of these 11 verses.

You you have heard it said, blank, but I say unto you, blank.

We we see here that Jesus is taking a moment to recognize the things that you have heard over your life.

He's he's taking a moment to identify with the influences that have been spoken into your heart, into your soul.

He he's taking the time to empathize with the messaging that you've heard.

And we live in a world where there's so much messaging that we hear every single day.

We hear messaging about our identity, we hear, we're hear messaging about our purpose, we hear, we hear messaging about our value.

You have heard it said this, but I say unto you this.

What Jesus is doing as he begins to say, but I say unto you this, he is saying, you may have heard some things about you, but I have the final say.

He's saying, you may have heard some things that have been spoken over you, but but I have the final say.

What Jesus was establishing is his authority and helping us to recognize that Jesus has the final say.

What I recognize in a room of this size, and even for those who are joining us online, we have all heard things that have been said over us, and if we're not careful, we begin to believe the things that have been said over us, and our behavior matches it.

But I'm here to let you know that Jesus has the final say.

Maybe you've heard that you're never going to conceive, but Jesus says, I am the God who opens wounds because I have the final say.

You you may have heard it said that your marriage is too broken to ever be healed.

But Jesus says, I am the God that when he I have joined together, let no one separate.

You may have heard it said that you're gonna always struggle with this addiction, but Jesus says, Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

You may have heard it said, you're gonna always battle with depression, but Jesus says, I will turn your morning into joy and give you beauty for your ashes.

You you may have heard it said that you're unlovable because of what you've done.

But Jesus says, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God.

You you may have heard it said that your body is failing and you'll never be healed, but Jesus says, I am the God who will heal you.

You may have heard it said that this generational curse has been in your family for years, but Jesus says, I am the one who makes all things new.

You may have heard it said that you're never gonna experience peace, but Jesus says, Cast your cares on me because I care for you.

You may have heard it said that your situation is impossible, but Jesus says, With God, nothing is impossible.

You may have said that you're too gone for grace, you may have heard it said you're gonna be overlooked, but God says, You are chosen and I am for you.

You may have heard it said that this storm will forever define you, but Jesus says, I will step into your storm and say, Peace be still, because Jesus has the final setting.

The doctors don't have the final setting, the enemy doesn't have the final setting.

Your past doesn't have the final setting.

The truth is that his promises will never fail.

And whenever Jesus speaks, change begins to break.

That whenever Jesus speaks, the ground begins to shift.

That whenever Jesus speaks, the atmosphere begins to change.

When Jesus shows up, everything begins to shift because Jesus has the final setting.

So today, every line of the enemy, it stops.

So today, everything that the enemy has established in your life, it stops.

Wherever there's change, it stops because Jesus has the final saying.

Jesus is establishing his authority.

We've all heard things in our lives when he's saying to you, I have the final say.

When I was young, I was a young boy who was just turning into a man at the age of 18 when I had my first child.

Can you imagine the things that people have said?

You're falling into another trap, another statistic.

This is the best it's ever going to be.

You're never going to graduate college.

I can't believe that you've done this to yourself.

And here I am, master's degree later.

Here I am, my first child that they deemed as a mistake, master's degree later.

All of my children are blessed.

What I'm saying to you, if we allow the messaging of the world to define us, our behavior begins to go inside with it.

But I knew then that you don't have the final say, God does.

The world doesn't have the final say, God does.

And I don't know who needs to hear this today.

I don't know what you're walking through, I don't know what your challenges are, I don't know what beliefs you are carrying with you that you have somehow suppressed and you're walking it out.

But the devil is a liar because Jesus has the final say.

So as Jesus is establishing his authority, he then begins to speak into some things that can make us a little uncomfortable.

It's a it's a hard shift here because he says this in verses 21 and 22.

Let's let's revisit it.

He says, You have heard it said from our ancestors, do not murder, and whoever murders is subject to judgment.

But I tell you, let me give you something.

Um, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother and sister will be subject to the court.

Whoever says you fool will be subject to the hell fire.

That is that is such an interesting shift and progression.

When you consider for a moment that Jesus says, you've heard it said, don't murder.

And for that belief system back then, hey, I can do whatever I want, as long as I don't kill somebody, it's all good.

So Jesus says, yeah, that's that's true, but let's deal with the heart that leads to murder.

He says, it's the unresolved anger that leads to it that we need to begin to deal with.

