We're going to first read from God's Word. Let's just turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, and chapter five, and verses 33 to 42. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter five, and verses 33 to 42. And these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. This is God's word. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, Our kind and gracious God, we thank you for the privilege of being able to read your word, even just now. And we're conscious, Lord, that there are so many of your people throughout the world who are unable to do this, who do not have that freedom. We do think of them at this time, and we pray that you would draw close to them and help them, even this day, the day that we remember that your Son rose from the dead, that he was victorious. We pray, O God, that we would not take lightly your word, that you might be with us by your Spirit, that we might have attentive ears and hearts. Some of us may be weary towards the evening now. O Lord, give us the strength and energy, keep us awake, and give us humble hearts that we might want to learn more, that we might want to know you more, that we might want to know your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pray that you would come to us, you would forgive us our sins, help those of us who may feel weary and burdened with that sin to come to you, to trust you, to know that forgiveness, to seek to walk after your Son, And so let us do that even now, as we consider your word. Come to us, we pray, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you do have a Bible, please have it open at that passage that we have just read. The title for this sermon is, How Far Will My Love Reach? How Far Will My Love Reach? One of the books our little son, our eldest son, who's not yet four, has is quite a well-known book, certainly in the UK. I'm not sure somebody might tell me, or I don't know if somebody might be brave enough to nod when I mention the title, but it has the title, Guess How Much I Love You. There's a nod there and there. Guess how much I love you. And in this little book, little Nut Brown Hare is going to bed. And he holds tight to his dad, big Nut Brown Hare, and says, guess how much I love you. And then he stretches out his arms as wide as they can go and says, this much. He probably does this much. And he really wants to show his dad how much he loves him. He goes on to say, I love you all the way to my toes. I love you as high as I can hop. I love you all the way down the lane as far as the river. And finally, as he closes his sleepy eyes, he says, I love you right up to the moon. Well, there seems no distance to which his love will not reach for his dad. How far does our love reach? How far will you go for love? And this is what the gospel according to Matthew is speaking about. Actually, it is about a king, the king. It's about Jesus. Jesus has gone up on a mountainside and sat down. And he's begun to teach what it looks like to live in his kingdom, to be a Christian. This is his Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus the King begins to explain his rules, his law of his kingdom. He's been explaining and expounding what the 10 commandments look like in the everyday life of a Christian. And it is Jesus's rules that show us how to love. It is Jesus's rules that show us how to love. And when we do not keep those rules, we hurt others and we hurt ourselves. When we try to love how we want to love, Now we could open up a discussion, have a brainstorming session, say so many things about what love is. But what does it really look like day by day with one another? And Jesus explains to us what love really looks like. In Matthew, in chapter 5, in verses 33 to 48, Jesus actually shows us how far love goes. King Jesus gives three examples, what love looks like in everyday life, of how far that love reaches. We're going to look at the first two of those examples in verses 33 to 42. And what we will see is that the love that Jesus describes, the love in his kingdom, reaches, if I may put it this way, even further than to the moon. Firstly, love says yes or no. Love says yes or no. In verses 33 to 37 in short, Jesus says, do not swear an oath, simply let your yes be yes and your no be no. Jesus speaks about oaths and vows. What's an oath? Well, today we might make an oath if we have to give evidence in court. I swear by Almighty God to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. When a person begins to serve as a police officer, they swear an oath. In the UK, a police officer would say, I do solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that I will well and truly serve the king in the office of constable with fairness, integrity, diligence, and impartiality, and it goes on. In the US, you do not have a king. But police officers still take an oath. And I understand that the wording is dependent on which state you are in. So I look this up, and this is quite a generic oath. But one oath says, on my honor, I will never betray my integrity, my character, or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions. I will always maintain the highest ethical standards and uphold the values of my community. and the agency I serve. Or if you were married, you know that you will have taken a vow, an oath, promising to stay with your spouse till death do us part. Taking oaths and vows is a part of life. And it was very much a part of life when Jesus was on earth. Oaths have actually been for thousands of years. Yet, in just a few moments of time, just a few words, a few verses, in Matthew chapter 5, verses 33 to 37, Jesus seems, at first glance, to sweep all of it aside. Saying in verse 34, do not take an oath at all. And ending by saying in verse 37, let what you say be simply yes or no. Anything more than this comes from evil. And some Christians hold