-- { Matthew 5:33-37 }  ³³“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.  -- NRSV

Dear Friend, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ.  Amen.

This sermon series on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is about learning who we are, as children of God and followers of Jesus. In knowing who we are, we are enabled by God's grace to make godly decisions and know what to do to live God's Kingdom now.

Jesus says, "Do not swear at all." At first glance we might think that this isn't really something we need to look at. What does this have to do with living God's Kingdom now? It has to do with one's integrity. You either have it or you don't. Integrity is an important characteristic in living God's Kingdom now. Your word and my word are to be our guarantee. We shouldn't have to swear on a stack of Bibles.

The Law

This law was based on the Second Commandment, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." This was interpreted to mean, "Do not make false vows, do not swear falsely, and do not swear to a lie." 

There are at least six types of swearing.

1. Swearing by an oath. Because of sin and untrustworthiness the world requires oaths to try to keep order and preserve truth. It is a tactic to bring obedience to the law. It never really works, however. Jesus says that the character of a Christian, your character and my character, are to be so trustworthy that an oath is not necessary to keep us to our word.

2. Habitual swearing. This is the using of God's name in everyday language carelessly and with bitterness and as profanity. 

3. Hypocritical swearing. This is the person who blesses God with one breath and curses a person with the next. James speaks about it, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers this should not be." (James 3:10)

4. Silent swearing. This is cursing others from within the heart. 

5. Evasive swearing. This is using words that are not so harsh. Simply saying, "Sure, I'll do it" with their fingers crosses behind their back. This is the son in the parable who is asked by his father to go into the field and says, "Yes" but never goes. 

6. Ego swearing. We may see more of this today than the others. They boast about their manliness by throwing filthy words around.

God gave the law of oaths and swearing to preserve truth in society. A vow makes a person a debtor. The person is in debt to fulfill the vow or promise. Hopefully they will follow through on their oath.

1. Your vow to God puts you in debt to God. To break that vow makes you a liar to God.

2. Your vow to another person puts you in debt to them. To break your vow is an act of injustice to him.

Do you get the picture? Your amount of honesty and sincerity is important in relating to God and others.

The real meaning: do not swear

The real meaning Jesus is after is that you and I should not swear at all, and not curse at all, by anything. The "by anything" is important.

1. You are not to swear by anything because all things are sacred. Don't swear by…

   - Heaven, because it is God's throne.

   - The earth, because it is God's creation.

   - Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King David and God's Kingdom.

2. You are not to swear by something because all power belongs to God. What we have is all a gift from God. We don't have the power to keep an oath. Having this knowledge should cause us to desire God's strength to live so honestly that our word is our bond. We should not need to make an oath.

We should stand in awe of God and praise Him. Yet, many curse God and the things of God. How many times have you hear God, Jesus or Christ used as curse words? You know the kind of sayings I am talking about. They are thoughtless and irreverent of God - totally disrespectful.

As an added note, there are two opinions about taking a legal oath in court. Some believe they should not take an oath even for the sake of justice (the Quakers). Others feel they can be called upon to swear for the sake of justice, but it should be a humbling experience empowered by God, not self.

The ideal oath or guarantee

Jesus calls you and me to only one ideal oath, our word. It is like we understand from some cultures that a handshake is a true guarantee. My word is my bond is the character of the follower of Jesus. When you say, "Yes, I will," or "No, I won't," that should be enough because you will follow through on your word.

Your life should be so honest and straight that no one would think of questioning your word. When you speak, you speak the truth. Jesus states the reason that this is the way it must be. It is because swearing has its source, which is the evil one, Satan, and we don't want to perpetuate evil. Remember…

1. 1. The world has established oaths because the world is sinful. It is a law to try to order and civilize society. Lying under oath in a trial is perjury and has consequences.

2. 2. The world uses oaths because humankind is sinful and humankind knows it. The need for oaths and swearing are proof that the world is corrupt. But Jesus calls us to be not of this world and to live His Kingdom now.

Oaths will not be necessary in a perfect world, God's Kingdom. Everyone will be perfect and honest. Whatever a person says will be absolutely dependable. This is the challenge of these words from Jesus. We are called to live God's Kingdom now in an imperfect world. You are called to change the world you are living in.

In the church we emphasize this by our response to commitment questions during baptisms, confirmations, weddings. We have a very significant way of responding that is faithful to Jesus' teaching. In response to most questions in Christian rites we ask the person to simply say, "I do." For some questions we ask them to respond with humility by saying, "Yes, by the help of God."

This is all that is necessary for you as a follower of Jesus. Live your life honestly. Let the Lord fill you with His presence and make your words your bond. Live His Kingdom now.

In Jesus Name,