The Sinking Corner Post

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.  (Matthew 5:27-30)


You know that house that Jesus says we're all building...that one that is either being built on the storm-ready rock or on the shifting sand?  Well, imagine a house that just has one corner set into that mud or sand and the rest on the rock.  What will that mean for the house?  At first, it might be OK.  The strong foundation under most of the house might make the less stable corner pretty inconspicuous.  But then what happens when a big gully-washer comes?  That corner post starts to sink or lean and the strain put upon the rest of the house causes other things to bow or crack.  Or maybe there's not even a big storm that comes through, but you notice that over time that corner ends up receiving the responsibility of a piano placed in it--piano's are heavy but they're not a big deal if everything is solid underneath.  Well, over time, that corner begins to sink, the roof starts to pop, and eventually a supporting beam of the house splits.


What happened?  There was a corner in the wrong place, "doing" the wrong thing, slowly taking the whole house down with it.  What needed to be done?  That corner needed to literally be removed--that's right; no more square house.  Now that process would not be an easy or convenient one.  It would mean setting braces on that rock foundation to hold up the walls attached to that corner.  And it would mean building a new wall with two new corners set on solid ground.  It's going to look funny at first, but over time, as the builder establishes that house in other ways and maybe even constructs an addition on the other side of the home--a side where there's plenty of rock to build out onto--some will begin to look at it and say that it's a work of art and that it's the kind of home they would like to visit and model some of their own construction after.  The owner might take them through and show them the old cracks and strains...the "scars" in the home from when the house had that bad corner so that others could learn from that mistake and see the wisdom in cutting that corner away, challenging as it was at the time to remove it.


Jesus told his listeners that it was better to perform an amputation on one's life than that to let what was damaging set the entire course for one's eternity.  With Jesus, it was always all or nothing.  He pointed to the Word of God, and as He lived it out and filled it in, said, "Going all in with Me is worth the loss of life and limb."  Be careful here...remember that lust or greed or anger are all matters of the heart and don't have to lead to their physical actions of fulfillment like adultery or theft or murder.  The heart is enough to cause that sinking corner that destroys the life.  Wrap the arms of your heart around Jesus.  Set your feet upon His.  Cut away anything that keeps you from doing so.  May He be behind every motivation of your heart today.

Commandment Number 6

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.   (Matthew 5:21-26)

"Commandment number 6 of 10?  Oh, I'm good there.  Finally something easy from Jesus; I don't plan on murdering anyone anytime soon."  I wonder if people of Jesus' day had those similar thoughts because I know they're present day ones.  We all like to know of those areas where we're doing OK on the righteous-ometer.  But then about every time we start to get comfy, Christ takes things and pushes them into us a little further.  He drives what was out in front of us on an ink-stained page right on in to our hearts, telling us that things like anger and insults are murderous as well.  Jesus did this because we needed it done to us.  He didn't come so that we could find out that we were obeying a law or two; He came so that we could have rich and full life in Him which meant pulling out the gunk inside.

Just a moment or two of really thinking about it brings us to that place of listening more intently with the realization that, yes, being stirred up in our hearts with bitterness toward others is poisonous in nature.  It's poison for our own soul and literally hellish in the end.  But then we would have to agree that it's highly impractical as well because holding onto it with some proud and puffed up spirit on the way into a court room may end up being our ticket into a place like prison!  Sometimes Jesus did this with His message; He took the outward consequence of an inward issue to show just how much we needed heart surgery.  The reasoning in this case goes like this: You might go to prison for ever...because you wouldn't humbly make things right with your fellow man...because you have a murderous heart.

But then in the middle of this whole deal Jesus says something to Christians today, ones that might be just like you and I.  He tells us we're not hunky-dory with Him if we're not clean with others.  We can't go about our churchy activities at the "alter" when things are a mess with our neighbor.  Even if there are things hanging there that we don't feel we've done wrong or that we're holding onto stuff against them, He tells us that it's so important we have clean relationships with others that we should approach someone who we sense has something against us--things are to be just that fresh and clear.

So there it is again.  Jesus gives us words for the rock-like foundation we're to build our homes/lives on.  The one who seeks to have God and His way as the motivation for all things in life needs the heart change He calls for and offers through the One preaching this mountain-top sermon.

Just Add Water

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:17-20)

I'm not one to do a lot of cooking.  If it's going to happen, it will probably take place during breakfast since the preparation for that meal tends to take the least time and the fewest brains...or maybe I just do breakfast so that it plays out that way.  Take pancakes for example.  I know you can make them from scratch, but I'm more of a "just add water" kind of a guy.  That's pretty cool.  Somehow everything that pancakes are supposed to have in them (maybe eggs, flour, oil, milk...vitamin B12?) is already in that dry whitish stuff.  The needful materials are there and you wouldn't want to pull any of them out because it was put together to have the water added.  Without it, you're not going to have pancakes.

It's always a little awkward to transition from breakfast foods to the Savior and King of the world but here goes.  Jesus tells us that the law and prophets--all the Old Testament parts of the Bible--are fulfilled or wrapped up in Him.  It's as if everything that was put down on paper was made for Him to step in and give it substance and meaning.  He made it clear that trying to get rid of or pull out any little bit of it was strictly prohibited because in the end it shows us who He is, why He's essential, and just how far we were from being able to do exactly what had to be accomplished for us to have any hope at all.

