But Jesus Says...
The letter of the law, without the spirit of the law, means nothing, achieves nothing, and does nothing to please God. We say, "I've kept most of the commandments most of the time." But Jesus Says … you haven't loved me with all your heart, and haven't loved your neighbor as yourself. February 13, 2011.
I walked into a Best Buy store and the greeter-guard-guy at the door mumbled, “Welcome to Best Buy,” to my back after I walked past. I half-heard the half-hearted greeting and half-wondered if I should half-respond. I didn’t. I figure greeter-guard-guy was obeying the letter of the company policy stating he must say, “Welcome to Best Buy,” to everyone who enters. But he sure wasn’t obeying the spirit of the policy that intends for Best Buy customers to feel welcome and appreciated.
I experienced the opposite at Honda City where I dropped a car for service. One of my repair needs was a license plate screw rusted in place and stripped. To remove the old license plate I had to literally rip the license plate off the screw on one side, while successfully removing the screw on the other side and that is the only piece of hardware holding the new license plate on the car. I assume that a professional service center has some tool in the hands of an expert that can remove that screw in 30 seconds, but I also assume they don’t do that free. Dana my service advisor said it would be $35 labor, the minimum they could charge, and I initialed my agreement and insisted they should not install some new screw from their parts department that costs $49. I had a 49 cent screw from the hardware story ready to go. She understood. So it just made my day when my wife picked up the car and told me they didn’t charge to remove the screw. They even installed two new, shiny screws – again no charge.
Which employee fulfilled their employers wishes? I’m going to tell Dana they need her at Best Buy. Today Jesus presents us with two different options of obedience, but only one of them fulfills God’s wishes. The Best Buy option fulfills the letter of the law, and the Honda City option fulfills the spirit of the law.
In six small sections of persuasive argument in his sermon on the mount, Jesus seeks to correct a misunderstanding among church people in his day about godly obedience. Each section begins with Jesus saying, ‘You have heard it said …” and then he mentions various laws prescribed by God like “Do not murder … Do not commit adultery … Keep the oaths you have made to the Lord … Eye for eye, tooth for tooth … Love your neighbor.” The laws weren’t the problem, and Jesus isn’t suggesting that they need to be reconditioned like old leather shoes or updated like computer software. Neither is he suggesting that he would abandon the laws. “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). The laws weren’t the problem, but the approach of the church people observing the laws was the problem. They were too caught up in the letter of the law – the fine print formulas – and forgot about the spirit of the law, the heart of the law. This is the greatest commandment according to Jesus, and all laws from God, all commands in Scripture, the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the prescriptions and descriptions for godly obedience, find their meaning in it. When asked what this greatest commandment was, Jesus quoted two references from the Old Testament, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ … and … ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40 from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18). The New Testament agrees: “Love is the fulfillment of the Law” (Romans 13:10). They say they kept God’s law, But Jesus Says … “you don’t even know what the law is.”
Have you ever had a bad experience with a doctor who has terrible bedside manners? She rudely dishes out diagnoses as if they were meaningless trivia on a coffee cup? He bosses around a few nurses and tells you that because he’s traveling the world he can’t fit you into his busy schedule until October. She might maintain HIPA laws and dot the I’s and cross the T’s for the insurance companies with precision. Sure, he can perform surgery with the greatest skill and he’s saved thousands of lives but … what happened to the “care” in “health care?” Let’s bring that home. Has any person curious about God or religion ever had a bad experience with our Christian manners? One of us can recite the books of the Bible and Luther’s explanations in the Small Catechism, and another has been a lifelong Lutheran, and another faithfully goes to church every Sunday, and another wears a cross necklace but … one of us gets grumpy every time she doesn’t get her way and the people at work know they should just stay away from her, another one of us passes the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue around to the boys in the office as eye candy, or another drags God’s name through the dirt in order to fit in with the foul language or filthy jokes. “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love … If have can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love … If I give all I possess to the poor, but have not love … I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
The letter of the law, without the spirit of the law, means nothing, achieves nothing, and does nothing to please God. “I haven’t murdered anybody,” is not a legitimate claim for being a good person, because we’ve all boiled over in anger – if not in words or actions, then in thought or heart. Anyone who has done that, Jesus says, “will be in danger of the fire of hell.” We say, “I’ve kept most of the commandments most of the time.” But Jesus Says … you haven’t loved me with all your heart, and haven’t loved your neighbor as yourself. We say, “You’re right, Lord. I am sorry. I haven’t loved you more than my money. I haven’t loved you more than my sexual desires. I haven’t loved others more than my selfish interests. I haven’t loved my marriage more than myself. I am a lost and condemned sinner.” But Jesus Says … I have loved you. I have found you. I have saved you. Take me. Eat and drink me. I will bless your godly decisions about anger, temptation, money, sex, and marriage. Follow me. Trust me. Love me. Love others.”
By grace Jesus has given you the heart and spirit of the law – his perfect love. He has provided you with the fulfillment of the Greatest Commandment. He doesn’t keep the exact hours his contract calls for, punch a time clock, and check out when you lay your head on the pillow. But he’s there all night; you can call on him; he listens and loves. He doesn’t read you the fine print when you come to him with something out of the ordinary, hold up his hands, and say, “Wait a minute now.” But he opens his heart, understands in ways you can’t imagine, and says, “I will help. Can you trust me to do it my way?” He doesn’t limit his love with a cap on forgiveness and refuse you his mercy when you sin one too many times. But Jesus Says … “come to me.” Don’t retreat to the rules and regulations and boast how you’ve kept the Sixth Commandment because you’ve never committed adultery but ask yourself, “How can I use my sexual desires to love God “in a way that is holy and honorable” (1 Thessalonians 3:4) and love my spouse? Don’t rely on your church membership or church attendance as the barometer of your goodness but on the Spirit who has filled you with the holiness of Christ that goes beyond the letter of the law to the spirit.
Who’s your Valentine? Whoever it is, how would that person feel if you presented him or her with a Valentine’s gift and said, “Here. I’m supposed to give you something for Valentine’s Day. Don’t worry, I didn’t spend that much, it was on clearance.” That’s the letter of the law. You’re doing what you are supposed to, But Jesus Says … Clearing your calendar to find a person you’ve hurt and say you’re sorry – that’s the spirit. Disciplining your body’s natural cravings by taking extreme measures if necessary to avoid temptation – that’s heart. Empathizing with your spouse’s needs and his or her way of needing love, and not fighting him or her with “what-about-me” selfishness or stubborn pride – that’s love.
They say religion is just a bunch of rules. But Jesus Says … “just love me, and the rules will take care of themselves.” Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) February 13, 2011
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