When Yes Means Yes

“When ‘Yes’ Means ‘Yes’”

11 June 06

Texts: Matt. 5:33-37, 23:16-22; James 3:1-12; Psalm 116:1-19

Mat 5:33 "Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.' Mat 5:34 "But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, Mat 5:35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Mat 5:36 "Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Mat 5:37 "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; and anything beyond these is of evil.

Some take the source of this reference to be Exodus 20:7 ( Exo 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.) others Leviticus 19:11-14 ( Lev 19:11 'You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. Lev 19:12 'And you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. Lev 19:13 'You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. Lev 19:14 'You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD.) While the two are plainly related, the emphases do differ. The common theme of all three passages is “reverence,” a holy and respectful awe of God. We are to honor God, to hold an exalted view of who He is at all times. I don’t know about you, but I find it very difficult to meet this standard at all times. I manage a moment, or two, now and then--where the excellencies of God, His holiness, mercy, truth, purity and wisdom (to name just a few) sweep over me, humble me, elicit a worshipful response from little, ole distracted, busy me. I’m not real proud of my distractibility, but I cannot pretend it isn’t there.

The flip side of this is my failure to be fully, constantly alive to the deceitfulness of my heart. I can both assume that I know who I am, and know what I am doing and be completely wrong on both accounts. It is just as the prophet says, Jer 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? This knowledge should also sweep over me, humble me and elicit a sincere and alarmed repentance. Alarmed? Absolutely. It is good to be alarmed at my soul’s peril when I am cruising through life oblivious to the grandeur of God, or the misery of my wretched self-deception. Looking these things in the face fills me with a quickened awareness of why my brother, the Apostle Paul would cry out, Rom 7:24-5 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! The body of this death is nothing less than life in the flesh. And it is very plain that unless God acts, acts through the saving work of Jesus Christ, there is no exit, no hope, no comfort. For emphasis, I say, were it not for the intervention of God, I would be doomed to obliviousness--dead to the excellencies of God and ignorant of my soul’s truly desperate deceptiveness. For we are all like moths fluttering too near to a hungry, wide-mouthed frog! Oblivious, but free we come too close to the devouring tongue and perish.

Jesus is expounding Scripture ( 'YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.' ) to us in this passage. I have done the same by bringing to you attention Lev.19:11-14. And we have learned that reverence towards God and suspicion of our deceitful hearts are lessons to be drawn. I want to amplify this somewhat by sharing with you Prov 26:18 Like a madman who throws Firebrands, arrows and death, Prov 26:19 So is the man who deceives his neighbor, And says, "Was I not joking?" Prov 26:20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down. Prov 26:21 Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife. Prov 26:22 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body. Prov 26:23 Like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross Are burning lips and a wicked heart. Prov 26:24 He who hates disguises it with his lips, But he lays up deceit in his heart. Prov 26:25 When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart. Prov 26:26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile, His wickedness will be revealed before the assembly. False vows are vows made with “burning lips and a wicked heart.” A false vow is one that isn’t meant to be kept, but is meant as a trap and a snare--they aren’t the only traps and snares that our hearts devise but they are a distinct class of tongue sin that Jesus singles out for us to ponder. Why? Because false vows, like false promises are firebrands, arrows and death. They inflame situations, they wound the trust in others and sometimes destroy it. What one party does to take advantage of another, by lying to secure a misplaced confidence, is conduct unbecoming the child of God. So Jesus sternly warns us, Do not do this! Don’t even joke about it! How often have we laughed off some failed promise, saying something like, “I never meant that! Is that what you thought I said? Don’t be silly, I was only joking.” all to cover our tracks.

Duplicity and integrity do not mix. Out of reverence for God and with the full knowledge that our hearts are wretchedly deceitful, we are to eliminate false vows and to put in their place a simple “yes” or “no.” Now this is not simply an operation of the unaided human will. On its own it simply cannot be done. But the full weight of Jesus’ saving work must be thrown into it. The heart must be changed. All the power of heaven must be summoned to the task. With God’s help, we can. How marvelous it is to consider that the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the provider of all life and hope, is, for all His splendor and majesty, still loving enough to care for the condition of your heart. He is willing to purify the polluted springs and to be glorified in the process. And what is more, He is thrilled that we should delight in the workings of His mighty Spirit and should praise Him for it all.

So, I challenge you to delight yourself in the Lord. Ask Him to work a change in your heart. Take comfort in His expressed desire to do so. Then you will not only cease your duplicity, you will have the joy of walking in the trust and security of your integrity.

Amen