to this. And so for instance, they will refuse to take an oath in a court of law. Is that what Jesus is saying? To never take an oath. In these examples of love that Jesus gives, we have to get the context, the background right. The Bible never contradicts itself. And so we are not to interpret a verse in isolation, but in context with the background of all Bible verses. Perhaps I'll repeat that because it's key, it's crucial. It's why many people in cults interpret the scripture wrongly. The Bible never contradicts itself. And so we are not to interpret a verse in isolation, but in the context with the background of all Bible verses. So here is some context. In this very same gospel, in chapter 26, in verses 63 to 64, Jesus is put on trial by Caiaphas, the high priest. And he's questioned, and we are told that Jesus remained silent. He refuses to answer. But then what happens? The priest stands up and says, I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the son of God. Or as another translation has it, I put you under oath by the living God. Now, King Jesus does not say, you must not speak like that. We do not use oaths anymore. He does not condemn the priest for using God's name in an oath. Instead, Jesus honors the official oath from Caiaphas by breaking his silence. Just a few words, and he says, you have said so. And this is almost similar, quite similar, to how a witness takes an oath in the US courts. The witness is asked, do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? And the witness responds, I do. And in the same way, under oath, Jesus replied to the priest's question, you have said so, and I do. we see that Jesus affirms an oath. As well as Jesus' example, there are the Apostle Paul's examples, swearing that he's telling the truth. So here's another Bible verse. Here is another bit of context in 2 Corinthians 1, 23, when Paul says, but I call God to witness against me. Now this is like saying, I swear by God. Now why say that when Paul could just say yes or no? Why call God as a witness, make that kind of oath that he was telling the truth if it is wrong to do so? And here is some more context. In the Old Testament, believers made oaths and vows. Vows were encouraged. Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 20 says, you shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. You see, oaths were not made every time you agreed to do something, but they were made in serious and important circumstances. Jesus was not overturning the use of oaths, but their abuse. The Bible authorizes and encourages oath-taking. Otherwise, we would be doing wrong in taking marriage vows, or enlisting in the army, or becoming a boy or girl scout. That is when oaths are right in serious matters. So what is Jesus doing? And here is the immediate context. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus correcting what the teachers of the law had been saying to the people. Notice how Jesus begins in verse 33. Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, And then he says in verse 34, but I say to you. And actually Jesus says those words a lot in his Sermon on the Mount. You've heard that it was said, but I say to you. Jesus is contradicting, challenging what the people have heard from the religious leaders. These leaders have no idea, tragically, what love is. And that affects how they teach the law, twisting its meaning. So the king of love is setting the record straight. What exactly, then, had these teachers of the law been saying? When Jesus quotes what was being said in verse 33, again you've heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. That is actually what God had said in his law, but those words had been twisted. When people heard those words, they heard the interpretation of their religious leaders. The teachers began to teach a complicated system of rules. And somewhere along the line, they began to teach that if you made an oath, you did not have to keep it if it did not include the Lord's name. So if you said, I swear by heaven, or I swear by Jerusalem, you would not have to keep that promise. But if you swear by God's name, you would. It's a bit like what children might do, or maybe even adults. When no one is looking, you make a promise to someone, but behind your back, you cross your fingers. Is that what you would do in the US? I'm not advising you to do that. That's what we would do as children in the UK. And that in effect cancels the promise. So in Jesus's day, people in everyday conversations would use oaths to give the impression they were telling the truth. I swear this, I swear that. But it was a cover up. It really did not mean the promise should be kept. It was like crossing your fingers behind your back. And it was happening all the time. And all this showed a lack of love. And what Jesus is saying is this, you are being dishonest. You are being dishonest. You are lying. You are having someone on. That is not loving. It does not matter by whatever you swear, whether by heaven or earth or Jerusalem or your head, it all belongs to God. He made them all. And whatever you say, it is before Him who made you. And He sees, He hears. And you do not need an oath whenever you say you will do something. And what you are doing is not loving, it's not caring. You are having someone on. You're deceiving them. It's selfish. So just let your yes be yes and your no be no. Mean what you say. You do not need to call on God as your witness because he's watching all the time. Be honest. That is what love looks like. Jesus is saying to us there will be times when an oath or a vow needs to be taken in very serious situations to underline what is happening. A marriage, a court case, becoming a citizen of a country. But in your everyday conversation, people should know you for always telling the truth. A yes or no should be enough. No crossing