Now, now here's the thing anger at its core is not sinful.

The Bible tells us, be angry, but sin not.

In fact, we can see in scripture where there are instances where we see the anger of God begin to build up.

Particularly when it comes to sin and when it comes to injustice, we see the biggest response from God.

Anger in its purest form is a response to a violation of God's original design.

It's natural and we should have it.

Anger is not an emotion that we should avoid because a lot of times what we'll find, specifically in a Christian context, is that now I'm a believer, I don't get angry anymore.

As a believer, everything is all good.

I can just quote a scripture and I move forward.

And that what ends up happening is we just end up suppressing it, and we end up suppressing it, and we end up suppressing it until one day the smallest thing causes us to explode, and we're wondering where it's coming from.

So the Bible does not tell us not to be angry.

What the Bible tells us is not to harbor it and make sure we have a healthy expression of it.

When when Jesus uses the word anger, the Greek word for it is literally talking about nursing it.

I'm tending to it.

That the same way that I would tender, that I would tend to a fireplace, or or or or if I see a flame, I'm gonna do my best to keep this flame lit.

This is not a passing emotion, this is not a disappointment, this is not a bottleneck of my frustration.

What Jesus is talking about is a person who is nursing it.

They're in they're embodying it and recognizing that when I get to that level of anger, it can lead us to a place where my soul begins to corrode.

Anger itself is a secondary emotion.

This is so important for us to understand.

It's the response of something deeper that's underlying.

For example, when when a person expresses their anger, maybe that's an expression of a hurt feeling, a disappointment.

And so it comes out as anger, but if we don't take the time to recognize that my anger is not happening in isolation, I will continuously express anger until I'm just an angry person because I haven't addressed the issue that is causing the anger to come to the surface.

This is what God is warning us from.

Not because of trying to control us, but we see where the progression of unresolved anger can go.

Genesis chapter 4 gives us a brilliant but also sad commentary and case study on this.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

Maybe you're familiar with the story of Cain and Abel.

But the Bible says that Cain and Abel they decided to worship God with the resources that he blessed them with.

So Cain comes to him and gives him an offering, and then Abel gives an offering to God, and what we are able to see is that God receives Abel's offering, but there was something about Cain's offering that God had an issue with.

Scholars and theologians have wrestled over what the issue is, but all we know is there was something in the way it was presented that God said, Abel, I will receive yours.

Cain, you got some work to do.

And what the Bible tells us is that Cain was furious, and you can see it on his face.

Genesis 4, verse number five.

Like he was so angry that it was literally written all across his face.

Have you ever seen somebody and you could just see the anger written across their face?

I'm talking to some husbands that look at their wives and be like, What's wrong with you?

And they're like, Nothing.

And you're like, Well, tell your face that because I can see there's clearly something going on on the inside of you, and I would love for you to give voice to it.

He was so angry that he could see it.

So so God comes to him just like a like a like a therapeutic intervention, and God says to Cain, Why are you so angry?

I can see it on your face.

Listen, if you just do the right thing, if you can resolve this, then bro, you're gonna be able to move forward.

I read from the Evonics translation of the Bible.

Bro, it's gonna be good.

If you if you just do the right thing, man, we're gonna get past this.

But watch what God says to Cain.

But if you don't, sin is crouching at your door, and this desire is to consume you.

And if you're not careful, you're gonna get ruled by it.

You've got to overcome this.

Even after this profound intervention from God Almighty, Cain turns, takes his brother out to the woods, and kills him.

This is why, in the mind of Jesus, when you get angry and it goes unresolved, it can lead us to do some things that we never thought that we would find ourselves doing.

When we find ourselves filled with such anger and rage.

It can lead us to do something that is unthinkable.

So then Jesus takes it a step further.

He says, So when you begin to call people out of their name, you're on a very dangerous slope.

He uses the word you fool in the translation we just read.

But when you look at it in the original Greek in which it was written, it's the word raca.

We don't use that word anymore, so it doesn't really translate.

This is more than just a derogatory term, but but it's a phrase that is meant to strip humanity.

It's a phrase that is meant to place a label on you that allows me to objectify you because I no longer see you as a sentient being that is made in the image of God.

It literally pulls away your dignity.

Raka.

And we live in a world right now that we're so that it's so popular to just issue these statements to dehumanize people who think, look, feel, and love differently than us.

Raka.

Man, can you believe that so-and-so is a Trump supporter?

