Trinity 6

Matthew: 5:17-26

Whenever the Gospel reading for this morning comes up, I’m always reminded of these words of C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, “This Gospel [today] is not like the gentle dew which trickles softly upon languishing hearts. It is glorious like a torrential rain, which comes amid the flashing of lightning and the roll of thunder.” (Walther’s Works, Volume 2, Page 54)

How so, you might ask?

Because Jesus states there is no wiggle room when it comes to obeying the Law or the Commandments of His Father. You have to keep it all. In fact, when it comes to the Fifth Commandment, He says that even the emotion or feeling of anger toward another person leads you to murder them. 

Anger in your heart equals the breaking of the Fifth Commandment, “You Shall not murder.”

This is huge!

But this is what Jesus says in the Gospel, “Whoever therefore [loosens] one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

The idea of using the word “loosens” implies the person is not concerned with abolishing God's law but rather with downplaying the law’s Importance.

When this occurs, you don’t always see the torrential rain, the lightning, and thunder that approach due to your downplaying of God’s Law.

So how do you loosen or downplay the commandments, especially the Fifth Commandment?

You say, “When God said, you shall not murder, He didn’t mean it like that…” Or those “rules, those commandments,” they were for another time in history. Or they’re for other people, the really bad people. Not me or you.

And why do we say things like this? Because we need to justify our behavior, our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

We do this for self-preservation and self-justification.

However, you also need to recognize that your actions or inactions can be concerning; how you respond to a situation—whether it’s something you hear, something someone says, or something they don’t say—serves as a lesson for any child, grandchild, or adult watching and observing you. Your representation of the Christian faith, or lack thereof, has a powerful influence on those in your circle of trust and how they see Jesus in you.

Surely, you’ve all heard, and many of you live by the saying of Thumper from the classic movie Bambi, “If you can’t say nothing nice, don’t say nothing at all.” However, the problem with this statement is that the anger in your heart still exists. No fake smiles and pierced lips will hide your true feelings from your Father in heaven.

So, how do you handle these conundrums we’ve created for ourselves? The desire to be God's child and the sin of anger percolating from your hearts?

First, remember who you are – you are a baptized child of God.

As we heard in our epistle today,

How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

If you have been baptized, then the old self is to be put to death, and the new man in Christ is to be raised from the dead. This happens every time you confess your sins and hear the words of absolution from the pastor as from God Himself. 

You see, to confess or repent of your sins is to turn away from sin and turn to Christ Jesus. This is what the word repent means. To turn away from evil and go in a new direction, away from the things corrupting your heart. 

And then, you should pray the words of our collect today, that God would graft into your hearts the love of His Son and the desire to be Christ-like - to be as the Psalmist writes, “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8b)

This love is not for ourselves either; it’s for us to extend to one another. So, how do you exercise and demonstrate love for the neighbor you’ve sinned against or have anger towards? Do as Jesus instructs this morning, He says, 

Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

We don’t get to approach the altar of the Lord without first reconciling with one another. Too often, we live by the code, whether we realize it or not, fake it to make it. But if this is our motto, then we are bound up in sin, and we are not children of the all-knowing Father in heaven.

This morning’s Gospel is a gut check for every Christian’s heart. Have you received the gentle dew of Christ’s forgiveness, won for you upon the cross of Calvary? Or is your heart a storm of despair?  

If you’ve found yourself struggling as of late with a family member, a friend, a brother or sister at church, or even me, I want to encourage you to go, seek reconciliation with that person, seek their forgiveness. Run to them as if your eternal life depends upon it, because it does.

And as you go, remember these words from the letter to the Ephesians, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

For our heavenly Father rejoices when His children dwell in unity and love with one another. (Psalm 133:1) He rejoices over you! +INJ+

Rev. Noah J. Rogness

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church

Tomah, WI