"Words, Hands, & Heart" // Matthew 5:33-48 (Sunday 10/4/26)

Well, Jesus is actually really interested in who we become when those people are in the room.

When the pressure's on, how do we respond? When there's a lot at stake, what does it look like to be living this good life that Jesus talks about in this famous Sermon on the Mount? Jesus says, "Picture this, a vision of the good life." What does a person look like who's experiencing that? I mean, if following Jesus was so easy, and just roses, and ponies, and rainbows, we'd all be like, "It's easy." You know, in hypothetical situations, it's, it's easy, but in real life, when our character is under pressure, when our reputation's at stake, or our possessions, or our dignity, or relationships feel threatened, it reveals information about us, right? [laughs] And in fact, we can kinda see a little family resemblance sometimes.

Like, in those moments when it's really intense, it's like, have you ever said, "I, I, I'm, I'm just doing exactly what my dad used to do," [laughs] you know? Or like, "Why am I being like this?" Or like, "My mom, I said I would never do that, and now I'm just like my mom, you know? I'm just, just like her." It kind of shows up in these moments of pressure how we talk, how we act, how we love, especially when the pressure's on, the stakes are high.

And so Jesus says, "Hey, how should you talk when it matters? How do you use your words so they really count?" When, when a boss is, boss is asking you for a project that's due and it's not ready and isn't finished.

A, a spouse is asking you about your spending habits, you know? Uh, maybe it's a parent confronting a teenager or a friend asking whether you followed through on that thing you said you would do.

Maybe something you did promise to do or an exaggerated story to make yourself look better.

When our reputation's at stake, we sometimes come up with this stuff, and Jesus wants to, he wants to help us.

Just like last week, he's gonna go after some of these things that are kinda too close for comfort, and yet it brings us to freedom.

It shows us, it helps us experience this good life that he designed and intended for us all along.

So in chapter 5, verse 33, just like last week, he has this phrasing, "You have also heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not break your vows.

You must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.'" Like, he's using that Old Testament idea, going back to the Deuteronomy, and using Isaiah, and pulling in the Old Testament, saying, "You've heard it before." And Jesus said early on, right, that he didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

And so, hey, he says, "You've heard it before," and then he has this phrase, "But I say." Here's Jesus, he turns it on its head.

He says, "But I say," in verse 32... verse 34, "do not make any vows." And he goes on to say, "Just let your yes be yes and your no be no." You know? Just simple speech.

There shouldn't be degrees of truthfulness in our speech, you know? [laughs] We shouldn't use t- technical loopholes to get ourselves out of things.

God being present in our ordinary, regular speech, this is integrity.

This is truthfulness.

I wonder how that hits you this morning.

You know, maybe is, is it exaggeration something that you kinda can get caught up in, or half-truths, or Maybe it's that follow-through thing where you said you would do a thing, and then it just kind of filtered off, and the person didn't bug you about it, and so then you just kinda were like, "Ah, I don't need to..." You know? But what if your yes was really a yes, your no was a no, and that character didn't require extra collateral to prove your character? You know, collateral is something that you put up when you owe a debt, and the person doesn't believe you can pay the debt, and you say, "Well, here's my collateral to show." And we do that verbally sometimes.

We're like, "Uh, well, I promise.

I promise," you know? Or, "Believe me.

Believe me," you know? Or, "I swear on my mother's grave," or whatever, you know? Uh, "Cross my heart, pinky promise." What about this one? "To be completely honest..." [laughs] You know? Why did honesty suddenly require an announcement? Like, like, "I'm gonna be honest now, just so you know." Uh, [laughs] but we, we see this in our lives, on, on the world, uh, terms and conditions.

You ever try to read those things? Like, I agree to these six pages of fine print, and it's like this is not really truthful, and we're used to this all around us.

But on the opposite side of that is God [laughs] who is faithful, who is trustworthy, who keeps His covenant promises.

And just like a family resemblance, we can be people whose words carry weight.

It's especially challenging when we get hurt, you know, when we're attacked, and we feel on the offensive or defensive.