Raka! Because it justifies my label over them, and I can now begin to act in angry manners, and I don't even have to feel any sense of conviction because I stripped away their humanity.

Can you believe those liberals over there?

Raka! That label that we place on people.

Can you believe those immigrants are trying to get into our country?

Raqqa! We dehumanize them in such a way that we don't even see them as people who are made in the image of God.

Those Republicans over there, raka! Those Democrats over there, raka.

Whatever is the labels that have been perpetuated in our society, it allows us to have a label that dehumanizes them in such a way that says, so it's justified when I call you an idiot.

It's justified when I call you a fool.

It's justified when I call you out of your name.

And Jesus is saying, This is so concerning to him.

We live in a world where we're constantly being given messages.

In our short time in 2025, I've had so much peace when I went on my social media fast.

Because I didn't have to be exposed to the constant bombardment of all the political ideology that seems as if it's fair and balanced, but unless you are living under a rock, none of it is.

That we can somehow dehumanize and label, but say, but me and my people we're good, but but them we're not good.

And we can step all over our contradiction and our hypocrisy and somehow be at peace with that.

That's how you know that politics is of the empire and not the kingdom, because the kingdom doesn't require you to compromise.

So when I was on my social media fast, I was so at peace.

And then as soon as I downloaded it back just a couple of days ago, I I found that my sleep patterns aren't the same.

I've I found that the algorithm knows exactly the images that I send that I tend to look at the longest.

And then you know what happens?

80% of the things that I'm in agreement with get sent into my feed.

20% of the things that I disagree with get sent into my feed.

Just enough to make me sure that I have confirmation bias, but just enough to continue to not continue to be angry.

It's all a system that helps us to come to the place of raca.

And Jesus is saying, if we're not careful, we'll walk around carrying this anger and burden and allows us to go into some uncomfortable places that we never thought that we would go.

Jesus goes as far as connecting anger to hell.

Now, once again, just the the loving, gracious Jesus who says, Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

That hippie Jesus that doesn't require anything from us, where is that guy at in this verse?

Because that guy, that same one who says, Let all the children come to me, is the same one that says, If you have unresolved anger, the consequence is hell.

How do we reconcile this?

Because Jesus was speaking of a literal place.

When he says the word hell, he's referring to a location called Gehenna.

This is right outside of Jerusalem.

And this was a very dark and sinister place.

What the history of his place was, it was a place of child sacrifice to the false God Molech.

And so there was a place where God's judgment was upon it.

It was a barren land that nothing grew there.

So when Jesus is talking about hell, he's not talking about a future end time destination.

He's literally talking about a barren place that is a that is a symbol of the of the full expression of sin and God's judgment.

So when Jesus is saying when we have unresolved anger, the consequence can lead us to hell, he's not just talking about our eternal destination.

He's saying it's gonna lead you to a place where you're gonna become so consumed with your anger there will be nothing fruitful in your life.

You're gonna distance yourself from God, and you're gonna distance yourself from people, and you're gonna find yourself living a barren life.

This was a cautionary tale that Jesus is saying.

When you have this anger on the inside of you, it's gonna separate you.

Think about the people that maybe you know, that you've seen, that you've encountered.

They are just angry.

Think about it.

Just angry at everything.

Everything is a thing.

If somebody's going slow in front of you, rock.

If I'm standing in a long line, rock.

If you're driving one I-4, well, that might be justifiable, but that's a whole nother conversation.

But but you know what I'm saying.

Like those things that that just lead us to a place where we're just constantly on edge and triggered about everything, Jesus is saying, why would we want to live that life when I have so much more for you?

So he says, So even if you say, I am a follower of Christ, and I come to church and I give my offering, Jesus even addresses that.

He says, Listen, if you are about to worship me and you are about to get into this place where you're about to go into the third realm of heaven, and you remember that you got some issues, leave your gift there and go and figure it out.

Notice he says, Don't take it with him.

We need your money in the church.

But he says, He says, he said, leave it there and go work it out and then come back.

But but seriously, for them to hear Jesus say, you're about to worship God, but stop what you're doing and go be reconciled to someone that's made in his image was a big deal.

Because for that community, worshiping God at the temple, there was nothing bigger than that.

There was nothing more important than that.

But Jesus is saying, the way that you worship God is actually found in how you treat his people.

That's how big of a deal it was to him.

So he says, go and be reconciled.

