Matthew 5:21-26 Tim Gillespie (San Diego 2015) HD

(Applause) Blessings, everyone.
Good to be with you here in San Diego.

Welcome to the "Year of the Beard!"
(Laughter)

If you're sporting one, good for you.

If you're not, ladies,
thank you for coming. (laughter)

(Applause)

Or Alex Bryan.

He did not get the memo six months ago.

And that kind of bonds us together,
doesn't it, gentlemen?

Bearded men see one another across
the room and go, "Well done, sir."

We don't even have to say anything.
Just a little lift of the chin.

Because that's unity.

That is a deeper unity than simply

existing in the same space, in a proximity
to one another.

And a great deal has been made about unity
in our circles in the last few years.

And this upcoming July

it seems we will be asking ourselves about
this question of unity once again.

And unity is significant.

Unity is important, and it is mandated

by the Word of God to His people.

But what do you do when a call to unity
is something that is so deep, so intrinsic

and so individual that it becomes the most
difficult thing we will have to do?

What happens when unity has little to do
with policy, or theology,

but everything to do with the quality
of our love for one another?

What happens when you are confronted
with the Word of God

and called to either live by it,
or ignore it?

How do we stand in our pulpits and in our
offices, in our internet comment sections

and really believe that we can worship God
when we are ignoring what He is saying to us?

How serious are we about being
the "People of the Book"?

You see, what we have in this short
section that I have been given on murder,

(laughter)

I hope we weren't typecasting!

What we see in this short section
is a hidden agenda

to a deeper unity that
Jesus is calling us to.

It is the refusal to allow extrinsic
religion to become the hallmark of faith,

and it is an assent to the greater
and deeper unity that is love.

You see, Jesus fulfills the Old Testament
Law, but beyond that, He fills it full.

He places more meaning, more depth,

more significance into these words

than ever seemed possible before.

It is the veritable "Snoopy's Dog House"
of texts.

If you remember Snoopy's dog house,
from the Charlie Brown cartoons,

he would lay on top of it.

But apparently it was deep,
beyond deep,

with an indoor pool, a pizza oven,
a pool table, from what Linus tells us.

You see, these words of Jesus take us
beyond a society of honor and shame.

It takes us beyond the grandstanding that
we see between two groups

who seem to be fighting for the same piece
of land that they both believe

they should own.

These scriptures take us to a land,
and to "The Land" of intent,

where the reason you are doing
what you are doing,

or not doing what you are not doing
becomes the hallmark of faith and integrity.

Intent!

These words that Jesus says
redefine how we mark faith in our lives,

how we gauge our behavior,

and how we pretend to be faithful
to the words of the law,

while all the while ignoring the spirit
of the law, and allowing our intent

to be so deadly that we assassinate

the character of those we have not even met.

So let's look at those words.

Jesus starts off His explanation of these
six legal texts from the Old Testament,

interpreting them as a good Jewish scholar
of His day would.

And He says this in His
"teaching about anger" section:

"You've heard that our ancestors were
told, 'You must not murder'.

If you commit murder, you are subject to
judgment...'". Fair enough...

Verse 22: "But I say, if you are even angry
with someone you are subject to judgment."

And here, Jesus is moving the conversation
from extrinsic, to the intrinsic.

What you do can be the subject of judgment

but why you do it
is subject to judgment as well.

Are any of us prepared for that?

I mean, really, are any of us prepared

to have our intent judged?

We're not.

And the truth is, we're not because
we are all legalists.

And legalists never seek to do the most
they can do.

Legalists will always seek to find
the least they can do.

The fallacy that a good Adventism
is a behavioral Adventism,

where people act in a certain way,

is just wrong.

It's the intent of our hearts
that creates whether we are

'good Adventists' or "Badventists",
as some say.

And the problem is we have churches full of
people who don't feel like they're good enough

because they don't act right,

when the intent of their heart
may be "righter".

We need to affirm those people.

We need to affirm the intent of their heart,
and the quality of their lives,

even if it doesn't look exactly like
whatever metric history has placed

on Adventism and Adventist behavior.

Are we prepared for that?

See, don't be angry, because anger
leads to murder.

But its the inability to intrinsically
regulate your intent,

that is just as subject to judgment.

That should sting a little.

But He's not done.

"If you call someone an idiot..."

"rhaka - ῥακά", "empty head".

Now, many of you are not from here,

but you have had your first foray
into driving in Southern California roads.

"Rhaka"! (Laughter)

Those of us from California feel the same
way when we show up in Montana

and go, "Why don't they drive faster?"