fingers. And none of this, I swear to God, I'm telling the truth or to be honest. Something seems a bit shaky when we say that. You protest too much. Do you have to say that? Or do people know that you are a person of your word? Do they know you will do what you say you will do? Can people trust you? When we say we'll be somewhere, will we be there? When we say we will do something, will we do it? When people know that of you, you're not only commending yourself, but the King you follow, Jesus. I remember, I remember with shame, when I was a student, there were four of us sharing a house and one bathroom, and it was my turn to clean the bathroom. And one week, one of my housemates, an unbeliever, was having a friend to stay. And I said I would clean the bathroom. But somewhere along the way, in that week, I did not get round to it. And after their friend had left, my housemate did not talk to me for days. Maybe a little bit funny, but not. My testimony was broken. It was destroyed. I had left that bathroom and not done anything. I'd not kept my word. And my housemate knew I was a Christian. And perhaps it was not a surprise if I could say that they were not a Christian if Christians let them down like I did. It was only later, when I went to my housemate and I apologized, could I try to begin to mend our relationship and my testimony as a believer? When we keep to our word, when we do what we say, that is when our yes is yes and our no is no. And that is what Jesus is getting at, because anything else is of the evil one. We are being dishonest, we are lying, we're being like the evil one who's the father of lies. It isn't easy to be truthful in the world we live in. Yet people desperately need truth. They desperately need truth. And we live in a world of lies and fake news. So much social media is just fake. and false lives just put on show. And as Christians, we should be different. And we belong to another kingdom. We belong to the king who kept his word. The Lord's Supper reminds us of that, of a love that said yes to his father, to come for us, to die to save us. so we're to follow him, keeping his word. One pastor put it like this, our integrity, our reliability, our honesty as followers of Christ can make all the difference to a dying world. When people know that you do not lie, your testimony will have more effect than all the theology you could ram at them. What a difference, he says, a truthful life can make. And we do not belong to the father of lies, the devil, anymore. We belong to the king of love, Jesus. We're in his kingdom now. And we show Jesus' love, God's love, when our yes is yes and our no is no. Love says yes or no. Jesus' second example of love is in verses 38 to 42. And it can be summed up this way, love turns the other cheek. Love turns the other cheek. Now what does that really mean? And probably what Jesus says in these next verses are some of the most quoted and misquoted words by Christians and non-Christians. An eye for an eye, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile. Christians and people not Christians have used these words to argue for pacifism, that we should never go to war, that we should never physically fight back, and It's not that I don't have respect for such people, but we have to ask the question again, is that right? What is the context? If you saw, and let me be blunt, if you saw a child being abused, would you not physically do what you could to rescue that child? If your wife, your girlfriend, your mother, your sister, your daughter was being attacked, would you not defend them, which might mean attacking the attacker? I throw out those questions. Again, like the words on oaths, we need to hear Jesus' words in context. Remember, Jesus is dealing with how God's law, his law, the Ten Commandments, have been twisted by the religious teachers. Jesus loves the law. It is his law. And he wants his people in his kingdom to keep that law with love. And what the problem was, was that those religious leaders taught that law without a heart of love, without a heart of love. It was all about what they could get out of that law. So Jesus again begins with a quote. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now was that wrong what the people were being taught? because the law did say that. In fact, in Deuteronomy 19, verse 21, it said, it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. This was known as the law of retaliation. What it was, was to make fair as well as restrain, hold back retaliation. The punishment must fit the crime, no more, no less. And what we must also know, this is very important, is that it was actually given to the judges of Israel to pass judgment as to whether this should be carried out, and not for everyone or anyone personally just to do it. But in the hands of the religious teachers, this law became the excuse to carry out revenge. In their view, you could retaliate whenever you suffered a wrong, paying back the person who hurt you with everything he or she deserved. It was taken out of the context of those in authority carrying out justice. It became something that anyone would carry out, reacting, and so it killed the idea of forgiveness and kindness. There was no love. Jesus, however, is going to show what the law was meant to do, to hold back personal nastiness and revenge. Jesus says, do not resist the one who is evil in verse 39. Now that word resist apparently is a legal term that could be translated as take to court. Now there will be times when it will be right to go to court, to defend the defenseless, to not let evil men go free, to right a wrong. But remember the context. In Jesus's kingdom, a Christian does not personally get even. He or she is prepared to show forgiveness and kindness. So Jesus gives four examples. And what Jesus is saying in all four examples is that being a Christian is, to repeat something that is often said, It is not about you. It is not about you. Jesus is really saying you need to die to yourself, to your wanting to have it always your way, to getting even, to getting revenge, to feeling bitter and angry, to having always your rights. Being a Christian, is about showing the same kindness you were shown by the King, by Jesus. Jesus had every right to avenge himself on us, but he gave himself to the cross for us. And so here Jesus gives the first example. