Kingdom Attitude (Matthew 5:21-37)

A few weeks ago I read something about human motivation.  Unfortunately by the time I realized that it would be helpful to my sermon, I couldn’t remember where I read it, and I couldn’t find it. I looked through the books I’ve been reading these past few weeks, flipping back through pages, and couldn’t find it.  So that’s the end of the sermon today…

It seems to me that it was related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  If you don’t know what that is, that’s okay.  It’s a theory that people are motivated by different levels of needs, from basic, physiological needs to the need to find meaning and self-actualization.  At least, I think that’s how it can be described. I really studied just enough psychology to be dangerous.

Anyway, what I read said something like this:  a very young child is motivated by fear of punishment.  In other words, that child makes his or her decisions based on avoiding unpleasantness.  That’s the first stage.

When the child gets a little older, the child progresses to a second stage of motivation.  Instead of just seeking to avoid unpleasantness, the child is motivated by the possibility that he or she might get something that is desired, something good, like a treat.  Eventually, the child learns to make decisions based not just on what avoids unpleasantness, but based on what is good for the child, what is in the child’s own interest.

Just like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there were six stages in what I read, but since I can’t find it, I can’t describe to you each of the six stages.  Perhaps that’s a good thing.   But as a person matures and moves up through the stages, eventually decisions are made not just because they avoid unpleasantness, not just because they are good for “me,” but decisions are made because they are good for people you care about; decisions are made because they are good for others you don’t even know; and decisions are made just because they are the right thing to do.  You do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, and you want to be a person who does the right thing.

Your behavior goes from being motivated by external rewards and punishments, and becomes motivated by your attitude, your desire to do right just because it is the right thing to do.

Anyway, I think that Jesus’s interpretation of the law does a similar thing.  It challenges those who hear his teaching to go a step further, to move up the scale on that psychological hierarchy, to evolve to a higher moral ground.

The law says do not murder.  That is a behavior that the law tries to keep you from doing.  You can still hate someone – according to the law – but you better not express that hate through violence. 

But Jesus doesn’t just want you to refrain from murdering someone.  Jesus wants to transform your attitude.  Jesus wants your attitude to match your behavior.  Jesus wants you to get rid of the anger, the hate, the animosity.

It’s not a code of behavior.  It’s a transformation of the heart.

The law says you shall not commit adultery.  Committing adultery is an act, a behavior.  The law says nothing about what’s in your heart. 

But Jesus does. 

The law says do not divorce unless you do it properly.  Jesus says:  don’t divorce at all, except for unfaithfulness on the part of your partner.  It’s almost like he’s saying, “Why would you want a divorce?”  The law tells you what actions are allowed and what actions aren’t allowed.  Maybe you want a divorce, and the law, depending on your circumstances, says yes or no.  But Jesus doesn’t just want to change your behavior; he wants to transform your attitude.

By the way, I should point out that, in Jesus’s day, divorce was always something the husband did to the wife.  It was not a mutual decision, and it left the wife vulnerable and shunned.  It is quite a bit different today, and we could have a conversation about when, in today’s changed world, it is okay to get a divorce, but that would miss the deeper issue which, again, is the attitude of one’s heart.

The law gives specific ways to make a promise or a vow.  In our day, you swear an oath, you make a pledge to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  In other words, the law says when your behavior must be such that you tell the truth, when it is important for you to tell the truth.

But Jesus’s teaching is:  why would there ever be a time when you wouldn’t want to be truthful?  Why do we even need such a law?  Jesus wants you to go one step further.  He wants to transform your attitude.  He wants you to be a person for whom there is no difference between what you say and what you do.  Your word is truth.  And if your word is truth, any swearing of oaths is unnecessary.

This is how it is with God.  What God says is what God does.  This is one of the deep and powerful truths of the creation story.  God speaks a word … and it is so.  There is no distinction between word and action.  There is no discrepancy.  Word and action are consistent.

The law says: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  In other words, you have the right to take from your neighbor what he has taken from you. 

But if your attitude has been transformed by the love of Jesus, you will not seek revenge or punishment.  Instead of punishing your neighbor, you will seek to transform his attitude, his heart, by allowing your own transformed heart to manifest itself in love. 