Well, Jesus is actually really interested in who we become when those people are in the room.

When the pressure's on, how do we respond? When there's a lot at stake, what does it look like to be living this good life that Jesus talks about in this famous Sermon on the Mount? Jesus says, "Picture this, a vision of the good life." What does a person look like who's experiencing that? I mean, if following Jesus was so easy, and just roses, and ponies, and rainbows, we'd all be like, "It's easy." You know, in hypothetical situations, it's, it's easy, but in real life, when our character is under pressure, when our reputation's at stake, or our possessions, or our dignity, or relationships feel threatened, it reveals information about us, right? [laughs] And in fact, we can kinda see a little family resemblance sometimes.

Like, in those moments when it's really intense, it's like, have you ever said, "I, I, I'm, I'm just doing exactly what my dad used to do," [laughs] you know? Or like, "Why am I being like this?" Or like, "My mom, I said I would never do that, and now I'm just like my mom, you know? I'm just, just like her." It kind of shows up in these moments of pressure how we talk, how we act, how we love, especially when the pressure's on, the stakes are high.

And so Jesus says, "Hey, how should you talk when it matters? How do you use your words so they really count?" When, when a boss is, boss is asking you for a project that's due and it's not ready and isn't finished.

A, a spouse is asking you about your spending habits, you know? Uh, maybe it's a parent confronting a teenager or a friend asking whether you followed through on that thing you said you would do.

Maybe something you did promise to do or an exaggerated story to make yourself look better.

When our reputation's at stake, we sometimes come up with this stuff, and Jesus wants to, he wants to help us.

Just like last week, he's gonna go after some of these things that are kinda too close for comfort, and yet it brings us to freedom.

It shows us, it helps us experience this good life that he designed and intended for us all along.

So in chapter 5, verse 33, just like last week, he has this phrasing, "You have also heard that our ancestors were told, 'You must not break your vows.

You must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.'" Like, he's using that Old Testament idea, going back to the Deuteronomy, and using Isaiah, and pulling in the Old Testament, saying, "You've heard it before." And Jesus said early on, right, that he didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.

And so, hey, he says, "You've heard it before," and then he has this phrase, "But I say." Here's Jesus, he turns it on its head.

He says, "But I say," in verse 32... verse 34, "do not make any vows." And he goes on to say, "Just let your yes be yes and your no be no." You know? Just simple speech.

There shouldn't be degrees of truthfulness in our speech, you know? [laughs] We shouldn't use t- technical loopholes to get ourselves out of things.

God being present in our ordinary, regular speech, this is integrity.

This is truthfulness.

I wonder how that hits you this morning.

You know, maybe is, is it exaggeration something that you kinda can get caught up in, or half-truths, or Maybe it's that follow-through thing where you said you would do a thing, and then it just kind of filtered off, and the person didn't bug you about it, and so then you just kinda were like, "Ah, I don't need to..." You know? But what if your yes was really a yes, your no was a no, and that character didn't require extra collateral to prove your character? You know, collateral is something that you put up when you owe a debt, and the person doesn't believe you can pay the debt, and you say, "Well, here's my collateral to show." And we do that verbally sometimes.

We're like, "Uh, well, I promise.

I promise," you know? Or, "Believe me.

Believe me," you know? Or, "I swear on my mother's grave," or whatever, you know? Uh, "Cross my heart, pinky promise." What about this one? "To be completely honest..." [laughs] You know? Why did honesty suddenly require an announcement? Like, like, "I'm gonna be honest now, just so you know." Uh, [laughs] but we, we see this in our lives, on, on the world, uh, terms and conditions.

You ever try to read those things? Like, I agree to these six pages of fine print, and it's like this is not really truthful, and we're used to this all around us.

But on the opposite side of that is God [laughs] who is faithful, who is trustworthy, who keeps His covenant promises.

And just like a family resemblance, we can be people whose words carry weight.

It's especially challenging when we get hurt, you know, when we're attacked, and we feel on the offensive or defensive.