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now, did you notice he talks about the right cheek? I don't know if you've ever read this verse and wondered why does he mention the right cheek? Jesus is picturing a man slapped on the right cheek. Most of us are right-handed. So to slap the right cheek, you would have to do it with the back of your hand. And in those times, and still, I understand, in the Near East, to slap with the back of the hand was regarded as an insult of massive proportions. And the point Jesus is making is not about the violence, but about being insulted to a massive degree. And in those days, to then not to turn the cheek meant you took that person to court. So when Jesus then says to turn the other cheek, he's not saying to let a person carry on beating you up. He's not saying that. Jesus is using this picture of being insulted to say that you do not go to court, you do not try to get even, you do not always hit back in that way, you do not retaliate. Jesus is not saying you are not to defend yourself, but rather he's emphasizing the need to not hit back, not to get angry, not to show revenge. show some restraint, show some grace like your King. Will anyone be one for the kingdom if we're always retaliating, always getting angry, always standing on our rights, always wanting to get even? James Hudson Taylor was a Yorkshireman who left his home of Barnsley to be a missionary in China. And to try to get alongside the Chinese people, he dressed like they dressed. He even had his hair like them, black and tied at the back. And one evening he was standing on a riverbank, waiting for a boat. And just as the boat was drawing near, a wealthy Chinese man came along. And thinking Hudson Taylor was just some poor Chinese man, pushed him so hard, he fell into the mud. What would you have done? What would you have done if somebody just pushed you and right into the mud? Let me just say, I was born in Yorkshire. Yorkshire men are known to be blunt and ready to speak their mind. They are tough people. Here's this Yorkshire man being pushed into the mud. But despite being pushed hard into that mud, Hudson Taylor said nothing. But the boatman that had just come in refused to take the wealthy Chinese man, why? He said, no, that foreigner called me, pointing to Hudson Taylor, and the boat is his and he must go first. And it's then that the wealthy Chinese man realized that this man who looked like a Chinese man wasn't this poor Chinese man, he was an influential foreigner. And he realizes he's in trouble. Yet Hudson Taylor doesn't complain. he invites this man into the boat with him. And then he begins to tell this man what made him behave in such a way. Hudson Taylor could have got even, he could have done something, but he didn't do so because of Jesus's grace and kindness in his life. And they were able to talk and Hudson Taylor was able to share something of Jesus with him. And what Hudson Taylor actually did was to carry out Jesus's love interpretation of the law. He was showing the other cheek. What if he hadn't done that? That other man would not have heard about Jesus. that other man would not have seen Jesus' love in action. Jesus wants us not to take offense at every little thing, not to take an eye for an eye, not to get angry and get even. How many of us get suddenly angry when another driver speeds by us or cuts us up in traffic? I have to confess, sometimes when that happens, suddenly I'm angry, why? What's going on in my heart? What about you children at home? What do you do when your brother or sister might hit you or take something of yours without asking you? How do you feel? Do you get angry, annoyed? Do you want to get even? What's going on in our hearts? Jesus wants to show us how far love reaches. Jesus was not doing away with the law, but showing what it means to love our fellow human being. In the second example, he says, and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. Does that mean that we give away all our clothes and possessions and money to anyone and everyone who asks us? I recently read a novel by the title of Gilead in which the narrator is a pastor in Idaho and he's telling the story of his grandfather who was also a pastor and who would give all that he had and even all what his family had to others if they just came to the home and asked. And so the family had to hide the money by pushing the coins into the lard or burying it into the sugar bowl. and into other places where the grandfather couldn't get it. Now he may have been helping others, but he was not caring for his own family. And we cannot be good husbands and fathers if we give away all that we have. So again, people have, I believe, wrongly, literally understood what Jesus said. What is the context? As we're turning the other cheek, Jesus is making a point of not loving self, but loving others. A cloak in those days was precious and needed for living. And if you were taken to court and the other person was awarded that cloak, he still had to return it apparently every evening for you to sleep in. That was the law. But Jesus is saying, don't hang on to that right. Give him that cloak, let him keep it. So Jesus is giving these dramatic illustrations so that we stop thinking always about what we deserve, what are our rights, always what is ours. And Jesus says, really, do something that will surprise people. Show kindness when they expect retaliation. The teachers of the law taught without love. It was just about what they could get out of the law. So Jesus is getting back to what the law is about. It's about thinking about others and not about thinking what you can get. And we see this in Jesus' third example. