Our text for today is: Matthew ”Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. .Our text today deals with the issue of integrity.In the ancient world people would use oaths and vows in the name of God to validate a deal.Even today, you find people saying “I swear before God” in order to express sincerity or truthfulness of whatever is being said.Jesus is admonishing his hearers that the name of the Lord is not to be used in vain.God is the one that established the practice of giving oaths and vows and they could not be broken.There were various types of oaths and vows in the ancient world. The first being a Solemn promise- the promise of the truthfulness of your testimony.This is where you would say I swear before God that I am telling the truth.Next you had an actual vow- a solemn promise for the future.An example would be I swear that I will pay you back in two weeks.Then you had the invoking of God as witness.An example of this would be “As God is my witness,” I promise that such and such happened.Another example of oaths would be when you put yourself under a curse or penalty if whatever you say is not true.In other words, you may say, let such and such happen to me if I don’t do what I said I would.While we know that in scripture, all oaths and vows are not forbidden, for we make them in certain situations as marriage, when we’re sworn into an office, etc.What Jesus is condemning is the practice of the Pharisees and Sadducees using oaths and vows to deceive people and all the careless and carefree use of vows and oaths.The religious leaders were using the practice of vowing to convince the people that what they were saying were true.The religious leaders knew the importance of the name of God and what it meant to the Hebrew people.Jesus taught that even if you were not using the name of God in your oaths, using the earth, or Jerusalem, or by heaven were also forbidden for they all belong to God.Jesus also condemns swearing by your head, for we have no power to bring about anything without God.Aperson of integrity does not need to say I swear, or I promise, orAs God is my witness, or If I don’t do it, then let such and such happen to me.If you have a reputation for truth, you don’t need all these other words in order to convince people to believe you.Your word is your bond.Your yes, will mean yes, and your no will mean no.Typically, people use oaths and vows when they have a reputation for lying.Our reputation should precede us.We should be known for keeping our word.The ancient leaders manipulated the sacred practice of vows and oaths for their personal gain and benefit.Jesus teaches that our communication should simply be yes or no.If we agree to something then do it.If we say no then mean it.That is all we need.We live in a society where people think nothing about breaking their promise. Most of us are guilty of lying.Have you ever been cornered by someone and they invite you to a birthday party, or wedding shower, etc.At the time of the invitation, you have no intention of going but you say yes to simply avoid hurting someone’s feelings or just to avoid conflict.We lie on government forms (taxes), we lie to our bosses.You know, you’re suppose to be working and you’re on personal calls all day or hanging out on the internet, etc while making your boss believethat you’re working.How many of us have cancelled commitments because a better opportunity came along.The bible teaches that we are to pay our vows even if it hurt.We are to do whatever to stick to our word.Our word is our bond.I remember as a little girl, my daddy use to always tell me.You have nothing if you don’t have your word.I grew up in a small country town and we had a cotton farm.My daddy never had a credit card in his life but got everything he needed on his word.It was the type of town where everyone knew everyone and my dad had a reputation for being honest.My dad would go to the local stores and buy things and sign his name on a sheet of paper indicating that he would be back at a certain time to pay for what he had.I remember when times were really hard; my dad would make us go without just to make sure he kept his word with his creditors.He would do whatever he had to make sure he paid the bill when he said he would.He would teach us that if you loose your word then you’ve lost everything.If he said he was going to do something, you could beat your life on it that he would.When he said yes, he meant it.When he said no, he meant it.I am just thinking as I write this, how powerful he really was.Everyone knew him as a man of honor and integrity.He could even send us out to get something for him and all we would have to say is “my dad told us to pick this up and he will pay you when he comes to town” and the stores would let us have it.We think they are just “little white lies” but Jesus condemns all acts of deceit.Our yes should be yes and our no should be no.See you tomorrow.God Bless.Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.