by Carolyn Schmitt

 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]. For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that? You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Emphasis added)  Matthew 5:43-48 AMP

If I had been sitting among the crowd on that mountainside when Jesus was saying those revolutionary words, I can imagine that I might be thinking, “Impossible!”  Maybe even “How dare you say that!”

As I, a Gentile, looked around at the crowd and saw some Roman soldiers there to prevent a disturbance, or some of the Scribes and Pharisees who wanted nothing to do with the likes of me, I might feel that Jesus couldn’t be speaking to me. I ignore, if possible, those who I considered my enemies, or tolerate those who I couldn’t get along with, while showing love?

I was there because of the things people were saying about this man who was going around Galilee (my home country), talking about the “Kingdom of God” — also because some of my friends had been healed by him of their infirmities.  So I came to see this man, Jesus of Galilee, for myself.

I listened to him talk about the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and others who didn’t fit the culture, but whom He called “as blessed”.  I heard him talk about how we were like “Salt and Light” and could bring honor to God by being salt and light in the world.

I felt so drawn to him. Whenever I could manage it, I was in a crowd where I could see and hear him.  Like all of those on that mountainside that first time, I could not have imagined where Jesus’ teaching and healing would lead.  Certainly not a cross, a resurrection, an ascension and the giving of the Holy Spirit to live inside us, to enable us to learn to love and pray for and do good to our enemies.

As you continue to join us in praying “The Lord’s Prayer” this week, thank Our Father in Heaven for sending the Holy Spirit to enable us to do what cannot be done on our own. 

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not make false vows, but you shall fulfill your vows to the Lord [as a religious duty].’ But I say to you, do not make an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God; or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the Holy City of the Great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ [a firm yes or no]; anything more than that comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:33-37 AMP

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].
Exodus 20:7 AMP

But above all, my fellow believers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be [a truthful] yes, and your no be [a truthful] no, so that you may not fall under judgment. James 5:12 AMP

When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore fear God. Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

The commands Jesus gives In The Sermon on the Mount repeat and expand on the Ten Commandments given to Moses for the way God intended the newly freed Israelites to relate first to HIM and to each other in their daily living. While these words about oaths and vows may not seem as important as: Do not murder and do not commit adultery, it seems to me that the command regarding oaths and vows circles back to the way we relate to God first, which informs us how we are to relate to each other.

Some of the ways people can be irreverent in the way they use “oaths” are comments like: “I swear to God that I,” or “By heaven if you do”, or,”As God is my witness”, or using scripture in a demeaning way.

I knew someone who used Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”, swearing by the “clever” way they emphasized the words, after which they claimed innocence when they were called on it. God is not fooled.

As we continue to pray the Lord’s Prayer this week, let’s ask Jesus to help us honor Our Father in Heaven by our words.

Note. To access scripture links that don’t appear in the email version, read the web version in your browser.

“It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife is to give her a certificate of divorce’; but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.” Matthew 5:31-32 NIV

But to the married [believers] I give instructions—not I, but the Lord—that the wife is not to separate from her husband, (but even if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband) and that the husband should not leave his wife. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 NIV

I must admit that I got overwhelmed as I tried to study what scripture says about divorce and marriage from both the Old and New Testaments and from various commentaries on the subject, both historical and contemporary. So I’m going to focus on what I’ve experienced, and what I’ve learned.

I’ve had the privilege as a sound and lighting tech for many years to serve at a variety of weddings, both small and quite large — good memories for me. One definite thing was apparent in all of them: none of the couples took their vows with the idea of divorce in mind. Certainly Phil and I didn’t when we took ours.

Some of you reading this knew and will remember my husband, Phil and me as we have been part of South Fellowship for many years. We got married in 1965 because we “wanted to see each other’s face across the breakfast table for the rest of our lives”. We celebrated our 43rd anniversary three weeks before he died on April 2nd 2008.

Over the years we learned, sometimes easily, sometimes painfully, that being “in love” is very different from loving. The best description of loving is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8  FNVNT (* First Nations Version New Testament)

* Article on First Nations Version in Christianity Today “Native Christians: Indigenous Bible Version Is ‘Made By Us For Us”

Love is patient and kind. Love is never jealous. It does not brag or boast. It is not puffed up or big-headed. Love does not act in shameful ways, nor does it care only about itself. It is not hot-headed, nor does it keep track of wrongs done to it. Love is not happy with lies and injustice, but truth makes its heart glad. Love keeps walking even when carrying a heavy load. Love keeps trusting, never loses hope, and stands firm in hard times. The road of love has no end.

As you pray the Lord’s prayer with us this week, think about 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in light of: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10 NIV

Note. To access scripture links that don’t appear in the email version, read the web version in your browser.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17 NIV

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 NIV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5 NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV

“Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen] will pass from the Law until all things [which it foreshadows] are accomplished. Matthew 5:17-18

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble and leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:27-30

I can imagine that some of the people listening to Jesus on the mountain wondered how he had the right to expand on the commandments. Already he had added to “You shall not murder” by expanding it to include anger and contempt, via name calling (Matthew 5:22). And then he dares to “meddle” with adultery by adding “lust” to what men had to recognize as adultery in their hearts.

I am grateful that in our day, we have the privilege of moving around in the scriptures, both old and new testaments, to find what we need, as well as using other versions that add understanding to our study.

I am also grateful for the writers who have made an intensive study of the scriptures and that point out what I have not considered before. This book has been most helpful for me in this series: That You May Live: How the 10 Commandments Lead to Human Freedom by Darell Johnson. In it he points out that Jesus is also the Lawgiver who was with God when the commandments were given, so he knows what was intended for them from the beginning — which is how we are to relate first to God and then to each other as valued persons in community.

Jesus as the Lawgiver was restoring the re-humanizing process for people in that time that also continues throughout the whole New Testament.

I was reminded of a children’s carol written by Megan Kincheloe and published by Zondervan, that some of you reading this might remember. Each verse starts with,

“Oh, be careful little

vs. 1. …eyes what you see”;
vs. 2. …ears what you hear”;
vs. 3. …tongue what you say”;
vs. 4. …hands what you do”;
vs. 5. …feet where you go”.

The chorus is:

“For the Father up above, is looking down in love.
Oh, be careful little ______ what you see.”

As you continue with us to pray the Lord’s Prayer, ponder this little song as you pray, “…lead us not into temptation [testing]…”.