That word reconciled means to exchange and replace the enmity for peace.

Now I know that this isn't easy, and and and I don't have the time that I wish to explore this because we have two other things I need to hit on.

But but let me but let me tell you what Jesus is saying about reconciliation.

It's not ignoring the pain, it's not denying the reality of the trauma, but what it is saying is I'm not going to allow myself to be consumed by the anger and dehumanization of this.

I'm going to let it go.

And I know for some of us we may be thinking, but what if I'm trying to be reconciled and it's not being reciprocated?

It actually takes two of us.

Fortunately, there is wisdom from God's Word that can help us.

Romans chapter 12, verse 18 says this if possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Romans 12:18

If it's possible, then be reconciled.

If it's possible to be at peace with everyone, do your part to do that.

And then trust God with the results.

Jesus is hitting on some things that are very personal to us, but but he doesn't stop there.

But wait, there's more.

He then begins to step into our personal world, into our bedrooms, and he says, Let's talk a little bit about lust and adultery.

Let's talk about sex, baby.

Jesus says, Let's let's talk about this for a minute.

So he goes on to say, So, hey, you've heard it said, don't commit adultery.

I get that.

Absolutely, you shouldn't commit adultery.

But I tell you that anyone who even looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in your heart.

Jesus shifts the focus from external behavior to an internal evaluation.

He recognizes that these desires and thought patterns can lead to unhealthy expression.

When Jesus is talking about this word lust, he's referring to more than just admiring someone's attractiveness.

It goes so much more than just admiration, but it's actually a deep consuming desire that strips away their dignity.

It's a distortion of love that does not seek to honor.

It's when we reduce people down to being objects for our gratification instead of image bearers who need to be appreciated.

Science has shown us that when we engage in lust and lust-fueled stimuli, that it literally rewires our brain.

That pornography and habitual sin that it creates these pathways that reinforce the way that we can objectify people.

It desensitizes us from meaningful connections and creates unrealistic expectations.

And there's an entire system that is built around this exploitation and oppression.

And it's marketed as empowerment.

It's marketed as freedom of expression.

So we normalize pornography, we normalize hypersexualized communities, we normalize having literal apps that are centered around casual hookups that require no emotional commitment, and it's all under the guise of freedom while completely ignoring the fact that it devalues the sacredness of intimacy that God has established for us.

And more often than not, women have borne the weight of this exploitation.

Jesus is confronting this broken system and he's saying, I'm calling you to a place of restoring dignity.

I'm calling you to stop objectifying people and seeing them as a means to meet your fleeting needs and see them as image bearers who are worthy of value.

When Jesus connects lust with adultery, it's not because they are the same action, but because they come from the same root.

And that root is self-centered desire instead of self-giving love.

It's about me.

We live in a world that says, My lust is harmless, but Jesus is saying it's actually poisonous.

We live in a world that says, people are objects, but Jesus is saying, no, they're sacred and they're made in my image.

We live in a world that says, do what feels right, just do you.

But Jesus says, How about you just become who I've called you to become?

We see this tension that Jesus is establishing in the kingdom context.

And what he's challenging us with right in this moment, he's saying, You can't do both.

You're gonna have to make a choice.

Either I'm going to be the person that God has created me to be, or I'm gonna continue to perpetuate the wounds of the world, and I'm gonna live as a shallow version of God's best for my life.

Because our behavior is the overflow of our belief.

Jesus is not trying to lead people to purity culture or shame people into behavior, but what he is doing is restoring dignity and honor and establishing what it means to be whole.

This is not behavior modification, but it's an opportunity for us to evaluate the condition of our hearts, recognizing a surrendered heart to Christ allows me to find my fulfillment in him and see the value in the people that he's created in his image.

But he doesn't even stop there.

He takes it a step further to make us even more uncomfortable.

So he says these words Hey, you've heard it said that whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce, but I say unto you that whoever divorces his wife, except for the case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

At first glance, this may seem like one of Jesus' most difficult teachings, but the context of this is incredibly important.

When Jesus is speaking these words, he's speaking to a community where men had all of the authority and power.

And so, according to Deuteronomy chapter 24, verse number one, look at what it says about men and women as it relates to marriage.

Deuteronomy 24 · chapter mention

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It says, if a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, he may write a divorce certificate, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.

So you know what that interpretation turned into over the centuries?

