21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister[b][c] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’[d] is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.
MESSAGE:
For three weeks now, we've been talking about offense. We've been talking
about it because it's a huge problem. Everywhere we look are people who
are offending others and people who are taking offense—it's practically an
epidemic. It's tearing apart our communities and our congregations. How do
we get a handle on this problem that plagues our society and keeps our
churches hemorrhaging people rather than bringing people in?
Well, we've said that, first of all, we need to watch our mouths. Not
everything that you feel needs to be said, not everything you know is helpful
to others. All of us need to edit our words or make use of our own mute
button. Then we also said: some of us need to get thicker skin. Not
everything everyone says about you or to you is meant disrespectfully—
believe it or not, sometimes people are joking or actually trying to help you.
Even if it is meant disrespectfully, you don't have to be offended. You can
let it go—or, if it's like vulture vomit and you can't let it go, you can choose
to bless that person anyway by speaking and seeking their good. When the
going gets rough, disciples bless.
The Bible asks those of us who've been offended to extend grace beyond
what is comfortable. But the Bible also asks those who have offended others
to be humbled beyond what is comfortable. See God is an equal opportunity
stretcher. He stretches both the offenders and the offended—stretches all of
us to go farther than we naturally want to go.
If you don't want to be stretched—if you don't want to be changed—then
you don't really want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I was reading an article
about the strength and conditioning coach for the Nebraska football team.
(You know the Huskers would start finding their way into my sermons again
somehow, didn't you?) This Husker coach was talking about the way he's
tried to change the way his football players think and live. He told this story
about a coach who said to his team, "Who wants to win a championship?" he
asked.
Every hand in the room went up.
"All right," the coach replied. "Then, I hope every guy whose hand went up
realizes you have absolutely have no options ... none. You just gave 'em up.
You have one - to do whatever it takes to win the championship. Anything
outside of that, you can't go there. Every team around the country is waving
their hands just like you are, and they think they have options. They think
they can go out on Saturday night and do whatever they want. But the ones
who raise their hands and mean it, they know better."
How many of you want to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Then I hope you
realize that you have absolutely no options. None. You just gave them up.
You have one—to do whatever it takes to be a disciple. Anything outside of
that, you can't go there.
If you want to be a disciple, you have to do whatever it takes to be a disciple.
And that is going to stretch you. It's going to challenge you. It's going to get
you off your duff and into action. Read just some of the things Jesus said to
his disciples. He wasn't inviting them to a life of all blessings and no
challenges. Jesus' words always challenge us, always stretch us.
In the passage we read, Jesus stretches our concept of anger and what our
responsibility is toward someone we've angered. And he has a word to both
the offended and the offenders. So, since it applies to all of us, let's dive in.
Jesus has just told his listeners that he wasn't about to do away with the law
of Moses—he was going to expand on it, fulfill it. And then in our passage,
he gets specific. For instance, as far as the sixth commandment goes, Jesus
says, you're not really off the hook just because you haven't murdered
someone. Your anger is what condemns you, that's what makes you liable to
judgment. It's every bit as much about your heart as it is about your actions.
Avoiding actual murder is great, you can all pat yourselves on the back as on
that one …as far as I know… I read that most murder happens within
families…so you or your relatives have all done well.
But some of us can relate to Billy Graham's wife, Ruth, when she was asked
whether she'd ever considered divorce. She said, "Divorce? No. Murder?
Yes." But there are ways to kill without a knife, gun, rope, or lead pipe. Our
anger kills relationships and demeans others. And that's taking a life… little
bit by little bit. Jesus said that our anger makes us liable to judgment.
Jesus mentions a couple of insults people must have used back in the day.
Anyone who says, "Raca." is answerable to the Sanhedrin. Anyone who
says, "You fool" will be in danger of the fires of hell. The insults (in the
original language) as best I can determine from the resources I consulted, are
insults of both a person's intelligence and their morals. Like telling them
they are both stupid and evil. Empty headed and low down. Bone headed
and good for nothing. Need I go on? You get the idea… It's shooting your
mouth off by angrily passing judgment upon another person's life. Jesus
basically says, if by your words you're consigning people to hell, you're in
danger of a similar judgment yourself. It's serious stuff. In fact those angry
words, "Go to H.E. Double Toothpicks" would fit in quite well with what
Jesus was cautioning us about.