"Rhaka"! (more laughter)

"If you call someone an idiot, you are
in danger of being brought before a court.

And if you curse someone, you are in danger
of the fires of hell."

Easy, Jesus! Come on, because
sometimes people act like idiots.

"Rhaka!"

Did you notice the judgment
just got more serious?

If you call someone an idiot,
you might go to court.

If you curse someone, you might go to hell!

I would like somewhere in between!

You know, it also doesn't mention
that if you curse someone "to their face" --

it just says "if you curse them".

Could it be that if our intent is poor,

then we are stuck with malice of intent?

And malice is one of those words that
shows up in Scripture,

and you just kind of go past it,
because you're like,

"Malice? Ha ha! I don't have malice!"

"I don't even know what that means!"

(Laughter)

Right? On that list of sins that
Paul gives us in Romans 1,

you're like, "Malice? I'm good!"
"Gossip? Well, yeah. But malice?"

Now Jesus begins to speak specifically

of the deeper unity that He's calling us
toward, so, in verse 23:

"If you are presenting a sacrifice
at the altar in the temple,

and you suddenly remember that someone
has something against you,

leave your sacrifice there at the altar.

Go and be reconciled to that person,

then come and offer your sacrifice to God."

Can I ask you this?
But don't raise your hands.

Did you see to it that the loose ends

of those you disagree with are tied up and
taken care before you sang the songs today?

Well, I didn't.

I didn't because there's probably too many.

So, was my worship unacceptable to God?

Did the words I sang with Elia
become displeasing to God today?

Is this the deeper unity that goes beyond
our ideologies, and even our worship,

and moves us into the deeper part of
our hearts and intents?

It's getting personal now, isn't it?

So, what we should do is go back
to our extrinsic legalism.

We should go back to doing the right thing
and being fearful of the judgment

that comes from doing the wrong thing.

Because that binary is easy.

However,

sometimes it feels like
we're getting ready for an exam

that we've never really understood
in the first place.

Isn't Jesus saying that we'll be tested

on our heart, and not just our deeds?

What if we did all the wrong things,
but we did them for all the right reasons?

What if we did all the right things for
all the wrong reasons?

Good things done with malice of intent
are still wrong.

They aren't just wrong,

He's calling them murder, and if we're
not careful we'll be subject to judgment.

So, I have to ask myself this question,
am I a murderer?

Have I assassinated character
from the malice of intent

that I have in my heart,

while smiling on a Sabbath morning?

Are those that are so concerned that we're
talking about Jesus, saving the church,

or showing us the intent of their hearts
by being so adamant that we're wrong

by coming together on a weekend
and saying that we want Jesus to be all?

Are we gathering together to simply say
we don't agree with another group,

or that we take the words of Jesus
seriously, and we will stop at nothing less

than unity of the heart,
rather than the idea of unity?

How much time have we spent on issues
that divide us in church?

How much money have we spent
on what we listen to or what we eat?

Or who we love?

Or whether or not we have the stamp of
approval from this denomination,

regardless of gender?

All good things to talk about.

All things that separate and divide,

if not brought in the right spirit.

How much fear exists in our denomination
due to simple disagreement?

How much longer do we have
before God finds a group of people

who truly want unity of the heart
buried deep in the mission of God

rather than those who protect their own
empires or buildings, or brands?

How many books must we write
against each other,

blogs and websites put up as watchdogs,

looking over the fences
into each other's yards?

How many miles have been accrued
through hatred, fear and malice of intent

on either side of anything?

Aren't you tired?

Aren't you tired of hoping for
one outcome or another

at every single General Conference session
since 1888?

Where is the deeper unity
that we're called to?

There's only one thing we can always agree on,

and that is that the words of Jesus are
to be taken, as Alex said, seriously.

And right now, chances are, none of us
deserve to be in His presence.

It is grace that we come together
and grace that He hears our songs.

But we won't listen, so Jesus continues,

and He even gives us an out
in some respects.

Verse 25: "When you are on the way
to court with your adversary,

settle your differences quickly,

otherwise your accuser may hand you over
to the judge, who will hand you over

to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

And if that happens, you surely won't be free
again until you've paid the last penny."

You know, these words give us hope
in times of deep disagreement.

He says we should be proactive
in settling our disputes;

proactive in forgiveness
and reconciliation,

just as He was towards us.

But He affirms the fact that sometimes
things go too far,

and direct confrontation is going to happen.

He also reminds us that the verdict
may not go our way,

that we may pay for our stubbornness
for a very long time, with a very high price.