That a man could come home and say, I don't even like the way that she makes this bread.

We're divorced, get out, good luck.

It turned into something so cavalier with these loopholes that men could find anything, quote unquote, indecent about their wives, up to their interpretation, and it created a culture of women who left their home of origin, many of them moving away from their families, now being destitute and being released into a world that doesn't care for them.

There were no systems and policies that were established to care for these poor women.

So when Jesus is speaking these words, he is actually challenging the men to do better.

You can't objectify these women and say, hey, she put on a little bit of weight, let me get a divorce.

Have you looked in the mirror lately?

Honestly, Jesus is actually challenging these men and saying, How do we set up a system that continues to suppress the value of these women?

So Jesus is hitting them square in the chest and saying, We need to confront this system.

He's not giving a blanket statement that is meant to condemn people who have gone through divorce.

But what he is doing is speaking value to women, trying to protect them from a system that allowed them to be thrown away, but he's also elevating the value of marriage.

He's saying, don't enter into this looking for something casual, but make sure you enter into this with prayer, knowing that it's a covenant before you and God, and that you're gonna work at it and you're gonna trust me through it.

But don't treat this as something that you're just gonna go and get away in Vegas and let's just give it a good shot.

No, you need to enter into this, recognize that this is a covenant before God because God knows the brokenness that can come from it.

And that's no shame, that's no condemnation, that's the reality of what happens when people bring their lives together and then they're separated, the consequences and the ripple effect of that has an impact.

And Jesus is saying, let's get ahead of it.

Let's not find ourselves going down this pathway where we do these things.

But I want you to hear me.

If you are on the receiving side of a divorce, if you come from a divorced family, if maybe you've walked through it once, twice, three times, God's grace is for you.

This is not meant to be a message of condemnation.

It was meant to be established as a way to protect people, but also to elevate the value of marriage.

There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus meets you with compassion, not condemnation.

Jesus is not restricting you in an effort to control you, but he's trying to cultivate an environment where we can absolutely thrive.

He's dealing with the matters of the heart.

And the theme from all three of these segments is don't objectify people, but see them as valuable in the eyes of God, which then means that they're valuable to you.

So he gives us three practical points that we can walk through, and I'm gonna hit these really quick because I want to go into a time of prayer and and worship.

How do we how do we deal with these matters of the heart?

First thing, let's do a little bit of examining of your heart.

Take some time to examine your heart.

Like, really, really sit and reflect and ask, what is the condition of my heart?

When whenever Megan and I get a rental car, whenever we're traveling, they they have that moment where they say to you, like, hey, make sure you take a look around the car and mark any dents or scratches on here and let us know so that way you're not held responsible for it.

My wife goes into detective mode.

She brings out a magnifying glass and she's looking at every little thing.

What's that right there?

Hey, can you go get the manager?

Uh, do you see this right there?

They're like, ma'am, that's a pinstripe.

Like she's she's she's on it because she wants to make sure that we're not carrying and being responsible for something that was already there.

Imagine if we took that same tenacity with examining the state of our heart.

Are my intentions pure?

What's going on on the inside?

That the second thing that we need to do is we need to tend to our heart.

Now that we've sat and we reflected and we're thinking about what are some things that are going on on the inside of me, the next thing we need to do when God reveals it is we need to deal with it.

In the same way of when you're tending to a garden, that we have to tend to the weeds, we have to tend to it, we have to cut the grass, we have to make sure that we establish an environment where it can grow and thrive.

The same is said of us.

Hebrews 12, 15 says this so that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing us trouble and leading us to a place of defilement.

It means that, hey, if there's anger that's going on on the inside of me, I need to I need to tend to this.

Maybe I need to go and have a conversation.

Maybe I need to have some prayer words come alongside me, maybe I need to go to therapy and get some counseling, but I need to tend to this because if I don't, it's going to get so deeply rooted that it's gonna be hard for it to come out of me.

Recognizing the importance of tending to it.

And then the third and final thing is this we have to then protect our hearts.

We have to be mindful of the things that we let in, and we have to protect to make sure that the right things don't escape and get out.

Proverbs 423 reminds us to guard your heart above all else, because from it flows the issues of life.

That if we are not careful about what we watch, what we listen to, where we go, that it can begin to get in our hearts.

I I've had this philosophy, and I'm a firm believer of this, that what's around you will get on you, and what's on you will eventually get in you.