Now granted, we need to be careful as we think through what exactly Jesus means when He says we're not to relax one iota or dot from the law.  Are we supposed to impose the dietary rules again?  Should we start killing animals at the alter once more?  No, that's what the Pharisees did (and way more!), and Jesus says we've got to be better than them.  What we have to do is to see Jesus in the iota's and the dots, filling them out in the way that water does to pancake mix.  Pulling Jesus (or the water) out of things isn't the way to obey the laws.  Jesus came to be a game-changer, giving meaning and substance, and making perfectly useful the perfect instructions that were written--instructions that were not going to give us what we needed UNTIL He came and gave it the shape and the finalization that was necessary.

Really, this passage makes one of the biggest cases we have for the necessary imputation of Christ's righteousness (I know, now I've gone from pancakes to imputation...bear with me).  Jesus says that we've got to be better than the really, really, tediously "good" Pharisees who had down exceedingly well the fine points of the law stuff.  See, what Jesus is saying here and makes even clearer elsewhere is that if we don't have Him (and His perfection) in us, we don't have what we need.  If God doesn't look at us and see righteous Jesus, we're toast, because what the religious people of the day spent gobs of energy on wasn't enough.  If you don't know Jesus (or have been ignoring His awesomeness lately), just call out in faith, lay down your self-strengthened striving, and watch Him fill out your life and change you like water in pancake mix.

Yes, these are among the mighty words that Jesus says we're wise to build the "houses" of our lives upon.  Make Him your motivation for life today and watch how He gives new meaning and zest to the mix.

Upside Down Batteries

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.  You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 5:13-16)

Imagine sitting down to one of those great meat and potato meals--no frills, just wholesome hearty goodness all over your plate.  But as substantial and nourishing as one of those dinners is, it's also one of the first kinds that you're going to smile at (what...so I smile at my meals...sue me!) and reach for the salt to add that flavor that really puts the food right where it needs to be for the overall taste that it's otherwise lacking.  You start sprinkling it on and out comes...sand.  Sad day.  Oh, sad day.  No more smiles.  The salt shaker gave every indication that it was ready to deliver as you picked it up, but no such luck.

Or how about this?  You're on a camping trip trying to navigate your way at night down the trail between the outhouse and your site.  You ask your companion for the flashlight he brought as you lead the way, but upon receiving it, when you try to turn it on, it gives you nothing.  Puzzled, you look to your friend who says, "Oh, it works, I just put the batteries in upside down to save the juice."  Brilliant.  (Then, if it's a mag-light at least, you know where to swing that puppy.)

Unsalty salt and hidden light...that's what Jesus speaks out against as He continues talking to those who have followed Him up the mountain.  He wanted to let them know that it's no good having something wonderfully helpful that you basically treat as worthless.  Nobody benefits because nothing good is spread--this is the tragedy that our lives become if we have the truth of the saving gospel and don't share it or act out from it as it "salts" and lights up our own lives.  If Jesus is our everything, if He is the salt in our shakers, the Energizer batteries charging our lights, and the wind in our sails as we head through our day, that's simply going to change things.  People are going to notice, and when they do, Jesus says that this is such a spectacular thing because more glory ends up being given to the Father.  Loving self-sacrifice becomes our way, the sweet and ripe fruit of the Spirit starts getting enjoyed by those around us as it oozes out of our lives.  Salt and light is spread.

Again, these are among the words that Jesus says, if we keep them, will make us like the wise man who built his house upon the steady, anchoring rock.  So what's coming out of our shakers?  If God is our fuel and motivation, it ought to be the salt that makes the meal.

Funeral Giggles

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
    “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5:2-3)

Jesus loved to take conventional thought and flip it upside down.  I suppose the abruptness that was often used as He did such was in part for effect--it's a great way to get peoples' attention and He was the best Teacher of all time, after all.  (I've only copied the first couple verses of this section, but you can read verses 2-11 to get the fuller picture by clicking here.)

Each statement begins with a "blessed" and is followed up with a statement of why such an attitude or practice is a blessed one, often by pointing to what such positions yield either in this life or in the life to come.  Verse three is but one example of this.  Jesus says that it's a blessed thing to be poor in spirit.  That seems an odd thing to say because who at any given moment wants to be lowly or the one who feels "underneath" things deep down in their soul and in need of help?  But if you're listening to the Savior say this and looking to Him to be that help, there's exciting news: you get the kingdom of heaven.  That's right; you receive an inheritance in which you will come out light-years ahead of where you dwell on this earth as one "poor in spirit."

Really what Jesus is doing with these verses is building within us a different kind of excitement.  It's one that challenges us to quit striving to be on the top in this world, seeking victory in things that last only for a little while.  He says instead that it is a beautiful and happy and blessed thing for us to live with an anticipatory quietness inside that, even when things are the pits on the outside, still bubbles out to produce that kind of over-the-moon grin that you can't quite wipe down...that kind that creeps up at funeral when you get the inappropriate giggles and just need to look at your feet in hopes that you'll hold it together.

That's where things start with the God motivated spirit.  Those are the words that we need to hear from Jesus, the One who's being and words are the foundation on which we must build our lives if we want to survive the storms.  Meditate on "the blesseds" today.