Then Jesus tells us how disciples defuse anger. He says, "If you enter your
place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a
grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately,
go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and
work things out with God." This sort of flies in the face of the claim that
religious folks are only after your dollars…Jesus said, when God puts his
finger on your offense, leave worship in order to go fix things with the one
you've offended, then offer your gift and your worship.
It's that urgent! Get up. Leave worship immediately. Don't wait. Make it
right. Clear the decks.
Do you know where that saying comes from? Clear the decks? It's an age-
old way of telling sailors to get ready for action. You put away or get rid of
anything that keeps you from being able to do the most important stuff.
After the United States withdrew from the Vietnam War, Communists forces
in the North began their descent on Saigon. By April of 1975, South
Vietnamese were scrambling to get out any way they could. One of the most
reprinted images after the war was that of people trying to get into a
helicopter above the U.S. embassy as it left Saigon. Major Bung-Ly and his
family weren't able to get out that way.
With no good options left, he crammed himself, his wife and their five
children into a single-seat Cessna O-1 Bird Dog to escape. As Ly flew
through dense fog, he came under Viet Cong fire and found himself heading
out to sea without knowing what was ahead of him. Miles from shore and
running low on fuel, he spotted the USS Midway in the South China Sea. He
flew towards it with hopes of landing on the carrier's large deck. As he got
closer, however, he saw that the flight deck was filled with helicopters that
had been used to evacuate Saigon.
Ly had no radio, and he didn't want to fly too low because he was afraid the
crew might think he was attacking them and shoot down his plane. So he
decided to fly close enough to drop a note onto the deck asking for
permission to land. He tied the note to a knife and threw it out of the plane.
As he watched it fall, however, a gust of wind caught it and kept it from
hitting its target. He tried again with a boot and then a key chain but missed
with those as well.
Finally, the crew of the USS Midway saw a survival pistol land on the deck
with a note attached that read, "Can you move these helicopters to the other
side, I can land on your runway, I can fly one hour more, we have enough
time to move. Please rescue me, Major Bung-Ly, wife and 5 children."
Admiral Chambers got the message and his heart went out to the family. He
wanted to help them. The problem was these weren't just any old
helicopters. They were UH-1 Hueys — large transport helicopters that were
also very expensive. Chambers knew there really wasn't enough room to
move them and decided there was only one thing he could do. Not wanting
to miss this opportunity to help, he ordered his men to clear the decks. And
they did — pushing $10 million worth of helicopters overboard into the sea.
Once the decks were clear, the Cessna prepared to land, touched down once,
bounced and rolled to a stop. All seven members of Major Bung-Ly's family
crawled out of the small plane safe and unharmed.
Admiral Chambers was willing to clear the decks of some very expensive
equipment so he could do the most important thing—save a family. Jesus
encourages us in this passage to clear the decks but he's not asking us to
dump helicopters, he's asking us to dump our pride, apologize, and be
reconciled to those we've offended. (More about this in the Wikipedia article on the USS Midway)
On any given Sunday, it's likely that a good number of us find ourselves in
that position…we need to clear the decks in order to truly be a disciple.
Which means we need to get up and leave because we have apologies to
make…if you need to go now, that's ok, you may be the only one who goes,
but you won't be the only one who needs to. Or maybe you just need to get
up and walk across the aisle.
There's something about being right with other people that is tied to being
right with God. You don't think so? Listen: In the Lord's prayer Jesus taught
us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
against us." In Matthew 6, Jesus says, "For if you forgive others their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not
forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Our
relationships with others matter to God and our relationships with others
affect our relationship with God.
1 John 3 puts it very plainly: "The children of God and the children of the
devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from
God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters. For this is the
message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one
another. […] We know that we have passed from death to life because we
love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a
brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have
eternal life abiding in them."
