In his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus introduces six varied issues using the parallel structure: "You have heard ___, but I say to you ___."
- You have heard ... 'do not murder,' but I say to you anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
- You have heard ... 'do not commit adultery,' but I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- You have heard ... 'anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce,' but I say to you, anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
- You have heard ... 'do not break your oath,' but I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven ... or earth...
- You have heard ... 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' but I say to you ... if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
- You have heard ... 'love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Jesus was the ultimate radical, leveraging his authority to rightly interpret Old Testament commands or traditions, and bend them toward a higher, more demanding ethic requiring love of neighbor.
Borrowing Jesus' Parallel Structure
This morning, Jesus' simple refrain – you have heard ... but I say to you – struck me as I pondered a passage in Luke's gospel. It prompted me to borrow Jesus' refrain, below. In the context of our lives in 2021, I am drawn to the music of his words, and how they might apply to our confusing, pell-mell, angry, bitter, violent days. Perhaps my thoughts below are too provocative? Perhaps it's impossible in our day to raise these subjects without inciting rancor in the reader? If so, we are all the poorer for it. As you'll see below, regardless of where we land on various issues, I believe Jesus is the solution and the One to whom we must draw near. So, I offer these thoughts:
- You have heard ... 'They stole the election,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Racism is systemic and pervasive,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Marriage is a temporary contract between any consenting parties,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'A pregnant woman can control her own body,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'America's core is white supremacy,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Police are the enemy, so defund them,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'We must discriminate against some in order to get equity for all,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'The vaccine is the mark of the beast,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'You can't know the gender of a newborn until it's old enough to choose,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Love is love' – (defining love as a feeling), but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Your viewpoint has greater or lesser authority based on the intersection of the oppressed groups you belong to,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'We can print and give away money without consequence,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Rioting and violence are acceptable if done by the oppressed,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'If you have a lighter skin hue, you are racist because of the deficiency of melanin in your skin,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'You don't need to pay back your school loans,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'The opposite of racism isn't non-racism, but anti-racism,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'The Bible is not our authority,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Mankind is basically good,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'All religions lead to God,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
- You have heard ... 'Everyone goes to heaven,' but I say to you, 'Jesus.'
Ok, be honest with me. Are you more animated by each of the first clauses ("You have heard it said ______") or by the second clauses ("Jesus")? In other words, is Jesus better than any opinion/feeling/conviction you have about those first clauses? For nearly every person in America today, the first clause means everything to them, while the second clause means ... meh.
That's our problem. It appears we have concluded that Jesus is meh and that other things are ultimate. Whatever is ultimate in our lives is our functional god. It replaces Jesus on the throne of our lives. We are woefully deficient at seeking him.
But I say to you, ... Jesus!