{Prayer}
A quick show of hands, how many of you have ever heard of “house rules”? By definition, “house rules” are the rules which people make in order to live together in some kind of peace and harmony. Sometimes they are posted on the fridge, written out on a marker board, or they are simply just understood.
All of the youth know what rule number one is when it comes to youth group functions. Rule number one is …? No touchy. In other words, keep your hands to yourself. I was joking with Faith the other night and told her that there are basically two rules in our house. Rule number one … Mom and Dad are always right. Rule number two … if Mom or Dad are not right, see rule number one. I guess we could add a third rule … if you need something, ask Mom.
I did look up some house rules online to see what kinds there were. You have the typical, you open it, you close it; if you turn it on, turn it off. There was one set of house rules which start out sane, but then they get pretty crazy really quick like. Rule 1: “No hitting or pushing.” That one makes sense, no touchy essentially. If you keep your hands to yourself, there should be no aggression. But then rules go from being pretty generic to being rather specific rather quickly. Rule 3: “No kicking.” Rule 7: “No throwing toys.” Rule 11: “We do not light people on fire.” After that one, I think mom may have just given up because Rule 12 says: “No fighting before Mom has coffee.” Okay. So there can be chaos … just not before coffee.
We have house rules and use them as a way of directing life in the midst of chaos. In this section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals some of the house rules of God. Jesus, essentially going back to some of Commandments is seeking to lay out a way of life for us in the midst of chaos. He’s laying out the house rules of God to create a place of human flourishing in a world of fractured relationships.
If you feel like our world has lost its moral compass, if you feel like your relationships with others have suffered because there are those times when your life has been out of control … then all the more reason to listen to Jesus. Jesus is seeking to help us out, help out our world by reminding us of the house rules of God. Despite what some may think, rules are good.
And the fact that Jesus here is reminding us of God’s house rules and is calling us back to them may seem strange to some. Some people in our world like to say that “God is love,” and by that, they aren’t referring to what John is talking about in his first letter where he says that “God is love.” There John is talking about God’s essence, who God is. He is love. Just as He is just, all-knowing, all-powerful, and present everywhere.
However, some people in our world who like to say that “God is love”mean that God accepts everything, He supports everyone, and He would never offer a word of a correction, He would never call for change or a re-orientation of a person’s life. Essentially, whatever you want to do for you, whatever you think is best for you, it’s okay. So when a person with that mentality gets to our reading text this morning and hears Jesus reiterating and enforcing God’s Law, that just seems strange. Strange then and strange today.
Strange back in Jesus’ day because the people thought that the Messiah would come to abolish the law, to get rid of it entirely. Jesus, earlier in His sermon on the Sermon on the Mount, had told His disciples “Do not think that I have to come abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). You see, some people thought that this is precisely what Jesus was doing or was going to do, they thought He had come to get rid of God’s laws. Not the case at all.
Actually, Jesus did have a reputation for being a rule breaker. When Jesus came to town, life was different. It seemed as if rules and regulations no longer applied. Now before you say anything, let me explain what I mean.
When Jesus walked by a tax collector’s booth, He didn’t heap all sorts of curses on the tax collector Matthew. Jesus didn’t condemn him for working for the Roman oppressors and for stealing money from God’s people. He didn’t flip over his table and ruin his booth. No, instead, Jesus called Matthew to follow him and to be one of His disciples. Jesus then ate dinner at Matthew’s house, where other sinners had also gathered. The rules for table fellowship seemed all messed up at this point, at least to the Pharisees who were watching Jesus’ every move. When they saw what Jesus was doing, the Pharisees asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11).
In order to understand what Jesus was doing here with Matthew and these other sinners, you need to know the house rules. Jesus was operating under a different set of rules than that of the religious leaders of His time. Jesus’ house rules were all about reconciliation and renewal. Jesus invited Matthew to be part of the kingdom where God desires mercy and not sacrifice, and where those who are sick and infected with sin are tended to by the doctor, not left in their sickness to die.
Jesus had come not to abolish, to get rid of the Law but to fulfill it and to invite His disciples to live in a kingdom where not only had the Law been fulfilled, but it offered a glimpse of what a heavenly life looked like on earth.
Often, when we hear the laws of God, when we hear the Commandments, when hear them and reflect on them to see how I am doing … we should easily realize how we miserably fail to meet them. We look at the Ten Commandments and how God say “Thou shalt not …” and realize that “I have”. It may seem odd, but in a way, this is good. God’s Law is suppose to reveal our sin within us. It’s suppose to make us examine ourselves and see “Where is it where I have broken God’s house rules?” Realizing where we have fallen short, the Holy Spirit uses the Law to turn us back to our Savior. So when we hear Jesus speak about anger, lust, divorce, and keeping our word, like we do this morning, we may sense the Spirit calling us to repent. Each of us have fractured our relationships, sinned against God and each other somehow. Paul reminds us in Romans 3 that we “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). Reminding us of God’s house rules, Jesus is calling us to turn from our sin and turn toward His grace.
We don’t need to try to justify our behavior. God has justified us, He has made us right with Him by faith in Christ. It’s just as if I’d never sinned. We don’t need to explain away or why we did what we have done. By God’s selfless and sacrificial love, by the suffering and death of Jesus and the blood He shed on the cross, God has wiped away all we have done. You and I, we now stand before Jesus and before one another forgiven and free.
Under God’s Law, within His house rules, there is an amazing amount of freedom. We need these house rules of God to maintain order which allows people to care for one another and live in community. Even after people have turned from their sin and have been forgiven … the Law still remains important to Jesus. It’s important because relationships matter to Jesus. Jesus through His life, death, and resurrection not only restores our relationship to His and our Heavenly Father, but through forgiveness, Jesus also restores our relationships with each other in Him.
Through these words of restoration, Jesus enters our homes and posts His house rules on our wall. Relationships matter. In situations of hostility, when toys are flying and kids are trying to light each other on fire, we can be filled with a desire for reconciliation. In relationships with members of the opposite sex, you are chaste, you are pure. In relationship to your spouse, you are faithful. Your word is to be trusted.
Through these words, Jesus is reminding us of the good life God has for His people in His Kingdom. Yes, we find ourselves living in a world of moral chaos, but our lives are different. Why? Because we have been brought into God’s Kingdom through Jesus. His house rules are there to remind us that by grace He has turned our houses into His home. Jesus dwells among us, inspiring us to live with one another in love. We are His people, reconciling, chaste, faithful, truth speaking, and filled with love. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.
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