So if we're not careful, we can be in environments, we can be watching things, and we think that they're so harmless, not realizing that they can begin to get into our hearts.

So Jesus is challenging us in these moments to make sure that we're guarding and protecting our hearts.

A few years ago, back when I used to live up north, um I remember riding with a friend of mine, and and he had this little chip in his windshield.

And I remember when I was with him when something fell off a truck, it cracked his windshield off to the side.

And I was like, okay, bro, like you're gonna, you know, we're gonna have to get that fixed.

So a couple weeks go by, and I noticed that the chip begins to spread a little bit, not too much, it spreads a little bit.

Um, and I'm like, man, oh you didn't you didn't get it fixed.

He said, Oh, it's fine, because it was it wasn't in the driver's view, it was over on the passenger side, so he continued to ride it out.

We go through the entire season, and and then it gets to be winter time.

And as he's driving on the highway one day, he he hits a he hits a bump in a road, and that bump, in conjunction with the cold temperature, it causes the entire windshield just to shatter right in front of him.

So now he's on the highway, the windshield shatters from the small crack that was there.

He's now disoriented because he literally can't see.

He he hits a guardrail and then hits a bunch of cars before he's able to come off to the side of the road and come to a complete stop.

Thank God it wasn't worse than that.

But it did cause him to hit about three or four cars, it caused damage to his vehicle, it put him in a cycle of challenges that he had to walk through, actually, for a couple of years.

And when I think about that, it started as a small crack that went ignored until the right circumstance came that caused that small crack to shatter his entire vision, causing him to crash into everything and everyone around him, causing harm.

That, my friend, is what happens when we have these small cracks in our heart.

These small issues that we push off to the side, that we ignore, that we don't pay any attention to.

We think that it's it's just me, it doesn't hurt anybody, it's not a big deal.

Until the right situation happens, that causes all of it to shatter, it obstructs my vision, and now I'm crashing into and harming everyone around me.

This is why Jesus tells us to deal with the matters of your heart.

But this is not a message of condemnation.

He's saying, I know that we all have some cracks, but he doesn't leave us in our brokenness.

Instead, he says, I can restore you.

I can make it new.

It's an invitation to lead us to a place of freedom.

Jesus' words were never about placing impossible burdens on people, but they were a message calling us to experience life to the fullest.

Maybe in our time here today, you recognize that there are some chips and cracks in the areas of your heart.

I want to lead us to a place of reflection and prayer that can hopefully begin the work of receiving the renewal that God wants to establish in us.

So with every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to just lead us into a moment of just quick reflection.

This is not the end-all be-all, this is just the beginning of this journey.

But right now, I just want you to ask, like, God, examine my heart.

Is there is there are there any cracks in this windshield?

Is there any tears in this fabric that can get snagged up, have already gotten snagged up?

Are there is there anger in my life?

Is there bitterness?

There are things that are going on on the inside of me that I haven't dealt with.

I I don't want to find myself in a place that is isolated from people and I'm missing out on the blessings that you have for me.

Lord, is there is there unresolved desires and lusts and things that I'm Craving for that objectifies people.

God, I want to surrender that to you.

Lord, is there am I walking through the wounds of divorce or remarriage?

And I've been on this journey and I'm just questioning my very value, Jesus wants to create a space for you to behold.

As you're meditating and reflecting and thinking, I want to let you know that God is here to heal, redeem, and to restore.

Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness.

I thank you for your grace that even now as you're bringing things to the surface, as you're making us aware of some of the challenges that are going on inside of our hearts, that you're bringing these things to the light so that you can heal and restore us.

So, Father, we confess them to you.

We repent of them, we surrender them to you, and we begin the process of tending our hearts and protecting our hearts, placing boundaries, being mindful of where we go and what we do, what we listen to, because we want to make sure that we guard our hearts because from it flows every issue of life.

So, Lord, I just speak life over your people in Jesus' name.

I want us all to stand on our feet now as we prepare to go into a moment of worship.

Because I truly believe that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

So as we enter into this moment of surrender before God, of experiencing God's grace and blessing, I want us to be encouraged and reminded by the words that we're about to sing, and that is that Jesus changes everything.

No matter what the enemy has spoken, no matter what you've experienced, I want us to be encouraged in knowing that Jesus has the final say and he changes everything.

So I want you to lift your hands up and to receive what God wants to do because Jesus changes everything.

Let's worship.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

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