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Again, what is the context? The Roman army occupying Israel had the right to force people to assist them in carrying things. Think about Simon of Cyrene, who the Roman army forced to carry Christ's cross. The Jews hated the practice because it was humiliating them. Yet Jesus says, go an extra mile with what you are carrying for them. They can't make you do that, but do it. And so Jesus is calling for us to show kindness, even cheerfulness in the face of misunderstanding and even mistreatment. That's hard. It might be at church where we're called to do some difficult or maybe even a trivial job. And we might feel that's unfair because what about so-and-so who's not doing that? And we're thinking about somebody else. We might feel put upon. We might feel we've already done so much. Or maybe at home, you wonder why is mom or dad asking me to do that? What about my brother? What about my sister? They're not doing that. Yet what is Jesus saying? Jesus is calling us to go beyond what someone would normally do in a difficult situation. That Christian going that extra mile for a Roman soldier might make that tough, rough soldier think, what is it with him? Why? That person has something I don't understand. Why would he do that? Why would he help? Why this kindness? I want to know why. It was exactly that kind of response that won so many people to Jesus to come into his kingdom. And Jesus is saying, do what you can, and in that way, you'll be like your King. What did Jesus do? He went to the cross, carrying that burden, excuse me, of our sin. He did not need to do that. He did not need to do that. This is God's Son, King of heaven. Yet he steps down from heaven, comes to us who have sinned against him, mistreated him, not wanted him, yet he loves us. He bends down to us. He takes that heavy load. We can't bear our shame, that shame that we hide, that disgusting sin. and he goes that extra mile to the cross, suffering the judgment we deserve. Jesus is saying, do what you can, carry what you can for others, and you'll be like me, your king, and being like me, others will see me. Jesus is showing us that the law that restrains evil also teaches us to show love in our personal relationships. His kindness, his grace, his forgiveness. Love is the fulfillment of the law. And again, this is Jesus' point in the fourth example. Give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. Are we thinking, Am I thinking, how can I help and care and love others, even if it's going to cost me something? Am I surprising people with my kindness? And it's only when we show that gracious care, that sacrifice, that kindness, that kindness in the face of insult and hate that others will see that the God-given meaning of the law, what it really is. they will see we belong to another kingdom, that of King Jesus. Love shows others Jesus. And in that story of little nut brown hair asking big nut brown hair, guess how much I love you? It's important to know what his dad, big nut brown hair said. Every time little nut brown hair said and showed his dad how much he loved him, his dad would show him how much he loved him even more. So when Little Nut Brown Hare said, I love you as high as I can reach, Big Nut Brown Hare said, I love you as high as I can reach. That is quite high, thought Little Nut Brown Hare. I wish I had arms like that. And every time Little Nutbrown Hare showed how far his love would reach, his dad would show his love would reach even further. Until as Little Nutbrown Hare closed his eyes and said, I love you right up to the moon. Well, Big Nutbrown Hare said, oh, that's far. That is very, very far. And then he leaned over to his son, kissed him goodnight, and whispered with a smile, I love you right up to the moon and back. Well, Jesus' love for us reached all the way down from heaven and back. It was a love that said yes to come for us, to save us. It was a love that kept its word and came to die for us on the cross. And so it was a love that turned the other cheek as he was falsely accused, arrested, beaten, flogged, his back was torn apart by the flogging, and then as he carried our sins to the cross. So love that was his body broken and his blood shed. I love that said yes, and that turned the other cheek in order that we might love others, that we might tell the truth, that we might put others first. And Jesus loved us by his death. that we might stop thinking too much about ourselves and instead show others to Jesus. And that is how far our love should reach. Well, let us be and will and do as the words of the hymn that we will sing in a moment. With every breath, I long to follow Jesus. For he has said that he will bring me home. And day by day I know he will renew me until I stand with joy before the throne. When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, yet not I, but through Christ in me. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we're conscious of how far we fall short, and we think again of the love of the Lord Jesus, who came down as it were from heaven, who humbled himself, bent down low towards us, who said yes to the horror of the cross, and who turned as it were the other cheek, in order to save us. Father, forgive us for when we've thought about ourselves. It's a constant battle. Lord, help us. Save us, Lord. Help us to look to Jesus, to the cross, that we might not live for ourselves. that we might live for you, trust in Christ, and so live for others. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.