Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not make false vows,
but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord." But I say to you, make no oath at all,
either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of
His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an
oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be,
"Yes, yes" or "No, no"; and anything beyond these is of evil. -(Matthew
5:33-37)
Four high school boys were late to their morning classes one day. They entered the
classroom and solemnly told their teacher they were detained due to a flat tire. The
sympathetic teacher smiled and told them it was too bad they were late because they had
missed a test that morning. But she was willing to let them make it up. She gave them each
a piece of paper and a pencil and sent them to four corners of the room. Then she told
them they would pass if they could answer just one question: Which tire was flat? This
story, told by Paul Harvey illustrates in a humorous way a facet of our behavior which is
not at all funny to God. It has been said, "As scarce as truth is, the supply has
always been in excess of the demand."
Just a few short days ago we learned that Pennsylvania Attorney General Ernie Preate
had been lying to the public. Although he had indignantly lashed out at his accusers in
the past, charging them with racism against Italians, and emphatically denying any wrong
doing on his part, he finally admitted his guilt and criminal behavior. In short, all of
us discovered that the person charged with making sure the laws of Pennsylvania are upheld
was a major law-breaker himself.
Were any of us surprised at this announcement? Here is a man admitting that he is
corrupt. Does anyone really care? Is there any genuine moral outrage?
Of course, he is a politician and we have come to expect our politicians to be corrupt.
It has become the rule rather than the exception, and it reveals the sad state of the
fabric of American society.
The fact that the moral tone of American society is at a low point is on display
everyday. We value truth as an abstract concept, but have absolutely no commitment to
being truthful people. We simply do not know who is telling the truth anymore. You don't
know whom to believe.
It seems that O. J. Simpson has been on trial now since the end of the Second World
War. If his trial ever ends, will we know the truth? As we watch the daily developments
unfold, whom can we believe? And does anyone really care?
Looking for people of integrity in our generation perhaps could be compared to
searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Indeed, it may be easier trying to
identify a grain of salt in a snowstorm. They are rare indeed. Are you one of them? Is
your life characterized by integrity? The Bible clearly indicates that our lives should
be. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us that we should be as good as our
word. Are you as good as your word?
We used to be taught as children that our reputation was extremely important. Parents
would exhort children by telling them that they had worked hard to create a good name for
themselves and that the children should continue to work hard and maintain that good name.
Have you ever wondered what people associate with your name? Do people say about you that
you can be trusted, that you are reliable, that you can be counted on, that you are a man
or woman of integrity? These things should be important to us because our lives speak
volumes to those around us.
Jesus gives us a challenge to be as good as our word. Let's examine several
implications of Jesus' words, which will, hopefully, underscore for us the importance of
being men and women of integrity.
The Constraint of the Law
Again you have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not make false
vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord." (Matthew 5:33)
Here Jesus refers us again back to the Law of God. He was referring to the ideas that
are expressed in Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, and Deuteronomy 23:21. God had provided,
in these passages, for the practice of making oaths by His name. Appropriate regulations
were given for confirming something by an oath.
Indeed, the Law,given by God, is there to regulate and restrain human behavior because
we are sinful people. Our behavior was intended to be restrained by the law.
It should be evident to all of us that we, as human beings, need a code. We must have
some set of standards of living. Without any ethical and moral standards each man and
woman would simply make up his or her own. So we need some absolute. This is what we have
in the Law of God. The Law is righteous and it reveals the righteousness of God.
In the passage before us, we are told that we should not make false vows and oaths but
that we should be true to our word. We are reminded that the Law of God teaches us to
fulfill our vows to the Lord. As we have said before, God intended that the taking of
oaths be an affirmation of truth. In Hebrews 6:16 we read this about oaths: "For
men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is
an end of every dispute." An oath was a solemn thing never to be entered into
casually.
The intent of God's law was that we should not make frivolous or casual vows, but that
we should take our vows seriously. Any oath that we make should be an oath necessary to
confirm our honesty and integrity. We have such an oath today in our courts of law. There
we swear that we will tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth." This is precisely the kind of thing that I believe God had in mind when He
gave us the regulations concerning oaths.
The Corruption of the Truth
But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of
God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the
city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one
hair white or black. (Matthew 5:34-36)
Our problem is that our selfish natures tend to lead us to distort the truth. While we
need a standard desperately, we do not like having a standard, especially when it
interferes with the way we want to live our lives.
Our sinful nature wars against having a standard of righteousness which is absolute. So
we begin to try to find ways around that standard. We remake God's Law into a set of
guidelines or suggestions that may or may not be followed given the particular
circumstance. This is precisely what happened to the Old Testament Law to which Jesus
referred.
Instead of understanding both the letter and the spirit of the law concerning vows and
oaths, the people distorted the truth to mean that one was only obligated when the oath is
taken in God's name. God had said in Leviticus 19:12, "You shall not swear
falsely by My name." This command was corrupted to eventually mean that it
was acceptable to swear falsely by another name. And so people began to swear by heaven,
by the earth, by Jerusalem, and even by their own heads.
Jesus spoke out against such frivolous oaths. This had not been what God had intended
at all. The emphasis on taking an oath was that it should not be frivolous. Here the
people had corrupted the truth and tried to evade the real issue. Jesus reminded them that
everything is God's. Heaven and earth, Jerusalem, and even the hairs of our own heads. In
other words, we stand before Almighty God all the time. God hears all. He not only hears
what we say in His name, He hears everything we say. And He holds us accountable for every
word.
What Jesus was doing was condemning the hypocrisy of those who would seek to avoid the
real issue of honesty and integrity. While the people were trying to be technically
correct, they were being practically dishonest. So Jesus cuts to the real issue of the
heart.
The Character of the Godly
But let your statement be, "Yes, yes" or "No, no"; and
anything beyond these is of evil. (Matthew 5:37)
The real message here is that our character should be marked by honesty and integrity.
This is the character of the godly person.
Jesus tells us that our yes should equal yes. Our no should
equal no. In other words, we should speak the truth. We should mean what we
say. We should be as good as our word. Are you as good as your word?
A person who has to swear that he is telling the truth is generally not believable
anyway. You may have met people who were always swearing that what they said was true.
Somehow, you just didn't believe them. You may have also met people who were always
breaking their word. I once knew a fellow who, if he had made a luncheon appointment with
someone, would break it if he got a better offer. Jesus is telling us that we need to be
as good as our word.
At the age of twenty-four, Abraham Lincoln served as the postmaster of New Salem,
Illinois, for which he was paid an annual salary of $55.70. Even then, twenty-four years
before he entered the White House, the rail splitter was showing the character that earned
him the title of "Honest Abe." The New Salem post office was closed in 1836, but
it was several years before an agent arrived from Washington to settle accounts with
ex-postmaster Lincoln, who was a struggling lawyer not doing very well. The agent informed
him that $17 was due the government. Lincoln crossed the room, opened an old trunk and
took out a yellow cotton rag, bound with a string. Untying it, he spread out the cloth and
there was the $17. He had been holding it untouched for all these years. "I never use
any man's money but my own," he said.
Are you as good as your word? Are you someone others can count on? Are you a person of
integrity and honesty? Does your yes mean yes and your no mean no? When you are gone, how
will you be remembered?
These are very important considerations for us as believers. You might call it by
another name. It is our testimony. It is what our lives say to those looking on. It is
what our lives say to our children. It is what our lives say to those who do not know
Christ.
Copyright (C) 1995 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property
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