The unity that Jesus is speaking
of here goes beyond

who we think is right
and who we think is wrong,

and it seems to go beyond the law as well.

Jesus is once again bringing us back
to what it means to be fully human,

fully connected communities of believers
doing what they can to be whole.

He seems to be saying that keeping
the law is simply not enough.

The law is not enough to save us,
it never has been.

The law is not enough to bind us together,
that's a club of same-oriented people.

The law is not enough to make us
good people;

good things for the wrong reasons
are still wrong.

The law is not enough to make us love
on another.

Love is much bigger than "Thou shalt"
or "Shalt not".

The law can't do any of these things.

Don't murder? Duh!

Don't call your friend an idiot? Oh!

See, only a submissive heart and a deep
humility can do that.

Only personal testimony of what
Jesus has done for us can build

any unity of a disparate group of people.

Only a willingness to humble ourselves and
love through misunderstanding can do that.

Only a call to cease our fighting,
to share at the communion table together,

and to love beyond ideology can do that.

But you know what? It's hard!

And I don't want to do it,
because I don't like 'em.

And maybe I don't like them because
I don't think they like me.

Maybe that's enough to
keep us on separate sides.

Listen, as long as there are people willing
to troll other people's Facebook pages

make judgments without trying to reconcile,

make videos that slander people
with whom they will not engage;

and as long as people are willing to have
the intent of murder of others

for perceived ideological truth,

we won't have love,
and we can't have unity.

(Applause)

And in the end, isn't that what
we're all afraid of?

Afraid that if we truly have to love
each other the law becomes obsolete?

If we truly love, then we will have that
peace that just kind of

transcends understanding?

That if we are truly serious about
reconciliation, we're going to have to

look past historical behavior
and move toward reconciliation?

We will have to stop hiding behind walls,
and computer screens,

and look each other in the face,
and disagree, and still love.

And if we cannot do that, I don't have
a great deal of hope for this church.

We will split for either ideological
purity reasons,

or financial unsustainability reasons.

Some will say it's the great shaking,
others will say it is the way forward.

But we will walk away from the fellowship
of believers,

taking the arrogance of being right as
poor substitute for the bread and wine

of the communion table.

We will take the empty calories
of hate and isolation

before we take the sustenance
of His blood and body,

and the connection that comes
with that sacrament.

At some point, and I'm talking to everyone
around our particular Adventist table,

we will become uncomfortable with
the definition of God being "Love",

and settle for the definition
of God as being "Right".

And, surprise, He agrees with me!

This cannot be the trajectory
of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination.

We would never allow

that kind of atmosphere in our local
church community, would we?

We wouldn't in our families, because
we know how toxic that would be.

And the truth is, I don't have a great
answer on how to fix this.

So, this is what I do.

I go to my church, and I study scripture.

I pray in my study.

I call and visit my church members.

I seek to do outreach to the community

in the way that I believe God would
have me do it in order to create a

better neighborhood
to pray, play, work and love in.

I preach sermons that seek to give hope
to those who are struggling,

courage to those who are shaken, and
relevance to those who just don't know how

faith intersects with their lives anymore.

I speak of a faith that is deep, and
connected, and hopeful.

I baptize, I pray,

and I dream of the community of God
being expressed in my local congregation.

And I do this every single week,

over, and over, and over, and over
again, just like you do.

I don't do this for money. (Laughter)

I don't do this for the celebrity of it,

or the miles in my United bank account.

That's a fool's errand anyway.

I don't do this for the pats on the back,
for the good feeling

of becoming confident at my job.

I do this because Jesus has called me to
deep unity with those whom I live with.

I do this because there are those
who don't know Jesus,

and I think they have the right to know
how good He is.

I do this because I want a church that my
kids want to go to every single week.

I do this because I have somehow,
unbelievably so, been loved by God.

Before we were friends, before I was
doing anything that smacked of goodness,

He died for me.
And then He overcame death.

And He advocates for me now.

You know, in these passages,
what I see, glaringly,

is the assent to the fact that the gospel
of Jesus Christ is always local;

it is between you and me.

That reconciliation is between people
and not ideology.

That we are to be proactive in our
forgiveness and our desire to connect.

And that we are nowhere close
to understanding

what deep unity really is.

So, my suggestion?

Let's not try to fix it all.

Take those with whom you have influence.

Love them fully, love them well.

Speak the name of Jesus often.

Get off the internet, and that level
of useless conversation - Just stop!

And rediscover what it means to live
deeply, locally, in Jesus.

Blessings! Full stop. All! Full stop.

(Applause)