The law says to love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  This is the final one of these teachings that all use the formula, “you have heard it said… but I say to you…”  You have heard it said: “love your neighbor, hate your enemy.”  And this final one sounds as if the law is talking about attitude, finally, and not just behavior. 

But it is still incomplete.  It is not a fully transformed attitude.  Jesus says: love your enemies.  Love your enemies.  Your love isn’t complete until you can love those who do not love you back.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

And that is what it seems to boil down to, isn’t it:  perfection?  Jesus seems to be asking us to be perfect.

But we have to remember that we have the issue of translation.  Jesus spoke Aramaic; the gospels were written in Greek; and we read them in English.  And sometimes, as the message is passed from one language to another, and one culture to another, meaning is changed.  It’s like a millennial game of telephone.

We don’t know what Jesus said, what Aramaic word he used.  The closest we have is the Greek.  And in Greek, the word used for perfection means something more like “completeness.”  So when the scripture says “Be perfect,” it might be better to translate it as “be complete.”

Be who you are meant to be.  Be complete in fulfilling your calling.  Be whole, marked by integrity.  Let there be no contradiction between who you claim to be, and who you are at the deepest, most inner level of being.  Be mature in your actions…acting at a higher level.

I don’t know about you, but to me, this sounds like aiming for the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy.  Aim for the top.  Progress up that pyramid toward self-actualization. 

Not everyone gets there.  Some live their whole lives making decisions based on what they can get away with; they’re avoiding punishment. 

Some live their whole lives making decisions based on what’s good for themselves.

But Jesus wants to transform us.  Jesus wants to fill us with love.  Jesus calls us to a higher level.

That’s what “being perfect” meant to the gospel writer.

It reminds me of something Paul said.  In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul said: “I am confident that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”  This “completion” is similar to the “perfection” of Matthew 5. 

Paul expands on his comment, saying that his hope is for the people’s love to “overflow more and more,” so that they “may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”

Of course, perfection itself is a Greek concept that may actually have been somewhat foreign to Jesus.  The apostle Paul and the gospel writer were influenced by Greek culture, and ideas of perfection do make their way into scripture.  But in Jesus’s Aramaic-speaking Jewish culture, perfection wasn’t really a concept of much importance or influence.  Instead of perfection, the emphasis was on goodness.  So maybe, for Jesus, the phrase was actually, “Be good.”

Clearly, this means “be good in your heart, not just in your behavior.”

A few weeks ago, the Bixby Knolls Strollers – a walking group that meets every Saturday morning – walked to the Long Beach Masonic Lodge.  There, we were greeted by my friend Jason Van Fleet, whose son is a scout in Troop 29.  Jason greeted us, and he and a few other Masons told us a little bit about the Masons before we continued on our walk.

I know we have some Masons here, and I hope you can confirm what I say here, but basically, the Masons only accept members who live to a higher moral standard, and they work to keep their members accountable to that higher standard.  Because the law lays out one standard, based on behavior.  The law is based on actions.  But a higher standard is based on attitude. 

I believe this is what the Masons are striving for. 

I know that this is what Jesus strives for. 

What Jesus wants from us is more than just behavior, and therefore it cannot be legislated.  Legislation is based on actions, but Jesus goes deeper, to the attitudes behind the actions. 

Rather than a rule of law, with Jesus, it’s a rule of love.

Instead of asking what does the law allow, followers of Jesus are to ask:  what does love allow?  What does love demand?

I often hear people excuse their rude or selfish behavior by saying, “I have the right.  It’s a free country.  There’s no law against what I’m doing.”  And they’re right.  They have the right, legally, to be selfish.  They have the right to be rude.

But a life rooted in the love of God gives up that right. 

A life rooted in the love of God seeks what is good for all.

A life rooted in the love of God has an attitude that belongs in God’s kingdom, rather than in the kingdoms of this world.

And only when we live our lives and make our decisions based on love, will we find that completeness, that wholeness, that level of maturity, that allows us to be the people God calls us to be.