It couldn't be plainer than that. And that's why clearing the decks is so
urgent. Doing the right thing, the loving thing, is how you know you're
spiritually alive, not spiritually dead.
So, clearing the decks is urgent and it is also personal. We're to actually go
to each person who is angry with us. We're not supposed to apologize in
general. You know sometimes an apology just feels good. I went to Pete
Rose's website yesterday…(www.peterose.com) just to see if what I'd read was true…it was.
Check this out at Pete Rose.com then click on "baseballs." In his
autobiography in 2004, Pete Rose finally admitted that he bet on baseball
games while employed as manager of the Cincinnati Reds—an infraction
that produced a lifetime ban from the sport. Rose's admission of guilt came
after denying any wrongdoing for almost 15 years.
And since the book came out, he has not stopped confessing, either. It
seems that if you want a personal apology from Pete Rose, he'll send it to
you on a baseball. He writes with his own hand, "I'm sorry I bet on
baseball, Pete Rose" and he'll send it to you for 299 dollars. You can get it
on a black baseball for 399. I'm sure with each purchase it feels better and
better for old Pete to get it off his chest.
I've decided to take a note from Pete's book. If you'd like, you can get an
official Pastor Dave apology Bible. The inscription will read, "I'm sorry
that last sermon hit a little too close to home. Pastor Dave." And I'm
starting things off at a discounted price of only 199 bucks. A little more for
the leather bound with study notes. But just imagine the pride you'll have as
you display your official apology bible. And as for me, I'll feel sorry all the
way to the bank. …just like Pete.
I'm sorry I bet on baseball…(yeah right) "I'm sorry I didn't think of this
sooner" he means. That's not a personal apology—it's a money-making
scheme. He's clearing the checks, not clearing the decks. It's pretty hard for
us to be "sorry" in general, when the things we have done are specific.
Jesus didn't say send out a general apology. He said, "Go to your brother.
Go to your sister." Each offense needs individual attention. And I think
that's because each offense, if dealt with urgently and personally, will make
us a little more hesitant to offend again. Think about it, if, through the years,
you'd made it a practice to personally go to every single person you'd
offended in order to apologize and humbly ask their forgiveness, how much
more careful do you think that would make you in how you talk and act
toward others? Apologizing is humbling, it can be embarrassing, it can be
painful. No one in their right mind enjoys it. We'd avoid it if we could. And
we do. But instead of avoiding apologizing by not offending—we avoid
apologizing by…..refusing to apologize, pretending it didn't happen, or
acting like it was the other person's fault. And instead of clearing the decks,
we allow our discipleship to crash.
See when offense breaks our relationship with another person, our
relationship with God is broken, too. The two are tied to one another. Our
Vertical relationship with God is tied to our Horizontal relationships with
others. They go together. We cannot have a great relationship with God,
and ignore our offenses to others.
Jesus died on a cross…a cross that is the joining of a vertical and horizontal
piece of wood. He taught that life with God and life with others go together.
On the cross Jesus made peace with God possible…on the cross Jesus made
reconciliation between people possible. The cross is our reminder that he is
our peace who has broken down every wall of division. When Jesus body
was broken and his blood shed, he died at the intersection of heaven and
humanity.
And we find ourselves stretched to live at that same intersection where our
relationship with God and others meet. It calls us to action. It calls us to be
careful with one another and open to hear the voice of God who can (even as
we worship) remind us of what we must do to clear the decks. A disciple
watches the mouth, is not easily offended, seeks to bless, and as God speaks
to our hearts we are ready to clear the decks with others, and clear the decks
with our heavenly father.
Prayer:
Lord, whatever it takes to follow you, make me willing to embrace the
tension of living as your subject in the kingdom of this world…until the
kingdoms of this world become fully yours. Bring me to the wholeness of
having both a clear conscience toward my neighbors and an open heart
toward you. In Jesus name. Amen
Blessing:
Go from this place determined to be people whose lives are shaped by the
cross of Jesus: A life firmly pointing toward heaven, with arms outstretched
in reconciliation to others. Amen.
