Notes of a sermon preached at St Andrew’s Eaton, Norwich, on Sunday 2nd November 20025.

A link to the video can be found at the bottom of this page.

Scripture passage; Matthew 5:33-37

Especially v37 – ‘Let your “Yes” be “Yes.”

Context

At the beginning of this section of the Sermon on the Mount, we have:-

An affirmation: v17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

A warning: v20 “I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus illustrates and applies with six case studies:

Murder, adultery, divorce.  In each case Jesus’ hearers are called from a misquotation, misinterpretation or misapplication of some OT command.  They are to embrace its true intent, and nurture a true obedience that comes from a heart renewed by God’s grace.

Now we come to the fourth case study:

The taking of oaths: v33 “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.’”

Jesus is referring back to commands such as:

Num 30:2 — ‘If someone makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath of binding obligation on himself, he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised.’

The teaching distorted

Oaths, instead of being ways of confirming the truth, had become excuses for evading it.

V34f – people had invented a sliding scale of oath-taking.  ‘I swear by the Lord’ would be absolutely binding.  ‘I swear by heaven; by earth; by Jerusalem; by my head;’ would be less binding.

A modern, if childish, example:

“You promised to pay me by Tuesday.”

“But I didn’t say, ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’”

Jesus sweeps all this away: There should be no need to take oaths.

Matthew 5:37 — “Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

Eph 4:15 – ‘Speaking the truth in love’.

Application

Do you think that truthfulness is a good thing? (Of course you do!)

Are you a truthful person? (Of course you are!)

Have you ever:

• Committed perjury?
• Swindled anybody out of their life’s savings?
• Handed in an essay that was someone else’s work?

Probably not!  Nevertheless, our Lord’s teaching touches on various aspects of our daily lives.

To take three examples.  Let our “Yes” be “Yes”, in…

(a) Our everyday conversation

We’re thinking here about rumours, gossiping, talebearing.

‘It’s none of my business, but…’

‘Did you know that Jenny has just got promoted?  I’m told it’s only because she’s friends with the boss.’

‘I heard our church treasurer is on the point of resigning.’

Lev 19:16 (AV) – ‘Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people’.

Let’s appoint some sentries:

Psa 141:3 – ‘Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.’  Sentries: ‘Is it true, is it kind, is it necessary?’

(b) Admitting our wrongdoing

Not the delayed apology.  “Deny everything for as long as you can.”

Not the grudging apology.  They are not sorry they did it, but sorry they got found out.

Not the feigned apology.  ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, my comments have been misinterpreted/taken out of context.  But if some over-sensitive person is offended, then of course I’m sorry.’

But rather: ‘I was wrong.  I’m sorry.  Please forgive me.’

Beyond seeking the forgiveness of others, let’s be thankful for God’s offer of forgiveness, as in the Lord’s prayer: ‘Forgive our sins.’

(c) Keeping our promises

A couple fall in love, and are engaged to be married.  The young man sends an expensive necklace to his fiancée, along with a note: Dearest Alice: I will love you for ever.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  P.S. ‘If we ever split up, I want this necklace back!’

Let us not engage in such double thinking in the big decisions of life (including marriage).

Psa 15:4 – ‘…who stand by their oath even to their hurt.’ – Example: refusing a better offer from B because you’ve already said ‘Yes’ to the lower offer from A.

We often stumble along the way.

But our strength and comfort is that Christ’s promises never fail.

2 Cor 1:20 –  ‘For in Christ every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.”

Heb 10:23 – ‘Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.’

By his grace I can, I will, I do, stand on every promise of his word.

Let us, then, be known as people of the truth.  In our everyday conversations; in admitting our wrongdoing; and in keeping our promises.  Let us be people whose ‘Yes’ means ‘yes’, and whose ‘No’ means ‘no’.

And so bring calm to our restless consciences, joy to the heart of our Father in heaven, and astonishment to a watching world.

(Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture citatins are taken from the NRSV)